The 7 Deadly Sales Sins and How to Avoid Them 💀
Spooky season is here and there’s nothing scarier than letting easily avoidable sales mistakes stall your growth! 😱
Small, scaling businesses and startups are notorious for committing these 7 deadly sales sins.
Learn how to avoid the sales scaries.
💀 Deadly Sin #1: Pitching everyone
Not everybody needs the thing you’re selling. My mom doesn’t need a B2B sales software, so I don’t pitch Close to my Mom. First qualify, then sell. How do you qualify? Answer two simple questions about your prospect: 1) Can I help you? 2) Can you help me?
If you answer yes to both questions, you’ve probably got an ideal customer. Focus on them—everyone else is a distraction.
💀 Deadly Sin #2: Giving horrible demos
An hour is too long for a demo. No one retains 60 minutes of yapping. It’s a DEMONSTRATION—not product training. You don’t have to teach them everything your product does. Only demonstrate the most important few things to them so they can leave the call with clarity.
A demo shouldn’t end with: “Wow, I have so much information now. I need to marinate on this…” Don't overwhelm—create clarity.
💀 Deadly Sin #3: Not owning the deal
You own the deal—not the customer. But you don’t want to own the deal because you don’t want to own the pain of failure. You ask, “What will it take for you to become a customer?” and they say, “I’ve got to talk it over with the team and get back to you.” And then… crickets.
You send a couple of polite follow-up emails that get no replies and most sellers will let the deal die there and you blame the customer for its death. The best sellers own the deal—rejection and all—and follow up relentlessly until it’s done. And yes, it’s painful—that’s why so few do it.
💀 Deadly Sin #4: Not asking for the close
Closing isn’t hard. Our motto: Ask for the sale early and often. Sellers will wait for the perfect moment to ask for the sale, but there is no “perfect” moment. What you’re actually waiting for is the moment you’re 100% sure you’re going to get a “yes.” But you can’t afford to wait that long. Ask early and ask often, and stop only asking when it’s risk-free to you.
💀 Deadly Sin #5: Discounting heavily
Startups are notorious for compensating for a lack of sales skills by discounting heavily. Convince people that your product and service is really valuable, and if that's too hard, build a better product and create something more valuable. Don't just slash the price to close more deals—it’s lazy and it’s going to make it impossible to scale.
💀 Deadly Sin #6: Not following up enough
Sales can fall through not because the prospect said “no”—but because the rep disappeared. One or two follow-ups isn’t enough. Most of the time, when a prospect ghosts a seller, the seller ghosts them right back. Don’t do this!
The reality is: People are busy, and your deal isn’t their top priority. The timing isn’t right for them. If you’re convinced it’s a good fit, keep following up until you get a clear yes or no. “Maybe” is where startups go to die. Anything less is you giving up, not them.
💀 Deadly Sin #7: Closing a bad deal
Closing the wrong customer is worse than losing the deal. If they’re not a fit, they’ll churn fast, drain your team’s time, and leave angry — often louder than your happy customers. A bad deal doesn’t just waste effort, it creates compounding damage across support, product, and morale. Know who you can truly help, and say “no” to the rest.
⚡️ Get Dialed-In
Focus on one deadly sin per week. See if you can spot them showing up in your day-to-day and take steps to correct them before they cost you deals.
Want the entire breakdown of the 7 Deadly Sales Sins? Watch the full Steli Efti talk—timecode jumps you straight to the good stuff.
