3 Biggest Mistakes Sales People Make

When sales are rocking, business feels great. You are having fun with your clients, your making money, and life is good.

When sales are not happening, though, it can be pretty tough mentally, emotionally, and financially.

It’s easy to assume that if someone is struggling it is because they need more clients. However, I see a lot of agents with plenty of clients, but they are not converting them to sales.

They blame it on their clients and say things like:

“There aren’t any real buyers out there right now”

“My clients are just looky loos”

“They don’t know what they really want”

It’s easy to blame the client, but when I drill down, I usually find that it is the agent who is at fault. Here are the three biggest mistakes I see real estate agents, and all sales people make.

1. Not having an initial client consultation. I know you are excited to show your buyer client homes, but it’s critical that you have a consultation meeting first. During this meeting you can:

• Find out what your clients are looking for. When you are at your office or a coffee shop everyone is calm and less emotional then when they are going through houses. It’s easier to focus on what is most important to them.
• Explain the buying process. Just because it makes sense to you, doesn’t mean they have a clue. Make sure they know how it works.
• Explain how you work. This is important. You are a professional, not a taxi driver, this is the time to set that stage.
• Find out what they want from you as their agent. It sounds silly, but it’s an important question to ask. It gives you helpful information and allows your client to feel heard.
• It’s like the Apprentice on TV. Each week 2 teams compete in a business setting. The one that wins is invariably the one that took the time to meet with the client to find out their objectives before diving in.

2. Viewing objections as obstacles. When a client starts throwing out objections, some agents go into full combat mode. However, they get so busy with their fancy “overcoming objection skills” that they often miss key buying signals. Objections are often the first buying signal a client will give. 99.9% of all buying decisions are made based on emotion and then we justify them with logic. Objections show you that the client has already “bought” emotionally, now they just need to justify the logic of it to themselves. So the next time your client starts bringing up objections, take a step back and let them talk. Chances are they will work it all out on their own.

3. Concentrating on the CLOSE. This is the part of sales that makes my skin crawl. There are classes, workshops, trainings galore, all dedicated to the close. Getting someone to sign on the dotted line. If your sole focus is on the close you are doing it wrong. Closing is icky for both the closer and the closee. Sales is about relationships and opening doors for people so that they can get to where they ultimately want to go whether that is buying a car, a house, some shoes, whatever it is. If you build a solid relationship, they will close themselves.

You are closer to success than you think. If you keep finding yourself spinning your wheels, working long hours and not feeling like you have much to show for it, give these three tips a try.