Four Mistakes Sales People Make - #2

This is the second of a series of four on common mistakes sales people make that comes from an article at Inc.com. As I said earlier, these mistakes or habits apply to everyone in sales and I talk a lot about how to change these habits in my programs. The second most common mistake is about showing deference to your customer, which when I looked it up in my trusty thesaurus means respect.

Mistake #2: We don’t show deference.
"I can help you," salespeople like to inform their prospects. How presumptuous is that? Prospects may be founders of successful businesses or corporate executives; they are experts in their industry. Salespeople? They are merely salespeople. "Don't say, 'I can help you,'" advises Basho's Jeff Hoffman. Instead, "Say, 'That's very interesting what you just said. A lot of our clients say the same thing. Let me tell you how we’ve helped them.'" This is especially critical when selling into a small or midsize company. "The life of a small business owner is that is, Everybody and their mother want to sell you stuff," says David Spector, an account executive at Google who founded the MIT sales club as a student. "You want to make it really clear that you have a lot of respect for the fact that I know everything, and that I have given you 15 minutes."

Let’s say, if you’re disrespectful to your clients, your sales career isn’t going to go too far. What this mistake speaks to isn’t about being disrespectful but has its roots in our enthusiasm. WE ARE ENTHUSIASTIC! We want to help. We want to solve the customer’s problem and in the enthusiasm we have wrapped around that goal, we may come across to our customer as not showing enough respect to them.

As the article says, they are giving us 15 (or sometimes more) minutes of time in their busy schedule. Rather than assume we’ve got all the answers and start talking about our products or services, a great way to show respect to a customer is to listen. True sales pro’s do one thing very, very well – they listen and not only do they listen but they use a skill called Active Listening.

Active Listening has Five Steps:

1. Pay attention: give your undivided attention
2. Show you are listening: body language, nodding
3. Use clarifying questions: “what I hear you saying is…”
4. Defer judgment: don’t interrupt & allow them to finish
5. Respond appropriately: be candid, open and honest

When responding, assert your opinions respectfully and you’ll be treating your customer the way they want to be treated, with deference. Practice the Five Steps of Active Listening, remember, it’s never too late to start TRAINing.

Joe Sileo

President - TRAIN, LLC