Inside Sales Gone Wrong: 5 Common Sales Rep Mistakes
Growing your company will almost always include making some mistakes along the way. If you don’t make any mistakes, it probably means you’re playing it safe.
Making mistakes is what makes us human. But some mistakes can be costly, and sales mistakes can be expensive.
Here are five mistakes that are hurting brands sales mojo:
1. Trying to close the sale far too early
This can be the hardest part of the whole sales process. Even the best have to try hard and put in effort into getting prospects to close.
As many salespeople would agree, one of the hardest parts of the job is “sealing the deal.” But one thing sales professionals like to do is to close the sale too early. Sales is a state of mind that shows expertise in your offering and confidence in your company.
And this can be more effective to buyers than the cost.
Why approach it slowly?
A slower pace gets the prospect to understand what you’re trying to sell. It’s positioned as something that can be long-term, rather than short-term.
There is no perfect approach to what makes a pitch. It’s important to “scan the room” and access your customer’s needs. Then you can determine what sales techniques you need to use to seal the deal.
Basically, don’t try to close the pitch too early.
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2. Doing all the talking throughout the pitch
Most salespeople love to talk. The best salespeople love to ask targeted sales questions, and then listen very attentively to what the prospect says.
Prospects do not want to attend a pitch that is an opportunity for one person to give a speech. And with just one person talking, team members no longer feel a part of the team.
Those who go on, and on, can appear to undervalue others’ contributions, lack self-awareness and seem self-absorbed.
Try to make sure that other team members contribute. Let them know that you would like them to speak up and share their ideas.
If you prepare and take measures to ensure you aren’t the only one speaking, you can make the pitch worthwhile.
3. Not doing research before pressing send
Imagine somebody receiving an email from you. Why would they open it? Crafting a relevant cold email subject line is where it starts, but you're up against a lot of negative factors: They have no idea who you are, what you do, or why they should care about what you’re offering.
Can they trust that you are credible?
Buyers are flooded with sales emails daily. According to DRM, the average office worker receives 121 emails ever day. They open only a small amount, read a few of them and it’s a small amount that they actually respond.
However, this doesn’t mean you should forget about emailing prospects.
Researching prospects before you send an email can make a difference.
Yes, I know time is precious. But it doesn’t mean you should slack off.
Block off time to dig up facts about your prospects. And we all know, practice makes perfect, so keep at it until you’re crushing your sales goals.
4. Sending automated emails without double-checking the work
Raise your hand if you’ve ever sent an email, only to notice after hitting “send” that it contains a mistake. I know I have.
Talk about embarrassment, right?
If you use an email template, it can make it easier than ever to avoid these slip ups.
Do a run through to make sure an error hasn’t slipped your mind. Especially if you use data or facts.
If you’re not leveraging proofreading, you’re just asking for trouble. And it can be just as embarrassing if you have to recall that message and send out corrected information.
5. Not being prepared for the actual call
To have a fighting chance of closing a sale, you have to start each call armed with a plan of how you’re going to crush it and meet the buyer’s needs. And a lack of preparing means a chance of things not going your way, when you make the call.
Although preparing for a sales call can’t promise a good outcome, it will increase the likelihood of getting what you want.
Before you call, you’ve got to prepare.
The idea is to create a framework where you have enough information to get started. Yes, planning takes time, but once you map out your plan, you’ll dominate all future calls.
And it won’t be long before your time investment pays off.
Sales mistakes don't have to cost you deals
You have to be smart and avoid the mistakes mentioned.
If you can do that, you’ll be crushing the sales game, closing more deals and bringing in more revenue.
Want more tips on building a winning sales machine for your business? Check out our (100% free) email course for startup founders, business owners, sales managers and reps!
