This is bound to be a popular blog post because there are SO many people looking for an answer to this “new economy” issue. In fact, just last week, a woman emailed me her own version of this question: “How can I sell, when NO ONE is buying – and especially not at the prices I have to sell at in order to be profitable?”
Nothing unusual about her question, of course, but I want to answer it in context to what I was doing when her email came in: dining with my husband at what many in our area would consider a “breathtakingly expensive” restaurant. And, guess what? We had to drive a great distance to get there, make reservations early, and while we were the one of the earliest guests** for the night, when we left the place was full. You know what else? The waiter didn’t shy away from sharing the pricey extras the establishment could offer, exotic offers, and premium plates available only for the night.
My point is this: NO ONE – like EVERYONE – is a term that is hardly ever true. Granted, the current economic realities have left consumers and business owners alike BRUISED, beaten, bewildered and certainly more cautious of spending. But, for every business owner saying NO ONE is buying, I guarantee you can find another person in their EXACT industry and / or locale who is enjoying a full house, full practice, or having their best year yet! If ONE can do it, so can YOU. How can YOU be one of them?
1) Sell based on TRUST and RELATIONSHIP. This requires that you operate based on integrity and that you know your market intimately.
2.) Go into every sales conversation fully “confidenced”. This means that you prepare and rehearse so that you go into that conversation confident and convinced that your offer or sale is at least as good for the other person as it is for you, that it would be SMART for them to say YES, and that what you have is better FOR THEM than any other option they may choose. Fully “confidenced”. I believe this is what led the great W. Clement Stone to say, “The sale is contigent on the attitude of the salesperson, not the prospect.” When YOU enter the sales conversation convinced and confident – rather than hesitant and timid, you’ll see dramatically different results.
3.) Allow your sales choreography (which you’ve scripted out already, right???) to revolve around what your product or service will DO or SOLVE for the prospect… and NOT the standard benefits and features download. The benefits and features are secondary (if not THIRD-or FOURTH-ary) to your prospect compared to what your product or service will do for them. So stay focused on what buying from you will MEAN to them.
Finally, you always want to PREPARE for the worst (Prepare for objections up front!), EXPECT the best (If you didn’t actually expect to make the sale, just go back to bed or – at least – cancel your appointment!), and MEASURE your results. Measurement in and of itself improves results. =)
PLEASE leave your own comments and strategies for selling in this economy so your fellow Planet WOW! members can benefit from our “collective brilliance”!
My tips for selling in this economy are on a consumer perspective and also because the past couple of month even today I encounter the same bad service from a lot of small businesses especially online startups.
1) do not take more than 24 hours to respond to email request or a question about your services
2) do not use social media to advertise giveaways that you don’t intend to give when the sole purpose is to create traffic on your online store and have people “like” your facebook page. I experienced this one recently. An online store who opened on January 1 had several giveaways, still having them, I won and to date have not received anything. Of course I contacted them twice via email and even provided my name, email, address and phone number. Nothing happened even when they responded one of my emails asking me for my email address again.
3) welcome complaints as well as praises. Always try your best to resolve the complaints
4) Do not have one of those comments section where you control comments and you delete the ones you don’t like. For a personal blog, maybe ok but for a business that is a big no, no
5) Don’t lie to your customers because if you forgot the lie, you lose a customer. I paid a private session with this business owner and she swore to me when I showed up for the appointment that I had the wrong time, and day. When I got home I was right about the date and time. Turns out she wanted to give my spot that I paid for 2 weeks in advance to someone else. How did I find out? She made a video of it.
6)Give every one the same A class service because you never know.
I hope this helps my fellow planet WOW because I’ve been seeing the same mistake over and over again.
Thanks, Webly! Great tips!
A lot of businesses are commodities with the point of difference being serving your customers, in myriad ways, better than your competition. Pesonal service adds value that often can trump a lower price.