--- title: Ten Mistakes That Kill Sales Opportunities | The Sales Blog description: Here are 10 mistakes that will cost you your deal. image: https://www.thesalesblog.com/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/Screen-Shot-2014-01-22-at-7_51_33-PM.png --- ### [Now booking SKO meetings for 2026/27! 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You can’t rush your buyer through the process because you are in a hurry or because you are behind on your number. 2. **Asking for Unearned Commitments**: You can’t ask for commitments that you haven’t [earned](http://thesalesblog.com/blog/2012/06/22/asking-for-the-commitments-you-earned/). If you haven’t created the value to deserve the next commitment, pressing for that commitment will shut your deal down. 3. **Poor Follow Up**: Failing to [follow up](http://thesalesblog.com/blog/2010/12/19/keeping-commitments-why-follow-up-and-follow-through-make-or-break-opportunities/) on the little commitments you make only proves you don’t care, that you aren’t detail-oriented, and you can’t be counted on. Deal-breaker. 4. **Selling Without Dissatisfaction**: If you can’t find or create [a compelling reason](http://thesalesblog.com/blog/2013/08/27/you-are-already-an-expert-at-writing-a-value-proposition/) for your prospective client to change, you aren’t going to make a sale. No deal. 5. **Not Doing Discovery**: If you don’t do the [discovery](http://thesalesblog.com/blog/2014/01/08/your-client-is-in-discovery-too/) work necessary to know exactly how to help your prospective client, you aren’t going to create or win an opportunity. It’s over. 6. **Not Building Consensus**: You have to believe me here. You aren’t going to win with a single stakeholder. You will lose if you can’t help your client build [consensus](http://thesalesblog.com/blog/2013/01/02/building-consensus-its-whats-for-dinner/). No votes. 7. **Failing to Make the Ask**: If you don’t [ask](http://thesalesblog.com/blog/2013/01/09/how-to-get-better-at-asking/) for access to the people and information you need to win a deal, you will lose that deal. You cannot fear “the ask.” Not asking is the same as no. 8. **An Inability to Articulate Value**: You must be able to articulate the [value](http://thesalesblog.com/blog/2013/07/29/price-is-an-expression-of-value/) that you and your solution creates. If can’t tell your client how they will be made better, you have no deal. 9. **Failure to Provide Proof**: Your prospect is going to want some [proof](http://thesalesblog.com/blog/2011/11/19/the-sales-call-planner-providing-proof/) that you are who you say you are, that you will execute. Maybe you need a fancy ROI calculator. Or maybe you need a reference. Zilch. 10. **Being Transactional**: Treating your prospective client as [a means to an end](http://thesalesblog.com/blog/2012/07/28/there-is-no-substitute-for-caring/) is the fastest way to alienate them. And it’s a surefire way to lose. Brick. #### Questions What do you do that causes you to lose deals? What have you seen someone else do that cost them a deal? Which of these ten mistakes are you most at risk of making?  How do you change that? [**Tweet](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=Ten+Mistakes+That+Kill+Sales+Opportunities&url=https%3A%2F%2Fthesalesblog.com%2F2014%2F01%2F22%2Ften-mistakes-that-kill-sales-opportunities%2F%3Futm_source%3Dtwitter%26utm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_campaign%3DSocialWarfare&via=iannarino) **Pin [**Share322](https://www.linkedin.com/cws/share?url=https%3A%2F%2Fthesalesblog.com%2F2014%2F01%2F22%2Ften-mistakes-that-kill-sales-opportunities%2F%3Futm_source%3Dlinkedin%26utm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_campaign%3DSocialWarfare) [**Share149](https://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fthesalesblog.com%2F2014%2F01%2F22%2Ften-mistakes-that-kill-sales-opportunities%2F%3Futm_source%3Dfacebook%26utm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_campaign%3DSocialWarfare) [**Email](mailto:?subject=Ten%20Mistakes%20That%20Kill%20Sales%20Opportunities&body=Here%20are%20ten%20mistakes%20you%20can%20make%20that%20will%20cost%20your%20deal.%20Taking%20Shortcuts%3A%20Anything%20that%20you%20believe%20leads%20to%20a%20faster%20deal%20leads%20to%20a%20no%20deal.%20You%20can%E2%80%99t%20rush%20your%20buyer%20through%20the%20process%20because%20you%20are%20in%20a%20hurry%20or%20because%20you%20are%20behind%20on%20your%20number.%20Asking%20for%20Unearned%20Commitments%3A%20You%20can%E2%80%99t%20ask%20for%20commitments%20that%20you%20haven%E2%80%99t%20earned.%20If%20you%20haven%E2%80%99t%20created%20the%20value%20to%20deserve%20the%20next%20commitment%2C%20pressing%20for%20that%20commitment%20will%20shut%20your%20deal%20down.%20Poor%20Follow%20Up%3A%20Failing%20to%20follow%20up%20on%20the%20little%20commitments%20you%20make%20only%20proves%20you%20don%E2%80%99t%0D%0A%0D%0ARead%20More%20Here:%20%20https%3A%2F%2Fthesalesblog.com%2F2014%2F01%2F22%2Ften-mistakes-that-kill-sales-opportunities%2F%3Futm_source%3Demail%26utm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_campaign%3DSocialWarfare) [**Pocket](https://getpocket.com/save?url=https%3A%2F%2Fthesalesblog.com%2F2014%2F01%2F22%2Ften-mistakes-that-kill-sales-opportunities%2F%3Futm_source%3Dpocket%26utm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_campaign%3DSocialWarfare) [**Buffer](https://bufferapp.com/add?url=https%3A%2F%2Fthesalesblog.com%2F2014%2F01%2F22%2Ften-mistakes-that-kill-sales-opportunities%2F%3Futm_source%3Dbuffer%26utm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_campaign%3DSocialWarfare&text=Ten+Mistakes+That+Kill+Sales+Opportunities) 471 Shares ###### Tags: [Sales](https://www.thesalesblog.com/blog/tag/sales) [2014](https://www.thesalesblog.com/blog/tag/2014) Post by [Anthony Iannarino](https://www.thesalesblog.com/blog/author/anthony-iannarino) on January 22, 2014 Written and edited by human brains and human hands. ![Anthony Iannarino](https://www.thesalesblog.com/hubfs/ai-blog-profile-crop.jpg) Anthony Iannarino is an American writer. He has published daily at [thesalesblog.com](https://www.thesalesblog.com) for more than 14 years, amassing over 5,300 articles and making this platform a destination for salespeople and sales leaders. Anthony is also the author of four best-selling books documenting modern sales methodologies and a fifth book for sales leaders seeking revenue growth. His latest book for an even wider audience is titled, The Negativity Fast: Proven Techniques to Increase Positivity, Reduce Fear, and Boost Success. Anthony speaks to sales organizations worldwide, delivering cutting-edge sales strategies and tactics that work in this ever-evolving B2B landscape. He also provides workshops and seminars. Connect with Anthony on LinkedIn, X or Youtube. 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What we’re doing right now **is working**, even in this challenging economy. **Would you like some help?** [![Solve for Sales](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/2922376/d3a4938b-2008-4a27-8b44-7b2223f6d035.png)](https://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/2922376/d3a4938b-2008-4a27-8b44-7b2223f6d035) ### Join my Weekly Newsletter for Sales Tips Join 100,000+ sales professionals in my weekly newsletter and get my *Guide to Becoming a Sales Hustler* eBook for FREE! --- ```json { "@context" : "http://schema.org/", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Anthony Iannarino" }, "dateModified" : "2021-09-17T1:55:11 PM", "datePublished" : "2014-01-22 21:00:17", "description" : "Here are 10 mistakes that will cost you your deal.", "headline" : "Ten Mistakes That Kill Sales Opportunities", "image" : { "@type" : "ImageObject", "height" : 16, "url" : "https://f.hubspotusercontent20.net/hubfs/2922376/Image/favicon.ico", "width" : 16 }, "mainEntityOfPage" : { "@id" : "https://www.thesalesblog.com/blog/ten-mistakes-that-kill-sales-opportunities", "@type" : "WebPage" }, "name" : "Ten Mistakes That Kill Sales Opportunities", "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject", "height" : 24, "url" : "https://f.hubspotusercontent20.net/hubfs/2922376/TSB/images/TSB%20Logo%20Dark.svg", "width" : 228 }, "name" : "The Sales Blog" } } ```