WATCHTIME

10 Mistakes You DON'T Want to Make in Sales!

September 16, 2020 MintTwist Season 3 Episode 3
WATCHTIME
10 Mistakes You DON'T Want to Make in Sales!
Show Notes Transcript

Sales is the arguably the most important subject in business, yet the one that is least studied at school.  Why?
 
 In this episode we discuss the 10 most common mistakes that a salesperson can make. We've made the mistake, so YOU don't have to!

WATCHTIME is the LIVE, weekly, industry news and chat show, hosted by x-BBC Apprentice Candidate, Aleksandra King and Digital Agency Founder and CEO, Elliott King. Produced by Digital Agency and Multistreamed with Restream.

Narrator (00:07):
The WATCHTIME show sponsored by digital agency MintTwist.

Aleksandra (00:15):
Hi everyone. And welcome to another exciting episode of watch time sponsored by restream I'm Alexandra Kim

Elliott (00:24):
And I'm Elliot King. And we're both from MintTwist the digital agency at minttwist.com. So as Alexandra said, the show is sponsored by restream and we're using this amazing software to stream this episode and all episodes in the series to multiple channels. So live to LinkedIn, YouTube, Twitter, Facebook repurposes, a podcast, and restrained. The IO is an amazing piece of technology. I would suggest you check them out. Definitely makes life a lot easier. Absolutely. So what have we got today?

Aleksandra (00:57):
Today's one of my favorite topics in the whole world sales. So we have 10 sales, mistakes that people make and how to avoid them. We're going to go through the morning.

Elliott (01:10):
Yeah. Looking forward to it. But the question is, how many of those mistakes have you made in your career?

Aleksandra (01:16):
I made them, we've all made at least one or two of them. You'll recognize them.

Elliott (01:21):
I got to hold my hands up and say, I made a lot of Salesforce steaks in my career, especially early on being so self taught sales person. You have to learn from your mistakes. Don't you,

Aleksandra (01:31):
You really did. You read it. That's the best way to learn. However, it's also good if you don't make so many!

Elliott (01:37):
Absolutely. So hopefully today, by listening to some of the common sales mistakes I made, you can skip them out. If you're early on in your career, if you're further on in your career, you're probably give a knowing nod to, to the audio or to the video wherever you're watching this. And sort of, you might recognize some of them,

Aleksandra (01:55):
Right. Shall we start with the first one, which is relevant? Yes. Right. Mistake number one, not listening and talking too much.

Elliott (02:04):
Well, it's a classic.

Aleksandra (02:07):
It is a classic. You know, the way that I look at it is an easy way to remember if you're talking too much is trying to think about the second role. So 30 seconds, if you find yourself talking for more than 30 seconds, you're probably rambling on a bit too much. So cuts it down. And if you're not sure how 32nd feels time yourself, literally time yourself at home.

Elliott (02:30):
I guess. It's that? It's that if you're using your, if you're using your mouth more than your ears in a sales meeting, then it means there's something going wrong. Okay.

Aleksandra (02:39):
Yeah. I mean, if you, I think it's, you know, what you say is also really important. So if you're saying something relevant, that's brilliant, please do use your mouth. But if you rambling on and you're not checking in with the other person along that communication journey, if you're not saying, Oh, what do you think about what I just said? Or do you agree with me? How about this idea? If you don't see what they on, they might've got off that ship a long time ago and they're completely cruising another highway and you're still rambling on. So rambling on,

Elliott (03:07):
It's a terrible thing. And I guess that's where the empathy comes in. If you can, if you can take those visual cues and understand whether someone's engaged in what you're saying or not, and if you can see them moving away, then, then you can correct it.

Aleksandra (03:21):
Not so much empathy, but more OBS observation. And that's, you know, you'll have a better idea. If you do check in, if you ask them a question, Oh, how do you feel about what I just said? Do you agree with that? And

Elliott (03:34):
Yeah. What about, let me just ask you, cause I know you could have this. What about if you've got someone who's not particularly engaged and you need to draw them in, if you've got any tips for that situation?

Aleksandra (03:43):
Well, that's when you need to talk even less. So really the questions you ask or opportunities to open up a door to some brilliant information that they are going to give you about themselves. Even if they introverted, if you ask the right questions, they're going to give you something. And when they give you that something you've got to look at, what do I have and how can I use this to make a sale? Every time they open their mouth, it's a golden opportunity. And it's golden nuggets of information that you can use to get that sale done. As long as you're listening and taking it in and applying what they say to make that sale, you've got to constantly be, you know, getting so the more they talk the better for you, right?

Elliott (04:24):
Yeah. And then you ask a followup question. Yeah, that's it.

Aleksandra (04:29):
You keep, you know, you get that information and then you utilize it to make the sale, which is ultimate. That's why you're there.

Elliott (04:36):
And what about the clubs? Where, when is the right time to go in for that closing

Aleksandra (04:40):
Again, if you've been checking in and you know that you're making progress, you will have a very, very good feeling as to whether they are ready to, to complete that sale or not. If you're aware of them, if you're really analyzing them. And I don't just mean what they say, I also mean their body language. Are they open? Are they facing towards you? Do they have an engaged face or are they a bit distant or their arms a bit folded? Are they asking a lot of questions or there negative questions? How are you managing the negativity? I mean, you can think you can over analyze as well, but really a sales person is almost like a psychologist. I think you gotta be, you gotta analyze your material.

Elliott (05:23):
Absolutely. Yeah. Really some really wise words. I feel like I'm learning from a Sage. Yeah. Okay. You go on to number two,

Aleksandra (05:31):
Right? Number two, offering too much for nothing. And you probably have as people. And to, to say about that, cause you run a business and you don't ever, like,

Elliott (05:40):
I think, think for those of those of us up there who work in services, businesses, it's a, it's a classic issue. Where you, you engage you know, a client or a customer in some form of, you know, service, which is a deliverable. And because a service, what actually we're actually needs to be delivered can be somewhat subjective. And you sort of open yourselves up to customers saying, you know, can I have this and can I have that? Can you just throw in this and not the other? And I guess it's, it's an easy one to fall into for any sales possible. Particularly if you're selling services, what do you think? Yeah,

Aleksandra (06:16):
Because you, you always want to please the client. I mean, I'm definitely a client pleaser. You wanna, you want to just give them the world so that they say, Oh, you're wonderful. You did such a great job for us and Saturday and you would you'd work forever and do absolutely anything for them. But at the end of the day, your responsibility is to run your business. The objective of the business is to make money. Yes, you're offering service, but if you're not making money, then you're not in business. You're in charity. So either you go to charities and sort of charitable trust, or you go into business, what's it going to be?

Elliott (06:49):
To me, the past sale is when it's a mutually profitable arrangement. So, you know, that was given to me by an advisor a few years ago. And if you can seek genuine, if both sides, you know, customer and sales person seek to obtain immediately profitable arrangement, then you should be in a good place. Of course. Yeah.

Aleksandra (07:12):
Right. Next one, mistake number three, not focusing on the solution.

Elliott (07:18):
Yeah. Again, particularly relevant for if you're, if you're selling a service, but increasingly relevant products too. It's that age old thing of understanding that the customer is buying the solution to a problem rather than your product or service per se, I guess

Aleksandra (07:34):
That's right. And, and when people purchase something, they're obviously purchasing it because they need it or they might not even need it. They just want to associate themselves with that product or that service for whatever reason. And you've got to find out what that is, you know, what is the solution? What's their problem? How can I apply the solution again? You, when you're talking to them, you're listening and you're observing everything. Every single thing the client does when they walk into that room, you should be observing, not like, you know, just, just be aware and really put yourself in a position as much as you possibly can forget about you somewhat. You think it's everything about what they think and what they want. So you really understand them get into their life, into their head, become them for that minute or two and then give them what they need.

Elliott (08:30):
Yeah. And again, I think the way that you get to that, in that pain point, that the problem that the customer is trying to solve. It's questions, questions, questions, questions. It's a bit like what you were saying. The question for the 0.1, I remember sales training. The guy said to me, keep asking questions until you get to the source of the problem. And once you get to that point, then yeah. Then you can play back to the, what your service and products can do in order to solve a specific issue that they're looking

Aleksandra (09:00):
Okay. Focusing on price and not value. I suppose that's similar to what you were saying and what is the value in what you're giving them?

Elliott (09:09):
Yeah. I mean you know, it's all very well knowing the price of everything, if you don't know the cost and obviously cost is relative. It depends very much on what is the, if you're a B to B business and you find that your potential customer has a problem, what is the cost of that problem, you know, to that particular customer and you need to reevaluate your solution so that it provides an answer to their problem. But if it doesn't give them more value than the current cost problem that they're having, then it's, it's by itself. It's not asleep.

Aleksandra (09:43):
Yes. You know, for me as well, when I think about value, I just, I would find it incredibly difficult to sell someone, something that I don't believe in that I don't believe is worth it, or some sort of shady product or something like that. I really have to believe it because, you know, you can see it in my face. I can't pretend. So if I don't like it, you're going to know. And then the clients can know. So it's incredibly important for me to believe with every single cell in my body that what I am proposing here is the light thing, the absolutely right thing for that client. And you can't go wrong if you're, if you're authentic and you really believe it. And you know, based on the research that you've done, that that's the right fit for them then.

Elliott (10:29):
Yeah. I think that's a great point because, because if you don't believe in the value of what you're selling, then you're not going to be able to kind of be able to be honest and transparent in a way that in the way that you approach, which will likely be see-through. So yeah. Focusing on value as opposed to price is crucial.

Aleksandra (10:49):
Okay. Number five, making promises, you can't keep. Yeah. I think that happens quite often.

Elliott (10:56):
This can be, this can be a bit of a rookie era and you know, I've certainly made it, you know, in my time it's, it's, it's where those customers throw in those final requests just before they sort of agreed to the deal. Oh, can you just add this? And can you just add that the temptation is always to say yes, yes, yes. When sometimes you have to say no.

Aleksandra (11:18):
Yeah, that's right. You can't. And also we had an interesting experience actually recently we're getting our offers in for our windows to be done. And one man who is extremely professional, he was saying, Oh, well, I'll get you the quote, you know, or hopefully by the end of next week, I'll try and do that by the end of next week. So you get it in your mind. Yes. Quite coming by the end of next week. Now, if they didn't bring that quoting by the end of next week, that would be a really bad Mark against their name, but he delivered it a week early. And that's a lovely little tip. Just always say, you'll do something and just do that extra bit better. Always, always. Yeah, absolutely.

Elliott (11:54):
It's better to under, under promise and over deliver is how the saying goes. Instead of don't say yes to anything that you're not sure that you can, that you can tell it from

Aleksandra (12:04):
Throw that little thing in later on if you can. Yeah. Okay. And this is a strange one selling without not actually having an intention to sell. Have you ever,

Elliott (12:16):
So this is interesting. What are we, when we were looking at this article early on, what they're getting at here is that there are a certain number of sales people out there who live for the sales presentation as opposed to living for the club, which is a problem.

Aleksandra (12:33):
So have you encountered that?

Elliott (12:36):
I personally have have we'd like to think global has been focused on the end objective on quite focused person. But when I read this, I thought I I've, I've recognized that in other salespeople I've worked with yeah. It's, it's an easy one to fall into because the sales pitch, the presentation, that's the exciting part. That's the fun part. Sometimes when it comes down to the actual numbers and asking for the money, there are a lot of sales people.

Aleksandra (13:04):
It's when you have to talk about someone's budget and when you feel like you're asking for money, that doesn't come naturally to people and it's a bit embarrassing. And so it was like, Oh, you know, cause you have this lovely relationship there. You're talking about all these benefits. And then you say to someone actually, can you, can you pay for that?

Elliott (13:19):
But actually you're, you're telling yourself any favors and you're to fight for the customer because at the end of the day, if the customer is going to get your wonderful product or service, they need to be able to tie up a deal with you

Aleksandra (13:30):
Value. Yeah. Number seven is not being ready to overcome objectives or obstacles.

Elliott (13:38):
Yeah. I think this is, this is a great one because if a customer, if a potential customer's being honest and upfront and direct with you and pointing out those objections, they have to your product or service or potential obstacles that they're facing. If they don't appointment out, then they're not helping you because they're not giving you an opportunity to overcome. If they do point them out, don't take that as a negative. Take it as an opportunity to find a way through that objection with alongside

Aleksandra (14:06):
That's it. It's almost always, they're going to say all the price, what can we do about the price? And you can go, Oh, nothing. And then someone else comes along with a better price. You're just out. So you've got to be ready to be flexible. Talk about ag actually expected, always expected.

Elliott (14:23):
And actually this is where your points around asking the right questions, getting the right information. Because then when you do get given an objection, whether it's about price or anything else, you can sort of play back the, the problems that your solution and product is going to solve, which will then bring the customer back to the value that you're providing, as opposed to the price.

Aleksandra (14:43):
You've really got to listen to that objection because when they going through it, when you've left them and you've got no more control over them in environment, that objection is going to be running through their head. And it will be the potential reason you're not getting that deal. You have to prepare for it.

Elliott (14:59):
Absolutely. I don't always do this myself, but I've, I've experienced being sold to by did salespeople very often. They'll end a conversation by saying, yeah. Is there any reason why you won't buy this product or service or can you see any reason why you, why you wouldn't want it

Aleksandra (15:16):
Hold you back? It's a very good question. Very, very good indeed. Right. That brings us onto an interesting one about arguing with the customer. Have you ever done that? Not in the Salesforce.

Elliott (15:35):
Yeah. I mean, I mean, you know, the Canadians run one way and that's badly and no sale.

Aleksandra (15:42):
Yes. They're not. Don't argue. We don't need to dwell on that one just yet.

Elliott (15:47):
I think, I think even, even any form of frustration, if you're starting to feel that right.

Aleksandra (15:52):
Show your frustration and your stress and sweaty forehead, it's just like, if they don't like you, there is no way they're going to buy from you. No way

Elliott (16:01):
People buy from people

Aleksandra (16:03):
For people, right? Number nine, not doing your homework. I watched nest seekers the other day on Netflix. I'm not sure if any, if anyone watching the podcast has watched this, but there's a classic mistake. When one of the estate agents who's setting a $33 million home is asked, you know, really quite obvious questions about the property because you know, you have to justify, for example, what are the acoustics on the glass? Hmm. I don't know. What, what, you know, what are the benefits of the, the solar system? What, what are you getting? What sort of energy you're getting? I don't know. I mean, it's Oh, it's just so bad. If you're sending something that's such high value, you better, not every single thing there is on this earth about it inside out.

Elliott (16:50):
Yeah. Absolutely. The modern day sales person needs to be an expert on the product and service so that you can, so that you can sell to your customers in a consultative way. And if you don't understand, at least the basics of your products and service, then you're not going to make a very effective sales person.

Aleksandra (17:08):
Not at all right. Last one is not getting to the decision maker.

Elliott (17:14):
Yeah. So this again is it's classic sales strategy. You need to understand the decision making process and ultimately you need to be able to pitch or at least speak to the decision maker because otherwise you can't convey the messages that you need to convey. If you try. And if you're relying on going through someone else, then they invariably went through.

Aleksandra (17:36):
It's very difficult, but it's not always possible in every sales process to speak directly to the buyer that, so that changes things a little bit. So when you're analyzing, you're not perhaps analyzing this person, that's representing them as behavior, but you need to through them into the buyer's life and what the buyer could be thinking. You've got to still ask the right questions. You've got to still put in all that work, but yet it's not that easy if you, if you don't have someone, if they are in front of you, that is an easy sale. Someone standing in front of you wanting something is an easy, easy sale,

Elliott (18:09):
An easy sale for, for a good sales person, but for everyone. Well, the interesting thing about the decision maker, if you're a B to B sales person, it's not necessarily always the most senior person involved, I've encountered plenty of times when we're junior people in a process actually have, have a lot of trust within the organization that ultimately give them the decision. So be warned, don't always play and give all of the verbal and visual attention to the most senior person would be careful and spread it around and, and, and, and just making sure, yeah,

Aleksandra (18:21):
Right. So yes. So even if you have a big group, but so even if you're selling to a big group of people, you have to then manage the whole group as a whole, when they leave that meeting, they're going to all be discussing whether they should do business with you. So you want to make sure that all of them are happy.

Elliott (18:40):
Wow. Just talking about sounds like this makes it sound like a psychological minefields that we have to navigate.

Aleksandra (18:47):
It is. And it isn't because at the end of the day, people are saying to people you've got something that they want. So just communicate in the right way and make it happen. Just make it happen. Enjoy it.

Elliott (18:57):
Yeah. It can be a fun process. Yeah.

Aleksandra (19:00):
Yeah. Right. Well, that concludes today's episode of watch time. Hope you've enjoyed it. Hope you're going to be a better salesperson after hearing that.

Elliott (19:09):
Yeah. We hope he got some value out of all of this stuff. And please remember to check out [inaudible] dot com. If you're interested in digital marketing, if you're looking to set up podcasting, video, costing, restraining, anything to do that, go and check out. Restream at restraint dot. I thank you very much for them for sponsoring.

Aleksandra (19:28):
Sure. And if you have any tips for us about sales, please put them in the call.

Elliott (19:32):
Yeah. The last night, I would want some feedback here, guys.

Aleksandra (19:38):
Digital Agency, MintTwist.