How To Sell For Your Business, Even If You're Lousy at Selling
Posted by Jason Rudland on Fri, Jan 13, 2012 @ 01:15 AM
First let me make a confession - I'm a lousy salesman; I can't (and won't) cold call, I'm useless at following sales methodologies and I get embarrassed talking about money. Yet, Get Me In Google is my business, and I'm the only person responsible for sales. I consistently hit ambitious sales targets, so how can I be a lousy, yet very effective salesman?
Let me deactivate my modesty chip for a moment. I may be a lousy salesman, but boy, can I generate a great lead or what! (Modesty chip reactivated.) And that is the key to hitting your sales targets, even if you are not a natural salesperson.
Sales is easier when you talk to the right people
People who cold call potential clients, so I'm told, have to trick gate-keeper secretaries into putting the call through to the right person, then, they have a matter of seconds to 'hook' their prospect into taking the call. They then battle their way through the conversation trying desperately to convince the prospect they need whatever they are selling. Some gifted people can do this naturally - I take my hat off to them. But, imagine how effective they would be if they were speaking to people who wanted the call and were already interested in what they were selling. Their productivity would go through the roof.
Relationships are everything
As all pro-salespeople already know, relationships are everything in selling. Creating rapport is an essential tool in the salesperson's toolkit. Wouldn't it be nice if you already had rapport with everyone you spoke to on a sales call - even before the call.
Creating rapport with people you never met
If you do it right, your website can create a wonderful rapport with your potential clients even if you have never met or even spoken to them. The key is to give away a little of your knowledge & experience in everything you do. Identify your potential clients' pain points and write about how you solve their problems.
As you continue to help your potential clients with their problems via your website you will build trust and rapport. If you take it slow and resist the temptation to 'sell,' your clients will eventually want to speak to you in person. They will call you.
Square pegs & round holes
When I started out in business, many years before Get Me In Google, I was ambitious, broke and just a little desperate for clients. My desperation made me sell at any cost. I ended up with a bunch of clients who were difficult to please and hard to make a profit from - not a good fit. I know to reach my targets I need to be a little choosy about who I work with. I only want to work with win-win clients. That is, those people who I can do a great job for, and who are profitable for my business. I use my website to qualify everyone I speak to. As I build the relationship, I collect just enough information to identify the people who are right for me.
So, even a lousy salesmen like me can be highly effective at selling. Even I find it difficult to mess up a sales call where the person on the other end wants what I have to sell, has been qualified as a great fit for my business, and I have built trust and rapport with them before we have even spoken.
