Article

The 5 most common ATM selling mistakes

The ATM industry is unique; sales, however, are not. Here, Damien Fitzgerald shares his thoughts about the five most common selling mistakes every salesperson runs the risk of making.

July 27, 2009 by Damien Fitzgerald — Owner, DTD Marketing

When it comes to sales, tried and true rules have been tested and proven. Below is a list of the top five mistakes I see salespeople across industries and professions commonly make. By addressing these issues with your sales force, you can dramatically improve your sales, in ATMs and anything else.

Damien Fitzgerald
No. 1: Not listening Salespeople often talk themselves right out of a sale because they are talking and not listening. Salespeople should spend a short amount of time talking about themselves, your company and the solution that your product provides. In fact, a salesperson should talk no more than 40 percent of the time when working with a prospect. The prospect, on the other hand, should talk more than 60 percent of the time about his business, his customers and his challenges.

The salesperson must ask questions that demonstrate she really cares about the potential client's specific needs. If your salesperson is actively engaged in listening, she will have a much higher understanding of the prospect and the prospect's needs.

To be actively listening, your salesperson has to listen to the words, as well as the physical gestures, the voice tone and context. Salespeople with excellent listening skills are able to easily identify a client's real needs and the solutions to fill those needs. The best salespeople are great listeners. When we think of a terrible salesperson, we often think of the stereotypical used-car salesman, who just can't stop talking. So, suggest to your salespeople that they stop talking and start listening. No. 2: Failing to prospect for new customers Many salespeople underestimate the importance of prospecting. They need to know that constant prospecting will produce a consistent flow of customers to your business. Even when business is great, salespeople need to prospect for new customers. Inconsistent prospecting is one of the most common mistakes salespeople make. Salespeople must devote a certain percentage of their work week to prospecting for new, qualified customers.

The best way to find new customers is by scheduling a specific portion of your calendar to prospecting only. If done right, the pipeline will be full of new prospects, and thus reduce the common peaks and valleys that occur in sales. No. 3: Not asking for the order People want to work with people (and businesses) who genuinely want their business. The easiest way to demonstrate that your company wants the prospect's business is to just ask for it.

A salesperson's presentation should be designed to get a commitment from the client. After investing time, qualifying the customer, explaining and demonstrating how your company's product or service will solve the prospect's problem, it's time to ask the prospect to make a purchase. The salesperson's job is not done until he has confidently asked for, and earned, the order. I'm surprised at how often a salesperson will do everything well in her presentation and then sheepishly ask for the order. And some salespeople never ask for the order at all.

An "ask" can be the nudge your customer or potential customer needs to make the final positive buying decision. Your salesperson has an obligation to ask for business. The salesperson does not have to be pushy, but should respectfully and with great confidence ask for an order. Not asking for a buy shows some lack of confidence. The customer won't know if the salesperson is apprehensive about the price, the product, the service or her company. Your salesperson has to ask for the order at the end of his presentation to earn the client's confidence. No. 4: Failing to follow up Just because a prospect decides not to buy today does not mean he won't be a buyer in the future. If the prospect is an interested, qualified, potential customer, then someone will sell that prospect, eventually. Your salesperson has done the work, so it should be your salesperson that earns the business, when it comes.

Your company and salesperson have to be the supplier this customer thinks of when he's ready to invest. The way you earn this business is to have a consistent and persistent follow-up program. Most salespeople don't consistently follow up. But following up is a critical step in the selling process.

Your salesperson already has a relationship with this potential customer; build on that relationship. Only the salesperson can convert this missed opportunity into a future sale. Following up should be an integral part of all of our corporate-sales strategies. Customers and prospects are already interested, why would we let them go? The chances of closing a warmed-up lead is much higher than chasing down a new or cold lead. Timely follow up will lead to more sales with fewer leads. No. 5: Wasting time Salespeople often waste time in three ways. First, they often chase down non-producing prospects. Some prospects will never buy or invest. To earn any money, some prospects will dissect every one of your profit centers and drain whatever profit you deserve and keep the profit as their own. These "profit parasites," as I call them, need to be encouraged to take their business to your competitor. These non-productive prospects will be happy to take your profit and waste your time. The second time waster: Not walking away from the "wrong" client. Some potential clients are the extremely high maintenance with very low profit potential. Sales professionals know the "wrong clients" will add a lot of stress on support staff and co-workers. This added stress from these clients can have a negative effect on future sales. The "wrong clients" tie up phone lines, fill up mailboxes and slow down progress. The third time waster is ineffective time management. A salesperson's main asset is time. When salespeople measure every minute as a profit or a loss, they will see new opportunities. We need to stop spending our time on non-profit-producing activities. The wildly successful and the poorest salespeople have exactly the same amount of time; obviously only one is using her time effectively.

Have your salespeople invest in one of the many time-management programs and use it properly. When salespeople really see how much of their work time is needlessly spent on non-profit-driven activities, they can adjust their schedules and sell much more. In conclusion, we can teach our salespeople time management and listening skills. Our sales team members also can learn to look out for and steer clear of "profit parasites" and the "wrong customers." Salespeople who can't or won't confidently ask for the order may need to be retrained, remotivated or removed.

Profitable customers think they buy logically, but most of them actually buy emotionally, and a sale is a transfer of emotion. Your salespeople need confidence to seamlessly transfer that emotion to customers so customers can confidently buy products.

Damien Fitzgerald owns DTD Marketing, a small marketing and consulting firm that focuses on the ATM field and other industries. To submit a comment, please e-mail the editor, Tracy Kitten.

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The 5 most common ATM selling mistakes

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