Australian website SmartCompany asked five Australian gurus in sales to share their personal experience with sales disasters. Let us consider these as lessons, what to avoid during a sales meeting.
Susan Barrett: Take notes
Barrett shared with readers her personal, very unpleasant experience from the start of her career.
In his first role as a consultant she met with a potential client. She sat up and began to ask questions. The man, however, all of a sudden stopped and asked her: "Why aren´t you taking notes? How can you understand me and my business, if you don´t take notes? "
Then he added: "Bloody salespeople never take notes. What do they teach you anyway?"
Needless to say, it was a shock. Barrett had never been told that she should write what her client says. After a moment of silence, the man handed her a pen and notepad and the meeting continued. Barrett was taking notes. Since then, she does it regularly - and it certainly makes sense. Unfortunately, in her role as a consultant and a couch she often sees that most sales people do not take notes. The consequences on their performance are certainly noticeable.
Marcia Griffin: Don´t forget to listen
An advice often repeated and yet still neglected. Furthermore, you need to be careful how to ask questions - it is okay to be curious, but it is not appropriate to be intrusive. Griffin herself admits that many times she was so excited about her products, which she constantly praised, that she never noticed declining customer interest. Their needs were completely different.
Griffin recommends to prepare a good opening and then make sure the customer would be interested. Once you are clear about what they are after, it's time to highlight the benefits of the product that best illustrate meeting the needs of the client. If the benefits you can be demonstrated, then that is better than talking.
There are many ways to assure and convince the client, but you need to properly understand what interests them. Ask questions, listen, and only then start to speak.
Trent Leyshan: Beware if you want to charge a higher price than the competition
Leyshan shared experience with his client in software development. They needed to increase their profit margins and decided to charge a higher price to all new clients. Shortly after a new contract was signed, the first one with higher margins. In addition, it was a very challenging project. 3 months after the commencement, the client became nervous. He asked for an audit of the project and all problems as well as the price difference came to light...
High price increases expectations. It can lead to unrealistic demands from the customer. The result is problems of both parties.
Debra Templar: Do not make assumptions
Templar offered an experience when she wanted to buy a car. She knew the color, brand, she had all information and was ready to buy. She came to the car selling place and said, "I want XYZ car, black, manual, six-cylinder." The sales man offered her a blue, four-cylinder with automatic transmission. When she asked him why he tries to sell her a different car, he replied: "girls find this one easier to drive." Although she insisted, he never showed her the car she wanted. Furthermore, he did not speak directly to her, he spoke to the man who accompanied her.
Templar went and called another place. She ordered a test drive and bought the car the same day.
The first sales man was so focused on his own truth that he did not listen to what the customer wanted to buy.
Simon Harris: Do your homework
Harris constantly sees cases where people underestimate the preparation. And of course he himself had to learn several times that it should not be underestimated. For example, when he was waiting in the reception at the client. He noticed that the receptionist does not understand her job and does not represent the company appropriately. Immediately he told the owner during the meeting, and also recommended that she got fired. It turned out that it was his daughter ...
Act as if everyone was a potential customer. Make your "radar" ready to avoid similar mistakes. And above all: Prepare well for each meeting, even if it takes a lot of time.
It's okay, that you want to be successful and you perceive your product as the centerpiece of the universe. But especially start-up entrepreneurs often forget that it is necessary to look at things from a customer´s perspective: They are often not able to explain how the customer will benefit from buying their product.
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