In the vast world of sales, there are many dangers that a salesman must watch out for. One of these dangers is going into a sales situation with the wrong mindset. If you go into a sale with the wrong mindset, you are simply listening for something to support your preconceived notion and will really hurt yourself in the long run. Of the many possible examples, Entrepreneur Magazine listed the top 5:
- People are just looking at their options – this means that you go into the sale not anticipating to make a sale because you believe that people are just looking around. Instead of realizing the sale is possible, you write the customer off from the start.
- Some people don’t make a decision without the conformation of another individual – this means that you assume that a decision will not be made and a sale not reached because the decision maker is not present. This is not always a correct assumption and could cost you a sale.
- Certain cultures are ruthless negotiators – this means you assume based on the persons characteristics and ethnicity that they are going to drive a hard bargain. Simply because the customer asks for the best deal does not mean that they are going to rake you over the coals.
- Pricing seems too high – this means you assume that the customer is going to think your prices are too high. Just because a customer wants a deal does not mean that they will not pay full price.
- The buying process can be long – while this is certainly true, you cannot assume that the sale cannot be completed at that time. Some people take longer than others to buy but you shouldn’t assume that you’re in one of those situation.
If you come into a situation with one of these mindsets, it is clear that most likely you will lengthen and complicate the sales process. While you should not always assume you are going to get the sale, you should always assume that it is a possibility.
Source: “How you can crush the biggest sales-killing mental bias” – Entrepreneur.com
BoweryJE22
I remember my Young Life Area Director talking about bullet point #4 one time. We were trying to get kids to come to camp, which costs a significant amount of money, in the eyes of broke college students. We often unconsciously communicated that camp was too expensive when talking with kids about it. We were assuming they shared the same mindset we assumed coming into a sale. As a result, we didn’t have a lot of kids signed-up. He kept reminding us how parents are often willing to pay out-the-nose for summer sports camps for their kids, so they shouldn’t have any problem affording Young Life camp. We had to be taught to re-frame our mindset to stop killing sales.
Interesting the point they made about ruthless negotiators. I have seen that before. People who negotiate a price hard and tend to get their way, but when the seller stays true to their price and says they won’t budge, the negotiator type still usually buys. The fact that people are even talking to you usually means they are significantly interested. Trying to get a lower price does not mean that the original price is a no go.