Have you ever wondered what determines winning or losing a sale?
Do you think it’s just a matter of luck or destiny?
Or maybe you say to yourself, “Well, it may not always be good, but next time it will be different.”
That “next time” is now!
Learn the best ones sales techniques and make the result you get depend on you. There are some things you can’t control, both in your private life and at work. So commit yourself and work well to keep all the variables you can manage under control.
You spend weeks or even months building a relationship with your prospect, investing time and resources, and then the deal falls through.
Have you ever found yourself in this situation?
You’re not alone, but it’s time to take your skills to the next level if you want your business to thrive.
Plan yours strategically sales processunderstand what needs to be changed and turn your lost sales into opportunities.
6 reasons why salespeople win or lose a sale
When salespeople successfully close a sale, they believe it is thanks to their skills and knowledge sales closing techniques.
On the contrary, when things don’t work out, the blame falls on the potential customer who wasn’t ready or on other external and uncontrollable variables.
I deal with many entrepreneurs and sellers for work. In most cases, they don’t take the time to analyze what didn’t work.
They’re not really aware of what they are strategies that work better than less effective ones.
One of the biggest differences between a successful salesman and a mediocre one is the ability to understand what is going on in the prospect’s mind.
If you know the problems, desires and needs of your interlocutor it will be much easier to enter into a relationship with him. If you build a relationship of trust with the potential customer will be more inclined to make the purchase.
This is a key theme for entrepreneurs and sellers and requires further investigation. Therefore I talk about it in detail and specifically in my video course “Understanding customer psychology”. It is a professional course in which you will find the methods to be able to communicate effectively with potential customers for achieve your business results.
Being aware of your behavior and analyzing the progress of your sales negotiations is essential.
So now let’s get back to us and let’s immediately see the 6 reasons why sellers win or lose a sale.
1. Focus on the product instead of the problem
Many sellers say they really focus on the problem or the desire of the potential customer. But their actions say otherwise.
If you start listing the features of your product or service when it’s not yet the right time to talk about it, you will lose the attention of your interlocutor.
Stop thinking that you have to influence potential customers by making them see the wonder of your offering. What you need to make them perceive is the result they will obtain thanks to your product or service.
Does this seem like trivial advice to you?
Well, then why don’t your sales end with a yes. Maybe because you think you do when in reality you don’t.
It’s no surprise to me that customers often feel the need to reject your offer. They probably sense your eagerness to sell them something at all costs and raise a wall of protection against you.
If you allow customers to put up that wall you lose.
Selling is a battle and is fought with blows of trust and doubt. If you can let trust and dialogue prevail then your chances of closing successfully increase.
Listen to your customer and examine their needs without being in a hurry to push on your offer. Make sure you get attention before throwing your words to the wind.
Your customer won’t care about your product until you highlight the problem it solves.
2. The prospect’s trust is lacking
It is crucial that you are aware of the lack of trust the customer has in you. You have nothing to do with it, every customer is distrustful by nature.
Starting from this assumption predisposes you to having to think of something that will get you out of the disadvantaged situation.
Understand the customer’s mindset and use it sales psychology techniques it’s one of the secrets to winning negotiations.
If the interlocutor doesn’t trust you or has doubts, your negotiation time will be extended. You will have to handle your objections and convince him that he shouldn’t worry.
Let’s say that, after all, you manage to get him to sign the contract despite that doubt that arose during the negotiation. Surely that will remain as a gray area in your future relationship and will always be a wake-up call for the customer.
Trust is a complex and delicate issue. I dedicate specific chapters to it in my video course “How to understand customer psychology”, in which I also talk about how it is to create a sense of trust around your figure, both personal and professional.
Even before the sale itself, your job is to build trust with your prospect. Everything else comes later as a consequence.
3. Weak credibility and authority
Credibility is a fundamental element in sales and is closely connected to trust.
It is important that you are well informed about the product or service and the offer you are offering. You must respond with safety answer all the customer’s questions and put them at ease.
If you address the other person with phrases like “I don’t know” or “I’m not sure”, you will quickly lose credibility.
The consumer must perceive you as an authority in your sector.
Credibility is easy to lose even if you give answers that are approximate or that you are not sure of. If you lie to your potential client and he notices, the game is over.
If you are not sure about something, a response like “I ask for internal confirmation to give you a certain answer and I will notify you as soon as possible to leave you with no doubts” is better. In this case you show that you care about yours relationship based on sincerity and that you also care that the customer has the correct information.
Trust is already difficult to gain once, regaining it becomes impossible!
Be professional with your customers and give them the support they need to clear their doubts and make a decision.
4. Too many variables at play
If you present the customer with too many choices, he will feel distressed and prefer not to make any decisions.
People do struggles to manage too many variables all together, because they will try to understand which is the most convenient. But this approach causes anxiety and doubt.
If the customer is in doubt, he doesn’t buy.
For this reason, among the reasons why sellers win or lose a sale there is also the freedom left to the consumer.
Freedom is a great opportunity but it requires a strong character and a determined nature. It doesn’t mean that your customers have clear ideas, in fact most of the time they don’t.
Customers tend to rely precisely because they don’t know what to choose.
So the best thing is to give him a maximum of two choices. In the sense that deciding whether to buy your product or service is like deciding whether to solve their problem or not.
If they want to find a solution, the purchase choice will be logical and natural.
5. Lack of a strategic sales process
The difference between having or not having a strategy determines the success or failure of your sales. With one sales strategy you can put a repeatable system in place that will allow you to be a successful salesperson and increase the percentage of positive sales.
Having a sales process means knowing the consumers you want to address your offer to, intercepting them and letting them go through the process step by step sales funnel.
It also means knowing the customer’s purchasing phases, recognizing which one they are in and communicate with him effectively to make him interested in you.
If you don’t have a sales process or if it is lacking in some parts, you will end up wasting time and resources.
If you don’t get consumers to the stage where they’re ready to make a purchase, you won’t be able to close your deals.
6. Taking too aggressive an approach
The aggressive approach, i.e. going straight to the sale, will get you more probability of receiving no.
If you put the customer against the wall ahead of time, he will flee from you or extend the time needed to close the deal.
You could be aggressive if you want to speed up the sale or to feel like you have the situation in your hands. People become aggressive especially when they are afraid of something. If you are afraid of not closing your sale you will tend to tighten the screws to shorten the time.
This, however, is most of the time counterproductive and will cause you to get exactly the opposite effect. It is important that you maintain a positive attitude. You have to stay calm and make the customer feel it too.
Conclusion
When a salesperson understands what goes on in the customer’s mind, he makes a leap in quality on a professional level. Knowledge and awareness they will make you feel more confident and you will handle every situation better.
Now that you know 6 reasons why salespeople win or lose a sale you have the weapons at your disposal to succeed in your negotiations.
You certainly need practice and experience, but if you follow my advice you will already see clear improvements. Only when you are more experienced do you add your personal style to your sales.
But until then, implement these techniques to avoid mistakes.
Trust that you can learn to become a better sales person but you need to focus and develop the right skills.