Top 10 things salespeople should STOP doing

Often in the sales profession we focus, as we should, on the top things we “should” be doing. However, too many salespeople do too many things that they “should not” be doing, and those things are not in their best interest for their sales career. Some are obvious to them and some are not.

Either way, they all have a negative impact in the long run and can in turn cause burn out, frustration and even giving up. As a sales coach, I see many of these “should not’s.” Below is my top 10 list of things that all salespeople should stop doing.

STOP:

10) Focusing only on the money. Prospects and clients will see that easily, and if you focus only here, burn out will occur when the money is not coming in.

9) Worrying about getting it right. How do you even define what is right? And once you defined it, how will you know if that is right? Such focus on this will cause constant frustration because you’ll always doubt “did I get it right?”

8) Charging so little. Money is a conceptual thing and frankly too many companies and salespeople “devalue” their worth by charging too little for what they offer. They take what I call their “head trash( self-limiting beliefs)” about money on the call and in turn charge too little for what they offer. One self-liming belief they have is “if I couldn’t afford that price, how could I ask my prospect to pay that?”

7) Taking yourself so seriously. Take your business seriously, but not yourself. When was the last time you laughed at yourself for a mistake you made? Lighten up and have some fun. Prospects enjoy some fun also and frankly are tired of the spit and polish salesperson that tries to never have a crack in the armor. They make mistakes also ( see number 9).

6) Thinking the sales call is about you. This is what I call being “I” centered on the sales call vs. “buyer-centered.” Prospects are tired of hearing how great you or your company is. Doesn’t mean it’s not true, however, every salesperson before you told them the same things. Prospects don’t care about you. They only care can you fix their problem.

5) Stop getting your needs met on the call. My sales coaching rule is “selling is not to get your emotional needs meet, it’s to solve a prospects problem and in turn go to the bank.” As an example, too many salespeople are more concerned with being liked first, sell second. This is what I call “need for approval” and its impact is very detrimental to salespeople and that’s another article in itself.

4) Trying so hard. Stop pressuring yourself so much. The more you try so hard the more it shows. Relax. Have some fun.

3) Trying to perfect, you won’t. If you think you’ve perfected it, you stop growing. Just what is perfect to begin with and how does anyone know what it looks like as well? I can assure you this is a formula for burn-out .Trying to be perfect is a self-defeating concept. There is no such thing. Why? Once you feel you’ve perfected it, you still will try to be “more” perfect.

2) Being afraid to make mistakes. You will. SO WHAT! Learn from them. Once you stop worrying about making mistakes, you take risks and step out of your comfort zone and growth within starts to occur.

And Number 1 is:
1) Stop forgetting to check your Fun Meter. Has to be 9-10 or you aren’t doing steps 1-9.
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Gary Harvey is the founder and president of Achievement Dynamics, LLC, a high performance sales training, coaching and development company for sales professionals, managers and business owners. His firm is consistently rated by the Sandler Training as one of the top 10 training centers in the world. He can be reached at 303-741-5200, or [email protected] .