If you’re running a small business, selling and buying services is part of everyday life. Whether you’re choosing suppliers, negotiating contracts, or speaking to customers, the quality of those conversations directly affects outcomes.

One of the most important lessons in selling comes from an approach learned decades ago, and it still applies to small businesses today.

What is the biggest mistake people make in selling?

The biggest mistake is trying to invent problems that don’t exist.

Too often, selling becomes about pushing an agenda rather than understanding reality. This leads to forced conversations, unnecessary complexity, and solutions that don’t actually fit the business.

Selling done properly starts with listening, not talking.

What does good selling actually involve?

Good selling is both an art and a science.

From early training days, the focus was always on structured thinking combined with human understanding. That meant learning clear frameworks, but using them to uncover genuine pain points rather than manufacture urgency.

When a customer is open and truthful, it creates better conversations. You gain real insight into how their business operates, where pressure sits day to day, and what issues actually matter.

Why understanding pain points matters more than pitching

When you take the time to understand a business properly, everything changes.

You stop guessing.

You stop assuming.

You stop offering solutions to problems that aren’t there.

Instead, you begin to see:

• how the business really runs

• where inefficiencies exist

• what risks matter most

• what improvements would genuinely help

This applies whether you’re selling a product, choosing business payment solutions, or deciding whether to change suppliers.

How does this apply to small business decisions today?

For small businesses, every decision has a cost. Time, money, disruption, and risk all matter.

That’s why honest conversations are more valuable than persuasive ones. When both sides are open, decisions become clearer. Sometimes the right outcome is to move forward. Other times, it’s to stay exactly where you are.

Understanding comes before action.

Why this mindset still works decades later

This approach hasn’t aged because businesses haven’t changed in one crucial way. They still have real pressures, real constraints, and real trade-offs.

Whether it’s payments, suppliers, or growth decisions, the principle remains the same: start by understanding, not selling.

That lesson has carried through decades of experience and still shapes how conversations are approached today.

Final thought

Selling isn’t about creating problems. It’s about recognising the ones that already exist and deciding whether you’re genuinely in a position to help.

For small businesses, that mindset leads to better decisions, stronger relationships, and far fewer regrets.