According to the Bureau of Labour Statistics, 45% of new businesses fail in the first five years, this increases to significantly more than half for the first 10 years rising to 65%.

If you are a new business owner, you don’t want to be a part of this statistic, or at least not on the wrong side of it.

One common issue amongst failed businesses is often how they approach sales. There are plenty of mistakes that businesses before yours have made, so why should you repeat them?

Read on to find the most common sales mistakes and how to avoid them.

The Most Common Sales Mistakes

Selling is an art form and it requires practice and education to do it to the greatest effect.

Even if you have natural charisma and people skills, if you don’t know your product or make some other fatal flaw, a sale will blow up quicker than you can even get through your pitch.

And that takes us to the first point…

Don’t Over Pitch

If you have spent a lot of time practicing or practice is a huge part of your sales team’s routine, they can fall into a routine. Training for sales is important, but don’t let that blind you from actually seeing the customer and their reactions.

Knowing what you want to say to make the product attractive isn’t a bad thing, but sometimes, people are ready to buy when they step through the door or with very little discussion.

If that’s the case, over-selling the product can actually appear as a lack of confidence in the product, so take them up on their cues, and move on to a short sweet close.

Adjusting to Different Sales Strategies

Sales happen in a lot of different settings. Sometimes it’s an office, other times it’s a restaurant or just about anywhere in between. 

Adapting to the setting is important, you shouldn’t treat a restaurant or a golf course as formally as you would the office and if you were calling prospects, you should consider a phone script because you have a limited amount of time to hook them and they could just hang up.

The point is, work with the situation you are in.

Not Everyone Wants What You Are Selling

And honestly, it’s not worth pursuing those that will just waste the time.

As much as it is important to read the room and know when to close, you should also learn to read when the pitch is going nowhere. You can waste hours on a client and make nothing, or, find some more potentials that will actually earn you money.

Not Listening

Salespeople should know how to talk, but it’s also so important to know when to be quiet.

Listening to prospects means you know better how to target an audience and what they need or want. By finding out what their needs are, you will actually be able to find how to sell properly in a way that appeals to that customer.

Do it right, and they may even end up selling the product to themselves.

No Research

Learning sales technique and implementing it effectively is important, but if you don’t do your research, one on what your selling and two on the client, you can miss vital information that could help you win the sale.

At the bare minimum, you should know your product as well as possible so you can come across as more confident and knowledgeable which will appear favorable to the potential customer. But add to this a few details about the prospect, and your pitch will be completely different.

Ask how the family is doing, build rapport and meet their genuine needs with what you are selling and you will have a much easier time.

Don’t Let These Mistakes Beat Your Business

Follow this guide to ensure you don’t fall victim to these common sales mistakes.

It takes effort and repeated action but changing the way you communicate in small and simple ways like this can drastically improve your conversion rates, so what are you waiting for? 

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