Selling has seven deadly sins, as well! Did you know that? Everyone has heard of the traditional seven deadly sins (lust, greed, etc.). And those sins of selling are really deadly ones, because if you indulge in them, you’ll find your sales efforts dead in the water. Did I catch your attention? Here they are:
7 Deadly Sins of Selling
1. Not being personally accountable:
Don’t pass the buck to somebody else in your firm; your customers want your personal skin in the game. Be very close to your customers and be their consultant.
2. Failing to understand the customer’s business:
Don’t expect customers to answer dozens of questions just because you didn’t do your research. You have to become your customer problem solver by planning ahead of time.
3. Being an adversary, not an ally:
Since customers are risking their career doing business with you, they expect you to represent their best interests. Therefore, it is essential that you facilitate their decision and make it easier.
4. Selling products not solutions:
Don’t burden customers with features and functions; tell them how your solution will help and benefit their business.
5. Being inaccessible when needed:
If customers are important to you, you’ll answer their email or voice mail within minutes, not hours. How come you want to be your customer’s problem solver or consultant without being accessible?
6. Selling rather than helping:
Customers want you to be thinking about how to help their firm, not how to sell your products. At the end, you are there to make their life easier.
7. Wasting the customer’s time:
If your solution isn’t the right choice for the customer, say so. Don’t waste their time pitching something they don’t need, or else you will be pushing it too far & you may end up annoying the customer for no reason.
So what do you think? Aren’t those sins of selling deadly? Avoid them or else your sales efforts will be dead.
This article was originally posted by Geoffrey James on CBS MoneyWatch here.
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