Selling is a subject that often gets a bad name. Some people even look down on those who choose to make their living by selling.
However, we’re all trying to sell something all of the time. Even if it’s just the skills we have or a service we can provide, if we’re to make a living then we must sell something, wouldn’t you agree dear reader?
Learning the art of successful selling is actually very important and everyone should seek to improve their selling skills if only to ensure that they can sell themselves effectively.
Selling is a process and by learning a few simple techniques you can improve your ability to sell.
So what are these techniques?
1. Know your product:
Ultimately, it’s all about the product.
If you want to sell anything successfully then you need to know your product really well and you need to believe in your product too.
That product has to be something that you would buy yourself.
You need to know the product in detail, all the features and all the benefits; all the advantages and all the disadvantages.
Then you need to know all about your competitors’ products that your customers could buy as an alternative to your own.
This is important if you are to position your product against that of the competition and to counter any reasons given by your customer as to why they might be reluctant to buy from you.
You really do need to be able to talk about your product favourably, relative to any other options that may be available to your customer.
2. Know the problem your product solves:
Ultimately, every product must solve a problem for the customer. A product must make the customer’s life easier in some way.
If a product doesn’t solve a problem for the target customer, why would they buy it? Why would any customer part with good money unless the product made their life easier?
So it’s simple really. You must have a good understanding of the problem or problems for which your product can be an excellent solution.
And you must be able to explain this in simple, straightforward language.
3. Capture buying intent:
Cold-calling is the most inefficient and soul-destroying sales approach there could possibly be. Phoning or door-stepping people and saying, “Want to buy this?” will have a low success rate.
The key to successful selling is capturing warm sales leads. In other words, you must capture buying intent.
If a customer walks into a shirt shop then you know they’re looking for a shirt and therefore you have a very good chance of selling them one.
So find ways to engage people who are actively looking for something like the product you are selling.
To do this you’ll need to ensure that your customers and potential customers have visibility of your product.
You must raise awareness of the product, as well as the features and benefits and the value it offers. You must create desirability too.
4. Know the customer’s needs:
Your product should have a target customer. You must know the sort of person for whom the product offers an ideal solution.
In other words, you must know who the product is aimed at and what their needs are likely to be.
To understand the customer’s needs you may need to ask some questions first.
For instance, using the shirt-selling example again, a customer may be looking for something to wear for a formal occasion or perhaps they’re looking for something more casual. You want to ensure that the shirt you sell them is right for their needs.
So you must identify the ways in which your product will satisfy the customer’s needs because, if you make a sale, you want the customer to feel they’ve got exactly what they wanted.
You want to ensure that they get a good buying experience. You certainly don’t want them to feel like they’ve been cheated in some way.
5. Build trust with the customer:
Trust matters, particularly when selling big-ticket items.
Customers need to feel that they can trust you to deliver a quality product and provide excellent after-sales service.
Far too often people pay good money only to be let down. So naturally, they’re wary of salespeople, particularly when high-value products and services are involved.
Take the time to build trust with customers and reassure them that they will get what they’re paying for and, should there be any problems at all, you will be there to ensure any such problems are resolved quickly and efficiently and at no cost to the customer.
Building trust with customers will pay dividends.
6. Sell the benefits:
You don’t sell the product to the customer, you sell the benefits and the problem that it solves.
In what ways will your product improve the customer’s life? In what ways will your product potentially be an answer to the customer’s prayers?
In what ways does your product offer good value for money?
You don’t have to be the cheapest on the market but you do need to be able to convince a customer that it makes sense to buy your product rather than simply going for the cheapest product on the market.
Customers won’t part with good money unless they believe your product will add value to them somehow.
7. Know why your product is their best option:
Now dear reader, if you’re in business, I’m sure I don’t need to tell you that it’s a highly competitive world out there.
Put simply, today’s customers have plenty of options.
You must be able to convince a customer as to why your product is their best option.
If you’ve got a good story to tell about your product then you can stimulate the customer’s interest.
And once you’ve got the customer interested then you can gently apply pressure to close the sale.
And don’t be shy when it comes to applying pressure gradually.
Business is business and if you don’t close the sale you can be sure that someone else will.
There’s an art to knowing how much pressure to apply of course.
You shouldn’t push too hard because that can result in a negative reaction from the customer.
It can also leave customers feeling like they’ve been sold something they didn’t really need.
If that happens, you’ve made a sale but lost a customer. That’s counter-productive.
The last thing you want is an unhappy customer because they’re likely to tell a lot of people about a bad experience.
Bad publicity and customers bad-mouthing you can really hurt your business if you’re not careful, needless to say, I’m sure.
Conclusion:
No business or individual can succeed without making sales.
If it’s your job to sell then you really have got to sell. And if you don’t sell, you’ve failed. Simple!
If you don’t make sales and meet your targets, then the result is likely to be that you’ll lose your job very quickly.
Business can be an unforgiving environment, as I’m sure you’re only too well aware dear reader.
No company can afford the luxury of having people on the payroll who don’t deliver the results for which they are paid.
And let’s face it, we’re all paid to deliver results.
In order to sell, the question to which you must have the perfect answer is, “Why should the customer buy my product?“
If you’ve got a good answer and you’ve targeted the right customer, with buying intent, then you’ve got a good chance of making a sale.
You also want to be confident that you can leave the customer feeling that in exchange for the money they’ve spent, they’ve received good value and a good buying experience.
So learn the art of successful selling. It will pay you a handsome dividend.
Further reading:
Now there are plenty of good books and excellent authors on the subject of selling.
Here are some I really like and which I’ve found very useful for improving my own sales skills. I recommend them to you, dear reader:-
- The Psychology of Selling – By Brian Tracy
- The Art of Closing the Sale – By Brian Tracy
- How to Master the Art of Selling – by Tom Hopkins
All of these books are available on Amazon and you can check them out further by clicking on the links above.
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