3 Ways Salespeople Kill Their Own Deals

You know those days where you feel like the whole world is corroborating against you in order to sabotage your deal. There are a slew of things we can't control that unfortunately dictate the way a deal shakes out. Quite honestly, it sucks, I'm with you.

Interestingly though if we truly internalize our sales processes along the way we can probably conclude many times we killed our own deal.

Believe me, I've lit the desk on fire more times than I can count. However the one thing I pride myself on is self-reflection hence I am here to talk about it...

We don't ACT on buying signals - There is something to be said for pacing the sales process but there is nothing to be said for being a wimp - yup, I said it - and not asking for the business as soon as the customer indicates interest. Less is more 90% of the time. Believe me if they want more they'll ask for it.
Assuming (the mother of all deal death's) - Why? Because we don't even bother asking the most crucial questions because we THINK we know the answers. Even worse (and typically in conjunction with the afore mentioned) we end up presenting a solution that doesn't solve the customers actual problem. You win THEN I win - it's the only mindset.
Poor Listening - In the event we do ask the right questions we don't actually listen to the responses. We have predetermined what we want to say therefore we're not aligning with actual customer needs. We should seek all conversations with curiosity and allow preparation to guide us in pivoting swiftly. Ultimately, the goal is to satisfy the customer with solutions, information, and resources they actually want.

Don't light the desk on fire but if you must, learn from it!

As always let me know if you'd like to see more articles like this in the comments below.

Happy Selling!