Three Mistakes That May Cost You Sales

By Jim Klein

As you read every word of this article you will discover three
common mistakes that may be costing you sales. However, I don't
want you to feel like you are alone, or thats it's totally your
fault. These are common mistakes made by many sales people due to
the lack of proper sales training.

Sales is a process, and having said that, there are certain steps
that must be followed in order for the process to end with the
ultimate outcome, a sale. If any of these steps are skipped or not
done properly, you may very well waste your time and in the
process, damage your confidence and self esteem.

Many sales people skip or hurry through certain steps, and then
search for techniques to help them close the sale and make up for
them taking short cuts in the sales process.

There are no short cuts to success in sales. If you follow the
sales process and thoroughly cover all the steps, you will be
surprised at the success you will have.

Failure to build rapport with the prospect is the first mistake
most sales people make.

I'm sure you will agree, when it comes to the most important steps
in the sales process, establishing a deep level of trust and
rapport is one of the most important. Would you agree with that?

Great!

As a matter of fact, I believe that connecting with your prospects
is the most important step of all, because until they like you and
trust you, they're not going to purchase anything from you.

Think back on your own experiences when you have purchased
something. Have you ever purchased anything from someone you didn't
like or trust? I would bet the answer is NO!

You have probably gone out of your way to not purchased something
from someone you didn't like or trust. Isn't that true?

Can you remember a time when you actually walked out of a store and
said to yourself, "There is no way I will ever purchase anything
from him, I don't like him", or "I don't trust her". Does that
sound at all familiar? I bet it does.

An important thing to remember when building rapport with your
prospect is to make a good first impression.

The old cliché, "you never get a second chance to make a good first
impression" is very true, because a first impression can be nearly
impossible to reverse or undo. A first impression is extremely
important, because it sets the tone for your entire relationship
with your prospect.

Here are some key points to remember to help you make a good first
impression:

Be on time
Relax
Present yourself appropriately
Smile
Be positive
Be courteous and attentive

Then, once you've made a good first impression, the fastest way to
establish a deep level of trust and rapport is by showing a genuine
interest in the prospect and mirroring and matching your prospects
words, voice and physiology.

The second common mistake many sales people make that costs them
sales, is not qualifying a prospect properly to find the emotional
reasons why they need your product or service.

When it comes to qualifying a prospect it's important to understand
the reasons why people do things, and ultimately, why they will or
will not purchase your product or service. You see, people will
purchase your product or service to satisfy one of two main needs.
Some times they will even purchase to satisfy both needs.

These two needs are:

1.The need to avoid pain, or a loss

2.The need to gain pleasure.

These are the two motivating factors in a person for doing anything
in their life; to gain pleasure, or to avoid pain. You may have
heard it stated this way, "The carrot or the stick". The carrot
represents the edible reward, while the stick refers to a punishing
switch.

Your goal in finding the answer to the prospects' problems is to
find the pleasure they wish to gain or the pain they wish to avoid,
and then show them how your product or service will help them avoid
that pain, or gain the pleasure they seek.

Does that make sense?

Great! Let's move on...

People buy products or services based on emotional needs or wants,
and then justify their purchase logically.

So, in the qualifying phase of the sales process you need to find
what the desired results are your prospect is seeking. Then you
must dig deep to find their internal emotional reasons for wanting
what they are telling you they want.

When you connect with people and their emotional reasons for
wanting what they desire, you have tremendous power to give them
what they want, and have them feel great about buying your product
or service.

The third mistake many sales people make that costs them sales is
to present their product or service without building a deep level
of trust and rapport and qualifying the prospect properly.

We have already determined a prospect will not buy from you unless
they like you or trust you. So, why would any sales person present
their product or service to someone who they haven't built a deep
level of rapport with?

It's a waste of the prospects' and the sales persons time. The
chances of the prospect buying from someone they don't like or
trust are slim to none.

And how can you present your product or service as a solution to a
prospects' problem if you haven't determined what their problem is;
whether they have one at all, or whether your product or service is
a solution to their problem?

Many sales people even skip the qualifying step all together,
thinking they all ready know what their prospect wants and needs.

The steps of the sales process are there for a reason. They're a
road map for the successful sales person to follow, to lead them to
their destination. A win for themselves, and a win for their
prospect.