Today we’re talking about how to sell even if you’re not a polished salesperson.
Learning how to sell is important no matter what business you’re in… yes, even if you got into business because you don’t really want to talk to people and you prefer to spend time alone in your home office.
I don’t consider myself to be a great salesperson, but I have learned what works for me… and I’ve also learned that like most things in life: you get better the more you practice.
How To Sell: The Simple Formula
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6 Steps For How To Sell Anything
I’ve taken a ton of different sales training courses with complicated scripts to follow. I’ve read sales books. I’ve gone through sales training programs and gotten coached on my sales skills many times.
I learned something from each of these experiences, and today I’m going to give you a shortcut… but the most important thing I learned is that there’s no better teacher than actually having sales conversations and getting comfortable being uncomfortable.
Here’s the basic structure for how to have a sales conversation when you don’t feel like a confident salesperson. By the way, this structure also works great if you’re writing a sales page instead of having a live sales conversation, too.
1. Ask about the person’s current problem, pain, or frustration that relates to your business… For example if I were an intuitive healer I might ask what’s ailing you? Or as a designer I might ask what it is about your current website that isn’t working?
2. Get them to talk about the consequences of their current situation. You want to know why it’s important for them to solve this problem and what benefits they’ll get.
3. Ask them what they’d like to see happen to solve their problem, you know the ideal situation for them. This is my favorite part, and I can live in this world of possibilities with people, I just need to make sure that what they want is clear and attainable. We all want world peace and a healthy body, but what does that mean specifically and is it achievable?
4. Confirm how important it is for them to solve this problem right now. Not everyone is ready to take action, some people are okay with their current situation and others are chomping at the bit to get going. You can ask them to rate their commitment to solving this problem on a scale of 1 to 10.
5. Ask if they’d like to know how you can help. This is the magic question, because it allows you to talk about what you offer without feeling like a sleazy sales pitch.
If they say yes, you can talk about how you can help and how they can work with you. Otherwise, no problem, you can end the conversation.
6. Finally, you need to handle objections. After you tell someone your price or ask for the sale, you might hear a “Yes, but…” The trick to handling objections is to be prepared.
Most people have the same objections: time, money, and is it going to work for me? Come up with answers for these common objections, and write down any new ones you uncover.
Sometimes objections can help you design a better service or product, and they definitely help you understand your customers better.
One final tip on how to sell better is to not depend on each sales call. People can feel desperation.
If you have a ton of potential client calls lined up, you don’t need to feel attached to the outcome of each conversation!
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What tips do you have to share?
Leave a comment below if you’re a pro at making sales, or if you have questions about how to sell better!
