No matter what you are selling, or to whom, your business relies on the skills of your sales employees. You can have the best product, the best marketing, and the best location, but without employees that can effectively land sales, your efforts are futile.

Proper employee training can organically increase your sales. With training, your employees are informed about the product and about basic human behavior that leads to persuasion. Failure to provide this training can result in the following five common mistakes.

Lack of Emotional Connection

People are designed to connect. Without this connection, there is no desire. Without desire, there is no sale. While you may realize and understand this concept, your employees may not. Teaching your sales staff about the power of emotion and connection, and how to utilize it, creates sales. Without it, your customers can leave unsatisfied, disappointed, and empty handed.

Too Much Talk

While persuasion plays a big role in sales, listening is much more important. Before you can determine the right emotional approach, you have to determine what the customer is looking for. You need to know what it is they expect from your product. Learning this information comes with listening. Obviously, you cannot listen if you are doing all the talking.

Hem-Haw
Words that aren’t actually words are the killer of all sales. The “um, er, uh” dialogue breaks up the sales pitch. It creates an unnecessary pause, takes away from the sales pitch, and creates a sense that the sales employee has no idea what they are talking about. This problem can easily be reduced with proper sales training. One of the most effective methods is role play.

Distorting the Punch

The punch of your sales pitch is the gusto; the call to action. Raising your voice in the wrong place or adding words after the punch takes away the gusto. Remove the gusto, and you take away the message. This, too, can be resolved through proper training and role play.

Failing to Ask for the Sale

Failing to ask for the sale is the kiss of death on the sales floor. If you don’t ask for the sale, the customer will “think about it” or “talk” to their spouse. These phrases mean you have lost the sale, unless you know how to rebuttal appropriately. Of course, if you have failed to ask for the sale, a rebuttal won’t do you much good. Learning how to ask for the sale takes practice and time, but with proper training, employees will stop allowing the task to intimidate them.

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