Top Six Selling Bloopers (and how to avoid them)

topic of the articles

Part 2 of 3

By Jeff Mowatt, JeffMowatt.com

Sports bloopers are often about preventable errors that favour the other team. The classic is when players score against their own side. In the world of business, there are similar blunders – particularly during buying conversations with potential customers – that end up favoring the competition. As I explain in my seminars for sales teams, it’s not always a shortfall in your company’s product, price, or service that ruins a potential sale. Often it’s inadvertent comments that put customers off just enough for them to choose your competitor. Unfortunately, sales reps are usually unaware they commit these offences so they keep repeating them. See if you or your team members ever make these selling gaffs.

  1. Insulting the competition

If your potential customer is currently doing business with your competitor, it’s fine to compare your offerings, but be careful not to criticize the competition. After all, the customer decided to do business with them. So slamming the competition is tantamount to telling the customer that he or she made a bad choice. (See “Insulting Their Intelligence”).

  1. Ignoring objections

If you propose a solution that ignores a customer’s objection or concern, you are essentially saying that you weren’t listening (see “Not Listening”). That requires being transparent in how your proposal either addresses their concerns, or it provides extra value that could outweigh their concerns. The key is we shouldn’t pretend we didn’t hear or value their initial objections.

This article is based on the bestselling book , Influence with Ease, by motivational speaker, Jeff Mowatt. For more information, visit JeffMowatt.com .

Part 1 was posted yesterday. Part 3 will appear tomorrow.