Things Not To Do In Sales

Written by: Ananda Chatterjee

About the author: National Sales Head – Opple Lighting India Pvt Ltd.

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Everyone tells us “How to crack a sale” “How to Make a Sales Call” “How to improve your strike ratio” but does anybody tell you “What Not to do in sales”?

90% of sales calls do not materialize because the customer didn’t like what you offered but because of the way you offered 

It’s not important what you are selling its important how you are selling 

Today we will discuss a few things which we should NOT do in sales in Luminaire Business

Relationship is lifelong it’s not a one sale relationship …

• Never just be a sales person with your customer, be a part of his life.
• Do not start on your product immediately Make the customer feel that Lighting Changes Life, good lighting increases productivity, increases employee satisfaction, enhances the quality of life.
• Never lie or over-commit because that will not create trust.
• Telling the truth may risk you losing an order but you will win a customer for the rest of your life.

Do not Sell Luminaires Sell Lighting solutions

• Your USP of the product should be directly related to the customer’s benefit in terms of Money, productivity, safety and health.

Do Not Walk into a sales call without doing research about the customer needs and how your products can benefit them

• There is a lot of instances where the same sales pitch is used for all customers across the board the customer loses interest in the first few minutes of the sales pitch.
• The purpose and application of luminaire should be known beforehand.
• Pitch to the commercial team and the technical team will be different.

Do not make sales call a monologue 

• A monologue will make the presentation/sales call boring and you will not be able to judge the customer’s interest.
• Asking question making the customers speak will also help you evaluate your own sales call instantly.
• Mockup in lighting is a very effective way of showing your product and influencing the customer.
• Do not make the presentation too technical.

Not every query needs to be answered

• If you are presenting in front of a group of persons and all of them start asking questions/ objections take the question /objection you can handle the best, you will soon realize that out of 5 queries by answering 2 in a convincing way the rest generally 3 fade away, then carry on with your sales pitch.
• In case you do not know the answer just accept and say “Good point I will get back to you” no one expects you to know everything but it has to be an exception not all queries can have this answer.

Do Not pre judge the deciding authority

• Some make the mistake of making the presentation to only one person in the group and thereby ignoring others, this can be a costly mistake because we never know the passive power of the group.
• If someone is present in a presentation or specially called in then there must be a weightage of his opinion for the deciding authority.

Sometimes losing is Winning

• Sometimes in our over enthusiasm we tend to get into a small argument with the customer and in the process of proving our point we make the mistake of pushing the customer away from us.
• Competition is always good but your product is better.
• If you see the discussion going irrational it’s better to take a step back and let it go for the moment.

Do Not hesitate to Ask for an order 

• Do not hesitate to ask for an order, lot of people make fantastic sales pitch, but never ask for an order.
• Just as you expect a security guard to frisk you and you don’t feel bad similarly the customers expects you to ask for an order.
• Keep time for negotiations and discussion do not waste entire time on presentation and product features.

Do Not think that winning an order is end of YOUR responsibility

• Getting an order always gives you a high it’s a great feeling, but our Job is only half done because you have to win the customer.
• Ensure service, Ensure his queries are answered, Check on the product feedback.
• Build your personal Goodwill build a relationship.
• Look for a recommendation from the customer for more business.

Do Not Win An Order Win a Customer