5 Fatal Sales Traps That Stop You Dead & How To Avoid Them

Have you ever dug a big, deep hole and then been stupid enough to fall into it?
Countless people unwittingly dig fatal sales traps for themselves that kill off any chance of a sale being made.  Five of the most common traps that you must avoid if you want to sell more of your products and services are:

1)      Thinking about the sale too much

When you are in the selling process you must stop thinking about the sale.  My  book ‘Bare Knuckle Selling’ does stress how important it is to set solid objectives for every sales call.  However, once you have done this, put your objective out of your mind and concentrate on the customer and what they want.  Get the dollar signs out of your eyes, forget your objective and focus on the most important person – the customer. Help them to get what they need and the sale will take care of itself.

2)      Failing to probe

If you truly want to help the customer then you must probe their needs thoroughly. Failing to ask enough questions and failing to clarify customer’s requirements leads to sales proposals that are off target.  If your proposal doesn’t meet the customer’s specific needs, your chances of success are slim.

3)      Negotiating before selling

Selling is convincing someone to purchase your product or service. Negotiation is agreeing on what terms the purchase will take place.  If you start negotiating before you have followed the correct selling process then you are, quite literally, selling yourself short.  If the customer does not fully appreciate how much you can help them then they are unlikely to be prepared to pay what you ask.  Sell first, negotiate second.  If you sell well then you may not need to negotiate at all.

4)      Price dropping

Many customers, particularly trained buyers, will always tell you that your price is “too expensive”. Many salespeople immediately drop their price (and cut their profits) in an attempt to close the sale.  This only encourages the customer to ask for further price cuts.  One of the many counters to “It’s too expensive” is, “you are absolutely right, it’s not cheap.  Would you like to know why?” And then re-commence selling the benefits of your product or service to justify your price.

5)      Failing to follow up

A sale isn’t a sale until the money is in the bank.  Failure to do what you say you are going to do will lose you more sales than anything else.  Always do what you promised to do, make sure the customer gets what they want, and make sure they pay you for it. The selling process is far from over when the customer says ‘Yes’. Follow through and make sure you don’t lose the sale through poor customer service.

Simon Hazeldine MSc FinstSMM is an international speaker and consultant in the areas of sales, negotiation, performance leadership and applied neuroscience. 

He is the bestselling author of five business books:

• Neuro-Sell: How Neuroscience Can Power Your Sales Success
• Bare Knuckle Selling
• Bare Knuckle Negotiating
• Bare Knuckle Customer Service
• The Inner Winner

To learn more about Simon's keynote speeches and other services please visit:

www.simonhazeldine.com

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