Sales for beginners: 6 mistakes nobody tells about
Are you new to sales? Then you need to learn sales basics for beginners! This guide has been completed so that you can avoid the biggest mistakes in sales and succeed soon!
“Being a beginner in any field is rather difficult and challenging. When you start, you’re making so many mistakes! And later you think, “If only I knew all those dos and don’ts…”, says the expert from the site for parents top-mom.com Toshy Bright. Now she is a top-seller and marketer with 7 years of experience in sales she knows that is can be tough for beginners. Toshy definitely knows the most successful sales techniques and how to avoid the biggest mistakes in sales. And she is ready to put us wise!
“I’ll tell you all my sales secrets,” Toshy promises, “but first I’d like to prevent you from the mistakes! They’re so disappointing and demotivating…”
Six beginners mistakes in sales nobody talks about
Here you’ll find quite unusual reasons for fails in commerce. However, do pay attention to them! Beginners who neglect these sales rules are mainly unsuccessful.
1. You are not ready to hear “No”
Toshy tells that she often sees beginners hanging up as soon as they hear “No!” And this is a common mistake in sales calls! And not only calls! Never and ever give up after a negative response! It’s surprising, but you’d better beware of clients who agree for whatever you say. It means he/she doesn’t listen at all! Contrary, if a person replies “No” at your proposal, it means he/she gets into the swing! So, you have a chance to persuade him/her!
2. Your name is difficult to pronounce
Puzzled? But that’s true! Full Toshy’s name is Toshisiko. She complaints that lots of clients were looking at her card or badge in thought (maybe they were thinking about how to pronounce it correctly, where to put stress and so on). Thus, customers didn’t listen to her carefully because they got jammed with her name! Fancy that! When Toshisiko switched to Toshy, things became easier.
3. Complicated or weird greeting
Yeah, all of us have heard such greetings! Hearing it, you thought, “What on earth was that!?” Did you want to continue a conversation after such a greeting? Probably, no. So, even if you desire to catch a customer’s interest, do not be weird. People have to believe you, but it’s hard to trust an oddball! You should be nice, friendly, helpful and, maybe, a little funny. It’s a pleasure to communicate with such a person!
4. The pace of speech
Do you think only rhetoric is essential to persuade a customer? Not at all! The rhythm of your talk does matter!
- Splutter. Could you imagine somebody speaking too fast and loud? What do you feel? At the very best, you won’t understand a speaker and try to finish the conversation. At worst, you’ll get a headache! So, be kind to your client, slow down!
- Slow delivery. It’s so boring! You always want to stop such a conversation and run away, very-very fast! Imagine, you’re walking along the narrow path, and a person in front is moving really slow. It irritates so much, doesn’t it? However, such a pace may do you a favor! Toshy tells about a guy who spoke slow, and a lot of clients avoid communicating with him. But! The elderly just love him! They couldn’t hear very well, so his pace was ideal. If you like to work with older people, slow speech could be your win!
- Monotonous speech. Do you like communicating with a machine? No? Nobody does! You must be emotionally involved, and a customer has to understand it, or he/she won’t believe you! We dare to say that it doesn’t matter what you are talking about; your tone, intonations, and emotions play a vital role. In fact, it determines your success!
- Bad grammar. You may think that lots of people speak poor grammar in their everyday life. Well, that’s true. However, sales managers are not everybody; the way they talk does make a difference! Toshy admits that she lost some clients at the beginning of her career because she made mistakes in her speech, and those clients were sophisticated! So, grammar is worth revising!
It’s hard to change the way you talk, and we understand that! But you must do it if some problems have been noticed.
What can you do? Ask your mate to listen to you and critically evaluate the quality of your rhetoric. You could also record your speech as often as possible and rate it yourself. The easiest and the most effective way to improve your talk is taking rhetoric classes.
5. Having arguments with a customer
It’s one of the common mistakes in sales calls and not only calls! Never and ever argue with a client, especially concerning his/her business! It really irritates! The only thing you should do is asking questions. Remember that there should be fewer “yes-no” questions since it’s boring, and neither client nor you get the necessary information. You must ask questions in such a way that a customer realizes that he/she needs the thing or service you are suggesting. Do not insist, it’s annoying!
Do not interrupt your client! Listen carefully and be patient. You’ll be granted!
6. Forget about the next questions
The questions “Is it convenient for you to talk?” or “Can you spare me a few minutes?” are the most unsuccessful techniques! Nobody is free to talk to the sales manager! Everyone is really busy! As soon as you ask such a question, you fail! Even if your offer is a winning ticket for a client.
Toshy recommends asking something like that: “For how long you may have a dialog with me right now?” If a client says that he/she doesn’t have time or gives you several minutes, arrange for another time. This way, you’ll have a great chance to convince him/her when he/she is more relaxed and can discuss with you a win-win bargain!
We are sure that you are using the most modern and successful sales techniques! And we do hope this post will help you to avoid the biggest mistakes in sales!
Do you know something that should be avoided during a conversation with a client? Or maybe you have some useful tips for sales beginners? We would appreciate it if you share your experience with us in the comment section below!
Dorothy Starling is a sales manager with more than 5 years of experience. Currently, she is working as Strategic Advisor at the online children store Top-Mom.
