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How many of you are sales managers or directors and truly
know what your sales team are saying to your customers?
If you're anything like most that I meet you'll have some
idea, but would probably be horrified to learn exactly how
the conversations go between your sales team and individual
customers day-to-day. It's hard enough if you're managing
internal salespeople, where at least you can overhear some
of their telephone conversations, but if you're managing a
field-based team the problems become far worse!
Whether it's just carelessness, or a lack of focus,
salespeople say the strangest things to customers, without
any thought of where it might lead them! Below are some
actual examples of phrases I've heard salespeople say to
clients or prospects, either over the phone when I've been
listening to calls or directly in front of them when I've
been doing field visits with the salesperson.
Sales Mistake Number 1 - Telling the Customer they’re
wrong!
Customer "I'm not convinced about the reliability of
the machine. I've heard you can get problems when it's been
running for a certain period of time".
Salesperson "Well I don't know who you've heard that
from but that's just plain wrong! This machine is the best
on the market and never breaks down!"
Customer
"Oh really? That's not what Jim said over at XYZ Machinery
where you installed one last week and have been back to it
twice already".
Salesperson "Oh. So you know Jim at XYZ Machinery?
Erm…"
This type of response happens so often it's frightening! The
salesperson hears an objection, can't deal with it, panics
and makes something up on the spot in a desperate attempt to
sound convincing! The result? The salesperson loses all
credibility in front of the prospect or client and is so
embarrassed not only do they not get their outcome from this
call, but they rarely feel like they can call this person
back ever again.
Sales Mistake Number 2 - Not Listening To the Customer
Customer "I'm sure that it's a great system but I
don't think we need anything that complicated here".
Salesperson "It really is good. It's the best system
on the market and you can even program it remotely and
configure it in real-time from an external location"
Customer "I don't think we'd use that feature, it's
too complicated for us and we don't have the budget for such
an extravagance".
Salesperson
"Oh so budget's a problem for you is it? When will you get
your new budget?"
Customer "Not until next March".
Salesperson "Oh so we'd probably be better waiting
until then wouldn't we. Shall I call you back towards the
end of February? Great, speak to you then".
No, No and No! How on earth did the salesperson mis-hear
what the customer was saying to him? The problem is, most
salespeople don't listen to what the customer is saying to
them, they're too busy thinking of what they're going to say
next! You wouldn't believe how many conversations I listen
to where buying signals are missed and critical information
is ignored because people just aren't listening!
Even worse, the salesperson then left the call and wasn't
going to call back for a few months time. What do you think
would happen in that time? That's right - a competitor would
call the customer and actually listen to them, propose a
solution more to their needs and close the business, leaving
our salesperson to call back in February already having lost
the business.
Sales Mistake Number 3 - Making the Customer feel
worthless
Customer "What's the extra charge for?"
Salesperson "That's the small order charge. All
orders under £50 are subject to it"
Customer "But I don't need any more than what I've
ordered. I don't see why I should have to pay a penalty for
placing an order with you. I'm sure that some of your
customers don't pay that charge, is that right?"
Salesperson "Well our gold level customers don't pay
it. But that's because they spend a lot of money with us"
Customer "So are you saying that you charge it to
some customers and not others? Why is my business worth less
to you than theirs?"
Salesperson's "Errrrmmmm……"
Blabbermouth strikes again! Instead of explaining what the
small order charge was for and suggesting ways around it,
our salesperson has now created an irate customer who feels
that their business isn't important to the company! Anyone
suggest a better way to get a customer to seek out another
supplier?!!! Again a small situation that escalated into a
very big one!
Sales Mistake Number 4 - Making a complaint worse
Customer "Martin, we've been having a few problems
with our xyz system, can you do anything to solve it? We're
getting sick of it going wrong."
Salesperson "Well I'd like to do something to help,
but you're outside of your warranty period you see"
Customer
"And?"
Salesperson "Well we'd have done something for you if
it was still in the warranty period, but it's not"
Customer
"So are you saying you're not willing to help me?"
Salesperson
"Well as I already said, it's outside the warranty period.
But we do have a great range of new machines you could
buy….."
How helpful was our salesperson in this scenario? Not very!
Not only by stubbornly sticking to "policy" did he annoy an
existing customer and virtually drive them to his
competition, but he also put in a very badly-timed sales
pitch as well! I'm always astounded how much effort
salespeople will put into winning new business, and then as
soon as the customer is "on-board", they treat them like a
second-class citizen, and virtually drive them elsewhere!
Not very helpful if you're trying to build long term
relationships and business with your customers is it?
How many opportunities do you think the average salesperson
blows? How much money do they leave on the table every
month? How many deals do they lose that they could (and
should!) have won? If you explore this within your
organisation, the answers may scare you!
Andy Preston is a leading authority on sales and sales
management. You can see and hear more about Andy at
www.andy-preston.com and his sales training company at
www.outstanding-results.co.uk. If you'd like further
help on this topic, or anything else sales-related, you can
contact Andy through the website
http://www.Andy-Preston.com using the "contact us" page.
Good luck with your future sales! |
