3 Mistakes To Avoid When
Communicating With Prospects

Communication with prospects is a crucial part of the sales role. Without it, you can't understand their challenges or demonstrate your product's value appropriately. Basically, it determines whether you will make the sale or not, which is why if your approach doesn't seem to be working at all, you need to change it ASAP.

Sales reps tend to have their own pitch about their company that they use every time, but many have the wrong strategy and as a result struggle with communication. However, your best teacher is your last mistake!

Here are the 3 most important lessons about communicating with prospects that we've learned:

LESSON 1: Simple is better

That is to say - do not overcomplicate your emails. Long, wordy messages that cover all possible information about your product and its features will only confuse your prospects and make it harder for them to decide, not easier. When they ask specific questions, they are expecting a direct answer and not an essay. Instead, adjust the information you send to each prospect's challenges and try to understand how their organisation works by asking additional questions. Another thing you can do to make your message more relevant is to ask prospects about similar experiences with other providers, which will help you understand their needs better as well.


LESSON 2: Adapt your messaging style

Another painful mistake in communication is being too formal in your business correspondence. Of course, you want to sound professional, but in this day and age that doesn't mean you have to use old-school, complex structures to demonstrate your expertise. Although it's important to be polite and respectful, the bottom line is you are trying to build a relationship. That's why being more casual can go a long way in creating common ground with prospects.

Pay attention to their messaging style - subconsciously, people connect with those that are similar to them. It's a good strategy to adapt your style to different personas: if someone is replying to you with only a few words, it's better to get to the point and keep it short as well.


LESSON 3: Don't take it personally

In the early days of their career many sales reps tend to feel defeated when they receive negative responses. It's easy to immediately start second-guessing your communication skills and blame yourself for every lost sale. But the truth is that it almost never has anything to do with you personally, so don't lose your motivation just yet!

Learning to deal with rejection is one of the major skills that will help you succeed in this role, because it's inevitable and you need to expect it.

What you can do:

• Accept that your solution can't be relevant to everyone
  
• Have a positive attitude and prepare an appropriate reply
  
• Collect feedback and ask questions to understand the market needs
  
• Focus on the victories, rather than dwell on the "no"-s!
  

To sum up:

Trial and error has shown us that tweaking the way you communicate with prospects can have a huge effect on your success. Steering clear of lengthy descriptions of everything you do and adapting your message to be more relevant to your prospect's business can definitely work to your advantage.

Additionally, mirroring their messaging style is psychologically proven to increase your likeability. Even if it doesn't work out, it's important not to get discouraged and to apply the negative feedback to perfect your communication skills! Besides, you might not be able to solve someone's problem right now, but that doesn't mean you can't win them in the future with a little perseverance. Learn more about the art of following up here: 5 Tips on How To Follow Up Successfully