Source: Services Marketing Blog

In this blog post, Mike Schultz discusses a recent report on common sales mistakes and how to fix them. The problem, Schultz says, is that most people don't realize they're making them.

According to buyers, four out of five service providers make at least one critical mistake – such as failing to understand their clients' needs, not listening, or charging more than their services are worth – that significantly reduces the likelihood that buyers will buy their services.

Schultz offers several ideas for finding out what clients and potential clients really think about your services:

• Ask clients for tough, specific feedback (not just “How is everything?”).
• Ask prospects you lost why you lost. But demand real answers, not polite letdowns.
• Have a third party ask for you, which may increase your chances of getting real answers.
• Conduct an assessment – complete with feedback – of your rainmaking skills and tendencies.
• Solicit internal feedback from people who have seen you in action.

For the complete blog entry, click here.

From Services Marketing Blog, by Mike Schultz, Wellesley Hills Group, www.servicesmarketingblog.com, November 23, 2009, “Sales Mistakes You Think You're Not Making.”