Every sales person makes selling mistakes from time to time, but it’s important that we recognize that we’re making them and learn from them. Here are seven selling mistakes that every sales person has made and how you can learn from them.

1. You’re targeting the wrong people.

In sales and marketing, it’s important that you clearly define your buyer personas before you start reaching out to people. Trying to sell to everyone from everywhere is a waste of time, energy, and money, and if you’re doing this, you’re making selling mistakes. Take the time to identify and define your buyer personas so you can then focus your time and energy on relevant prospects.

2. You’re being too pushy.

Nobody wants to deal with a pushy sales person. There is nothing keeping prospects from walking away if they don’t like your attitude. Don’t make prospects feel cornered. You want them to trust you so they’ll feel comfortable buying from you when they’re ready.

3. You’re using outdated outbound tactics.

The internet has changed the way people are buying so you’re going to need to update your approach to selling. You can’t rely solely on cold calling and door-to-door sales anymore. Companies need to revamp their sales and marketing strategies to incorporate effective inbound marketing tactics to generate sales leads. 

4. You’re using the same old sales pitch.

In today’s day and age, our email inboxes often become flooded with unwanted sales pitches. It’s more important than ever to personalize your communication. You’re a sales person, not a robot. You need to tailor your language and your message to suit each prospect.

5. You avoid social media.

Every sales person should be using social media to share valuable information, make connections, interact with consumers, build relationships, gain trust, and generate sales. If you’re not on all major social media platforms, you could be missing out on countless sales opportunities. Social media is here to stay, so you need to get involved. It allows you to engage with consumers like never before. It’s an incredibly valuable tool in sales today. 

6. You’re not doing your research.

A great sales person will know exactly which stage of the buying process prospects are in before making contact. You should know which pages they’ve visited on your website, which email offers they’ve clicked, and which calls to action they’ve responded to. You should also find out everything you can about them before reaching out. The more research you do ahead of time, the better prepared you’ll be going in to the conversation. Spend your time wisely and nurture qualified leads effectively and efficiently.

7. You’re not tracking your results.

If you’re not tracking and analyzing the results of your social media campaign or your email marketing campaigns, you’re making selling mistakes. Without this key information, how are you supposed to make improvements? You should have a clear picture of what is working and what is not. Which type of language style is yielding positive results? Who tends to click on your calls to action? How many views, shares, and comments are your blog posts getting? Which kinds of blog posts are people most interested in? Tracking your results will allow you to continue to make improvements so you can sell more.

Are you guilty of making any of these selling mistakes? While it’s understandable, now is the time to learn from these selling mistakes. With the internet at your fingertips, there’s no excuse for a sales person to target the wrong people, be pushy and manipulative, or use ancient outbound tactics. You shouldn’t be using stale sales pitches or avoiding social media. If you’re not preparing and researching sufficiently, or you’re neglecting to track your results, you’re making selling mistakes. Hopefully this list will help you recognize that you’re making selling mistakes and that you can learn from them to become a better sales person.