Five Common Selling Errors with Real-World Solutions

Error #1 - Failure To Ask for the Sale. The main reason people do not buy is that they are not asked to own. Up to 50% of all sales calls end without salespeople attempting to close ... even once!

Solution: Memorize and internalize at least five closing techniques. The professional salesperson is like a professional actor and actress who has the scripts planted firmly in their subconscious minds. Master your closing dialogue (role-play and rehearse) before appearing on stage before your audience.

Error #2 - The Deadly Sin: Prejudging. Prejudging is not prequalifying. Prejudging usually occurs during the initial moments of meeting a client. Many salespeople attempt to determine a customer's willingness and ability to own by his or her appearance, car or job.

Solution: Consider the advice of Henry Ward Beecher: When you want to know the worth of a man, count what is in him, not on him.

Error #3 - Reluctance to Demonstrate Property and Homes. If the number one mistake with onsite sales is the failure to ask for the sale, then probably the second biggest mistake is failure to transition from the sales center to the property and models.

Solution: You never ask permission to show potential clients your homes and homesites. Instead, you lead boldly and confidently. Top producers all say that going from the sales center to the property and models is merely a natural event. They simply say, "Let's go," and lead clients out the door. It's that easy!

Error #4 - Apprehension to Qualify. As logical and sensible as it seems to qualify prospects, many salespeople still fail to do so. Spending time with qualified prospects is your key to a high sales volume. In fact, sales research indicates that two-thirds of the presentations given by salespeople today is wasted on individuals who do not have the resources, desire, need to own or authority to purchase. Is it surprising that sales can be so frustrating?

Solution: Simply stated, you must guide them through the Process of Discovery and identify their wants, needs, desires, financial status and parameters, who the decision makers are, their time frame for buying, your competition and what objections might be forthcoming.

Error #5 - Believing There is Nothing New to Learn. Like technology, professional selling today is evolving and changing more rapidly than in any other time in history. The seed of wisdom is the realization of how little we really know. Most people who excel in their professions are not impressed with how much knowledge they have, but how much they still have to learn.

Solution: A study by the University of Southern California confirms that, if you were to spend 60 minutes a day reading within your profession, then:

1. In 3 years you would be an authority.
2. In 5 years you would be an expert.
3. In 7 years you would be in the top of your field and the best educated of your generation.

If you are saying to yourself, "I can't find an hour a day to read," then consider what you can accomplish by listening to audiocassettes in your automobile. If you are an average person, you spend 50 to 100 hours a month commuting to and from work in your car. If you were to spend that time listening to educational tapes instead of talking on your mobile phone or tuning into your favorite radio station, at the end of a year you would have significantly increased your knowledge and turned travel-time into teaching-time.

Myers Barnes writes articles for many of the nation's top sales-related magazines and trade publications. Myers is also the best-selling author of Reach The Top In New Home & Neighborhood Sales and Closing Strong: the Super Sales Handbook. He is a nationally known motivational speaker and a consultant on new home and resort property sales. You may visit Myers' web site, www.myersbarnes.com or reach him at his e-mail address sellmore@myersbarnes.com.