Successful Sales – The primary goal of any business. As an Entrepreneur/Business Owner you often wear many ‘hats’ or ‘roles’ in your business to keep it functioning well. One of the most important ‘hats’ is the Sales Hat – This hat needs to be worn often and worn with some skill in order for any business to survive.
To be successful in Sales may seem overwhelming if you’ve never done it before, maybe even more elusive if you have tried and failed, but it’s not Rocket Science. It’s actually just good Psychology Science. Effective Marketing is built on a solid foundation of sound behavioral science. Some of the most influential marketers out there ( Gary Vaynerchuk, Seth Godin, etc) have driven marketing down to a science that can be repeated by identifying, leveraging, and working some key activators in their marketing efforts.
These ‘activators’ are based on the ‘basics’ of the human psyche and if you use them effectively, you can essentially sell anything. And, I can tell you, in my experience, I have sold everything from Vacuums to high value, strategic marketing plans, and everything in between. I learned pretty early on that sales is not hard if you remember to work with the people you are selling to. And, I must add here, that I have a personal moral obligation to NOT sell anything to anyone who I feel doesn’t really need it. I think the best of the best stick to this and always remember to put the client first. So, what are those activators?
OFFER A SOLUTION
Identify the problems of your prospects and then show that your product/service is the answer to their problems.
All sales transactions are decided emotionally. Period. BIG Period. Your customers are looking for solutions to the problems they feel they have. If you can offer up a solution within the product/service you are selling then you will have their attention. This is the first and most important activator in the sales process. Provide a Solution.
A good example is if you are service-based rather than product-based – because it can be harder to identify what the TRUE need is in your customer when you’re offering services. Let’s say you provide a strategic social media marketing service that is incredible in its intricacy, brand voice, creativity and care, and attention you put into it, etc. You may be proud of this, but is it really what your client is looking for? No, what they are looking for is how your service will draw in new followers and leads to their business and how those leads will become potential customers and sales.
Identify what your target market is looking for, the problem they have, and be the solution they are looking for.
TRUST
Be trustworthy – establish yourself as an authority figure in whatever field you specialize in.
Trust is so important and extremely necessary to make any sale. Even if customers don’t really consciously know it, they are looking for signs that you are a legitimate business and you know what you are doing. The key to activating this is to have lots of ‘hard evidence’ that you are an authority figure when it comes to your product/service. You are someone that can be trusted based on your experience.
This is why social media is so important for a business. Many business owners don’t realize this, but social media is not a sales tool, it is an authority and credibility tool. I often have requests for social media services, but when I dig deeper, I can see that what the client really wants is more leads, more successful sales.
Social media is not the platform to provide that, but other services I offer are. Social Media, Blogs, Podcasts, Videos – all of these tactics are very powerful for establishing your credibility and authority in your field. When a potential customer can see you have posted videos, podcasts, blogs, and lots of other content on this topic and that you have some influence in this area, they will immediately trust you.
Think of Gary V. Most people immediately trust him as the ultimate expert in all things marketing and social media. Why is that? Because of the mass amounts of content he delivers, consistently. He is trusted because it’s clear he knows his stuff.
LIKABILITY
Be Likeable. Activate your charm and befriend and connect to your prospect.
There are many ways of doing this, but one of my favourites is to truly LISTEN to that prospect as an individual with their own ideas, beliefs, etc. Listen and respond. I always love to use the analogy of going to a party. If you walk into a party and all you do is talk about yourself, and talk about yourself some more you won’t find yourself the ‘life of the party’ – most people will get bored as they don’t feel you see them at all and really want to engage.
If however, you go to that same party and start listening, asking questions, and engaging with people on their level with things that interest them, it is natural human psychology that they will like you and want to talk more to you.
This also reaches into branding, PR, and communications for your business. You want to be seen as a business that is providing positive, integral, and compassionate service. I’m sure you can remember the PR nightmares of United Airlines when one single situation that was not viewed in a good light ended up declining their business significantly. People want to feel like they are engaging in business with a person who cares, not a business that greedily views you as just a number and $$ signs.
EVIDENCE
Offer up Evidence you are awesome – don’t just talk it, walk it.
People are pretty savvy when it comes to detecting bullshit and if they feel that you are just all talk and no walk they won’t trust you and won’t buy from you. They are looking for proof that the benefits ( solution you provide) will actually transpire if they choose to hire you.
They are always asking themselves questions about your product/services. They are questioning: Will it really provide the results they say it will? Will my business be more successful if I hire this company to work on my business development? Will paying for this professional copywriter really make a difference in the sales/leads that I get through the website?
This is where your job comes in to provide answers to these questions before they even get asked in your prospect’s mind. Provide case studies, reasoning, data, or customer testimonials that will validate your expertise once again in the eyes of the prospect. Give them cold hard evidence that working with you WILL provide them with the results (problem-solving) they are actively looking for.
Successful Sales really come down to people. It’s always about the people. If you stay open, actively listen, and engage with them on a person-to-person level you will have way more success in your sales. And, during these uncertain times with Covid-19 and beyond, it is imperative as a business owner to stay connected to your clients, prospects, and network. LISTENING skills will be the most valuable currency at this time.
If you are facing a ‘unique to you’ challenge when dealing with Sales in your business and would like to chat, please feel free to connect to me online – my social platforms are in my bio below. We’re all in this together and we’ll get through it by helping each other, supporting each other and working together – I’ve always been a hornblower for the community, and these days we all need it more than ever. I look forward to connecting!
Need a plan to connect your sales engine to your marketing engine to experience more qualified leads and more signed, sealed successful sales? Connect with us today. We offer complimentary 30 min, no-obligation discovery sessions where we can identify what problems you are facing and provide you with a workable, effective solution – we’ll be sure to provide you some hard evidence to those claims as well.
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Leading a highly skilled Marketing and Revenue growth team, Kaare long works with some of the most powerful and innovative entrepreneurial-minded leaders, CEO's and successfully established businesses in Canada and the US. A creative, and critical thinking visionary who is led by over 20 years of experience using both intuitive leadership skills and business expertise based on extensive training and study in marketing, communications, sales, leadership, writing, public relations, relationship dynamics, human behavior, psychology, philosophy, arts and culture, and health and wellness.
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