Selling – There Really Is Nothing To Fear

Whatever business you’re planning to start – be it to sell a product or offer a service, you’re going to have to be able to sell, because if you are to survive and succeed your business will have to compete with other businesses. The only way to truly beat the competition isn’t to undercut them or outdo them, it’s to outsell them.

You Don’t Have To Be A Sales Expert To Sell

An expert is often described as ‘someone from out of town carrying a briefcase’.

Nowhere is this truer when it comes to the perceived mystery and magic surrounding successful salespeople. All sorts of misconceptions abound with many people believing that if you haven’t got the ‘gift of the gab’, or a ‘killer instinct’ then you won’t possibly be able to sell anything.

The next time you have nightmares about having to do your own selling I want you to know that often selling is nothing more than you being able to ask potential customers one simple question. I’ll tell you what that is in a minute, but first I want to explain what selling isn’t.

Selling isn’t about:

• talking your customers into buying something they don’t want;
• selling them something at a grossly over-inflated price;
• developing a ‘killer instinct’, whatever that might be.

 

OK. That’s what selling isn’t. So what is selling?

Imagine you’ve just decided that you want to take up canoeing as a hobby. You’re going to need a number of things to get you started, which might include finding a suitable training course, buying a new canoe, lifejacket, suitable clothing, books, videos, roof-rack etc.

You visit your local outdoor shop and once inside you’re approached by a friendly and obviously knowledgeable salesperson who encourages you to have a good look around the shop without feeling under any obligation.

While you’re busy browsing you overhear the sales staff answer others’ questions and you’re impressed with their knowledge. You also like the range of canoes in the shop but are a bit unsure about which ones might be suitable for you. So you approach the salesperson for some advice.

Now put yourself in the salesperson’s shoes. Here you are with a shop full of canoeing goodies. You stock everything from books, videos and clothing to a wide range of canoes to suit a range of uses and budgets. And anything you haven’t got in stock you can generally get in within 48 hours, or sooner depending on the item required.

You’ve just finished serving a regular customer when this person you have never seen in your shop before nervously approaches you asking for advice, which you freely give. Now you’ve got to make a choice – you can either smile at them as they walk out of the door on their way to search the Internet looking for a cheaper deal than you can offer, or you can be professional and sell them what they want.

Now if I was that salesperson, I’d want to sell them a canoe and all the bits and pieces they need. After all, I’ve given them the benefit of my advice, I know my products are quality and offer excellent value for money. Makes sense, doesn’t it?

So why do so many otherwise competent salespeople allow their customers to walk out of the door of their shop without asking them one simple question?

What Is The Most Powerful Sales Technique In The World?

Some salespeople will never grasp this, because it’s so simple. The most powerful selling technique in the world is to ask for the order.

That’s it. No expertise or killer instinct required. The most successful and simplest sales strategy that you can employ in your business is to say to someone, ‘Would you like to buy it?’

Of course there are lots of different ways you can ask potential customers to buy whatever it is you’re selling, but the question remains the same.

Selling has nothing to do with foot-in-the-door techniques or pushiness. We all know that these so called sales techniques are used by all sorts of individuals and corporations on a daily basis. But the reason for this is because they can only sell whatever it is because either nobody wants it, or it is grossly over-priced.

You won’t have to employ any of these unscrupulous tactics because as a Kitchen Table Entrepreneur you’re going to be offering quality, value-for-money goods or services to people who really need them.

So you have nothing to fear!

Remember that people like to buy things. The only thing that is worse than a morose, unhelpful salesperson is one that leaves you to ‘think’ about things.