6 Things You Must Do Before You Can Sell Anything.

1.    Plan
Selling is a process where the exchange of money is the final step. If you have products or services to offer to customers, do not assume that they will automatically buy from you. As a small business what will be your strategy for getting new clients and when you get these customers what is you plan to retain these customers. 

Create a sales plan that will give you details of your target market and segment them accordingly – Are your target customers male or female? What age group does your product serve? Are your target customers students or working class people? How do you intend to create awareness about your goods and services? How do you plan to leverage your existing clients? Answers to this question can help you in kick-starting your plan. Remember, your plan should be simple and straight to the point.

2.    Sell Yourself
The people who succeed in business are the people who naturally market themselves to the right individuals in the right manner.  The key here is to sell your passion and sell with passion. Customers can sense when you are passionate about what you are selling and are willing to buy from salespeople who have a passion for what they are selling. Understand yourself – what are your strengths and what are your weaknesses – leverage your strength and build on your weakness. Another key factor is to develop quality relationships with people so they want to do business with you or refer you to other people. Project confidence and product knowledge. One critical thing about selling is that you have to sell yourself first. People buy into you first before they buy your products.

3.    Sell the producer
 In selling, understanding your products is important. You can leverage the experience of your organisation to sell to customers – Use this to build trust. You can also use your past clients to create credibility with your client.

4.    Sell the Product:
What makes your product or service different from your competitors? What is your unique selling point? What value are you offering your clients that others in the same industry are not offering? How easy is it for customers to transition from the current product they are using to your products? How does your goods or service meet the customer's key requirements like convenience, prestige, superior effectiveness, better value for money? The more customers can sense the perceived advantage of your products and services; the more your product will market itself.

5.    Sell the Value, Sell the Price:
According to Brain Tracy, Customer will buy you products or service because they expect to enjoy a benefit that they will not have, in the absence or your products or service – People don’t buy products, they buy the results that the products will give them. Your focus as a sales person should be on explaining how your products and services will work for the customers. If you focus on value, the price becomes less relevant. Customers are willing to pay more to get better value. It is possible for clients to form a perception about your product or service as soon as they learn the price – Customers may buy your products based on value but the price you set should be commensurate with the value you are offering.

6.    Be Professional

 If you are a business owner or a salesperson, you are accountable for creating revenue for your business.  Being professional in selling is about how you help your customers to improve and serve them.  Being professional also means you assist them to realise opportunities that they are missing out. Being professional is about helping customers to identify and solve a problem. Being professional involves –listening, probing, exploring, engaging and understanding your customers and their business. Customers can sense when you focus only on what you can get from them and not what value you have to offer.

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