The way customers search for and buy products has changed dramatically since the emergence of search engines, review sites, and social media. Not only do they have more choice of what to buy, they no longer rely solely on salespeople to educate them about the product and why they should buy it.
With this shift in power comes the need for a shift in how the client-sales relationship is nurtured and the sales tactics deployed by your sales team. If you recognise any of the below sales tactics being used by your team, it’s time they change their approach.
1) Approaching as many leads as possible
It’s little wonder that the stereotype of the aggressive salesperson emerged. Sales tactics in the past involved soliciting as many leads as possible to make sales. You might think that a longer list of leads would result in more deals closed – but not if you work from a list of cold leads. The colder the lead, the harder you need to sell: a lose-lose situation for you (you waste time and energy) and the lead (they’ve lost precious minutes of their day listening to you pitch a product they have no intention of buying), not to mention the potential damage you may have caused to the brand. Before big data emerged, salespeople had little choice but to rely on sales tactics like mass-pitching. Now, thanks to data sourcing, market research (so you know you’re talking to the right leads) and advanced lead generation techniques, sales teams need only invest time following up on warm leads.
2) Sitting back after the deal has been closed
The term “close deals” implies that once sales are made, the game is over – the salesperson can sit back, dream about their commission and never have to engage their clients again. Not so. Today, closing the deal marks the start of the relationship between a customer and the sales team, through which a customer can become a delighted customer, and a potential brand evangelist. One great way to boost sales performance is to upsell and cross-sell to existing customers, rather than simply going after new ones. If you keep up the dialogue with your clients, there’s a large chance they’ll come back to you in the future, or refer you to people they know.
3) Pretending you’re best mates with the prospect
Building a relationship of trust with prospective clients doesn’t mean you have to pretend to be their best friend from the get-go. You might think that being familiar and friendly will put them at ease and help you find common ground, but over-familiarity can be extremely off-putting – especially in a sales situation. Instead, aim to be approachable, helpful and maintain a level of professionalism. Take your clues about how to engage your prospect by reading them and adjust your behaviour to accommodate them, saving the familiarities for when you’ve forged a solid relationship with them further down the line.
4) Failing to follow up
Of all the outdated sales tactics out there, failing to follow up and leaving the next step up to the prospect is the biggest mistake. Even though it may seem less pushy to give the lead time and space to process whether or not they want to buy, it’s essential that after every contact with a lead, you’re responsible for the follow-up. That might be sending them further material, arranging another meeting, or putting them in touch with someone who can answer their questions. Your lead should feel as if you’re working for them, not that they have to move themselves down the sales funnel.
5) Offering free products or discounts
How many times has a salesperson offered you a free product or discount if you made a purchase that day? Perhaps this tactic worked and you purchased said item, but probably because you were intent on buying it in the first place. Pushing discounts or freebies on leads that are not ready to buy puts undue pressure on them, and will likely turn them off your product as you’ll appear desperate and more concerned about making the sale than taking their needs into consideration. The selling process should be centred around getting to know your prospect and their needs so that you can help them find a solution for their pain points. If you go in with this mindset, it’ll shine through in the way you communicate and go a long way in building their trust.
6) Not taking ‘no’ for an answer
Part of being a good salesperson is knowing which battles to fight. However, many salespeople have trouble letting their leads go when they’ve made it clear that they don’t have any intention of buying. Letting a lead walk away should not be seen as a defeat. Instead, you should be patient and engage them over the course of several contact points. Even though they might not be ready to buy the first, second, or even fifth time you talk to them, by keeping contact with and nurturing them, they may decide to buy at a later stage. So instead of investing energy in trying to convert leads at the first meeting, be patient and don’t be perturbed if they do say ‘no’ the first time. In point one we discussed the importance of using market research to guide you to the right leads. Approach the right leads, and the number of times you’ll have to take ‘no’ for an answer will be far less than if you go after the wrong ones.
Has your sales team adjusted their sales approach to fit in with the buying habits of today’s customer? If you’d like advice on how to modernise your sales pitch, download our guide:
