5 Sales Tactics That Turn People Off

I had an interesting conversation yesterday with a friend of a friend and his new upline. My father-in-law, who owns a used car lot, is out of town on a family reunion so I offered to run the car lot for him while he’s gone. Since I’m a freelance writer all I need for work is my laptop and I’m good to go.

Back to my interesting conversation with these two guys yesterday. They came to the car lot intending to solicit their new MLM, Talk Fusion, to my father-in-law but instead found me. Like any good sales person the upline didn’t waste an opportunity to make a sale. But after about 10 minutes into it I was pretty turned off.

But it was a good lesson of what not to do in a sales process. So like any good writer I didn’t waste an opportunity for an article.

5 Sales Tactics That Turn People Off

1. Be as Vague as Possible

When this guy came in with his elevator speech (apparently this guy’s elevator is in a 100 story skyscraper) he talked for 10 minutes about how this new product was so great and revolutionary. Here’s the problem. I had no idea what the product was. I had to ask several questions to even get a vague idea of what he was selling.

2. Don’t Validate Your Claims

When you say things like, “This product is the best!” or “This company is revolutionizing the industry!” then you need to back up those claims with good old-fashioned facts. That’s right – some of us still like to use our brains. Catchy slogans and hype are not going to cut it for us.

3. Make People Feel Stupid for Not Doing Business With You

I love this one. It’s like the bully salesman tactic. He’s not going to actually beat you up if you decide not to do business with him but he will make you feel like you deserve to get punched in the face. Have you ever had this happen?

“Well, it’s not my fault if you don’t sign up for this once in a lifetime deal. And don’t say I didn’t warn you when everyone in town is rich and you’re begging bread!” Enough already.

4. Don’t Ask Questions

Yap, yap, yap, yap. After a while people will just tune you out. An effective sales process involves a dialogue not a monologue. Some salespeople are so scripted it’s like watching a robot repeat information.

I’ll be honest. Sometimes I get the urge to stand up, walk over to Mr. Have I Got a Deal for You and wave my hand in front of his face to see if he’s really human. Who knows – maybe some of these guys really are robots.

5. Make Outrageous Statements

I was told that anyone who doesn’t get on board with this new Vision Talk thing will not be able to survive in business. Businesses will have no choice but to shut their doors unless they bow down to almighty Vision Talk and it’s marketing power.

Outrageous claims will cause most people to be skeptical.

But an outrageous claim followed by prediction of the future is simply a sign to stop listening. I might have given him the benefit of the doubt if he said something like, “Businesses that use our product have seen sales increase 15%” but I heard no such thing. I basically heard it’s either this marketing tool or nothing!

So please do us all a favor and avoid these mistakes if you are in sales. And, maybe I’m wrong and I’ll be out of business next week thanks to Vision Talk. Only time will tell.