7 Fatal Flaws that can Kill your Career

Suction: Deadly Sales Sin #5

Stop taking advice from the people who, if you had to write their annual evaluation, you’d be tempted to say they suck.

Why would you listen to those that are generally negative or average? Is that where you want to be? Don’t get sucked in by the mediocre masses hanging out by the water cooler talking about how no one buys on Fridays, or discussing the sale that got away or the latest reality show. You may even hear them talking trash about the salesmen who are actually spending their time selling as if that’s a bad thing. “Look at Bob, working through his lunch hour.”

Would you rather attend the VIP party or the pity party?

To counter this, you have to take it upon yourself to break away. Make a point of learning more, and in turn you’ll earn more, but only if you learn from the right sources.

Seek out those with a track record of success, not of failure.  Don’t envy the top dogs, engage them. Who has the most clients that stay on the books?  Who wins bonuses and trips?  Offer to take them to lunch or dinner, and use that time to pick their brain. How do they get in the door? How do they handle rejection? How do they close? What’s their secret? Believe me, bribing someone with food can go a long way.

The point here is rather than complain and remain, act - don’t just hope it will get better. Don’t waste your time during “money hours” talking about some TV show or online surfing forums, blogs, or social media sites. Yes, use these types of resources to grow your business, or to add value to your career, or someone else’s. Even then, be stingy during work hours, commit most of your time to selling. Don’t allow anything to distract you, that will only take money out of your pocket.

The Porcelain God: Deadly Sales Sin #6

Just because you have been fed an overload of product knowledge and industry specific jargon, there’s no reason to regurgitate all of it while you’re on the phone with a client. Stop throwing up all over yourself, and keep things simple when it comes to explaining the details of what you have to offer.

In practically all sales it’s best to be concise.  Flush any confusing terms from your mind. Just because you get it, doesn’t mean a client gets it. I’m not saying to dumb down everything, but start simply while you gauge the customer’s reaction.  You can always go more in depth if they seem to grasp the concepts immediately, or if they appear to have done their homework. You don’t have to force feed them.

Sometimes, depending on the field you’re in, you’ll encounter a potential client who is quite savvy but that’s generally industry specific. Usually the very reason someone will need your assistance is because they may not be as knowledgeable as you are in that area, so meet them at their level. You can tell if someone has a sense of what’s going on; some have done research, some have not. Part of your job is to be able to discern their level of comprehension and explain things accordingly.

All of us are intelligent in some areas and ignorant in others.  That’s why they have the phone a friend, and ask the audience lifeline on Who Wants to be a Millionaire, no one knows it all.

If that’s the case, why do many salespeople feel the need to talk and talk and talk? It’s as if they need to prove that the customer needs what they’re selling. If you have to prove it, they don’t need it, or they don’t want it.

I don’t have to say to someone “I’m really a nice guy”, because my actions and demeanor should prove whether I am or not, and that’s for them to decide. Me saying something like that seems as if it’s defensive, and comes across as - well - like a pushy salesman.

If you meet people at their level, clients will feel more comfortable, and they will never feel inferior or stupid, which can happen unintentionally if you over load them with information, relevant or not.

Remember when you were in school and at one point the teacher was speaking about a new topic and to you it sounded like Charlie Brown’s teacher? “Wah wah wah wah wah wah.” You probably wanted to hide in your desk and pray you wouldn’t get called on to answer a question, because you really didn’t understand how it was explained.

That’s the client’s perspective. This may all be new to them, so you don’t want a client to feel like they don’t “get it”, or they will find an escape hatch as quickly as they can, to spare themselves those feelings of embarrassment or ignorance.

Chasing the Dream: Deadly Sales Sin #7

Is this scenario familiar? 

You meet with a client, either over the phone, or in person. You go over your product or service and at the end, the client decides that either they have to think about it or speak to their boss or spouse. They might tell you to leave some information for them to review, and you oblige because you did such a great job that of course they’ll still buy from you, right? Only, afterward, when you call them back, they often don’t answer the phone or even bother to return your call.

I know many people teach you to keep calling these potential prospects that you’ve pitched, but haven’t closed, until they either tell you to drop dead or change their phone number in self defense.

Are you wasting a ton of time following up with clients who don’t ever return your call? Have you ever considered that maybe they’re saying a lot by saying nothing?  I understand how you could feel that way. You’ve put time and effort into this client, and you would like something to pay for your time, but you have to let them go. If they come back they’ll be yours forever, if not, they never were.

You might want to look at this example: Let’s say I went on a blind date with a nice woman and had a great time. Logic says I would call that woman for a second date. Now, if she DID NOT return my call, would I keep calling her?  Of course not, I’d seem pretty desperate, wouldn’t I? But what if a week or so later I received a call from her and she said, “hey, so sorry I didn’t get back to you, I was called out of town and didn’t have your number but I had a great time too.”  Boo yah! Now, I know that she is interested, and it’s a safe bet to call her back.

Don’t continue to call clients long after the desire and any form of response has passed.  Send them an email or a postcard periodically to let them know you’re there if they need you, meanwhile you can attend to your current and future clients. You know, the ones that pay your bills.

I had someone call me once a month for well over a year. Every single time he called he left me a message about new specials saying “I know you were interested at one time so . . .” I never once called him back.

What if he’s calling ninety-nine people who “were” interested, leaving all of us voice mail messages every single month?  I’m sure his manager thought he was working hard, and he too might have felt like he’d been hitting the phones calling people all day long, but wouldn’t his time have been better spent calling on new prospects? 

Call clients that respect your time and attention. It’s even more beneficial to touch base with an existing client than to waste time calling a client who is clearly not interested.

This concludes the 7 Deadly Sales Sins but the question remains:

Are you a Saint or a Sinner?

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