If you want to make money, you need to know how to sell. In business, cash flow is king. Same goes if you’re working a job, cash is king, and if you want to get paid you need to be client facing and bringing in dollars for your company.
Unfortunately, most guys don’t know how to sell, not because they can’t, but because they haven’t taken the time to learn. Lucky for you I wrote the book on sales which you can pick up here (always selling):
With that said, you don’t need to buy the book to know what not to do in sales. Here are the six biggest sales mistakes and how to avoid them.
The 6 Biggest Sales Mistakes And How To Avoid Them
1) Not Managing Expectations
Managing your client’s expectations is extremely important in sales. The quickest way to lose clients is to overpromise and underdeliver. If your client is unsatisfied, in most cases it’s because you hadn’t properly prepared them.
If you work a sales job, it can be difficult because you’re not in total control of the sales material (another reason to start a business). But in your own business, there are no excuses. Overpromising might make you more money in the short term, but it will cost you in the long term.
You’ll lose what could have been long term recurring revenue. You’ll lose referrals. And most importantly, it will hurt your reputation – not good in today’s online age. Not only is managing expectations ethical, but you’ll make more money in the long run.
2) Not Charging Enough
If you don’t charge enough, you’ll never get financially free, it’s as simple as that. If your business model rests on $30/hour, you’re either in the wrong business, or you’re selling yourself short. You need to be in a business where you’re getting $100/hour at the minimum. Or if it’s not hourly, it’s selling a package that gets you paid, or a service that gets you paid.
You want to be in and industry where you’re at the top of the pack and you charge accordingly. Because it takes the same time and energy to close a $200,000 house as it does a $2,000,000 house.
Some gurus tell you not to sell your time for money. They say put your time into products and passive income, and I get it, I love getting passive income from my products, although it’s not an easy thing to do.
And there is no reason why you can’t do both. I say build a service business first and sell your time for a lot of money. Then you take shots at ecommerce with your monthly profits. Just do the money math to get to where you want to go.
3) Not Putting The Price Up Front
You can’t get paid without your clients knowing your price.
I see a lot of this, especially in online businesses. If someone is interested in your services or products, they want to see prices for what they get.
You want everything about your business to be up-front, especially the price. Not “schedule a strategy call to see if you’re qualified”. When I see this I know I’m getting hard sold, the guy is expensive and probably has a variable rate based on how much money he thinks I have.
Not that there is anything wrong with being expensive, in fact I encourage it (see part 2). But there is a problem with not being transparent and not offering everyone the same price.
Be transparent, let people know what your prices are, if you’re good you’ll get paid.
Look at how Dan Lok does it and he’s expensive, $3,000/hour for his introductory call – right out there in the open.
Or look at how Grant Cardone does it. And that’s at $15,000 for the hour – right out there in the open.
That means you can post your $1,000/month fitness coaching program and people will pay for it, if they believe in you and you have the right offer. You don’t have to worry about them taking your price and going to the next guy. Eventually that guy will have to give his price too.
Better to save your time and be straight up, instead of running through a bunch of “strategy calls” that go nowhere, and your leads get shocked when you drop the price on them.
Same applies in sales. When I worked in sales the guy would always have my price or my media kit (with the prices in it) by the end of the call.
If you don’t believe me, listen to what Grant Cardone has to say about pricing:
4) Not Asking For The Sale
Similar to #3, where you can’t get paid without your clients knowing what your price is, you also can’t get paid without asking for the sale. You don’t have to hard sell, but you do have to ask. A closed mouth doesn’t get fed.
5) Not upselling/crosselling
Similar to asking for the sale, is asking for the upsell. I added 20% to my bottom line when I switched my checkout provider to sendowl which allows for 1 click upsells. Same goes for your clients. The hardest thing to do in business is to get a new client. And that client, assuming they’re happy with your services, is 100 times more likely to buy from you again then a prospect is. Not upselling or cross-selling is just leaving money on the table.
6) Not Asking For Referrals
Lastly again, it’s about asking. It will never hurt to ask a satisfied client for a referral. It can only help you. You can even sweeten the deal with an affiliate commission, and turn them into a salesman for you. Referrals, especially for premium products and services, are some of, if not the best way to get new business.
