Amateur Sales Mistakes to Avoid – 9 Pitfalls

It is an understatement to say that we have learned a great deal in sales class. As you are looking toward the final project and exam, you may be wishing for some material that pieces the big ideas together. In my internet travels I came across a sales article that touches on some major points that have come up time and time again in class and in our assigned reading. This article discusses nine amateur sales mistakes that cause lost deals. I have summarized the nine points for you below.

1) Blending in With the Crowd

The top amateur sales mistake is imitating what your competitors are doing in the marketplace. Being unique will give you an edge.

2) Being “Salesy”

As we already know, the best way to avoid sounding like a salesperson is to approach the conversation like a genuine person who wants to have a real conversation with the prospect. Being friendly, caring, and low-key is the best approach.

3) Focusing on Yourself

Avoid making the sales conversation all about yourself, your company, and your product or service. The point of the sales conversation is to get the prospect talking about himself so that you can better understand his pain.

4) Avoiding the Budget Question

Sometimes rookies avoid discussing budgets with a prospect. While this can be terrifying, the reality is that every prospect has some sort of budget, and you cannot provide the optimal solution to their pain without knowing a budget.

5) Deviating From Sales Scrips

I have talked about this in previous blog posts, but it is good to write sales scrips, and to practice them enough that you can deliver the words naturally. Doing this makes you more prepared to handle your sales calls. Thus, not using your script puts a dent in your preparedness.

6) Every Prospect is a Good Fit

It is not a good habit to believe that every prospect you encounter is a great fit for your product or service. If you think this, you will waste your time by continuing to attempt to sell to a prospect who will not ultimately buy. It is OK to tell a prospect no and to disqualify them.

7) Selling Isn’t Telling, Listening Is

This amateur sales mistake is extremely easy to do. Putting your “gift of gab” to work in a sales situation may seem natural to you. Remember, if you are doing all the talking, then you are not giving the prospect a chance to talk about his pain. He probably will not care about what you are saying, causing his eyes to glaze over. The focus should always be on your prospect. Ask him questions, and then shut up. You will learn great things by doing this.

8) Not Taking the Next Step

Avoid walking away from a sales situation without scheduling some sort of follow-up meeting or actions. Being vague with your prospect, such as by saying “we’ll discuss that again sometime this week,” often leads to no further actions being taken. Always set a date and time to follow-up with your prospect.

9) Presenting Before Pain

Before you get into your product and service, you need to understand the prospect’s pain. Jumping the gun can be very overwhelming for them, causing them to say things such as “I need time to think this over.” How do you even know if your product is a right fit if you go straight into a chat about your product?

I bet that these nine amateur sales mistakes sound incredibly familiar to you. These are ideas that keep popping up all over our lectures, readings, and internet articles. This indicates to me that they are pretty darn important, and worth revisiting until we have internalized them. After all, many of us will be entering into sales positions soon enough, and we want to put our best feet forward.