A Sales Process That Guides You in How to Sell Your Product / Service
Relationship selling is a powerful sales process that can help even the most inexperienced small business owner learn how to sell effectively.
For a sale to happen, you have to form some type of relationship with your prospective customer or target market. If you don't master this sales process, then your business will cease to exist, because without sales... there IS no business. Savvy?
But Do You Know How to Sell Your Products or Services?
It's not as easy as it sounds, because people are innately resistant to "being sold." But, when you approach the sales process correctly, using a foundation of relationship selling, it's not that hard either. It just takes focus and work.
Some educators talk about a "five step sales process," but I believe there are a few more components that must be addressed...
My Steps to a Successful Sale
Identify valid prospects. You have to figure out who your potential customers really are... who has a perceived need that you can meet and who can afford what you are selling.
Know every aspect – or feature – of your product. You have to be able to describe your product/service inside and out. Features include things such as how it looks, feels, sounds, tastes, smells. If you don't know what you're selling, you won't be very good at selling it!
Describe your product's unique benefits. You MUST be able to tell the prospective customers how the various features of your product will help them. If they can't see "what's in it for them," they're never going to buy.
Get a handle on your target's "buying motivators." There are 4 basic reasons that motivate people to buy something. You have to appeal to these reasons:
Pleasure
Profit
Pride
Pain
Learn how to ask the right questions. Relationship selling is founded on knowing which questions to ask and when. Avoid "closed questions" that can only be answered with a yes or a no. And strive for open-ended questions that invite the other person's views and feelings.
Learn how to forecast your sales. The success of your relationship selling and sales process are ultimately going to be measured by your ability to make accurate predictions or estimates of your future sales. This is an important part of how to sell effectively.
Master the nuances of marketing. It takes a plan, which we've discussed on previous pages, and effective promotion and advertising.
Ultimately, though, it comes down to you and the customer. So, go out and start building relationships and soon you're going to see the benefits of your relationship selling-based sales process!
By the way, if you'd like to learn more about how to develop a small business marketing plan, you'll want to check out our Business Buffet "Help Yourself" video learning series: Business Buffet on Marketing – helping small business help itself to profit, by making business learning fun.
By the way, if you'd like to learn more about how to develop a small business marketing plan, you'll want to check out our Business Buffet "Help Yourself" video learning series:
