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Even after about a gazillion years of selling – everything from retail, to complicated consulting services, to B2B Fortune 500 technology platforms, I still have those Rookie Mistake moments.
You know those “D’oh” palm-to-forehead moments that simply don't work? In David Letterman style, I wrote my Top Ten favorites.
Drumroll, please…the Top 10 Rookie Sales Mistakes:
I had a friend who worked in the insurance industry. He closed a GI-normous deal. He got the commission in his bank. He spent it. The customer exercised their 30-day-right-to-rescind. He owed his company the money back. Bummer! Until it is “yours” with no strings, do not spend it and do not count on it.
One of my best sales mentors used to ask me how a meeting went. If I said “good,” he asked me why I thought so. Very quickly, I learned that a commitment to buy is a “good” meeting (as in signed-on-the-line-that-is-dotted), anything else is a friendly get-together. Of course, it is fine if the customer likes you. It is just not an indication that you got the job done.
You got the “yes” and the signature, but the paperwork is incomplete or incorrect. Guess what? The deal is not done. Now you have to go back to the customer and get it done right. Now you have to sell all over again on top of the very-likely possibility that they will lose confidence in you. Not good.
Sorry. This is a deal-killer. I was punctual to a meeting one time with someone who deeply valued this virtue. The person noticed and loved it. She did business with me and told me it was because I was noticeably on time. I was late to a meeting with a Fortune 500 customer, they were polite and liked our product, they never bought. When you are on time, you look like you have it all together. Your reputation is on the line.
Think of the last time someone told you that something had gone wrong on your order. Remember how they blamed the operations person or their employee? Remember how you felt? Now, remember the time something went wrong and your representative called you up and took full responsibility for the problem and full responsibility for making it right…and then they did? Big difference. Who will you do business with again?
You just know that your competition is be-smirching you – in fact, you hear exactly the nasty things they are saying about you. Breathe deeply, my friend. I was speaking to a customer the other day, we were not a good fit for them, I recommended my competition. It was well-received. But, when I am the right solution, I work like a mamba-jamba to help my customer see it, too. The competition does not stand a fighting chance when I am taking the high road.
When I was first learning the ropes of selling, I got to watch a salesperson make their pitch. Sadly, the projector would not display their PowerPoint presentation. They were lost. It was the single-most embarrassing sales situation I had ever witnessed. They had nothing to say. They looked like idiots. In every presentation, I am prepared to make the case with handouts and my own deep knowledge of our products. I learned the easy way – by watching an epic fail. Do yourself a favor. Be able to present on a napkin. You will do great!
I watched my sales manager do this just last week. He was an hour into the presentation. The decision-maker said “I like it” and then my sales manager kept selling. By the end of the conversation, the decision-maker was back to “we’ll see…we’ll be in touch.” We had created doubt. Moral of the story: Once they say “yes,” start talking about their son’s Little League. Set next steps. Leave the room.
A sales mentor once told me, “Once you have asked for the sale, stop talking…he who speaks next owns the product.” Sometimes this one is excruciating. I remember a time where I asked for the sale. "It looks like this is the right thing to do…should we do the paperwork?” My customer did not answer…for probably sixty seconds. I sat there and sweated it out – it felt like a year passed. My customer spoke next. “Yes.” Do not give in to temptation to keep selling after you have asked your question. He who speaks next buys the product…either they take it home with them or you take it back to the office with you.
This goes back to High School Prom 101. You do NOT want to be the one chasing the cute skirt to take to prom who does not want to go with you. First, she coyly declines and is gracious that you asked. Then, she rolls her eyes every time you show up in the lunch room. Finally, she applies for a restraining order. If you have a great product, there will be plenty of “yes-es”. Be James Bond. Get the girl. You can INTRIGUE a “no”, but you look like an idiot when you chase a “no”!
For more sales wisdom on everything from crafting the perfect voicemail to, like The Irreverent Sales Girl, having the perfect sales attitude, download the free ebook below.
