059: Common Sales Call Mistakes

Are you making these mistakes on your sales calls? 

If you want to increase the number of quality sales calls you have as well as the outcome of them (clients and conversions), this podcast is going to highlight common mistakes service businesses are often making with their sales conversations. 

By listening [and taking notes], you’ll learn the common mistakes and what to do about them.

Enjoy!

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Transcript

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Shannon Stone 0:05

H ey guys . Welcome to the podcast .

Shannon Stone 0:42

Super excited to talk about this episode today and share what I'm going to share with you , which is some common mistakes people can make in their sales calls or in their sales conversations . These are all these five mistakes I will share with you are all mistakes I have made , plus a bucket load more , and I've definitely come a long way when it comes to developing those sales skills , to the point where I now teach my clients how to do sales and do sales really well , whether it's in sales conversations or you know sales is linked to your marketing , so you do have to understand how all that fits in as well . But my clients are sometimes like , yeah , shannon , as if you were ever bad at sales , like I'm telling you I was so bad . So many stories I could share . But I've definitely made these mistakes and I want to share them with you so that if you are making any of these and this is the action step for you , as you listen to the five different mistakes that I'm going to share with you I want you to just yes and no to yourself of yep , I do make these mistakes , and if so , they're the ones you can start to work on . So that's the purpose of sharing these with you . It's not to just kind of provoke some pain . It's to highlight some areas that you can work on in your business .

Shannon Stone 2:03

I will say a lot of businesses don't even call their sales calls . Sales calls , obviously , to your leads and prospects . You're not going to say that to them openly and publicly , but on your end , internally with your business , with your team , you might not be calling them sales calls . You might be calling them inquiries . You might be calling them . You know someone's filled them inquiries . You might be calling them . You know someone's filled in a contact form and we just have to reach out to them and find out some more information . Or maybe you are having people to book in for a discovery call or a strategy call or a clarity call . You know sometimes they're given different names . You can call it whatever you want . That is perfectly okay , but just understand it is a sales call or a sales conversation .

Shannon Stone 2:48

There's so much we can talk about when it comes to just sales calls , and sales conversations Could result in multiple podcast episodes on this . But let's start with where we're at today and I'm hoping and I'm sure you'll find these valuable . If you have any questions , always reach out as well . Let's jump

Mistake #1

Shannon Stone 3:06

in the first mistake that people often make and just a quick little caveat all these that I'm going to share with you can apply to so much more than just the sales call . All of this can apply to your marketing , to any conversation you have with people about what it is that you do . It can lend itself to copy on your website content , blog articles , emails , any type of communication that you do . All of this is applicable . That is why I have fallen in love with sales because the clarity that you get from it and when you're able to articulate all these things so well , it doesn't just come down to that transactional conversation that you're going to have with someone . It helps you in every part of your business . So I wanted to share that because I guess there's some of the highlights and insights I've found from improving the sales pieces in my business and other people's businesses as well .

Shannon Stone 4:06

Okay , let's get to it . So number one common mistake that people often make when it comes to their sales calls is their prospects aren't wanting a solution . So there can be a million people with the problem that you solve , but out of those people , how many actually want a solution ? It's like you could be selling websites to new businesses and say you're of the belief that every business needs a website in order to make sales . Now , if that is true and like I don't fully believe that is true I can tell you lots of ways to make sales without a website . Lots of ways . I did it as well .

Shannon Stone 4:47

But just for the point of the example , say that was absolute fact in your mind . Every business needed a website and you were a website builder . Does everyone actually want that problem solved ? Do they actually want to have that online presence ? They could be having all the problems that you outline . No one can find you . There's no 24-7 presence of you online . There's nowhere for people to go to book a sales call with you . You could list out all the problems , the domino of problems that come from not having a website . But who actually wants that problem solved ? It's not everyone .

Shannon Stone 5:26

So you could come up with a campaign or some type of marketing strategy where you talk to hundreds of businesses who don't have websites but not all of them actually want that solution . To give you a contrast example , say every person on the street wants to be healthier , for example and you could be a nutritionist Everyone wants to eat healthier , every single person walking past your shop front , for example . Now , how many they could all agree they could . 100% of people could say , yep , I would love to eat healthier , but how many of those hundred people actually want to have that problem solved ? Whether it's hiring you as a nutritionist , or it's buying a healthy cookbook , or it's joining a Facebook group full of amazing healthy air fryer recipes , there's a difference between the bucket of people with the problem and then the bucket of people who actually want a solution .

Shannon Stone 6:30

It's like everyone could say I would love a new car . Everyone could like , yep , I dream of a new car . I really want to get a new car this year , but how many are actually going to take the steps forward to go and buy that new car this year ? Starting to do that research ? What are they going to do with their current car ? They're going to sell that car , they're going to trade it in Like , are they going to give it to their child who's about to get their license ? You know , are they actually making steps towards getting that solution getting that car , hiring that nutritionist , getting that website ?

Shannon Stone 7:06

So mistake number one is your prospects aren't wanting a solution . So I share this array of examples with you because I want you to see that , even though and the website example is great because you could come up with a campaign or a strategy to talk to every business who doesn't have a website , pain or a strategy to talk to every business who doesn't have a website to then talk to them , explain to them , showcase to them how amazing it would be for them to have a website , but how many actually want that solution ? It's a smaller number . So you have to be careful in your marketing that you are not just trying to attract everyone with the problem , that you are actually trying to attract those with the problem who that you are actually trying to attract . Those with the problem who want the problem solved . And that is one of the big reasons why myself and my clients get such high conversion rates on their sales calls , because they're talking to people who actually , at the end of the day , want to be sold to . They want a solution . And those people in your market , in those who have the problem that you solve , they absolutely exist . So that is mistake number one . Gosh , I feel like we could just stand there , such

Mistake #2

Shannon Stone 8:18

a big one .

Shannon Stone 8:18

Mistake number two your prospects haven't been qualified before booking a sales call . Now , like I said at the start , you might call it a contact form , an inquiry form , a discovery call , a strategy call it could have a million different names . However , people are booking in with you . You need to qualify them If you're going to sit down with someone for 30 minutes , 45 , 60 minutes to have a proper sales call or sales conversation and you know it can be tricky to make all of this complete , like some people would just do like a 10 minute , take field their inquiry , give them the prices , like . It's a little bit hard to make this generic to everyone , but it's still a mistake that comes up for so many businesses that your prospects haven't been qualified before booking that sales call .

Shannon Stone 9:08

So my best advice here is that you ask them questions . So , whether it's in Calendly , however , they're booking , or on your website , where they're filling in that contact form , what are the questions you need to be asking ? To qualify them , to see what they're wanting help with maybe things they've tried before , why they're looking for help with you . If you would like , feel free to look at my Calendly and how I qualify people before actually having that call with them , because they're you know . It's like you shouldn't want to work with everyone . You should want to work with the people that you know you can absolutely help .

Shannon Stone 9:44

And these qualifying questions before people book that call with you , they're there to help you and them , to see if you're even a good fit to work together , which primes that sales conversation before you even have it . It's like someone could put information in my process . They can answer those questions and very easily I can see actually I can't help that person . I can't help that business because of X , y , z . They've put in certain things in there that are just not a fit for me and I'm going to be doing them a disservice by trying to convince them to work with me if I know I can't help . So it's a win-win for both of you . You have to qualify the people that you're going to have a conversation with to see if you can help them , and it's twofolded as much as you are qualifying them as a lead , they're qualifying you as someone that can help them . And , similar to how I said , it's like you only want to sell to people who want to be sold . It's like you should only want to work with people who you know you can actually help , and vice versa , they should only want to work with you if you really are a fit for them . There's no point trying to convince yourself or others to try to work with each other if it's just not going to work .

Shannon Stone 10:57

So mistake number two is that your prospects haven't been qualified before booking a sales call . There's a couple of episodes around using Calendly to book sales calls on the podcast . I think it's episode eight and nine or seven and eight . It's a two part one . Definitely have a listen because that'll give you a lot Like . It's very it's almost like a masterclass very detailed as to what you can put in in Calendly to help people to book a call with you . So that's mistake number two .

Shannon Stone 11:27

Okay

Mistake #3

Shannon Stone 11:28

, mistake number three your prospects aren't feeling the pain or seeing the problem . So you can have someone book a call and say it was with me . They wanted to grow their business . Like , amazing , that's a desire , it's not a problem . It's like they're the things they want . They want to be growing their business .

Shannon Stone 11:47

Now , a big problem that people have is they don't figure out the pain that people are in . Like , if you wanted to grow your business , why aren't you growing your business right now ? Like , someone is not going to hire me . If they think they can grow their business without , I guess , on their own , they're booking a call with me to see if I can help them because they've tried things before . Things they've tried are not working . They've only gotten themselves so far . There'll be an array of reasons and problems and pain they're in . That brings them to even having that conversation with me . It's like they , even if they could Google all the answers , they're still in pain . They still can't figure it out . It's not personalized to them , it's not specific to their particular business , it's , you know , so many reasons .

Shannon Stone 12:35

So you have to help not just yourself , but your prospects , your leads , the people who are wanting to find out more about your services . You want them to see the problems . You want them to see the problems . You want them to see the pain . You know , what have you tried before ? Why hasn't that worked ? How long has it been like this ? Tell me the reasons for this , because all of that not only and I'm always really careful and mindful of , because it's really powerful stuff honestly when you get into sales and psychology and marketing , where you can actually help people , or like change someone , like have people part with their money , make people like go from over here to over there , like with your words , with your marketing , with persuasion , all those kinds of things Like I think they're almost like weapons of mass destruction . You have to use them in ways that are full of integrity , because you can have people do things , and I think that's why you have to do it from a place of authenticity that you are doing the right thing , not just by yourself , but by them as well .

Shannon Stone 14:19

So helping people to see the pain is part of to get a result , to get people to sign up to work with you , but at the same time , it's also it should be helping you to see how you can help them , what they've tried before , why your services might actually be a fit for them . Because imagine they had purchased the exact same thing from someone else . Imagine like it was the exact same thing , which is basically rare . But you'd want to know , like , have you tried this exact thing before ? Because if they have , then what difference is your solution going to make ? You want to know that in that sales conversation , because obviously it's not going to be a mirror thing . They're not going to have bought the exact same thing from someone else , but if they have or in their eyes they have you want to know that and then talk about that objection before getting to your service , which is , in their eyes , exactly the same as whatever that other person thing they bought . So you want to know that kind of thing .

Shannon Stone 15:22

So you have to dig into the pain . You want to ask them what they've tried before . You want them to see the problems as well , why certain things haven't worked for them , because it's going to help you to present your solution in a really authentic way that has them signing up to work with you , and I I always take that very seriously , that you can lay out all these strategies for people . But it's like it's not just about like . I think it's like marketing with a conscience . I think that's what I'm trying to say and trying to get through . It's like not just trying to squeeze money out of people and not just trying to squeeze , you know , getting as many clients as you can Like . Can you genuinely help people ? So that is problem number three your prospects aren't feeling the pain or seeing the problem . Okay , mistake number four a hundred percent ,

Mistake #4

Shannon Stone 16:16

a really big one .

Shannon Stone 16:17

Your sales calls don't have a structure or process , which is , I think , most businesses that I speak to it was myself once upon a time . Just because someone has booked in for a sales call with you , or they filled out a contact form , they're placing an inquiry with you . What actually happens in that conversation Like ? What's the flow that you take them through ? What's the sequence of events that are going to happen on that call ? That is a process that you need to have . I have one . I share it with my clients as well . Someone shared theirs with me once upon a time .

Shannon Stone 16:49

It didn't work for me verbatim , and what I did , I made it work for me . I changed it . It's like certain parts felt really clunky to me , so I changed it , I adapted it , I kept trying it on until it felt really good for me and that's what I encourage of anyone who is taught any kind of sales process , it's to make it your own , because when you can make it your own , that's when it's going to stick . That's when it stuck for me and that's when a lot of things really turned around and that's when I could trust in when sales calls get booked , I can confidently have this conversation with people and in most cases it turns out that they sign up as a client . That is what you want .

Shannon Stone 17:31

But the big problem that I see is that people don't have that structure . They don't have that process on that sales call . And it doesn't matter how good you are at what you do , how good you are at having conversations with people , you still need to have a sales call process on that conversation . Whether it's a five or ten minute call or whether it's a 45 or 60 minute call , it doesn't matter how long that call is , you still need to have a particular process that takes people from just having a conversation at the start to actually making a decision at the end . So that is mistake number four . And the final mistake that I'm going to share with you is that people are not presenting their services and prices on the sales call . So whether you have a sales process or not currently in place , this is still going to apply to you .

Shannon Stone 18:23

But imagine what I imagine for you is that you do have conversations with potential clients . You find out about , you know what they're wanting help with . You might talk a little bit about what it is that you do , but as far as really presenting your solution , say , you were that website builder and you were selling websites to businesses who don't have websites . If you know that is the solution , it's like , okay , well , here's how I can help you . Here's the website , here's what it looks like , here's number of pages , here's how it will benefit you , what will happen and the price .

Shannon Stone 18:58

There's no point keeping that outside the call . It's like you have a brilliant conversation with someone . They feel like , yep , this person really knows what they're talking about . This person seems to be the person who can help me . You get people to that point . You have to follow through and tell them well , I can definitely help you . Would you like me to share what that looks like . Here's what the website looks like . Is that what you're looking for ? They'll say yes Once you explain what your offer is , what your service is cool , I'd love to share the investment with you and what that looks like . And then you say what the price is and then , like , I think it's so powerful to do that and so it's such a win-win for everyone involved because you just get to share all the information upfront at the time that it counts , which is you've had this great conversation with someone .

Shannon Stone 19:56

Please don't get off that call and then go and email them the exact same thing that you could have said on the phone , or put together a proposal of the exact same thing that you were going to say to them on the phone . In some cases , that might be necessary , but it's like if you know exactly what it is , share it in the moment that it matters , like when you've really explained to them how you can help them . They're like in their head yep , this is the right person for me . Share what your prices are , share what the package is and what it actually looks like . You can still follow up with them . You can still send information after , like .

Shannon Stone 20:25

I've seen so many people where they're like I just don't get that many conversions . I get people really excited and then they kind of ghost me after I send the proposal . I'm like were they excited to work with you on the call ? Like , were you kind of anticipating , moving forward and going ahead ? And they're like yeah , they're like ready to go , very excited . Like well , in that case , like you should just tell them what it is like to work together . Here's the service , here's the price , and is that what you're looking for ? And find out .

Shannon Stone 20:57

And even if they're like unsure , that's what you want , like that's that's the information . That's like the feedback and the data that you want to get on the phone call . You don't want them sitting in their email inbox , like then having that moment . You want them to have that moment on the call call . You don't want them sitting in their email inbox , like then having that moment . You want them to have that moment on the call so they can say to you look , I'm not really sure about X , y , z or it's beyond my budget . It's like you want all those objections to come up on that call so you can address them . Like , don't be scared to address the objections . Like I said at the start , there's so many things we could be talking about when it comes to sales calls and sales conversations , but if you just start by sharing your services and your prices on the call and you talk to people who are excited to work with you , they're like yep , this is the person for me , even if your whole sales call process isn't slick it isn't 100% , which , honestly , whose is but even just by making that change , you are going to see more people start to sign up . And even if you don't , you're going to start to get the ball rolling of what needs to be fixed .

Shannon Stone 22:06

Little extra tip on all of this it's like the power of reflection After each sales conversation what could you have done better ? Like ask yourself , okay , what could have I done better ? What can I do better next time ? And like sales calls are never like a one and done thing where you know it's completely forgotten . It's like you can still save the day , say you do your reflection and there's like a couple of things that you could have done better . Reach back out to that person . Or , if you are sending a follow-up email , mention in there here's something that has just come to mind and share it with them , or you know , you can always save the day . So your reflections are always really , really important .

Shannon Stone 22:46

Now , that was probably more of a deep dive than I was expecting for this conversation , but it just shows you how deep and powerful your sales conversations can be . And if you're anything like a lot of my clients , it's like really going after quality over quantity . It's not like I don't subscribe fully that it's all a numbers game . It's like it wouldn't even matter if it was a numbers game . You still need that , those quality conversations . If you are talking to five people a week or five people a month , like treat every conversation , like make it as good as it can be that sales call , make every single one as good as it can be , because you will increase your conversions from it . And even some of my clients who sell very low volume of services for a few different reasons , but the main one is they don't need to work with a lot of people because the price point of their services and things like that . If you are in that category where it's low volume , it's like every conversation really does count .

Shannon Stone 23:57

You want to make sure that you are dotting every single I , crossing every single T , putting all the right placements in place , because every interaction matters . So you want to really sharpen those sales skills , sharpen your sales calls and conversations , and the action step that I shared right at the start is , out of these five , to just yes or no . Is this a mistake that I'm making and can I improve it ? So , just to recap number one your prospects aren't wanting a solution . Number two , your prospects haven't been qualified before booking a sales call . Number three your prospects aren't been qualified before booking a sales call . Number three , your prospects aren't feeling the pain or seeing the problem . Number four , your sales calls don't have a structure and process . And number five , you're not presenting your services and prices on the sales call .

Mistake #5

Shannon Stone 24:47

That is what I have for you today . If you have any questions at all , always reach out . But I hope you found this useful and helpful and I can't wait to hear how you apply this in your business . I hope you have an amazing week and I'll talk to you soon . Hey , thanks for listening . If you found this episode useful , I'd love for you to send it to a friend . The best podcasts I have found have all been recommended to me . If you can spread the word by sharing this episode . I can spend more time helping you by creating episodes just like this one . Send it text it , tell somebody about it . Whatever you need to do , the more you spread the word , the more I can focus on creating needle-moving episodes to help you and your friends .