... And How To Avoid Them

Everyone in every career makes mistakes. Salespeople are no different, right? Well, not really. Allow me to explain.

The good news is that salespeople have the opportunity to make unlimited earnings.  But the sword cuts both ways. Salespeople also have the least margin for making mistakes. If an admin person errs, a form is filled out wrong. If a salesperson errs, a sale is lost. Mega difference.

Sales blow up before they are closed for many reasons, but three Mega Deal Killers top the list of culprits. Identify them before the fact, and, equally important how to avoid them, and you are going to increase your production exponentially.

Guaranteed.

Deal Killer One:

You ask for the business. The old school Willy Loman sales hacks advise that you ask the customer or the prospect for the business. No. No. No.

You are not a peddler. You are not a beggar. You are a problem solver, solution provider, advisor, consultant, expert, educator. Does your lawyer get on his hands and knees for the business? Does your doctor? You shouldn't either.

This isn't a matter of ego. It's about being a sales professional. If you ask for the business, you:

*Appear desperate and anything but professional.

* Fall back on a stunt as opposed to instilling trust. When you educate by presenting ideas, you don't have to ask for the business, your customers and prospects will ask you to serve them. In effect, they will turn the tables and sell you.

Case in point:

Three times a year, I have lunch with the CEO of a major insurance company. I never bring anything to sell him. I have no proposals in hand. No hidden agendas. I would love to walk away with an engagement for a major project but that is nowhere near the top of my mind.

I know he will ask me what is new at my firm. What interesting things we are up to. He always starts off that way. Reminding  yourself of your prospects' patterns before you walk in the room is critical. Replaying the movie of your last meeting in your mind before you enter the room again, provides you with strong and reliable signals and patterns for how to conduct yourself in this go-round. This new opportunity.

Armed with the knowledge of the  insurance company CEO’s patterns, I prepare myself to talk about the most compelling, innovative and intriguing work MSCO is doing. It may not be the biggest engagement or the most profitable, but it is the most captivating. And that's what captures his imagination.

And much more than that. In a dynamic the "ask for the sale” hustlers don't comprehend, once you captivate prospects, they begin to think, "Why don't I have MSCO do that for our firm?" They do the selling for you.

At one of our luncheons last year, the CEO started out, as usual, with request for an update on MSCO’s activities, such as interesting new projects we were working on. I had the perfect answer ready for him, wrapped up like a Tiffany's Christmas gift.

"Thanks for asking. We have just developed a system that can identify sales prospects, per industry category, on social networking sites such as MySpace and facebook. Think of it as a lead generation tool that cultivates opportunities throughout the Internet." 

Clearly intrigued, he asked me for more detail on how our system worked. Naturally, I answered each query, never once suggesting that he think of using the system for his business. I didn't have to.

"Mark, I think this could be powerful for us, don't you?” he asked. "I mean, think of how our sales guys would respond if we could cultivate entire new funnels of leads for them. Have you thought about that Mark?"

Well, I had, but as an idea man, a confidante, a solutions provider, I wanted the CEO to sell himself.  And he did, so to speak. Suffice it to say that after one more meeting with a senior team of staffers, he asked MSCO to build a custom system for his company on a four-month crash course, having it ready for the annual sales reps bash. Price tag: $3.1 million. 

Don't ask for the business. Make the offer so attractive the business asks for you.

Mega Deal Killer Two:

Never set an annual sales goal.

Conventional wisdom holds that this goal-setting exercise makes sense. But look at it closely and you will see it is self-defeating. Here's why:

* It puts an artificial ceiling on your expectations. Why aim for $250,000, $500,000 or $1 million in sales when you can shoot for the moon.

* It pressures you to force the issue with prospects, and no one wants pressure from a salesperson. But I have witnessed the scenario hundreds of times: a salesperson sets a personal quota, starts falling short and it’s desperation time in Dodge City. And what this does is virtually assure you will fall short of the mark you have set and burn bridges in the process. Far better is to go out everyday to spread ideas. To educate. To influence. To build trust. Then the dollars will come.

Mega Deal Killer Three:

Rely on referral sources.

Note I said "rely on." Building a network of referral sources, having them recommend you to their friends and family, is always a good thing. No argument there. But relying on them? Big mistake. That's because you pass control for your own destiny onto others who may or may not act on your behalf. And there's too much at stake for you to risk the "may not."  Case in point: mortgage loan brokers often think the best route to success is through real estate agents. So they meet with the agents, arm them with brochures, take them to lunch and on and on. This hope- springs-eternal approach places its faith in the agents advising their home-buying clients to secure a mortgage with the brochure toting loan broker.

The problems with this approach are many. Here are just two of the roadblocks:

*Agents are focused on home sales and purchases, their core business, not yours.

*Agents are inundated with brokers seeking referral business. You are but one of a crowd.

In this case, as in virtually all others, salespeople who bring their message directly to the source, a) don't have to rely on others, b) can make a better case for working with them and c) can build personal brands as they make a strong case for the advantage of selecting them.

The sad thing about selling is that so many people do it the wrong way. The great thing about selling is that so many people do it the wrong way. Avoid the Mega Deal Killers and your production will soar.