Bad sales habits are easy to pick up. Don’t let any of these sneak into your sales process!
Not preparing for the pitch
If you often sell the same products to similar customers, you’ve developed a well-practiced pitch. However, well-practiced pitches become quite boring for the salesperson, and customers are often aware of this. Prepare for every pitch as if it’s the first time you’ve done it.
Being prepared to meet with each lead is also important so that you can plan for objections. While two customers may be similar, their objections to a sale could be different. Sales is like a chess game. Some moves are straightforward and easy to understand, but others aren’t as direct. Prepare to answer any of your leads’ questions. If you don’t have an answer to their questions, don’t make one up! Simply let them know that you’ll have to do more research and then follow up with an answer as soon as you can get one.
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Creating non-opportunities
Who are you trying to sell your product to? Are you sure that the prospect you’re working with matches your goals? If you’re pitching high-priced, luxury products, would you sell it to mom and pop shops? Similarly, if you’re looking to target small businesses, why have sales meetings with executives from a large corporation? Time is valuable in sales, be sure you’re using yours on the best-fitting possible client.
Making excuses
It’s easy to make excuses for productivity and sales when you’re not meeting your goals, but who does that help? Making comments such as, “I can’t sell anything – the economy is too bad,” won’t help meet your sales goals. When you find yourself making excuses, consider the excuses you are making and your motivation for doing so. Then, be creative in an attempt to change your situation versus employing any bad sales habits. Maybe you need to alter your sales technique. Maybe you should be talking with different prospects. Try different approaches, and you may find you’re no longer making excuses.
Talking the most
Customers feel flustered when walking away from an overly talkative salesperson. They might have questions or concerns but feel uncomfortable interrupting you if you’re in the middle of speaking. Allow your customers to join the conversation!
Interrupting customers
We get it – you’re excited about the product you’re selling. But don’t interrupt a potential customer if you want to make a sale. Interrupting when your client is speaking is just as bad as being overly-talkative.
Working alone
Even if you think you’re the best salesperson on your entire staff, that doesn’t mean you are the only one who exists. Don’t make the mistake of relying on yourself and no one else. Your sales team can help you with leads and even to close a sale you’re currently working with. Creating healthy relationships with your coworkers will only better you as a salesperson.
Ignoring or obsessing about administrative tasks
If you’re working in sales, you’ll also have a lot of administrative tasks that need to be completed. Find the best balance of time to spend on these tasks. Obsessing over administrative work will take your time away from your customers and lead to fewer sales. At the same time, ignoring these tasks will lead to sales chaos.
If you’re looking for help with administrative tasks, Blitz is here for you. Instead of falling victim to one of these bad sales habits, make the smart decision and sign up for a trial of our software.
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Let our automated software simplify your sales process. Sign up for a 30-day FREE trial of our lead management software and turn more leads into customers with less work!
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What other bad sales habits do you think salespeople need to break? Let us know in the comments!