Why don’t people hire you? Here are 22 common mistakes to avoid

It’s a massive source of great frustration. You’re trying to sell a service or product to a prospect… and they just don’t ‘get it’. So let’s look at 22 common reasons why people don’t hire you. By learning why people don’t hire you, you’ll find it easier to turn things around.

Here they are in no particular order.

1. They’re short term focused and you’re selling a medium to long-term benefit. Or vice versa.
2. You’re assuming too much about what they know, what they think or what they need.
3. They make decisions slowly. You move quickly. They’re still trying to process things.
4. They make decisions quickly. You move slowly. They’ve lost interest.
5. You’re dealing with the wrong person.
6. They’re under a great deal of stress. Which is really common right now.
7. You’re connecting to them using the wrong medium. You’re using email instead of sending a letter. A letter instead of a phone call. A phone call instead of video. A video instead of in-person.
8. You’re using too many words to describe your proposition. This is common.
9. You’re using too few words to describe it. This almost never happens.
10. There are too many steps in your sales process. You’re losing them. They get half way through whatever you’re communicating, and they’re already forgetting the start.
11. You’re using incompatible marketing ideas, approaches or strategies from a different industry. This is a huge, HUGE problem for service providers. I wrote about how to avoid the problem, here.
12. They can see the value, they do want it, but are lying to you because they’re broke and embarrassed.
13. Your product or service, if purchased, would force them to admit they failed in some way.
14. You’re attracting poorly targeted leads, so they lack the need, awareness and / or finances.
15. You haven’t given them a deadline to make their decision. Deadlines sharpen the mind.
16. You’re confusing them, because there’s a disconnect between what you say and what they see. This is very common. The vendor says they’re professional and reliable, yet their marketing gives the opposite impression.
17. They’re very visual and your marketing or presentation isn’t.
18. You haven’t demonstrated the full value of your product or service to them. So, they wrongly believe it’s too expensive.
19. You haven’t explained the core benefits of what you’re offering, so they don’t even know they need it.
20. They’re scared. And your level of reassurance isn’t cutting it.
21. They’re expecting the approach or marketing from someone in your industry, to look or sound different.
22. They don’t trust you enough, to lower their guard and let your message land.

I hope you find these examples useful.