The 3 Sales Mistakes You Don’t Want To Make

When it comes to success, your business is irrevocably anchored by two things: your marketing and your sales process or team. I discussed the importance of marketing and sales in a previous blog, indicating the need for a 40/60 balance. I later covered the hot topic of whether or not sales automation is possible. Now, I’d like to zero in on something you need to know: the three sales mistakes you want to avoid and the solutions to those mistakes, in case you’ve already made them.

Sales Statistics Reveal Room for Improvement

There are three common sales mistakes. It’s incredibly easy to be guilty of any one of these, and just one can impact your success rate. Let’s get right to it; have you or your sales team ever been guilty of:

  1. Never following-up with a prospect
  2. Reaching out for second contact before stopping contact
  3. Making only three attempts to contact a prospect

Just how can these mistakes impact sales? According to the National Sales Executive Association (NSEA), only 2 percent of sales are made on the first contact, 3 percent on the second, 5 percent on the third and 10 percent on the forth. Believe it or not, 80 percent of sales are made on the fifth to twelfth contact. When’s the last time your sales processes reached out five plus times to a prospect? You might be surprised by the next set of statistics published by the NSEA:

  • 48 percent of sales professionals never follow-up
  • 25 percent make second contact and then stop
  • 12 percent only attempt to contact a prospect three times before stopping
  • Only 10 percent of sales professionals attempt to contact a prospect more than three times

As you can see, there is room for improvement. Chances are, you and your sales team have committed or are currently entangled by one of thesethree sales mistakes. What’s the solution? How can you turn your sales process into a strong tool?

Common Sense Sales Solutions

The remedy to this seeming epidemic boils down to simple, common sense sales solutions. Creating and using a strong sales process doesn’t have to be frustrating. In fact, it becomes very simple when you break it down into the smaller processes that make up your overall sales process:

  • Remember your ABC’s: Do you remember the ABC blog? The ABC, or Always Be Connected, policy is the process of moving people from your Ideal Client List to your Active Client List. Your every sales process should focus strongly on achieving this goal.
  • Capture your connections: In other words, identify and profile your ideal client, and be ready to capture pertinent information. You want to capture everything from demographic to interest related data.
  • Learn your connections’ interests: Your connections’ interests reveal a great deal about what motivates them. By discovering this information, you can better learn how to motivate them to the ultimate action: buying.
  • Stay visible 24/7: One awesome quality of the Internet is that it’s open 24/7. Your online presence is a super way to stay in front of your prospects. Invest in online real estate by constructing an informative and engaging website. Keep your social media channels buzzing and use them to pull people to your online content. If you’re constantly visible, you’re more likely to land sales.

In order to best implement and benefit from your sales process, technology is a must. Utilize CRM (customer relationship management) and alert software. Record as much information about your connections as possible because even the smallest details can help you make the sale.

Persistence and Practice Pay Off

“For the things we have to learn before we can do them, we learn by doing them.” -Aristotle

Creating and implementing a strong sales process is only half of the battle. The other half consists of a simple principle, one that Aristotle knew all too well: practice makes perfect. Don’t be disheartened if, as you set-up and work with the above processes, you stumble. Keep practicing and you’ll reap greater sales.

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