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Written by Sean McPheat | 
Sales has always been challenging but the shift towards virtual meetings has added a new layer of complexity that many salespeople are still getting to grips with. Closing a deal face to face is one skill set. Holding a prospect’s attention through a screen, managing the technology and still coming across as credible is another. The mistakes that cost salespeople the close have multiplied accordingly.
This post covers the most common sales mistakes across preparation, face to face meetings and virtual selling, along with the habits that separate the salespeople who get it right from those who keep getting it wrong.
Key Points:
Most sales are not lost in the meeting. They are lost before it even starts.
Walking into a meeting without knowing who you are speaking to or what challenges they face is one of the most avoidable mistakes in sales. A prospect who realises you have not done your homework will lose confidence quickly and that is very hard to recover. Research the business, understand their market and know enough about the person to make the conversation feel relevant from the first minute. Preparing for a sales call properly covers exactly this kind of groundwork.
Being on time matters in every setting. In a face to face meeting it is the first signal you send about how seriously you take the relationship. In a virtual meeting, logging on late means your prospect is sitting in an empty call wondering whether to wait. Neither is a good start.
There is nothing more damaging to a virtual meeting opening than five minutes of connection issues. Test your audio, your platform and your connection before every call. Make sure the prospect knows how to access the session in advance. Technology issues are almost always avoidable.
A senior decision maker does not want a detailed product walkthrough when what they need to know is the commercial impact on their business. Know who will be in the meeting, what level they operate at and what matters most to them. Our 21 sales prospecting techniques cover how to research and qualify your audience before any sales interaction.
Although 2020 saw a rapid rise in virtual selling that many businesses adapted to quickly, a growing number of organisations are now requiring face to face meetings again. The challenge is that the skills needed in that setting may have gone unpractised for some salespeople. The core ability is still there but it needs honing. Our Essential Selling Skills course covers the practical techniques that make the biggest difference when you are in the room with a prospect.
A salesperson must express themselves with confidence and fluency. They need to introduce themselves with assurance and present their solution clearly. Vagueness and hesitation undermine trust before the conversation has properly begun.
There is nothing more frustrating to a prospect than a salesperson who dominates the conversation. Worse still is when the customer does get a word in and the salesperson clearly has not been listening. Poor listening signals that you do not care about their situation and it will cost you the sale.
People remember the first thing they hear and the last. A weak opening loses the prospect before the conversation starts and a fumbled close throws away everything that came before it. Practice both until they feel natural and make the close a natural extension of the conversation rather than something scripted.
Virtual meetings demand a different kind of discipline. The technology, the environment and the distractions that come with remote selling all create opportunities for things to go wrong that simply do not exist face to face. Knowing how to conduct a virtual sales meeting properly is the starting point. These are the mistakes that consistently derail them.
If you would turn your mobile off in a face to face meeting the same standard applies on a video call. Close down every application you do not need, mute every device and give the meeting your full attention. It costs nothing to get right.
Approach a virtual meeting with the same attention to presentation as a face to face encounter. A cluttered or unprofessional background sends a message about how seriously you are taking the meeting. First impressions are not limited to face to face settings.
A dark room or poor audio makes it harder for the prospect to focus on what you are saying. Position yourself facing a natural light source and invest in a decent microphone if you are doing regular video calls. If they are straining to follow the conversation they will switch off.
The slight delay on video calls means talking over a client happens more easily than in person. Pause before you respond and give the prospect a moment to finish their thought. That small discipline makes the conversation feel more natural.
Avoiding mistakes is one side of the coin. Building better habits is another.
If things go wrong and you do not understand why, you will repeat the same mistakes with the next prospect. After every meeting that does not go well, ask yourself honestly what went wrong and what you would do differently.
A poor attitude will shine through in every interaction. The right attitude is one of curiosity, helpfulness and genuine commitment to finding the right solution for the person in front of you.
Many sales are lost not because the salesperson made a poor case but because they did not know when to close. Read the signals and make the close feel like a natural extension of the conversation rather than a sudden gear change.
If a prospect is not ready to decide, agree on a specific time to speak again before the meeting ends. A salesperson who follows up when they said they would demonstrates reliability. One who does not sends a clear message about how they will behave once the contract is signed. Our 33 sales tips and techniques cover the follow up habits that keep pipelines moving.
Sales techniques evolve and buyer behaviour changes. The skills that got you to where you are now will not necessarily get you to where you want to be. Treat your development as seriously as you treat your targets. Whether you are an individual salesperson or leading a team, our Sales Training Courses cover a wide range of options to suit where you are right now. For those managing a sales team, our Sales Management Training covers the leadership skills needed to develop these habits across your whole team.
Every mistake in this post is fixable. None of them require exceptional talent. They require awareness, preparation and the willingness to keep getting better.
The salespeople who consistently perform well are not the ones who never make mistakes. They are the ones who notice them, learn from them and do not repeat them.
If you are ready to invest in that development with proper structure and support behind you, our Sales Development Programmes are built around exactly that.
Sean McPheat
Managing Director
MTD Sales Training
Updated on: 21 May, 2026
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