Do You Make These Mistakes When You Sell?

Most entrepreneurs get freaked out by the ‘selling’ process. They hate to sell, or at best, tolerate it as a necessary aspect of their business.

That sucks. What a crappy place to be at during a large part of your entrepreneurial life.

And if you feel like that how do you think the buyer feels? Crappy.

Not great odds going in, right?

And because they hate to sell there are several significant mistakes most entrepreneurs make. So, honestly, you should just quit.

Quit selling! Just stop it. You’re done. Why do something you hate to do? So quit it.

How will you business survive if you don’t sell, you ask. It won’t survive. It will thrive. How? By changing the paradigm.

It doesn’t matter what kind of selling process you use. Last week I described the D.E.L.T.A. sales process which is fun, simple and effective. You may have one that you prefer. Use whatever one you like best. What you need to change is how you see your prospect.

Related Post: The D.E.L.T.A. Process: How To Sell Your Product In 5 Simple Steps
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By becoming aware of these mistakes when you sell, and changing how you see your buyer you will enhance your sale,  you will actually start to enjoy the process. What a game changer!

This information will actually teach you how to like (and even love) selling! And that is a true paradigm shift.

These mistakes have to do with assessment and not engaging in meaningful dialogue with your prospects. Fix these mistakes, you will sell even more and fix your sales

Mistake Number One – How You See Your Customer

This is probably the biggest mistake entrepreneurs make. And you probably don’t even know you’re doing it.

Mediate and legal mediation business concept as a businessman or person separating two boxing glove opposing competitors as an arbitration success symbol for finding common interests to lawfully solve a conflict.

At best you may see them as a necessary annoyance. You may not even know that you’re doing this. But when the moment comes to talk to a prospect do you become irate, nervous, anxious and resentful without knowing why?

The reason you feel this way is because you see your customer or client as an adversary rather than your ally.

It’s time to flip the script.

When you see your customer as an ally in the sales process you engage in meaningful dialogue with them. You genuinely want to know what’s holding them back and how you can help them.

After all, the whole reason you became an entrepreneur was because you want to help people. Or you saw a way to do something better for others. So remember that every time you approach a new prospect.

When you put the focus back on helping your customer your anxiety about selling melts away.

I have some specific techniques for flipping the script and putting the focus back on your customer. So stick around.

Mistake Number Two – How Your Customer Sees You

After you successfully train yourself to see your prospect as your ally you’re then ready to gauge where they’re at in the ‘buying’ process. Many entrepreneurs start selling too soon.

Too soon before what?

Before the customer or client trusts you. If they don’t trust you, you got nothing. Game over.

So the first step to making a successful sale whether it’s a high-end sale or not is to establish trust between you and your prospect. First they are your ally then they become your friend.

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Now this is only the first level of trust. You must establish three areas of trust before a sale can take place. This process can happen in 5 minutes or take 5 days but it has to happen.

As the person guiding the sale you have to assess the prospect’s certainty about you, the person delivering the product.

I am a trainer, and if my audience doesn’t have at least an eight or nine on the certainty scale about me then I can’t get them there. They’re not going to buy. So you have to think about it from the point of view of the buyer. How certain are they that you are the one? There’s other people doing what you do. So why you?

So after you change the paradigm and see the customer as your ally begin to cultivate their trust in you. How? By asking them questions. Find out about them, Get curious. They’re in front of you for a reason. Find out what they need and how to help them. When you help them get what they want they will help you.

Mistake Number Three – How Your Customer Sees Your Product

The third mistake is not assessing the prospect’s certainty about a particular product. Now, point-in-fact, they don’t even need to have absolute certainty. If they have an eight out of 10, they’ll buy.

I’m a trainer, so I’m using the context of a training product, like a live event, or a virtual event, like a webinar. If they don’t have enough certainty that the training is worthwhile, then they’re not going to say ‘yes.’

Jordan Belfort’s Straight Line Selling is where I’m pulling this principle from. How certain are they that your training, or your product is going to work? And where does that certainty come from?

It comes from an established sense of trust in you, not the product. It starts with you. People trust Apple so they buy iPhones. Certainty stems from trust in the person or business, not the product. So if you try to create a buying atmosphere before establishing trust you’re going to run into this problem.

Don’t assume that your customer automatically trusts you and leap to ‘selling’ to them too soon. Remember to take their temperature. Gauge where your customer is by continuing to ask questions and engaging. Based on that info you’ll know if they trust you yet.

When they trust you you’ll know they’re closer to having certainty about your product or service.

Mistake Number Four – How Your Customer Sees Your Team

Many times entrepreneurs don’t even take this particular aspect of trust into account. But people don’t only buy your product. They’re also buying your customer service. Your team. Not assessing the prospect’s certainty about your team, your customer support is a big mistake.

When my clients and students don’t have access to me will they still continue to receive ongoing support for the curriculum I’ve taught them? They’re trying to implement something new into their lives. Where’s their support?

That’s a big question and needs attention. And, again, even here, certainty is the key emotion to all buying decisions. They need to trust that you will be there for them after they buy the product or go to the event and invest in the webinar.

I happen to trust XFINITY, which is my cable provider, because they have great customer service. I happen to trust Qantas Airlines. I didn’t at one time. Today I do trust them. I trust the people delivering that service, the ticketing counter, the flight attendants, the pilots, the company. All of it.

If you’re uncertain about something, you’re not going to move forward, are you? You’re not going to decide. The latin root of ‘decide’ means to cut off. You’re cutting off other options. If you’re certain of your choice, you’ve decided to cut off all your other options.

You’ve reached a level of certainty you’re comfortable with.

So it’s not enough to make a prospect certain about you. You’ve got to instill trust and certainty for your product and your team.

You have to show your prospect that you’ve got the holy trinity of support: a great product, great customer service for that product and they’ve got you. When they see that you’ve got all three they will be certain that you are the right choice for them.

Mistake Number Five – Selling Vs. Buying

“People hate to be sold to but they love to buy.” —Jeffrey Gitomer

When you enter into a sales process do you instantly start to ‘sell’ someone? Who likes that?

No. One.

No one likes to be sold to. But most people love to buy stuff. So how do you create a ‘buying’ environment and stop ‘selling’ to people?

Stop monologuing and start dialoguing. Ask them questions! People love to talk about themselves! Again, this will also give you the information to gauge where they’re at in the process.

Are they cold, warm or hot? Are they uncertain? If so, what are they uncertain about? Address their concerns. Open up a discussion about their objections. Do they even need what you’re offering? Gathering all this info does two things.

1. It helps you determine what level of certainty your buyer has about you and your product

2. It allows you to focus your attention on them and get out of your head

When you get out of your head you’re no longer nervous about ‘selling.’ You’re doing invaluable research and gathering information. You’re getting to know someone as a buyer and an ally.

When you begin asking questions of your prospect, like “why are you in the market for this product?” or, “What do you hope to get from using this product?” they see that you are genuinely interested in helping them.

Your curiosity can spark a conversation that will put your prospect at ease. When they’re at ease they are more likely to buy.

One Thing

All these mistakes can be easily remedied doing one thing. Learn to take the focus off of yourself and put your focus on the other person. When you do that several things happen at one time:

• You stop worrying and stressing about making a ‘sale’
• When you relax your prospect starts to relax
• When your prospect starts to relax they will start to trust you
• Your curiosity and questions will spark their trust
• Their trust will breed their certainty in you, your product and your customer service

Once you have their trust in those three things a sale is almost guaranteed. Asking questions is how you engage your prospect. But what questions do you ask? How to do you start the spigot of conversation?

I use specific headline questions to get conversations going. These headlines are natural ways to spark interest and get people to open up about what they’re looking for. Click Here for my headline questions. They will help you begin to see your customer as your ally and start the conversation!