Don't assume your buying process is easy for the customer. What's simple for you is a new, complex situation for them. Salespeople lose deals by creating friction. To win, you must identify these "barriers of engagement" and do the work for the customer to make purchasing as simple as possible.
The "lone wolf" sales model is obsolete. A sale is lost if the customer has a bad post-purchase experience with anyone in your company. The salesperson's role now extends to ensuring everyone—from operations to support—understands the new customer's needs and is aligned on solving their specific problem.
A major mistake is pursuing any potential customer. Salespeople must be willing to turn down prospects who are not a good fit, and do so early in the process. Chasing the wrong business wastes time and resources that should be spent on ideal clients, leading to lost deals that should have been won.
Directly asking "Are you the decision-maker?" is ineffective as people rarely admit they aren't. A better approach is to ask about past decision-making processes. This question reveals the people and steps involved, helping you avoid wasting time with influencers who lack budget authority.
Repeating previously successful sales activities can still lead to failure if the market has changed. What customers prioritized six months ago is not what they prioritize today. Teams must continuously re-evaluate *why* customers are buying now and adapt their approach to solve current, urgent problems.
Top salespeople often neglect their CRM, leading to an "assumptive mindset" where critical details are missed. Instead of a chore, view your CRM as a pilot's pre-flight checklist. Systematically going through the process ensures no step is forgotten, preventing you from losing a deal to a predictable oversight.