Top 3 Mistakes People make Selling B2B

Selling to businesses is not the same as selling in retail or to consumers. Business sales are usually of higher value and more complex. In my experience, the most common mistakes people make when selling to businesses are when they try to push things through or rush things – without walking the customer through what they need to make a decision.

Here are the Top 3 Mistakes people make when selling B2B.

1.    Selling to the Wrong Person

The old adage – ‘qualify, qualify, qualify’ still remains true. Inexperienced salespeople often find someone in an organisation who is really enthusiastic about what they are saying and spend a lot of time with them – because it feels like something positive is happening. Unfortunately, they often don’t properly qualify that the person they are speaking with can make a decision on the sale.

Remember – the person who signs the cheque is the one who is really making the decision. An enthusiastic champion can be helpful – but you still need to ensure they get you in front of the decision maker, or you are wasting yours and their time.

2.    Trying to close on the first call

This is like asking someone to marry you on the first date. It rarely works. I’m sure there is someone reading this who is saying “I can close in one conversation!”. Well – that is great. But the reality is – the higher the dollar value of a sale, or the more complex a product, the longer your sales cycle is likely to be.

More important than trying to close on the first conversation, is qualifying that the person and business you are speaking with are the right ones, for a successful outcome for both of you.

A good goal for a first conversation is to confirm a call or meeting, when you can continue to qualify the opportunity or move to the discovery process to fully understand the challenges in their business.

3.    Info dumping

This is a classic mistake of people starting out in sales. They catch a spark of interest from someone, then throw up information on them. This is often done with the best of intentions, thinking that they are sharing information that the person wants to know and is helpful for them.

What happens in reality is that the person on the receiving end is bombarded with way more information than they can take in.

Far more effective is to spend time understanding your customer’s challenges, then provide only the information that is specifically helpful for them. If you think about what you remember from a conversation, it is usually only one or two key things that stick – so better to keep your message to the point and relevant.

Remember: Questions pull people towards you, statements push them away. If you want to keep your prospect engaged, ask lots of questions and get them talking.

To avoid these simple mistakes, check out our FREE DOWNLOADS on how to sell to businesses.