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High
Probability, Inc., a Philadelphia area sales training and consulting
firm, recently completed a survey of over 1000 business professionals.
Based on that information, the firm compiled a list of what were considered
to be the most common errors people make in sales.
Jacques Werth, founder and president of
High Probability, Inc., explained the study noting, “Every job
involves sales in one way or another, whether it’s part of the
title you hold or not. The process starts when you sell yourself to
get the job, and after that, you’re either selling your ideas to
management, or selling your company’s products or services to clients.
It is my experience that very few people enjoy the process of selling
or being sold to. I wanted to find out why.”
The sales mistakes that were most frequently
mentioned by people on both sides of the process; in no particular order
of priority, include:
1. Not choosing prospects carefully. People who were on the selling
end said they hated having to contact endless numbers of people, getting
rejected and winding up with little or no results for their time. The
people on the buying end resented the endless barrage of non-productive
telephone calls, and “Well, I just happened to be in the neighborhood”
visits. Werth explained that, “These two complaints are clearly
linked. Today’s selling process has been set up like a numbers
game -- get your foot in the door, meet with as many people as you can,
and sooner or later you’ll get a sale. Too much energy is wasted
on people who aren’t ready, willing, or able to buy. On the first
contact, salespeople usually try to sell the appointment rather than
qualify the prospect. Salespeople need to clearly state, up front, what
they’re selling, and find out whether what they’re selling
is what the prospect wants. The prospect wants the same information
-- they both have to qualify the other. Qualification and target marketing
are not just cute buzzwords. They are really the key ingredients to
being efficient and starting the sales process off on the right foot.”
2. Evasive or deceptive prospecting tactics. “Concealing
what you sell causes resistance,” said Werth. “Deceptive prospecting
calls bring out the worst in people.” Some of the comments from
people surveyed were, “Who do they think they’re kidding,
telling me they’re helping me with financial planning, when all
they really want to do is sell me insurance?” “Do they think
I’m stupid?” “I wouldn’t do business with someone
sneaky under any circumstances.”
Werth’s analysis is, “People won’t reveal their buying
intention to someone they don’t trust. Evasive and deceptive prospecting
tactics are transparent to both sides and are sure to immediately trigger
distrust. If you state your offer truthfully, prospects will usually
consider whether they want what you’re selling instead of responding
with knee-jerk resistance. People know when you’re feeding them
a line.”
3. Talking too much, and not asking questions. Everybody complained
about “dog and pony shows.” Salespeople didn’t like putting
them on, and buyers didn’t like having to sit through them. Werth
pointed out, “Years ago, before the media explosion, information
was not as accessible as it is today, and presentations that were educational
were an appreciated part of the sales process. Today, people have ready
access to most basic product and service information. It’s rare
that someone needs or
wants a general presentation or a recitation of your resume. The sooner
you start asking questions and finding out whether you or your product
meet the potential buyer’s or employer’s needs, the more successful
you’re likely to be.”
4. Insincerity. Insincerity, or dishonesty, appeared under a
slew of names such as “falsely enthusiastic, unauthentic, unctuous,
a-- kissing,” and a few even spicier descriptions. “Whatever
you call it,” says Werth, “it doesn’t work. If you’re
really excited about a job you’re applying for there’s nothing
wrong with saying so. Too many people, however, fool themselves, thinking
they can fool others by acting falsely excited or impressed. Dishonesty
glows in the dark. It’s always sensed by the recipient at some
level, and it fosters indelible distrust and ill will.”
5. Focusing on the product or the job too much and forgetting you
are dealing with another human being. This complaint took a variety
of forms. With minor variations, most sounded like, “Everyone’s
product seems just about the same. If I’m going to buy a product,
it will be from someone I can trust and respect.” Or, “I didn’t
care how wonderful his product was. The guy was a jerk and I won’t
buy from him.”Werth’s insight is that, “Today’s
market is highly competitive with comparable choices available for almost
every item in every industry. The distinguishing factor will usually
have nothing to do with the product itself, but rather whether there
is a sense of trust and respect between the two people doing business.
Since most buyers have difficulty
weighing the merits of competitive offerings, they look for someone
they trust and respect to guide their choice.”
6. Lack of standards. “When business is tough,” Werth
commented, “people tend to lower their standards and accept deals
and jobs they might not have otherwise considered. Layoffs are still
at record numbers. There’s a lot of pressure to keep a job and
even more pressure on someone trying to find a new one.”
It was clear from the survey that
people don’t respect, hire, or want to do business with people
who don’t have standards. Buyers and employers said that hearing
someone say “yes” too willingly or too often gave them cause
for concern. Why? They said it made them wonder whether the “yes-man”
salesperson could actually deliver what they promised or whether the
suspiciously enthusiastic job applicant will really be a happy and productive
employee. They also said they wanted people with the inclination and
ability to be straightforward.
Salespeople, on the other hand, felt discouraged
with always having to live up to their own unrealistic sales pitches.
They also regretted having to transact business on an extended basis
with people they never should have gotten involved with.
7. Not being able to say “no” or hear “no.”
While this situation is closely related to not having standards and
saying “yes” too willingly, it was raised frequently enough
to deserve special comment on its own.
Salespeople were frequently described
in negative terms as being noncommittal and
evasive, as compared with the complaint that they were annoyingly positive
and eager to please. Werth explained, “It was hard to distinguish
what made people more upset -- when they were told ‘yes’ and
were later disappointed, or when they couldn’t get a clear ‘no’
from someone and were left hanging. Especially in sales, people need
to get over their fear of flatly saying ‘no.’ Answering with
an honest ‘no’ creates clarity
and builds trust and respect; giving someone a vague answer or no answer
at all creates uncertainty and generates distrust.”
Werth also pointed out, “Being willing
to accept ‘no’ is probably the most difficult thing for a
salesperson to do, and yet, one of the things that prevents customers
from buying is the salesperson’s overbearing need for the buyer
to say ‘yes.’ You have to let people know that if they don’t
want what you’re selling, it’s all right to say so.”
8. Convincing and persuading. Survey respondents said, “The
more someone tries to convince me that I need what he’s selling,
the less I want it,” and, “As soon as I feel I’m being
talked into something, I end the conversation as quickly as possible.”
“Whenever you try to convince and persuade someone to do something,”
said Werth, “they automatically resist -- sometimes consciously...often
unconsciously.”
9. Lack of self-respect. “The tougher things get the more desperate
the work force,” said Werth. The survey revealed that sellers,
buyers, employers and applicants all hated what they sensed as a desperate
urge to do almost anything to get the sale or the job. Sellers didn’t
like begging, lying or pleading; and buyers didn’t like being begged,
lied to, or pleaded with either. Werth noted, “No one wants to
do business with
or hire someone who has no dignity. Maintaining your self-respect and
dignity throughout the sales or interview process is paramount for success
in any field.”
10. Creating an adversarial relationship. According to Werth, this
was the area of greatest concern, voiced in various ways: “I just
get uncomfortable with the tug-of-war in a sales situation,” or,
“As soon as a salesperson calls, I feel like it’s going to
be an unpleasant struggle.” Werth explained, “When you know
that someone wants to get you to do something, the natural reaction
is to try to protect yourself. That’s where resistance, suspicion
and hostility come from. Anything a salesperson says or does in that
kind of adversarial environment will be construed as manipulative. The
way to avoid this is for salespeople to change their agenda from ‘getting
someone to buy’ to ‘discovering whether there’s a mutually
acceptable basis for doing business.’ As soon as people sense that
the salesperson is not there to get them to do anything, they start
to trust, and the adversarial situation disappears.”
High Probability, Inc. is a privately-held corporation founded in
1989 by Jacques Werth, who has studied and worked in sales for over
35 years. The company holds selling and prospecting workshops, develops
industry specific corporate sales training through custom seminars and
ongoing coaching, and also offers individual consultations. Correspondence
to the firm should be addressed to Jacques Werth, High Probability,
Inc., 3228 Ayr Lane, Dresher, PA 19025; the telephone is (215) 657-0770
-- out of state (800) 394-7762; or email main@highprobsell.com.
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