The losers in close, professional sports competitions usually have more unforced errors than their opponents. Even the experts make mistakes! Top performers need every advantage to win. You need every advantage in selling, too. These are some unforced errors in selling that you should avoid.
Thinking schmoozing is selling is an unforced error.
Yes, selling is not like a cold plunge. The beginning of your sales call allows your customer to change focus from whatever came before your sales call to the business at hand. Just remember that small talk is not a sales discussion. Yes, you could go on and on about those family photos on your customer’s desk. That isn’t selling.Your job is to transition the sales call from a brief conversation to a business discussion. Be sure you realize the time you have for business and get there as quickly as you can to start talking about your products and services with your customer.
Becoming stupider is an unforced error.
Are you overusing AI? A recent Wall Street Journal column, “How I Realized AI Was Making Me Stupid—And What I Do Now,” demonstrated that your brain weakens with overuse of AI. Think about it. How’s your memory? Can you even remember close friends’ phone numbers? Or are they all on speed dial or you use voice recognition to contact them? I’ll bet you are starting to squirm right now.
Now consider your creativity. The experts say that with creativity you either use it or it goes away. I’ve been using AI to create the brief summaries of the speakers at an upcoming conference that I’m chairing. I fed ChatGPT a few instructions with what the program would include. Then I asked for a brief summary. I even fine-tuned the results with a few more instructions. Yes, I got lighting fast summaries. Now I wonder if that was a mistake that eroded my creativity.
Research into the cognitive effects of AI is in its infancy. Even now the research shows a reduction in critical thinking. That is alarming for sales where you’ve got to be able to respond effectively to customer concerns which could turn into objections. Here are some recommendations to deal with AI. Take notes even if you use AI for a summary. Note taking itself has cognitive rewards. Use AI less often to force your brain to think for yourself.
Talking your language, but not your customer’s is an unforced error.
You have probably gone to enough sales meetings to write a dictionary of the acronyms you use for your products, services and company. The problem is that your customers almost always don’t know what you’re talking about when you use them. Less assertive customers will be embarrassed to admit they have no idea what you’re saying.
I was in a sales call where the salesman kept talking about HDMOs. The prospect, nodded occasionally and then finally said, “What are you talking about?” The salesman meant Heavy Duty Motor Oils. The customer, who was the maintenance superintendent of a major operation, bought thousands of gallons of heavy duty motor oil. He referred to it as engine oil, not HDMO.
Selling is not the easiest profession today. Just be sure that your competitor is making the unforced errors in selling, not you.