When you are running your own business, it’s always time to get in front of customers and help them buy from you. Yes it’s time to make sales.
There I have said that ‘s’ word.
The truth is, sales are the lifeblood of your business.
This makeover is about helping you find your sales style so that it really doesn’t seem like selling at all.
Some truth about selling…
Selling isn’t a performance and it isn’t manipulation. Selling is simply a matter of fulfilling a need, or solving a problem. Great selling is helping people buy. You can all remember bad sales experiences, but the reason you don’t remember the good ones, is because it doesn’t feel like you were being sold to.
Your sales job is to find new customers and to guide them through their decision making process, to help them find the right solution to their problem or need. Think of yourself as someone who can educate and inform their decision and help them make the right decision about your area of expertise.
How to get out there and do it for yourself…
Most businesses start with an idea and a passion, but to be successful, you need more. You need profitable clients. Getting new clients is simply about connecting your passion with their need. So where do you start?
First step is to know who you are targeting and the key problems that those people experience with your type of business. Build an idea on how you address this problem then go and test this theory with some real people.
Tip: Talk to people on their wavelength – on WIIFM (What’s In It For Me – the radio station that everyone listens to).
Think about your problem in words that speak to the listener, your target client. How do you do that? I start with talking about the problem that I see and how to solve it. It looks like this.
“The problem that I see is that most business owners don’t understand selling. In fact most say they hate it. They feel uncomfortable about asking people to buy.”
At this point, the people who have this problem are nodding, they want to know more because people what to solve their problems.
“…My solution is to help people understand that good selling is simply helping people buy things that will solve their problem or fulfil their need.”
Now those clients who are interested want to know how…
“It starts with looking at how you think about selling and then helping you change what you do.”
If you are going to talk to this person in a way that further engages with them, you need to find out what they need. Have a few questions up your sleeve on your area of expertise so that you learn more about how they think and feel about their business.
Now over to you…
Preparation is key. First think about your business statement that follows this pattern.
- The problem that I see is…
- My solution is to…
- I start by…
Your next job is to go out and practice and learn with clients and people that you meet. The first job is to refine your message by finding what resonates with people and about being comfortable with what you say. You do this by practicing the above and adding these questions:
- Do you see this problem?
- What’s your number one business problem?
- How do you solve it now?
- What are the keys to this problem for you?
Selling is a numbers game, now is the time to get in front of clients and talk to them and find out how you can help them solve that problem.
