How to lose a Sale
We have all had some great sales conversations and we have all had some not-so-great sales conversations that led to no sales.
Nobody likes getting rejected. We’ve all experienced it and we’ve all figured out ways to avoid it. But just like with your high school crush, there are a few ways you can bring about rejection even quicker than you expected with a potential customer. The only difference is that this time, it has nothing to do with whether or not you are the captain of the football team and much more to do with how you handle a single interaction.
There are several ways you can push a customer to the point of no return. By being aware of all these little ways you can put off your customers, you can learn to avoid them and work on becoming a better, more approachable salesperson. Here are four damaging sales interactions that can end up sealing your sales fate with a customer’s 180-degree turn straight for the door.
- Focusing on price instead of value
One mistake many salespeople make is ignoring the difference between price and value. While they might seem similar at first, price and value are two very different things. Sticking to a customer’s price point is important, but it’s not all that matters. If you offer a customer a product that solves a distinct problem, and it’s something they’ve been trying to find for quite a while, that item will probably be pretty valuable. And when needs are met, price tends to matter less.
On the other side, if you push a product that has little to no benefit, your customer is bound to walk out of the store empty-handed regardless of the price, and that’s bad news for both of you. You’re more likely to annoy them out of buying something they might want than to make a sale when you push worthless items. And doing this will leave your customers frustrated and destroy their loyalty to your brand.
- Avoiding the budget conversation
Speaking of price, you should never start pushing a sale until you’ve addressed a customer’s budget. Sure, it can feel a little awkward; but until you know what a customer is willing to spend, your tried-and-true sales tactics won’t do any good.
Think of your customer’s budget as a map. It can point you in the right direction as you promote various products, and it can help them find what they’re looking for at a price point that makes sense. Of course, there will always be opportunities for upsells, add-ons, and showcasing higher-priced products; but unless you know where your customer stands on budget, you’ll have a hard time selling them.
If you push the customer too hard on an item that’s above their price point, it could lead them to skip a sale altogether. Or worse, take the sale to another retailer. And the last thing you want is your customers’ loyalty shifting to someone else!
- Being impatient about getting to the checkout
A salesperson who runs to the cash register before the customer has committed to purchase is always a red flag. Doing this signals to the customer that you don’t care about what they need, just about ringing the till.
Read your customer’s body language and verbal cues to get a sense of where they are in the sales process. Sure, most customers require a bit of coaxing and warming up before they’ll let you into their circle. But the sooner you can start building trust, proving that you’re there to help and not to force a sale, the better off you’ll both be. As soon as that trust is built and you can show them what value a specific item will bring them, you won’t have to drag them to the cash register kicking and screaming.
- Letting ‘no’ be the final answer
It’s easy to let ‘no’ be the final answer. However, checking in with the customer a second time might magically turn that ‘no’ into a ‘yes.’ You don’t want the customer to live happily ever after with someone else’s product, right? Of course not. So, put on your big kid pants and ask for the sale again.
In sales, a ‘no’ is rarely a cold, hard, set-in-stone ‘no’. Again, demonstrate your patience here and find out the real story. Establish rapport and you’ll usually find a way to solve their problem, encouraging them to change their answer to that one word you like much better — ‘yes’.
By sidestepping these missteps, you can ensure you don’t find yourself in a sales dilemma that ends with losing a sale, or even a customer. Avoid the above interactions and instead of a lonely rejection, you’ll be enjoying the sweet success of a sale.
Try to avoid these 4 simple ways to lose a sale.
Contact Biz Coach Steve today to see how he can assist you to get the results you want in your business, steve@bizcoachsteve.com, or www.bizcoachsteve.com. He is in the business of growing businesses. Need a speaker, contact Steve today.
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