7 Ways to Make Selling Your Products Easier Than Ever
Have you exhausted your hot leads, your warm market, and even the cold market recommended by your friend’s friends?
By now, you might be starting to rethink this whole “home business sales thing”. But here is where we want to change course, stop thinking of it as a chore, and start thinking of selling as an adventure for you to conquer.
Working actively to build your home based business means that you are the only person who 1. Knows how valuable your products are and 2. Cares about selling them.
Sales can be a very scary word to most entrepreneurs. We start the home business dream with eager anticipation. Anxiously awaiting people to see the value of our products. Then after we have worked through our warm market we get the sinking feeling… “Oh wait, I am a salesperson”. Now it is time to turn on the hustle and get busy talking, marketing, and brushing up on your sales strategies.
Let’s jump right into it. 7 Ways to Make Selling Your Products Easier Than Ever.
- Forget the voicemails. Go straight to text.
The majority of home business owners are still trying to do the ‘cold call’. Every phone is equipped with caller ID these days. Customers simply do not pick up the phone for a number they do not know.
Do you have their number from a referral or a ‘contact me’ page they filled out? Good, start with a cold text.
What? Excuse me, did you just say a cold text? That’s right I did.
And here is why. How many times have you ‘declined’ a call from a number that you were not familiar with? Personally, I will decline as fast as I can if I do not know the number. Now, picture this instead. You get a text “Hi Suzy this is Mary, we met at the convention center expo. Or… We have Jane as a common friend. I was wondering if you had a second for a quick phone call.” Chances are great when I get that text, I am either saying “Yes, give me a call” or “Not now, but how about at “specific” time?”
Our culture has evolved to the point where sending a text is better received than a random phone call. In fact, people prefer it!
This strategy works incredibly well for customers who have been missing your call, or not responding to your email for a follow up order. In fact, every coaching client I have ever told this strategy to, has yielded at least one sale when they put it into action. It’s amazing, and it works!
2. No more ‘sales’ mentality. What you’re really doing is simply changing minds.
There are 4 key aspects to the psychology of sales. The faster you master these 4 principles and stop thinking that you are only a “salesman”, the quicker you will start making more sales!
Emphasize the positive
During conversations about your products or business opportunity, listen for moments when your target customer reinforces the need for your products. As you casually talk to them, they may say “Oh right, I can see how that would make a difference”. “I never really did think about how easy that could be.” Comments like these make your job easier.
Sit back and let the customer sell themselves
Remember, you are not a salesperson. You are a mind changer. Next time you are looking to make more sales, think of it this way: Don’t sell. Ask customers questions. For example, “what kind of features do you look for in this type of product?” This is asking them to list the features that they want in a product like yours. Before they know it, they are selling themselves, and convincing themselves that they are looking for a product like yours.
Ok, so how about when they say “I don’t know what features I want because I haven’t been looking.” What now? Instead of taking this as a prompt to sell them, you just move on! They are not in the market to buy your product, this was simply a matter of mis-reading the customer’s needs.
Produce confidence
Why would someone not buy your product even after they claim to like it? Simply because they are not confident in their decision. Your customer needs to feel 100% positive that they are making a good choice, therefore your job is pretty simple. Present evidence of other customers who were very pleased with their purchase. Our advice? Keep an infographic of positive customer feedback. Love email? Great, send the unsure customer an email filled with positive feedback. Whatever your choice, make sure that you have a plethora of evidence to reinforce their good decision.
Meet needs
The only reason why people buy (I will admit this is why I do) is because we like the feeling when our needs are met. When your towels are thread bare and you purchase new ones, you feel good stepping out of the shower to a plush comfy towel. The towel itself does not produce happiness, it is your personal comfort that produces happiness.
When selling to your customers, get on a personal level with them. What are their needs? Define this first. Now simply speak to them about feeling good after your product satisfies their needs.
3. Perfect Your Pitch
“The first couple of months inside of my direct sales business all I did was tell people about the functionality of the product” says Rachel Cheshire. After 3 months of talking to customers without a sale, Rachel noticed something. Customers thought the functionality was great, but they weren’t buying. Instead of giving up on her business, Rachel changed her pitch. She no longer started the sale with the functionality. Instead she began by casually asking what they were lacking in their life to feel happy. That’s when she started getting sales. Rachel tapped into the perfect pitch, her products could enhance people’s lives. They simply wanted to feel happier and Rachel knew that her products could deliver on that promise. After 4 years in business, Rachel continues to make sales, but more importantly, her customers are happy with her product and keep coming back (plus referrals!)
4. Are You Sure About That?
Can you think of a way to make your customer feel uncertain about their current solutions? Whether you have a bulldog mentality or mouse mentality, this works for anyone.
Identify what they are still struggling with. Bring it up, ask them if they are comfortable keeping it as is, or if they are ready for change. You will get 2 responses to this question.
- “Yes, what I am doing is not working. I am open to considering a different approach.” Great! You move onto the next step of your sales funnel.
- “No, I am not open to changing what I am currently doing.” Do not move any further with this person. No matter what you say, they are not open to changing, time to move on.
5. Get Your Customers’ Attention
Are you facing the dilemma of every home business owner? How to get the attention of people that do not even know you exist, let alone sell products. Furthermore, how do you break into the field when you have no one that has trusted you yet (read zero sales…)?
The first couple of months to a year are going to prove to be your ‘growing pains’ days. The days where you are out propelling your business forward, presenting products, giving away samples, and planting seeds. Remember a garden does not grow by itself, the farmer must plant the seeds first.
As you move through the days you will get bolder. Send handwritten notes to the customers you have already visited asking them for feedback (keep the positive reviews in a database). Then ask for the sale, they have confirmed they like the product, now it’s time to purchase. Think of each new prospect as a challenge. They are unique and will have unique needs. When you offer them personalized attention you will win their business. Within one to three years you will see incredible growth in your business- all because you embraced the joy of the sale during the ‘growing pains’ days.
6. Learn to Deal with Rejection
Ewwwww. What a horrible word! Aren’t we condition from a very young age that rejection is a bad thing? We should avoid it at all costs?
Well, if you are a home business entrepreneur, you are wired differently. But if rejection does provoke near-death fear in you, maybe it is time to think of a different career.
Your home business is supposed to be fun, however going on sales calls is anything but fun! Especially when you get more no’s than yes’s. Even for the savvy entrepreneur taking rejection easily is a learned talent. If you refuse to give up the dream, in spite of rejection, here are some takeaways:
- Make it hard to say no. Research your customer before you go. Look on their Facebook page, see what their preferences are. What foods do they like? Bring a treat for them. What type of colors do they like? Where that color shirt. Are they fun loving or more stuffy? Adapt your personality accordingly. The bottom line? Make yourself instantly likeable. It’s harder to say no to people you like!
- Laugh it off and take your licks. When you get little or no feedback, ask more questions, open up the conversation. Keep talking to people even when they say no the first, or fifth time. The more you relate to people on a personal level you will find that a no the first time around does not mean no forever. Are you serious about building your business? Are you willing to keep going for the next 5 years in the face of rejection and few sales? If the answer is no (that’s ok!) if the answer is yes, then keep going, you got this!
7. Three Easy Fixes for Failing Sales
- You are coming across as nagging. What you see as persistence, people see as bothersome. Easy fix: Plan a schedule of 5’s. Instead of reaching out to the prospect day after day, simply set your schedule of 5. You text 5 times over the next month (that is one time a week). You send a personalized newsletter via email 5 times over the next 30 days. Whatever works for you, the customer will start to see you on a regularly spaced basis instead of day after day.
- Fail to take action. If someone seems interested we can wait too long. In the growing phase of our business we are more accustomed to rejection than acceptance. Therefore when someone is interested we simply do not recognize it. You have a responsibility as the business owner to react immediately to people who want what you are selling. Make the sale right then and there, do not wait!
- Confident but not cocky. Few of us would admit that our confidence comes across as too cocky. But for some of us we do, and usually the cockiest people are the most insecure. Scared that people will see you as imperfect? Great! Embrace it. Your customer would rather deal with a person who is comfortable with their imperfections, than a fake.
You are a special breed as an entrepreneur. Most people will never even attempt what you are doing. Embrace it and be comfortable with yourself as you move forward.
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