Bad news. Your customers hate you.
Alright, perhaps not, but if you are guilty of any or all of the following four things, they probably do. Customers can have a lot of potential reasons for disliking salespeople, but there are some things that are generally universal and are the main reasons sales reps often get a bad name.
You Don’t Listen
This will be the top reason a client will not like you and is likely the number one reason they either do not buy or are not steady customers. This is the most-cited reason, in many surveys, that salespeople are disliked. The reason is obvious: most salespeople do not listen to customers, but instead do all of the talking and work by creating pressure instead of relationships.
A relationship implies a two-way street in which you give and take help and information with someone. In both business-to-business and person-to-person relationships, this is the same. You give and you take. It’s how markets work. Sadly, too many salespeople are takers and do little giving. All they want is their customer’s purchase and the commission that comes with it.
Ignorance
While we may use this term to note someone as uneducated and socially unacceptable, it implies a general lack of knowledge about a subject. In sales, it means the salesperson is unaware of or lacks knowledge in the basic industry or product he or she is serving. This is especially glaring when the lack of knowledge is about the product being sold and the prospect’s business. The most fundamental thing any salesperson on any sales force selling any product or service should do is have a thorough knowledge of the products and services being sold. Nothing kills a sale faster than having to look up information or ask someone a question about your own products.
Lack of Follow-up
This often goes hand-in-hand with our first peeve. Many salespeople will make the initial contact, begin a relationship, then make an initial sale and assume that this is all they needed. They fail to follow up with the client and continue the relationship and build more sales now or in the future.
In boxing, George Foreman used to refer to continued punches to the body and heart as “money in the bank.” They didn’t have the spectacular flash the cameras or onlookers wanted, showing the dramatic uppercut or left hook, but they were the continual battering that adds up over time and eventually results in a fatigued and stumbling opponent. In sales, when you make a quick phone call, stop by with donuts and coffee, send a note to see how things are going.. when you do those things, you’re putting money in the bank down the line. Maybe not today, tomorrow, or even next week, but eventually it will come back to pay off.
Refusing a “No”
Sometimes, your product, service, or offering just isn’t what the prospect needs. Sometimes the new thing the company is now promoting isn’t a fit for all of your clientele. Sales pressure is the number one way to ruin a reputation and destroy working relationships. If something is not a good fit for your client, don’t pitch it to them. Mention it in passing, in case they have friends or colleagues, of course, but do not attempt to make it fit them if it doesn’t. You’re wasting everyone’s time and sabotaging all of your work building trust with your client. If you do think something is a fit and your client says they don’t want it, then “no means no.” Tell them it’s there if they need it and leave it at that. They’ll respect you for it.