You never know when the most (seemingly) minor slip up can cost you. <– Click To Tweet
Because of this, I want to highlight a few common, and not-so-common mistakes so that you can build awareness around them. Take time to read though each item on the list and consider the consequences of making such an error in your own business. The more real it feels to you, the more likely you are to take it seriously and avoid making it in the future. If you’ve already made a mistake highlighted in the list, relearn the lessons associated with it. A mistake is only a mistake if you don’t learn from it.
- Failure to demonstrate enough value for the products or services that you offer.
- Inability to effectively define a cost effective solution to the buyer’s business problem(s).
- Lack of product or service knowledge.
- Selling to the decision influencer and not the decision maker.
- Not knowing how the client will pay AND if they can pay.
- Unaddressed product or service performance inconsistencies.
- Lack of competitive intelligence on the account.
- Assuming your competitor will maintain their pricing.
- Not anticipating objections or last minute competitive offers.
- Assuming the client knows what the real business problems are, and the costs associated with those problems.
- Inability to relay the required information to the buyer so they can make a purchase decision.
- Dishonesty from either the seller or the buyer during the selling process.
- Not guaranteeing delivery of the promised goods or services in the timeline requested.
- Assuming price is the ONLY purchase criteria.
- Not understanding the priority of each buying criteria from the prospect’s perspective.
- Not following up.
- Not focusing on your likability.
One of the best ways to avoid making mistakes is to learn from the mistakes of others. Why subject yourself to the consequences when you can just learn through others’ experiences? It’s so important to not only learn habits and practices to increase your sales, but also to be aware of the habits and practices that can decrease them. Then, avoid making those mistakes at all costs!
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[…] 17 Costly Sales Mistakes – Do you regularly do a postmortem on lost business? Is it done with your manager or a teammate? You need an honest assessment to avoid repeating deal-killing behaviors. […]