Dealing With Sales Stereotypes - The Prospector by Seamless.AI

Sidney here from the Content Team at Seamless.AI! You’re reading The Prospector, your dose of fun to break up the monotony and fresh B2B SaaS insights to crush the game.

Sales is a profession with its fair share of stereotypes. Some are off base, but other times, you might find yourself lost in the sauce, focused on EOQ goals, and end up perpetuating some of them.

Check out these common sales stereotypes and solutions, and ask yourself…

Am I Making These Sales Faux Pas?

In this week’s edition of The Prospector…

Sales Stereotypes
Improve the First 5 Seconds of Your Pitch

(Images created with the help of AI 😉):

We’re starting with the oldest stereotype in the book and the hardest one to separate yourself from: Aggressive Tactics. Reps who are desperate for a sale and can’t take no for an answer.

Solution: Pushy tactics drive away 84% of buyers (G2). So stop focusing on pushing people to the next step in the buying cycle. Identify their needs, build a relationship, and empower prospects to feel confident in their own decision (whether they end up going with you or not).

Lying Sales Reps — The Overexaggerating Sales Rep

Nothing erodes trust like a bad lie. And salespeople often contend with the stereotype that they’re all liars–about quality, contract terms, value, etc.

Solution: Honesty is the best policy. Don’t be a bad sales friend who’d tell tall tales to get sales. Keep it real, even if it’s something customers won’t want to hear. Don’t sell benefits you don’t have. You’ll gain their trust in the end. And trust is everything. Ask anyone getting out of a bad breakup ☹️.

Chatty Sales Reps — The Chatty Sales Rep

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No, he’s not a rare, limited edition Garbage Pail Kid, he’s Chatty Charlie! We’ve all come across Chatty Charlies and Cathys. Peace and quiet hate to see them coming because they talk a mile a minute and the constant chatter could tire anyone to death 💀.

Solution: If you’re a talker, we’re gonna hold your hand when we say this 🤝… Listen more than you talk. You’ll be surprised by what you learn about customers when you actively listen.

44% of salespeople give up after one follow-up call. But the other extreme is contacting a prospect until they break down and sign the contract. Being a bug is abrasive, and it makes a bad brand impression.

Solution: We know you want to close the deal, but bugging your prospects isn’t going to get to a “Yes.” Write some follow-up messaging with Writer, then give customers breathing room.

Confused Sales Reps — The Confused Sales Rep

You’re the rep spraying generic messages and praying for a miracle. No research, no personalization, no clue about your customers’ needs.

Solution: Looking for a clue? The solution is RESEARCH. Use tools like Seamless.AI to learn everything you can about your customers, from their business case to their industry competitors. Everybody wins when you can bring insights and not a generic sales script.

First Impression Matters

Getting past the first 5 seconds on a cold call or sales outreach is usually the hardest part. Once you get there it starts to become easier. The key to getting to that point is nailing the pitch right off the bat. Like a major league hitter stepping upto the plate ready to take that swing.

Fun fact: It's takes 1/2 second for a ball to reach the plate after leaving the pitchers hand. Batters have to decide within a fraction of a second if they should swing and where to swing at.

Sales pros have to practice and perfect their technique the same way major leaguers practice their craft. Know the prospect, understand their needs, and execute the ideal tone to convey the correct message. Once the prospect knows you've got their interest in mind and ready to listen, you can let the rest of the conversation flow.

Pushing through the initial 5 seconds helps you get into the fun stuff, which is selling. Remember the best hitters in the world still fail 2/3 of the time, but they keep stepping up to the plate to hit homeruns.