A majority of those in the selling profession are unable to close sales consistently because they fail to follow good advice and lack the proper education, according to Drew Stevens, PhD, a lead generation expert and author of Split Second Selling. Here are five other selling errors that sales professionals would do well to avoid:

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1. Focusing on price. Today, advantages to selling decrease as consumers use the Internet to gain accessibility to competitors, inventory, and other vital tools. The information allows customers to strengthen their negotiable position. Price negotiation now succumbs to value, which is now the competitive differentiator as customers discern the answer to the vital question, “What’s in it for me?” Customers do business only with those they trust. Forget the price equation, and sell only on value.

2. Believing that anyone can sell. Sales professionals are much like a general on the battlefield or a chess player at a tournament: they’re always thinking ahead and strategizing to determine their next move. Selling requires a desire to create customer relationships and a willingness to absorb useful research and articulate the results to a customer. Not many people have the patience and persistence that selling requires. Talent is innate and cannot be taught.

3. Turning salespeople into managers. There is a ridiculous notion that because selling professionals manage territories and relationships, the transfer of skills rationalizes promotion to management. Not true. Research illustrates that selling professionals desire individual achievement. They enjoy the entrepreneurial ability to call upon customers, meander in their territory, and create their own luck. Managing staff requires oversight, reports, and motivation — oftentimes shunning results. Simply put, the best selling professionals don’t make the best managers.

4. Focusing too much on motivation. Many aspects of selling require technical conversations. Engineering sales professionals require a pragmatic approach meshed with analytical presentations. Every business requires selling to offset expenses. Each firm maintains a variety of cultural standards, some aggressive and loud, and some peaceful and cautious. The talent of the professional emulates the organizational culture. High motivation is dependent on the organization, and not all individuals are required to be gregarious.

5. Over-dependence on the Internet. The Internet enables instant access to information. Selling professionals might discover useful competitive and industry information that aids the customer. However, the Internet, like CRM software, is not an ideal tool to augment the business relationship. Email and the Web are useful for delivering required customer content, but they will never substitute for positive relationship building. And social networks do little to build business.

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