9 Reasons You Don't Make the Sale

By Robert Middleton - Action Plan Marketing

Are you closing as much new business as you could?

When it all comes down to it, if you don't get more clients from your marketing efforts and if you can't close the sale, all your work, promotion, and follow-up has gone to naught.

How many times have you gotten the chance to meet with a good potential client, but despite putting your best foot forward and presenting your services as well as you could, you still didn't make the sale?

It's easy to chalk it up to "bad timing" or "not a good fit," and sometimes that's true. However, in working with hundreds of clients over the years I've discovered that more often than not they have made serious mistakes that have killed the sale.

Below are nine of those mistakes. You may be familiar with some of them and surprised by others. However, if you can make some changes to correct these mistakes, I predict you'll start turning more prospects into paying clients.

1. You don't know enough about the prospect going in.

I'm not a big researcher, but I want to know something about every prospect before we sit down and talk about working together. I'll look at their web site, Google them, glance through some articles they've written. I want to get a sense going in if this is someone I can help or not.

This will also prevent you from working with someone who is not an ideal client for you! But if they're a good prospect, you want to learn enough about them to show that you are interested. Being interested makes you interesting.

2. You don't control the conditions of the selling conversation.

If I set up a sales meeting, I have a plan. I know what I'm going to ask and what I'm going to say about my services. I know how much time I need and all the other conditions that increase the chances of the meeting going well.

I'll ask for 90 minutes; I've found if I try for 60 things get rushed. I make sure there won't be any interruptions. I think of every detail and am ready. For instance, I'll bookmark their web site and have it ready to comment on during the session. Look, nothing ever goes perfectly but If I know what works and stick to it, I succeed.

3. You don't provide enough information before the meeting.

If I have a selling meeting with a prospect I also want them to know certain things about me as well. I don't assume. Sure they may have been reading my eZine for years, but I want them to know quite a bit about my services going into the meeting.

So I'll direct them to a web page about my program and ask them to read it; I'll send and article and perhaps a questionnaire. When you do that, people are more prepared, they take you more seriously, and they ask better questions. And they agree to work with you more often.

4. You're not sufficiently prepared for the meeting.

If you were going to be in a production of Hamlet next month, you'd prepare, wouldn't you? You wouldn't just skim the script and then improvise on opening night. But this is the equivalent of how the majority of Independent Professionals prepare for a selling meeting.

They perhaps have a rough idea of the questions they'll ask and how they'll talk about their services, but it's rarely thought out in any organized, deliberate way. This has always puzzled me. You need an outline and you need to rehearse. Out loud (to a friend or to the wall). No kidding. After all isn't this meeting more important than Hamlet?

5. You don't offer real value in the meeting.

One of the best ways to think of a selling meeting is as if they had already paid you for the meeting and you were there to give them value immediately. You'd find a way to add some value, wouldn't you? First you need to ask a number of questions to learn about their situation, goals and challenges.

But wouldn't it also make sense to tell some stories of things that had worked for other clients, a few suggestions and some very thought-provoking questions that made them see new possibilities? Perhaps a few resources they could use. If you do this, you're actually giving a sample of what it would be like to work with you. And that's what they're buying.

6. You don't ask "uncomfortable" questions.

Afraid of losing the business, you tend to be too careful, too controlled, too, well, boring... Clients don't want to pay you for boring; they want to pay you for insights that will lead to change. And to do that you need to ask tough questions, questions that are "socially unacceptable."

They are not questions you ask in polite company, but that you must ask in the selling conversation. If you stay away from the touchy subjects, you'll rarely get to the heart of why they need you in the first place. It's OK to be blunt or provocative as long as you are kind at the same time.

7. You rush through presenting your services.

You can divide a selling meeting into three main parts: The questions, the presentation and the close. The questions are all about the prospect. The presentation is all about you. More about the close later. In the presentation you are simply telling the prospect about your services, how they work, and how they will meet their needs.

If you have, say, seven main things to tell, you need to go through them slowly, deliberately and clearly. You know this stuff, they don't. For each point make sure you get agreement on each and every one.

"Each coaching session is about 75 minutes long. They are held weekly at a prearranged time. This ensures that we have continuity and that you get the level of support that dramatically increase the chances of you reaching your objectives. Make sense?"

8. You don't close or suggest a next step.

After all, it's easier to leave things open-ended; that avoids rejection. However, at the end of the selling meeting you want a definite plan to move ahead. If you're dealing with an individual client, there's no reason not to ask for the business at the end of the meeting.

"OK, based on everything you've told me, I'd love to have you as a client. I feel that working together we could produce results for your business at a whole new level. Other than the fee for my services, do you have any other questions? OK, my fee is $1,500 per month with a minimum of six months. Will that work for your budget right now?" A similar close has resulted in hundreds of thousands in new business to me."

9. Your proposal process is a mess.

If you are meeting with a larger client, a proposal will often be required. The most common mistake is to prepare a proposal before you have all the information you need and before you've come to a conceptual agreement to work together. You "throw the proposal over the fence" and pray they'll lob it back with a deposit check. Not usually.

Instead, work with the prospect together on the proposal until you agree that what you're offering is what they want. Only then, put a price on it. But before you send the proposal, set up a phone meeting about an hour after they receive the proposal so that you can answer any final questions.

Which of these mistakes are you making now? Are you getting a little clearer about why your closing rate it not as high as you'd like it to be? Time to make some changes!

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The More Clients Bottom Line: There's no doubt about it: selling is an art. It takes practice and perseverance. But it also helps if you understand the mistakes you are making and work seriously to correct them. These ten mistakes are both common and deadly. Do things differently and you'll get more clients. You can thank me later!

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Which of these selling mistakes are you going to correct first? Please share your answer on the More Clients Blog by clicking on the Comments link below.

Comments

[Robert Middleton]

To Charlie Lang,

I'm big on planning and rehearsing because this ultimately lets you be more spontaneous. You know the features and benefits of your service. You have answers to all their questions and objections. And you have a track to run on.

But that doesn't mean you're rigid; you're prepared.

Once you have that, you have real flexibility. In some cases you meet with the hope of selling a particular program or service. But it's true, that may not be what they need. So sometimes in a first meeting you really can't present anything, you have to go back and think and come back and talk some more.

Here's what we're finding in the Mastery Program. As people change their approach to selling, their close rate goes up and then offer much larger packages of services. They sell a complete solution based on business needs, not what the client "thinks" they need.

We also position the selling conversation as a valuable service. We are not there just to be sponges taking in everything the prospect says. We need to find out specific things: current situation, vision and goals, challenges and issues. It's rare that sales people go this deep.

I scheduled 90 minutes for me because that's what it usually takes. It might take more or less depending on what you're offering. But you never want to be rushed.

Cheers, Robert

[Charlie Lang]

Robert, I quite disagree with some of your points because they are 'old sales school' where the sales person has a strong focus on what s/he wants leading to reduced trust and potentially missing the point.

Examples:

"... I have a plan. I know what I'm going to ask and what I'm going to say about my services. I know how much time I need.."
"... You need an outline and you need to rehearse."
"... I'll ask for 90 minutes..." (what if the topic doesn't need that kind of time? What if the client doesn't feel like meeting you for 90mins?)

While I 100% agree that planning is important, we found it to be much more successful to remain absolutely flexible and versatile in the conversation with the client because more often than not, the sales meeting may go into a totally unexpected direction because other stakeholders have other ideas than the one you have been talking to prior to the meeting. Its a BIG trap to have everything rehearsed because it's likely to throw you off course when things don't go as expected.

In my opinion it's much more important to remain focused on the best possible outcome for the client rather than my own. My own is taken care of as a result in most cases - of course, I might need to set some boundaries around price, etc.

I particularly like your point 5 though, especially for independent professionals: "... as if they had already paid you for the meeting and you were there to give them value immediately." I believe doing that is one of the main reasons for my very high closing rate (typically between 50-70%).

[Rich Foss]

Good morning, Robert,

Mistake number 9 hit home. A few months ago, I failed to work with a potential client to develop a proposal. Instead, I "threw it over the fence." Needless to say, it didn't work. Thanks for the tips.

[Patricia Comolet]

I'm just getting into selling conversations in the Fast Track and I appreciate the 9 mistakes because it allows me to focus on one or two points to start with. Mine will be visualising and practicing my presentation on my cat. I've found this type of rehearsal similar to writing my website which helped me tremendously to be more clear about how my coaching can help my clients.

[Jinny Ditzler]

Hi Robert,

Great pointers -- you nailed it!

I've made a copy of the blog to send to our partners as we enter our Best Year Yet Hot Selling Season. I've left all the links in and will recommend that they connect with you.

Does this work for you?

All the best, Jinny