Habits can be hard to break. Some of them, like nail biting or drinking too much soda, are part of our daily lives. Others can infiltrate our professional lives, and possibly stand in the way of success. We asked three sales professionals about bad habits that can develop in the sales world, and how to break them. Here's what they had to say.
Bad Habit No. 1: Failure to listen
To keep customers happy, you first have to know what they want. Rather than telling them what you think they need, it's best to sit back and listen to what they have to say. "I think the No. 1 big mistake is not being a good listener," said Rosalie Marcus, The Promo Biz Coach, proprietor of www.promobizcoach.com, Jenkintown, Pa. "No one is interested in you. They're interested in how you can help them." She recommended researching prospects before calling on them, so you are prepared with compelling questions for your first meeting.
Kelly Mallozzi, principal, Success.in.Print, Chicago, agreed that all salespeople should practice asking the right questions and then allowing customers to speak. "We need to ask better questions," she said. "And the most difficult thing for salespeople is to ask a question and then keep their mouth shut. What we tend to do as salespeople is ask, 'What's most important to you? Is it this? Is it this? Is it this?' What we actually [need to] do is to shut up and let them say it."
Kirby Hasseman, owner of Hasseman Marketing & Communications, Coshocton, Ohio, expanded on this point and shared a personal anecdote he learned at an early age. "They always say you have two ears and one mouth, so use them accordingly," he said. "My dad once told me that in sales, you say exactly what you need to say and then shut up. The next person who talks loses. Let them talk."
Bad Habit No. 2: Failure to solve problems
Once you've established a prospect's specific needs, you'll need to develop a plan for meeting them. "If you're going to take up a client's time, it's important to take a deep breath before you rush in and think, "What am I doing to help them?' before you walk into the door," Hasseman cautioned.
Mallozzi recommended approaching the situation with the goal of assisting the client, not selling something."[Salespeople] need to understand what their target is trying to accomplish and what their goals are," she said. "It's about doing the research to see what that person is trying to do, and anticipating what it is that [they] have that can help that person solve the problem."
Bad Habit No. 3: Failure to set goals
With so much focus on their clients, many salespeople forget that their own goals are important, too. Without clear, well-defined goals, it's possible to lose focus and derail a potential sale. Mallozzi reminded salespeople to keep their short-term and long-term goals organized and realistic.
"[Goals] can be revenue-based or activity-based," she said. "It could be, 'I want to sell a certain amount or engage with this customer,' [or] 'I want to meet this many new people,' but being very specific about what they want to accomplish. I think a lot of people don't do that."
Marcus believes that a successful sale requires setting realistic expectations and obtainable goals throughout the process. "I would say before every meeting, set a goal for the meeting," she advised.
"It shouldn't necessarily be 'I'm going to sell them something.' Sales can take five to seven meetings," Marcus continued. "The goal can be 'I'm going to come back for another meeting,' or something like that, or 'They're going to like my ideas."
Bad Habit No. 4: Failure to follow through
Landing a successful meeting (or five) doesn't mean the deal is done. Follow-up is always necessary. Marcus said some salespeople fail to plan their next step. "After you've had a very good meeting, and you feel that there's interest, always set up a next step," she said. She added that this is a good time to ask about setting up another meeting.
Mallozzi noted that it may take multiple attempts to reach a prospect and encouraged salespeople to be persistent. "When [salespeople are] prospecting they make a call, they don't get a response, and they don't do anything more," she observed. "They need to put a plan together where they call, they email, they send things, they visit, and they do that constantly."
Bad Habit No. 5: Failure to be productive
According to Hasseman, it's important for a salesperson to recognize which tasks are moving the sale in the right direction, and which ones are just adding unnecessary work.
"Being busy, but not actually proactively selling, is a problem," he said. "You're being busy, but not productive. You can feel like a chicken running around with its head cut off, but you didn't write any orders. So the whole idea there is to make sure you're focusing on actual sales activities, not just things to stay busy."
Brendan Menapace is the content director for Promo+Promo Marketing.