Let’s face it. You got tricked into sales. You never intended having these kind of sales conversations but somehow running your own business you got landed with it. Enough of the pity party, nobody starts out being great at sales. You can however fast track perfecting your sales conversations, even start to enjoy them a little more.
Don’t let another painful conversation pass and a prospect feel unheard or worse, leave confused and even more frustrated. Here are eight things to never ever say in your sales conversations.
- “I love your work!”
If you don’t mean it, don’t say it. You can insert anything in this statement but if it’s not true, it’s not a real compliment anyway. It can lead to all kinds of awkward direction in conversation so just don’t go there.
- “If I could show you how to make $10,000 would you be interested?”
Ok you may have heard other versions of this, like saving $5,000 a month, doubling your income or whatever. Blah blah. Money may be linked to your clients problem but it’s usually a side effect of the real problem. Talk to that. Quick fix money solutions (though tempting!) and false promises equals yuck.
- “You get 10 sessions, private Facebook group access and email support.”
Unless you are at the end of your conversation ease up. It’s too early to dive into the features list when you haven’t identified the client’s pain point and and uncovered what is really going on for the client. Then it’s time to offer the solution if they are interested and the benefits and solutions that brings. Then the features!
- …’and you feel frustrated and overwhelmed because you are not making any progress.”
Finishing the prospects sentence! Stop it. Even if you are on the same page it will have more impact if the prospect states their problem and the words come out of their mouth. You can always mirror it back after they have done this.
- “Blah de Blah, Blah de Blah, Blah de Blah”
When you ask a prospect a question, zip it. Pause. And wait for their answer. Listen. Really listen instead of thinking of the next question. It’s amazing what happens when we actually give the prospect the opportunity to respond.
- “So um, if you um, think this is a good fit for you, let me know.”
At this point if you have to ask the client if it is a good fit for them, you haven’t done your job properly. Your sales conversation is about getting clarity, whether that’s a yes or a no for the prospect. It’s perfectly okay to say something like ‘I think you would be a great fit for this program’ if that’s truly the case.
- “I know. That happened to my friend too. It’s so tough.”
You are not in this conversation to be a bestie. You can serve and be empathetic but that does not have to mean being sympathetic. Stay professional and in your position as leader of the conversation. Your prospect will respect you more for it.
- “I really want this for you.”
And I’m sure you do. But the prospect has to want this for them first. When you have both reached this conclusion and the client has indicated they are ready to move forward, then by all means you can celebrate with them.
Are you guilty of any of these? If so, drop them pronto, and start looking at your sales conversations as an opportunity to explore, be curious and connect. Your prospects will love you for it and your sales will too:)
