10 Dumb Ways to Lose a Sale

Although these 10 dumb ways to lose a sale frustrate the heck out of me, even if you don't share my pain, there’s also lots of fascinating research below to make those of you who love data sit up and listen.

I do admit I have a few feeble salespeople in mind as I write this little rant (as well as the theme song for the 'Dumb Ways to Die' ad, hence the image).

So without further ado, let’s jump in (with the hope you and your sales team are not guilty of too many)…

1. Fail to Follow-up Leads

Let’s start with the most obvious one first (plus a ‘doh!’ for good measure): failing to follow-up quickly (or at all!). But there’s more to it than that.

If you’re getting an inbound lead, such as a phone-call or email, from a prospect, there’s a good chance they’ve fired off a few inquiries to other companies also.

Get ahead of your competition by replying personally immediately, even if it’s just to say ‘Thanks for getting in touch, I’ll send you more info later today’ if you’re too pushed for time to reply in full.

Really want the sale? Call the person who emailed you, right away. If you do it immediately they are probably still sitting at their desk emailing your competitors!

Talk about an amazing first impression. Who gives the best service? You obviously do with that sort of response time.

In fact, a study by US firm InsideSales.com found an email lead followed up within 5 minutes is 9 times more likely to close. Um, wow.

That research also found 50% of sales went to the first company to return the prospect's call or email.

2. Ask Callers to Email You

That may not seem like a bad thing, right? You probably do this one all the time.

Someone calls you or pops in to see you and what do you do? Have a lovely chat, say all the right things, then ask them to email you. Nuh uh. Bad move.

Always ask prospects for their details, then email them instead.

That way if they forget to email you, or just wrote your email address down wrong, you are able to follow-up and keep that sale progressing.

3. Reply by Email in the Middle of The Day

Whether you’re forced to ‘cold-call’ by emailing prospects, or you’re replying to enquiries and following up with existing leads; clever timing for sending emails can make or break your chances.

Instead of emailing in the middle of working day (when it probably suits you), time your emails for early morning or late afternoon.

Get Response found 8am and 3pmare the sweet-spots for increasing the chances of your prospect reading and responding to your email.

The right timing can avoid your email getting missed or lost amongst everything else, or ending up way down their inbox while they're distracted with other priorities during the middle of the day.

4. Call in The Middle of The Day

Not surprisingly, for those poor sods that do have to cold-call, doing it in the middle of the day is just silly, and talk about annoying for those of us on the receiving end of that call.

You’re far less likely to get the prospects attention, and far more likely to get the ‘sorry, not interested’ brush-off.

InsideSales.com and the Kellogg School of Business found the best time to cold-call is between 4pm and 5pm.

In other words, at the end of the working day when prospects are winding down, killing time before going home and more open to a chat.

The second best? First thing – between 8am and 10am – before the endless emails, meetings and distractions start for the day.

Sadly, research by TeleNet and Ovation Sales Group found the average number of cold call attempts to reach a prospect has grown from 3.68 (in 2007) to 8 (in 2013)¸so make the most of each attempt by calling at the right time.

5. Ignore LinkedIn

I doubt you’re guilty of this one if you’re reading this article, but if your prospects are other business professionals (ie: you’re B2B not B2C), and you’re not utilising LinkedIn, you’re really harming your sales potential.

First up, complete your profile. There are too many articles on this already so I’ll leave you to get advice elsewhere on that essential :)

Next, connect your email with LinkedIn and pick which contacts you want to connect with on LinkedIn. Start building your network from those you already know and/or do business with.

This is really important, as others considering getting in touch with you will see they have people in common, building trust and confidence from the very start.

Last (for the sake of space, I could go on and on), get active in LinkedIn Groups. This is where the power of LinkedIn kicks in for getting leads, yet is largely ignored by many.

Join all relevant, targeted groups for your industry. The targeted bit is key here.

By all means join massive international groups for the learning if you like, but unless your prospects are overseas, focus your efforts on country-specific, industry-specific groups your prospects are likely to be members of too, then get active in those groups by contributing genuine value and expert insight and make yourself known.

6. Give up Too Soon

Sirius Decisions found the average salesperson only makes 2 attempts to reach a prospect before giving up. 2?!

Since the average number of cold-calls required to reach a prospect has grown from 3.68 to 8, you’re not going to get far with that attitude, sorry.

7. Cold Call

I know, I know, after the point above, you’d think the solution is to just work the phone again and again, right? No. Please no.

There are other, far more effective methods, to get those phones ringing and email enquiries coming in. Instead of endless cold-calls, get clued up on inbound marketing.

This really deserves its own article for the huge potential for generating leads; so for the time being, check out one of the industry experts on the topic: Hubspot

Yes, they do sell various services to help you (and no, I have no affiliation with them) but their free white papers, research and blog are chocka-block full of value.

8. Focus on The Meeting

Well done, you got a meeting (joking aside, genuinely: well done). But now what?

You can let yourself down big time, even after the best meeting, by dropping the ball when it comes to post-meeting follow-up.

Research by The Marketing Donut found 80% of sales required 5 follow-up attempts after the meeting, yet 44% of salespeople give up after 1 follow-up! Tut tut, what do you expect?

9. Never Ask for Referrals

Not everyone puts the same value on referrals for making their final decision on who to contact and to buy from; yet referrals have some impact on everyone, and certain personality types put a lot of weight on referrals for decision-making.

Dale Carnegie research found 91% of customers said they’ll give referrals, yet only 11% of salespeople bother to ask for them!

I know referrals can be a pain to get, so more good news for you is LinkedIn makes it super easy.

Just shoot off a well-worded, personal email using LinkedIn's built-in referrals area (ie: don’t use the default copy LinkedIn provides) and publish the ones you want to on your LinkedIn profile, plus anywhere else you want to for that matter: your website, brochures, email signature and so on. Done.

10. Ignore Current Customers

Want to increase your sales? Don’t pick up that phone and start more cold-calling.

Always get in touch with your current customers first for a quick sales boost.

Research by BusinessBrief.com found that companies lose 14% of their customers every year.

Maybe a competitor offered them a better deal, their needs changed, a key staff member left… who knows what might happen if you don’t stay in touch.

At least every 3 to 6 months, depending on your customer’s typical buying cycle of course, give your current customers a quick call or friendly email to see how things are going.

Check what they’ve got coming up that you could help with and just keep yourself and your company top-of-mind.

Guilty as Charged?

I sincerely hope you aren’t guilty of any, or at least too many, of the 10 dumb ways to lose a sale, but maybe you know someone who is?

Either way, if you gained value (or just a few chuckles) from my little rant, please follow me (click that follow button down there by my photo).

Even better, please throw me a quick like and take a second to share this with your network (look for the like and sharing buttons below). Thank you :)

PS: Before you go, feel free to share your experiences of 'dumb ways to lose a sale' in the comments below, or share your awesome sales tips (if they're not too 'secret recipe' to share that is).

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