📄 The Top Three Mistakes In Selling That You Should Avoid at All Cost

The first mistake is blindingly obvious:

Too much talking, not enough listening.

If you want a buyer to care about what you know, or do, or sell, they first need to know that you care about them, and about their problem.

As the saying goes: nobody cares how much you know, until they know how much you care.

And you demonstrate care by listening more than you talk.

The second mistake:

Selling on features and benefits.

Yes: 'Features tell, benefits sell'.

But that’s only part of the story.

What really sells - and amazingly well - is a person’s own desire.

Meaning, their wish to gain a positive outcome, or alleviate a burden or solve a problem.

And guess what:

Listening, and asking questions that facilitate insight and discovery, helps your buyer discover just how deep the desire goes.

And thus, once you've asked enough questions and the buyer has a full view on what they want, how badly, and for which specific reasons, they sell themselves.

The third mistake is the hardest to get around: 

Being afraid of the no, and therefore not asking for the sale.

It’s hard to hear no, because nobody likes being rejected.

And even though a no is usually against the offer, and not against you: it still doesn't feel nice, and it leaves you with that uncomfortable state of "What do I do next?"

And so, very often we don't ask for the sale, because that way we won't get told no. (That's also how you get stale deals and people ghosting you, btw).

But being open to a no, or welcoming it - or, best: asking for a no - is the best move you could ever make in the process of sales conversations.

For example:

“Here’s an idea… tell me if this doesn't fit into your world, but: what if I could help you solve XYZ problem - should we talk about that?"

Say that to a potential buyer, and you’ll be giving them the right to veto - you're asking them for a no, which means you respect and emphasise their autonomy.

And that means they won’t feel forced, or rushed, or pushed - which obviously means they’ll be more open to considering what you have to offer.

Obviously, there’s a lot more that can go wrong, when selling - but these three need attention and improvement, before anything else.

1: Listen more than you talk

2: Sell on the desire that a buyer already has, not the benefits

3: Ask for the sale, and/or ask for the no.