The 3 Top Mistakes You Might be Making in Sales
And How to Fix Them
Do you have a product or service to sell?
Are you worried about being too pushy or salesy?
Are you disappointed in the money you are making?
Are you starting to think that you can’t sell anything?
I often talk with entrepreneurs who love their product or service, are passionate about what they do, but know they could sell more and serve bigger. It’s not the product or service that is the problem, it’s how you communicate about your product. I’ve been in the coaching and counseling business for over 40 years and communication and how to connect with people is my expertise. If you want to go from struggling to connecting and being in demand for your business, you will need to take a close look at your sales message. Here are three of the top mistakes made in sales:
#1. Not Clarifying Your Ideal Customer: This is probably the biggest and most common mistake. You need to clearly identify who is your audience and then establish a presence in that market. Knowing your ideal customer means you know everything about them. What are their interests? What age are they? What are the problems/stressors that they deal with everyday? Where do they shop? Where do they hang out?
# 2. Not Being Problem Focused and Results Driven: Most of us just expect our potential clients to know how great our product is intuitively. After all we are so familiar with it, we expect that everyone else would get it too. Don’t take it personally… but you can’t expect everyone to be equally engaged and knowledgeable. Do they know how your product can change their lives? Do they know the results they can expect from investing in your service? Identify not only the benefits but the results that clients can expect and be prepared to share them in an enthusiastic and engaging way.
#3 Not Consistently Engaging Your Clients–Too many first time entrepreneurs focus intently on getting their product on the market or their website up and then sit back waiting for the big bucks to roll in. If that was your approach, I bet you are still waiting… To effectively market your product, you need to think like a marketer all the time. That doesn’t mean you turn into the sleazy salesperson you hate. It does mean that you look for opportunities to share, establish relationships and nurture your clients even when you aren’t actively selling. You can do this in numerous ways; a blog, a personal email or card, a follow up on social media… but make sure that you are following up, connecting and nurturing clients 24/7.
Sales is at its heart helping clients. When you understand who you can best help, focus on solving their problems and develop a consistent nurturing relationship, you will find that sales may just become your new love language… and the results you wish for will follow.
