From the Revenue Coach: Five Sales Mistakes You Need to Avoid

At Inflection Point Partners, we work with people who want to perform at a higher level. To see improved results. To realize greater fulfillment in their careers and their lives. So why write about Sales?

Because, often, what helps define our clients’ improved performance is generating revenue. Achieving the numbers and the sales goals. In our work, we call upon decades of sales experience to empower clients to have a greater financial impact on their firms. This sales experience was accrued over thousands of meetings signing hundreds of clients. We earned our stripes through prospecting, cold calling, carrying the computer, projector, and speakers dealing with layovers in airports and countless other trials and tribulations that all salespeople have experienced. On a personal note, I often describe a stint selling sponsorships for a third-tier sports franchise as “selling used gum.” Indeed a tough sale. But proved to be doable.

What then have our combined experiences as successful sales people turned Revenue Coaches taught us? More importantly, how can this knowledge help you improve your sales performance?

Let’s start with the three R’s: Relevance + Resonance = Revenue.

Now more than ever, an empathic approach to the sales process—one that prioritizes what clients need from the relationship —will win. Sales are transactional. Relationships endure. Do your best to walk in the shoes of your prospective buyers. Find out what’s relevant to, and what resonates with them. That’s the first step toward a long-term, mutually beneficial relationship. You can put your best foot forward by avoiding these five common mistakes.

Mistake 1: Conducting meetings by phone

Conference calls are not effective, especially for the first meeting. Clients tend not to be engaged. They’re talking to colleagues, reading through emails, and responding to texts. Connections are not established and, often, a conference call is easy to cancel. Focus your efforts on conducting the meeting in the clients’ office. If that first meeting simply cannot be in person, make the call 20 minutes. No more. People are more likely to attend. If you’re prepared and focus on their needs, they will pay attention and appreciate your approach.

Mistake 2: Believing that "an hour" is sixty minutes long

If you do schedule the traditional hour-long meeting, you need to know this going in: You don’t have an hour! The attendees will be late, the WiFi password will be a mystery, one of the key decision makers will have a “hard stop” halfway through the meeting… an endless army of obstacles will emerge and derail you. So, a good rule of thumb: if your meeting is scheduled for an hour, assume you have 35 minutes and plan the arc of the meeting accordingly. If you should actually have the entire hour, or end early, great. Continue the discussion. Ask important questions to further establish the rapport, strengthening the bedrock of the relationship. Or equally beneficial, set the prospects free. The people who just got back an extra 20 to 25 minutes will be appreciative and far more likely to meet with you again.

Mistake 3: "Being prepared" instead of "BEING PREPARED!"

Anyone can do basic research. But how many look at SEC filings such as 10Q’s, 10K’s, and Annual Reports? How many listen to earnings calls? Go deeper. Read articles about competitors. If you know someone at the target company who can provide you with some “color,” reach out to them. Find out who your prospect is, focusing on what they need, and why. Go in with a thesis or better yet some original thought starters on how you could work together. Even if you're not 100% on point, the effort will be applauded. Your job is to find the problem(s), and propose the solution. A diagnostic process occurs prior to the meeting and continues during the discussion. Your exercise becomes treating the prospects' pain points.

Mistake 4: Talking too much

Stick to the 70/30 rule. Clients speak 70% of the meeting. You speak 30%. No timers necessary. The point here is you are gathering information and doing your diagnosis. You want to share just enough about yourself and your company to get them to open up and talk to you. If you’re the one doing all the talking, you’re missing key windows of opportunity to uncover their motivations. Are they new in their job and need to create short-term wins? Are they trying to deliver against a stretch goal? Are they confused about what they should do and in need of a partner who can provide some clarity and direction? Once you tap into what is driving them, your job becomes much easier.  

Mistake 5: Thinking your PowerPoint Deck is Interesting

It’s not. If you want to show slides, prepare two sets. One version you show. The other you use as a leave behind. The slides you show should have images, videos, diagrams, and (a few) words answering the only question that matters: why should they care? The slides you leave should contain what most likely resembles your script. A best practice: put the slides on one page in a tight outline, and state at the outset that everything you discuss will be provided in a handout. You are now poised to have a discussion. If you’re standing in front of a screen reading lines of copy verbatim, you’re wasting time that you don’t have. Speak to the person, not the screen. You build a relationship by talking with people not reading to them. 

(BONUS) Mistake 6: Trying to sell in the first meeting

Instead look to build a relationship. A mentor once told me: the goal of the first meeting is to get an assignment. To trigger the response “I need some of that.”

Of course, these five (or so) mistakes are not the only ones you can make. (Wouldn’t that be nice?) It’s impossible to provide an all-inclusive list of pitfalls to avoid in one article. The information above represents only a thin slice of the job of the salesperson. We did not discuss the process of and strategy around strategic prospecting, setting up sales goals, building the sales plan, creating the pipeline template, managing to it, building the narrative, and so many other critical sales elements.

We have seen a lot. But we surely have not seen it all. Feel free to share the biggest mistakes you have seen. We can compare notes. We do know that the empathic sales approach in today’s loud, complicated, and ever-changing world provides the best chance of success.