Wow! I Was Really Wrong About That One
Not long ago I published a post titled The Greatest Sales Mistake Ever Made. In that post I highlighted what I claimed was the greatest sales mistake I've seen in my career. I was wrong. What I highlighted then is big, but in no way is it number one.
Yesterday, I witnessed what has to be top on the list of sales mistakes. As it happened, I couldn't believe it:
Salesperson: Here are our benefits�…blah, blah, blah.
Me: What does it take open an account?
Salesperson: Just a second and we'll get there. feature, feature, feature.
Me: How do I start a business relationship with your company?
Salesperson: This is why you should do business with us�…feature, feature, feature.
Me: Great! What does it take to get started?
Salesperson: Benefit, benefit, benefit.
Me: Can we get started today?
Salesperson: Feature, feature, feature.
Me: Okay. I want to buy. How do we get started?!
Salesperson: I just need some basic information and I can open an account.
This is pretty close to the exact conversation I had with a sales rep yesterday. I attempted to buy no less than four times and the salesperson pushed on with their company script. Incredible!
The greatest sales mistake of all time has to be selling past the close. Selling past the close only opens opportunity to loose the sale. Never present one single solitary thing after a customer agrees to buy. Ever.
Remember, your objective is making the sale. Once that's done, stop talking and take the order.
Can you think of a sales mistake greater than this one?
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By McGroarty, October 3, 2005 @ 2:53 pm
Where does talking down the customer’s selected product without offering an alternative rate on your scale?
I went to GNC to purchase Pat’s Diet Shake today. Pat’s Diet Shake is similar to Slim Fast, Atkins, etc — but it doesn’t cause me the gastric upset I attribute to the other products.
My salesman, Juan, immediately started berating the product owing to Pat Buchanan’s involvement in producing the product. I explained that I was specifically interested in Pat’s Diet Shake and gave my reasons for choosing that over the other two brands I knew. I agreed that yes – I understand Pat Buchannan could be a little loopy, but was uninterested in the brand or the person behind it. Further, I invited him to find me another diet shake with an identical or like formulation. Instead, he continued to berate the product I was interested in, growing louder and more aggressive each time I mentioned the original product.
I ended up visiting another store instead to order the two cases I had intended.