Sales Killers
 

I just went to a presentation where if I were a buyer, I would have never bought. What happened? Just one of the things that I notice that stops the sales process cold. Here are a few more sales killers that you can think about—so you don’t do them in your selling.
 

Exaggerate. The stereotypical salesperson is the outgoing, talkative charmer who stretches the truth to fit the situation. Because of this negative perception, I’m always sensitive to be accurate in what I say. Imagine the recent presentation I attended (which set off the alarm bells.) The speaker, a business consultant, was talking about the value of networking with other people for business. Everyone knows 250 other people. That’s a well cited statistic that I’ve seen and heard. This consultant/salesperson was adamant about everyone networking with as many people as possible. One of this consultant’s clients was very reluctant to implement the networking strategy. This client dreaded going to annual family reunions and never looked at them as business opportunities. However, after taking this consultant’s advice, the client discovered after 15 years that his uncle was a high level manager at General Electric. I found the whole story unbelievable and questioned the consultant’s expertise because of this story. Do you think you would know where your uncle worked, especially if it was at a large corporation? Think about how you are presenting your work. Are you the Superman of Sales? Your prospects may not know you well enough to believe that you are. Even if you are, it’s better to have other people cite your work by using customer referral letters. You could also have your clients talk with your prospective clients. When you talk about yourself, be sensitive about not being so extreme that it borders on the unbelievable.
 

How are you? If you want to be branded as a salesman, all you have to do is get on the phone and ask a prospect those three words. When I hear “How are you?” the person figuratively screams, “I’m trying to sell you something.” If the salesman has interrupted an important project I will ask, “And what are you trying to sell me?” The reply is always, “Oh, I’m not trying to sell you anything.” My reply is, “Well then, thanks for calling. Good bye.” If you call a prospect who you do not know, why do you want to know how they’re feeling? They know you really don’t care. Will their good or bad health help you sell? It will only help if you are looking for prospects with specific ailments. Early in the call they probably won’t disclose them to you anyway. If you find yourself in the habit of asking clients about their health after you identify yourself, write a new script. Don’t read it verbatim, but practice asking if this is a good time for them to talk. Knowing that your customer is open to listening is better information than knowing he’s healthy. You’ll find out soon enough if he’s healthy enough to buy.
 

Lack of follow up. “I’ll call you next week.” If you say it you are now obligated to do it. I think sales professionals who are poor at follow up are that way because they have no process for doing it. Create a system where you know what you commit to and then do it. You can use a manual or high tech solution. Either will be effective if you use them. One of the quickest ways to lose credibility is to fail to keep a promise to a prospect. It’s important even if it’s a small thing like missing a promised return phone call. You also miss the opportunity to establish your credibility. Worse, is that you establish yourself to be just like the rest of the poor salespeople.
 

There are enough challenges in selling without introducing more obstacles to your selling. Avoid the sales killers and you’ll get more sales.

Maura Schreier-Fleming works with business and sales professionals on skills and strategies so they can sell more and be more productive at work.  She is the author of Real-World Selling for Out-of-this-World Results which is available at www.BestatSelling.com.  She founded her company Best@Selling in 1997.  You can reach her at 972.380.0200 or info@Bestatsellling.com.

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