Don’t get me started! The list of myths salespeople and sales managers believe will drive anyone crazy. These are just a few of the ones I’ve heard, and worse yet, have seen people believing:
1. Mistaking quantity for quality when it comes to leads.
2. Believing just because you’re thinking about a prospect that they are thinking about you.
3. Thinking all leads will become great customers.
4. Believing it’s important to keep every lead in your sales pipeline.
5. Believing the sales manager needs to be present to close all big deals.
6. Subscribing to the idea the more emails you send out, the more customers you will get.
7. Thinking that posting more on social media and getting a lot of “likes” and “shares” will lead to a lot of customers.
8. Thinking having a 10-step selling process must be better than a 3-step selling process because it’s 3x as long.
9. Insisting if it’s a long sales call, it must be a good sales call.
10. Believing the way to close a stuck deal is to lower the price.
11. Thinking you must start sales presentations by doing an overview of your company and how great you are.
12. Believing people are too busy to talk on Mondays and Fridays, so it doesn’t make sense to prospect on either of those two days.
13. Thinking if you push hard enough, you can get the prospect to buy.
14. Believing people will always buy more from you at the end of your quarter.
15. Thinking a prospect who states “just send me some information” is ready to buy.
16. Thinking the random person who calls you and asks you for your price is going to be your next great customer.
17. Believing the best way to get a customer that has gone silent on you to respond is by offering them an amazingly low price.
18. Thinking you can close a customer with a one-time low price and make it up with them the next time they buy.
19. Believing if the prospect didn’t respond on your first call, there is no sense in following up again.
20. Thinking you can turn a lead into a customer by contacting them once a quarter for two years.
21. Thinking nobody answers the phone and the only way to prospect is by email.
22. Believing spending all day catching up on your “paperwork” will somehow magically result in having more customers.
23. Believing it’s the responsibility of your manager to motivate you.
24. Thinking how much more successful you would be if the products you sold weren’t so lousy.
25. Believing its the job of marketing to provide you with all of your leads.
26. Thinking the reason you can’t close more sales is because it’s always somebody else’s fault.
27. Subscribing to the belief all customers are stupid.
After reading this list, you’re thinking how glad you are that you are not guilty of believing any of them, right? As you read the list, you can’t help but think of others you know who do believe those myths, right?
Think again. At one time or another, you have most likely been guilty of believing at least a few of them. Worse yet, there are times even now when you allow yourself to believe some of them.
Sales is a contact sport. It takes contact to make a sale. In the end, you can throw out every theory and every idea, because it comes down to one thing, and that is you having a conversation with another person.
And don’t forget that a coach can help you excel in your sales career! Invest in yourself by checking out my coaching program today!
Copyright 2018, Mark Hunter “The Sales Hunter.” Sales Motivation Blog. Mark Hunter is the author of High-Profit Prospecting: Powerful Strategies to Find the Best Leads and Drive Breakthrough Sales Results
