Sales Failure 4!! Manchester United Selling Fail!!!

By Andy Preston | General Sales Tips

Oct 25


In the ‘Sales Failure!’ series, leading Sales Expert Andy Preston takes real-life examples of ineffective selling, and uses them as tools to learn how you can avoid the same mistakes, and what to do instead to improve your own sales results….

In this edition of ‘Sales Failure’ we take the example of Zoe from Manchester United (no point trying to change the names as it’s all over the press and websites already!).

Zoe attempted to ‘sell’ some premium executive seating via email recently, and the furious reaction her email received serves as a useful example to dissect her approach – and examine the lessons you can learn from it – in order to improve your own sales approaches and increase your sales!

Here’s an excerpt of the article in the Manchester Evening News…

Manchester United have been forced to issue an embarrassing apology after they offered sought-after derby tickets as a sweetener to potential corporate clients.

The Reds contacted would-be customers via email and told them that if they paid upwards of £1,539 for posh seats and executive boxes at Old Trafford for the rest of the season, they would receive two tickets for the clash with City at the Etihad Stadium in December.

Derby tickets are hugely desirable. Around 2,600 were allocated to the Reds last season – there were 20,000 applicants – and the incentive has prompted a furious reaction from supporters.

But the club said although the offer was discussed, it was subsequently scrapped and should not have been sent out to potential new customers. The tickets that would have been used would have come from the staff allocation, club bosses added.

The offer was emailed out by business development executive Zoe Beckett.

But when news of the offer spread, she was contacted by a number of furious Reds. Several of them wrote to Ms Beckett who issued the apology.

Zoe had to apologise…

In response to one she wrote: “Firstly please accept my apologies as I understand that this has caused offence. We were given a very small handful of tickets as an incentive to gain new business as we are further into the season. I do understand that you are long-standing supporters of the club and we do appreciate your support throughout the years. I will speak to my manager about this matter.”

Replying to another, she wrote: “We had two pairs (of tickets) available. However, they were released from another department and not from the executive club allocation. I am really sorry and I understand why you are frustrated… I can promise that it won’t happen again.”

Dale Haslam, editor of fans’ website Reds Away, said: “The club has a policy which states only executive members, season ticket holders and players can gain access to away tickets and this shocking marketing move flies in the face of that.

“Some fans pay around £1,200 a year just to be able to apply for away games and yet do not get a single away ticket for the entire season. And yet in this case, a high roller would have been able to pay about £2,000 for an executive package and stroll into the City game – the most-wanted ticket of the season – without even having to apply.”

Okay, so let’s dissect Zoe’s approach…

Now, aside from the fact that she’s tried to start her ‘sales relationship’ by ‘Selling By Email’ – a MAJOR error in my opinion as I write in my ‘Selling By Email – 5 Mistakes’ article!

Let’s look at where Zoe went wrong, and what ‘Sales Lessons’ we can learn from her poor sales approach….

Sales Failure Lesson No 1 – Don’t Use Email To Try To ‘Sell’ or ‘Persuade’

Email is a communication tool designed to inform or notify the recipient of information that they need. It is not persuasive – if it was, salespeople would just send their PowerPoint presentation to a prospect – without ever meeting them – and then win the business!

Yet you won’t find many Salespeople doing that! That’s because it’s lazy, ineffective and often causes problems like in this instance – with Manchester United.

Sales Failure Lesson No 2 – Don’t Make Them an Offer BEFORE Qualifying the Prospect

Another mistake salespeople make is not qualifying the prospect BEFORE making their offer. Therefore, they have no idea how they (or their offer) are seen by the potential buyer.

Making an offer without qualifying the prospect is like turning up for a first date, talking about yourself all night, taking no interest in the other person whatsoever, and then wondering why the other person doesn’t call you back about a second date!!

Don’t fall foul of this – make sure you qualify your prospects properly first and make offers that are likely to be accepted by them!

Sales Failure Lesson No 3 – Stop Using Email To ‘Initiate’ Your Sales Process!

A large number of salespeople use email to start their sales process! Often that’s the WORST place to use it!

Anything you put in writing to a client ‘can and potentially will be used against you’ as the saying goes. Its far better to make offers verbally over the phone or face to face to gauge the prospect’s reaction to your offer (or sales incentive), tweak it where necessary, then email to confirm what has already been agreed.

This avoids all the problems that Manchester United have encountered in this circumstance!

So, make sure you use email to CONFIRM what’s already been agreed, not to initiate your sales process.

Follow the tips above and watch your sales soar! I look forward to hearing how you get on……..

This article is copyright Andy Preston 2004-2017. To copy or syndicate this or any part of this article contact Andy Preston for guidelines.

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Andy Preston

Sales Motivational Speaker and Sales Trainer at Andy Preston
Andy Preston is a top International Sales Motivational Speaker, Sales Influencer and Master Sales Trainer.

Named as one of the World's Top Sales Gurus, Andy creates 'Stand Out Salespeople' worldwide, with his revolutionary 'Stand Out Selling' Sales System. 'Stand Out Selling' helps salespeople stand out from their competition, win more business, and do so at higher prices!

Previously a trained Professional Buyer, then the Top Salesperson in the UK, Andy Preston has now trained more than 160,000 Salespeople, in more than 50 countries, on 6 continents, since 2004!

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