Analyzing some of the most egregious salesperson behavior may clue you in on ways to improve your own sales pitches. Assume that a great majority of your competition still make amateur mistakes, and that the rest simply have an inferior product next to yours. Now you have the competitive edge to stay in business! Here are a few mistaken approaches to analyze.
1. Call your potential client on the phone.
There are many ways to find a phone number, so most businesses and important people assume you will respect their time and only phone when necessary. Many salespersons call potential prospects on the phone at the worst time. It??™s far better to email first and then arrange for a call later on. Just because you have someone??™s business card shouldn??™t entitle you to phone abuse.
2. Try to explain brilliance rather than ???show??? it.
Whether you??™re selling software, a new product or a service, have a demonstration ready in multimedia format. This is far more effective than trying to sell a new idea based on words alone. People (especially people who have limited time) want strong visuals explaining how the product will play out.
3. Focus on the hard sell.
A hard sell uses more direct, forceful and overt sales messages. Soft sells are usually more persuasive, since many potential clients will immediately recognize hard sells for what they are: desperate measures by desperate sales personnel. A good product or service sells itself. To some, the hard sell is like covering an old sock in delicious country style gravy.
4. When all else fails, go above the client??™s head.
If one suit rejects you, why not climb the ladder and ask a higher up? Not a good idea. Whether the higher up is the man of the house??™s wife or the boss of the boss, most superiors trust their other half??™s judgment. In fact, professionally speaking, most higher-ups know far less about buying new ideas than the professional in charge of hearing your pitch. They will probably end up referring you the original prospect you spoke to or emailed.
Avoid these mistakes! Come up with a good product or service and the less common sales tactics you use, the better you will sell!
2 thoughts on “The Worst Salesman Mistakes”
Hi Srini
Do you have any alternative for cold calls strategy?
Implementing the methods above will be easy, but they still don’t replace the cold calls method.
Hi Omer,
Appreciate your comment..
As we know, Cold Calls to consumers are dead. I am yet to find a viable prospect who is not on DO-NOT-CALL list. If they are not they are hard to find and if at all they are found they will be on the list in no time…I should have mentioned that in the post.
I prefer, recommend and practice direct mail and online paid traffic strategies to everyone.
Hope that helps.
Srini