Sales can be an incredibly rewarding and profitable career field if you’re good at it. Although many sales people have innate personality traits that make them natural winners, most of what can make you successful in the sales field can be learned. The more you practise these skills, the better you can be.

Unfortunately, some sales reps with great potential can’t seem to close deals because they keep making sales mistakes without even realizing it. But when you’re aware of sales mistakes, you can avoid making them like so many other professionals have. When you stop making sales mistakes you can sell better, faster, and more efficiently. You can close the deal each time. No buyer will be too tough: you’ll be able to handle any sales situation.

If you want to succeed in the field, make sure you avoid making the three biggest sales mistakes we’ve detailed below.

You Talk, Talk, Talk

Whether you think you can persuade more effectively by talking non-stop or you’re rambling on because you’re nervous or unprepared, talking incessantly isn’t good for business. This is one of the most common sales mistakes made by those new to the industry.

You should never monopolize the time you have with your prospects. Ideally, you should only be talking about 30 percent of the time. You often only have one shot at a sales meeting, and you shouldn’t be using it all to go into minute technical detail about your products and services. Your prospects just don’t care. Go on too long and you’ll bore them—they’ll start to zone out, and by that point, it’s too late. You’ve lost them for good.

Keep your presentation short and leave the majority of the time for questions and answers. This is your time to truly listen to your prospects, ask appropriate questions that will help you understand their problems, and let them talk about what’s important to them and what solutions they think they need.

One-Size-Fits-All Presentations

Gone are the days of using the same old script to sell to every buyer. Sales is now about engaging, not selling. To close the deal, you must research your buyers in depth to understand their buying situations, their problems, and how your products or services can help them overcome the issues they face.

The thing is, not every buyer is going to be in the same situation, have the same problem, or need the same solution. You must tailor your presentation for every single sales meeting you have. Generic, one-size-fits-all presentations simply won’t work anymore. You need to go deeper and build a connection with your buyers by empathizing with their unique buying needs. 

No Sales Process

Some sales people think they can just be enthusiastic and energetic during sales meetings and the buyers will be so in love with them that they’ll buy whatever they’re selling. Though this confidence is admirable, it’s not realistic. Going with the flow doesn’t work in sales. In fact, it’s one of the sales mistakes that reps often fail to notice they’re making. They settle for hit and miss.

The best sales people follow a sales process in order to close deal after deal after deal. Although the presentations will differ depending on the buyer’s situation, the process underneath it will always be the same—because it works. Great sales people have figured out what works, they’ve refined their process, and they use it continuously because it provides proven results. To close more deals, you need to create and follow a systematic approach.

Avoid These Three Sales Mistakes or Risk Perishing

You’ve been warned. If you make any of these three sales mistakes, you’re going to have a tough time closing deals and meeting your sales targets. Although there are many sales mistakes that could be your downfall, these three are by far the biggest, so don’t fall into their trap.