Bittu Kumar is an award-winning serial entrepreneur, co-founder of Enterslice, and an expert at scaling small businesses to eight figures.
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Do you want to scale your business? Whether you’re just starting out or have been in the business for a while, there are certain sales mistakes to avoid if you want to grow. In my experience, avoiding these common pitfalls can help you achieve success with fewer headaches and less stress.
So what should you pay attention to?
Contents
- 1 1. Not defining your target customer
- 2 2. No qualified leads
- 3 3. Not having a trial
- 4 4. Discard leads
- 5 5. Not keeping track of your pipeline
- 6 6. Not understanding your numbers
- 7 7. Not creating urgency
- 8 8. Relying too much on discounts
- 9 9. Not asking for referrals
- 10 10. Hiring salespeople who don’t fit
1. Not defining your target customer
It’s tempting to try and sell to everyone. However, as you begin to scale your business, it’s important to define your audience and focus your sales efforts on it. Trying to sell to everyone will only lead to frustration and a waste of time and resources. You can find your first niche by focusing on parts of the market where there is a gaping need that you can fill with your company’s services.
2. No qualified leads
Another mistake to avoid is not qualifying your leads. Just because someone shows interest in your product or service doesn’t mean they’re actually a good fit for your business. That’s why it’s important to qualify leads before you try to sell to them. This way you can focus your efforts on those most likely to convert. Here are some methods for qualifying leads:
• Identify the business problem they want to solve. Does your service or product solve their pain points?
• Do they have a budget to solve this problem? Moreover, do they want to solve this problem?
• What is their decision-making process? Are you talking to the right people?
• Have a method for scoring leads. Prioritize the leads that have a problem, have budget, and need to solve the problem.
3. Not having a trial
When you first start out, it’s easy to fly when it comes to selling. However, as you scale, it becomes more and more important to have a process. A defined sales process helps you close more deals and avoid common mistakes.
I recommend having a robust CRM from day one. As the business grows, managing leads only from your own email app and excel sheets gets messy. Having a CRM from day one helps you organize your processes and scale without creating bottlenecks in your sales processes.
4. Discard leads
One of the most common mistakes salespeople make is not following up on leads that have said, “Not now.” Just because someone isn’t ready to buy right away doesn’t mean they never will be. Staying in touch and nurturing your relationship with qualified leads increases your chances of closing a deal later on.
5. Not keeping track of your pipeline
As your business grows, it’s important to keep track of your sales pipeline. A sales pipeline is simply a list of all the potential deals you’re working on, from the earliest stage to close. Keeping track of this will help you better manage your time and resources and close more deals.
As mentioned in number three, CRMs are very effective tools for tracking your pipeline.
6. Not understanding your numbers
To be successful in sales, you need to understand your numbers. This means knowing details like your close rate, win rate, average deal size and so on. Without this data it is impossible to know what works and what doesn’t in your sales process.
7. Not creating urgency
Many salespeople fail to create a sense of urgency in their prospects. If a prospect doesn’t feel like buying now, they probably won’t bother making a purchase at all. It’s important to create a sense of urgency, without being pushy or aggressive, to close more deals.
8. Relying too much on discounts
Discounts can be an effective way to close a deal, but relying on them too much is a mistake. If you find yourself constantly having to discount your products or services to get people to buy, that’s a sign that something else is wrong. Perhaps your prices are too high, or perhaps you create the expectation that discounts are a guaranteed part of the sale.
9. Not asking for referrals
Soliciting customer referrals after closing the deal is an important way to generate new leads and grow your business. However, many companies don’t ask for referrals because they feel uncomfortable or uncomfortable doing so. If you don’t ask for referrals, you’re missing out on a great opportunity to grow your business.
10. Hiring salespeople who don’t fit
When scaling your business, one of the most important things you can do is hire the right people. This includes hiring salespeople who are a good fit for the company, product or sales culture. Ask the right questions during your hiring process. Do they know their current numbers? How many customers did they convert last quarter? How do they deal with objections in their current role? Ask them to pitch their current product or service.
If you’re having trouble selling, you may be making one (or more) of these 10 common mistakes. Defining your audience, qualifying leads, having a process in place, following up, tracking your pipeline, understanding your numbers, creating urgency and asking for referrals are all important parts of the sales process. Take the time to find people who align with your company’s values ​​and mission so you have a strong team that works well together. Paying attention to these details will put you on your way to closing more deals and increasing your profits.
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