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Buyers’ Biggest Pet Peeves – What Makes Them So Annoyed!

January 14, 2016

 

Have you ever wondered why the salespeople are so annoying at times? Well, we’ve all been there. Guess what, this is not to justify them salespersons, but while they understand the tendency to annoy other people, they have to win their business. While the sales force is the main driver of profitability, leads converted into customers are the lifeblood of any business, for that matter.

Now, to humanize the process, here’s what every salesperson needs to know – the buyers’ biggest pet peeves and what he or she can do instead.

Things that annoy the buyers

1) The generic outreach

Nowadays, the sales industry is heavily scripted. A salesperson, particularly those who are cold calling, has a canned response to every comment or question of the prospect. This is the complete opposite of a buyer’s yearning for personalization. A buyer wants to be put first. Thus, the sales personnel should not treat him or her the way he or she would treat everybody else.

Likewise, generic outreach campaigns reflect the lack of initiative on the part of the sales team. There is no effort whatsoever on the part of the team members to get to know the person. In this day and age, it is often possible to know who you are dealing with through social networking sites, for instance.

What you can do

– Discard the script

– Develop your pitch based on the needs of your prospects

– Invest in research before you make contact

– Get to know your prospects by getting their names beforehand

– Look into their websites, personal social accounts, etc. if they have any

– Simplify the process by using a tool such as the Charlie App

– Customize whenever and wherever possible (case in point: first name in email salutation)

 

2) The same old cold calling

Until today, while there’s personal selling involved at the mid-part of the sales process, the top approach of the salespeople is cold calling. There is still a virtue to cold calling despite the fact it only converts 1 to 3% of the prospects. The bottom-line is it converts. However, the sales team often got it all wrong. Even when the prospect already said no, they keep calling the person to the point of irritating him or her.

It’s a lose-lose situation — the salesperson becomes ineffective in the process, jeopardizing his own salesmanship and the prospect loses his valuable time attending to something that he is not even interested in the first place.

What you can do

– Turn the cold call into a warm outreach

– Build familiarity even before starting a relationship with your prospect

– Connect with them through their social profiles

– Observe his or her behaviors on these platforms then, start a conversation around the updates, shares, posts, etc.

– Answer their questions, perhaps through directing them on your or other people’s blogs

– Research what your targets are interested in, what they are looking, what they don’t like especially when it comes to a product or service

– Don’t pester them

 

3) The cash cow hunter

Sales-making is at the heart of the matter here. Nonetheless, no target buyer would want to feel treated like being leached. For the buyer, the salesperson is only there because he or she is another sale to make as if there’s a dollar sign on his or her forehead.

That’s very unprofessional on the part of the salesperson, failing to understand that each prospect is unique with unique challenges, pain points, goals, and issues. These uninitiated sales representatives only obsess with closing the deal and not necessarily solving the problem of the prospect.

What you can do

– Be honest and upfront (especially about the price)

– Don’t force your product, service or both down to your prospect’s throat

– Offer real value

– Build trust and credibility

– Demonstrate sincerity without faking it

– Follow-up with the client after he or she signs the contract

– Send thoughtful email messages

– Offer your insights

 

4) The robotic and routinary

In the real world where the sales rep and prospect actually engage, the latter cannot build confidence to whoever he or she cannot connect with. Building trust could be exhilarating on the part of the salespeople especially those who often hear their executives tell them to “know your metrics.” But, it is an essential aspect of the sales process.

What these sellers don’t understand is they themselves are the ones who are “dehumanizing” the process. When your prospect raises an objection, what do you do? Rummage through your script to find the right answer? Can you even consider yourself as a friendly and approachable salesperson? If you can’t, then there’s the problem.

What you can do

– Forget about quota

– Don’t regard your prospect as a mere number

– Don’t alienate them

– Don’t incentivize them

– Be tangible

– Reference your learnings from the first meeting

– Smile

 

5) The mind-numbing demos

Presentations and demonstrations are fundamental to closing a deal. Target buyers may consider listening to you and when they do, make sure what you are going to say is worth their time. Sitting a prospect in a room and expecting him to listen to your untailored demo is the ultimate no-no.

What’s more, when the person asks a question and you answer it yet you failed to adapt the demonstration with the flow of conversation, then you aren’t really listening to him. What’s worse, you deliberately ignore the question and move on with your pitch. There’s nothing more depressing than listening to a sales rep that doesn’t take a cue from what the prospect is saying and not saying (body language, people).

What you can do

– Hear them

– Explore the issues raised by your prospect

– Be transparent; don’t lie to them through omission

– Don’t be a know-it-all

– Listen to them

– Don’t interrupt the buyer when he or she is speaking

– Pay attention to their questions, suggestions, and concerns

– Again, customize whenever and wherever possible

– Expect the unexpected

 

Salespeople are notorious for annoying their prospects. Self-centeredness is the epitome of a careless, unprofessional and ineffective salesperson. So, don’t be a part of the ever-growing list of annoying salespeople. Above, you can see a list of do’s and don’ts. In connection with this, please stop whatever you are doing and ask yourself – Am I an annoying salesperson? If you think you are or are just too egoistic to admit it, change for the better.

 

Don’t be like the other salespeople who are only good at annoying their buyers. Speaking of buyers also, categorize them based on priority levels using our app. Vender App is the next best sales app you will need. Download it now!

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