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The truth is, knowing what NOT to do in sales is just as powerful as knowing what TO do. Make sense? So I’ve assembled a list of ten of the dumbest things that we’ve seen people do in sales — things that are virtually guaranteed to totally and completely de-rail sales opportunities. These are critically important for home-based entrepreneurs, most all of whom have to wear the hat of a salesperson.

1. They don’t become students of their craft.

They begin strong selling careers, and they really get into them — but then they go to sleep at the switch and forget to do things like read industry publications or new books by sales masters. They don’t go to sales seminars. They don’t listen to audios or view videos on sales-related topics. In short, they don’t constantly re-invigorate themselves.

I am amazed by salespeople who don’t spend more than five or ten dollars a year on their own professional growth. We’re in a profession that’s changing by leaps and bounds, and we’re into the twenty-first century. If you’re still selling the way you sold in the last century — you’re in trouble!

2. They don’t “narrowcast” their offering.

They don’t become specialists at a segment, or a particular type of market, or at delivering a specific type of product. They stay generalists.

Specialists narrowcast their offerings. The most successful salespeople master the art of narrowcasting their offerings. They become well known specialists in selling one thing, and people come to them for that one thing, every time they need it.

3. They fail to position themselves correctly.

The way people position themselves determines how they’re seen by their prospects and customers. In short, people pay attention to people whom they perceive as having something important to say to them.

The best way to sell is not position yourself as a salesperson, but to position yourself as an expert. One of the best ways we’ve seen to position yourself is to host an information session or how-to clinic on a topic related to what you sell. The goal isn’t to sell something; instead, it’s to show people that you know a lot about everything to do with your business, and you’re willing to share your knowledge. (Other great ways to do this are through trade journals or articles, or speeches or seminars, or advocacy within an association or organization.)

4. They fail to prospect.

The biggest cause of failure in sales is having an inadequate supply of qualified prospects. How do you get prospects? Host informative sessions for prospective clients. Or send mailings targeted lists. Or speak at association meetings. Or host users’ groups. Or offer a webinar.

You always should have multiple methods of prospecting, because you want to be sure you’ve got a variety of types of prospects constantly filling your pipeline. Take advantage of all the latest digital technologies that really can make it seamless and simple to deploy an effective prospecting strategy into the marketplace.

5. They get in front of the wrong people.

There’s an old statement that goes like this: “You can’t get rich selling to the wrong people.” You had better be in front of people who:

·        Can make a decision.

·        Have a need.

·        Have a perceived problem, or a “pain.”

·        Are willing to listen to you.

Your own self-image, your sense of self-worth, and how well you’ve positioned yourself — they’re all going to affect whether you’re in front of the right people. And the problem is, if you enter at the wrong level, it’s very hard to work yourself up! You may alienate the people you first interfaced with, and the people who are at the top won’t see you as having something valuable to say, because you didn’t get to them in the first place.

6. They listen to their peers.

Listening to your peers often means you get too much negative input. You hear things like, “This isn’t the way you sell,” or “You can’t make more than ‘X’ amount of dollars in this business,” or “Our prices are out of line,” and it goes on and on and on. You’ve got to understand something: 80% of your peers are only delivering 20% of the results. And you know what? They’ve got nothing better to do than hope YOU’RE not successful, either. So do you really want to listen to 80% of salespeople?

Instead, listen to positive, upbeat stuff that really does make you feel good and think clearly. Whether it’s music, or motivational content, or something else that’s upbeat, or uplifting: Listen to it…and remember, most of your peers are not doing well in sales!

7. They don’t understand the economics of their product or service.

Here’s what I mean: Would you sell something for a buck and a half that cost you a buck? No, you wouldn’t… But unfortunately, lots of salespeople don’t understand ‘value costing,” and that’s EXACTLY what they end up doing! They don’t truly understand what it costs to deploy their solutions in the field. They don’t understand what telephone costs are, what manufacturing costs are, what advertising, marketing, promotion, and all other costs are — so they end up giving the product or service away.

What salespeople are for is to sell, and to sell at a profit. If you don’t understand the economies of your product and your company — how can you ever sell it for the right price?

8. They mentally spend their Income – before they earn it.

If your pay plan is somehow designed to reward you for production or performance — not just a base salary for being around — listen! The sale is not made until you have received your commission check and it’s gone into the bank, and it’s cleared — only then is the sale consummated.

Why not? Think about all the things that can happen: You can have delivery problems; you can have delays; or you can have cancellations. Just because you receive a Purchase Order, doesn’t mean anybody has to exercise it!

9. They fail to ask the right questions.

In fact, not only would I say that they failed to ask the right questions — but maybe they failed to ask questions at all. Or worse, they did ask questions, but didn’t listen to the answers. So there are lots of important things to think about:

·        Are they the right questions?

·        Do you listen to the answer?

·        Do you ask questions in the right way?

·        Do you right them down?

·        Do you ask them the right sequence?

·        Can you extrapolate one question to the next?

·        Are you really listening to what they say?

·        Are you anticipating more about what you’re going to say next?

10. They are either digitally compulsive or digitally impaired.

They are so compulsive about digital technology, that they spend all of their time on the Internet, or in Sales Force Automation products, or on their Blackberry phones, or whatever. Or, they’re so digitally impaired that they’re absolutely frozen about utilizing it.

But as basic and fundamental as it sounds – the truth is, the most successful person is going to be the one who’s going to be in the middle. Bottom line: You should not be sitting in front of your computer screen all day long. . You need to be eyeball to eyeball with prospects and customers.

This is the best that I can give you of the ten reasons why we’ve seen salespeople fail. So what does that mean? It’s pretty simple: Don’t do these things! You’ll keep your selling career on the right path. HBM

© The Brooks Group. All Rights Reserved. CEO of The Brooks Group, Bill Brooks is a world-renowned expert on hiring, sales management, business development, and sales. He is a thought leader in the sales and business development community and the author of 17 books published by John Wiley & Sons, McGraw-Hill and other world-class publishers. For more information about sales training, or to contact Mr. Brooks, contact The Brooks Group (www.brooksgroup.com) at (800) 633-7762.