Last time, we talked about the 7 mistakes you need to avoid in network marketing. Today, we’re closing in on the sales process and the most common selling mistakes people make and what you can do to avoid them:
1. Neglecting to do your research.
This is a multilayered mistake. Neglecting to research about your prospect leads to the following problems:
- You end up with the wrong prospect. Yes, there are wrong prospects—people who do not have the capacity or interest to take your offer. While you must be careful of prejudging potential customers, you must also make sure you assess if your prospect has, at the very least, that capacity and interest before going further into your sales meetings with them.
- You fail to understand your prospect’s needs and, thus, fail to establish a connection. You do have the right one, but are unable to show this person that your offer is right for them, too, because you do not know enough about your prospect to link their needs to the product.
- Your prospect might not be the key decision-maker in their household. This does happen. Your prospect is very interested in your offer and has full capacity to take it, but before doing so, they need to consult with a parent or their partner first. We’ve talked about how talking to our family and friends about business opportunities presented to us can lead to them dissuading us from taking the offer—it’s a classic network marketing mistake, and your prospects are bound to make them as well.
What you can do to prevent these people from causing a hurdle, is to ask your prospect to invite this key decision-maker to your meeting so you can present your offer to the both of them at the same time. Who knows? At the end of the day, you might even get two people to sign up with you.
You might also neglect to research about the product you are selling or, in the case of network marketing, the business opportunity you are offering, which could lead to you misrepresenting this to your prospect, being unable to answer questions about it, and failing to convince your prospect to believe in it.
2. Focusing on your product instead of your customer.
During your first couple of meetings with your prospect, chances are they won’t really care about your product just yet. The truth is, people don’t bite offers because of the product itself alone, but because of how THEY can benefit from it. So focus on understanding your customer’s needs first, and then link these needs to how your offer can address them and help your customer have a better life.
3. Talking too much.
When you talk too much, you often lose the point of the meeting—and the interest of your prospect. Some representatives overdo the need for relationship-building with excessive chatter. Some, as mentioned in #2, do talk about the product but give way too much irrelevant information. Always have an agenda for each meeting you set and stick to it. It is also best to make your prospect aware of this agenda upon setting up your appointment with them so they know what to expect and you are both properly guided.
4. Jumping straight to the sale.
In any type of sales business, you need to build a relationship with your customer before you can close a sale. So take the time to educate your prospect about what you are offering and how this can benefit them, and they will reward you with repeat business.
5. Not asking for the sale.
On the flip side, ending a sales meeting without at least attempting to ask for the sale is as big a mistake. You can’t depend on your customers to tell you if they’re ready to take your offer… if you don’t bother making the offer. Sometimes asking for the sale is the nudge your customer needs to make a final decision.
6. Forgetting to ask for a referral.
You’re in sales! Referrals are your bloodline! Never ever forget to ask your prospect to give you a list of contacts which they believe can also benefit from your offer. Always ask for referrals!
7. Failing to follow up with leads.
Some prospects need time to think things over before they can make a decision. Just because your initial meeting does not end in a sale, does not mean your prospect will never be interested in taking your offer at all. There ARE prospects who never sign up but, especially if yours asks for additional information or verbally expresses that they will be considering, following-up is critical.
References:
http://www.allbusiness.com/top-10-sales-mistakes/16568063-1.html
http://sbinfocanada.about.com/od/salesselling/a/salesblunderskr.htm
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