I’ve been flying solo since 2019. I’ve gone through a business brand/name change. Been taking awhile to find my feet after 20 years of working in the public service. I’ve finally identified that sales is not my strong suit. I’m good at what I do, just selling it not so much. How have others overcome this? I’ve been having a very unproductive day of self doubt.
A Flying Solo member posted that question on our Member Lounge page she was bowled over with excellent advice. In fact the advice was so excellent we thought it deserved an article all of its own. So here are 8 nuggets of sales inducing gold via our Flying Solo community.
1. Selling is nothing more than being yourself. Always be honest, don’t oversell, state what you have product or service. Make sure your on time for appointment and dress comfortably. I have met so many people who don’t think they can sell yet every one of us can sell, just be yourself.
2. Ask your client questions, actually listen to the answers and then highlight where you or your product can help them. Be honest, real and don’t push the sell. Sounds like common sense but so many sales people I come across don’t do this. Just be natural.
3. For us non-sales people – doing sales can feel dirty. I really urge you to read Tim Reids book “The Boomerang Effect” – all about helpful marketing. Be helpful to people, build trust, offer solutions, answer questions you know they are asking. Build a relationship – that can be a simple as writing stories – start telling stories about you and how you came to be in business, tell stories about people you have helped, – that story telling might start out in writing, then progress to getting in front of a camera. Then when it’s time for a purchase decision, the trust is already there.
4. It’s a really good idea to know who you are targeting as a key customer. Then you can identify there pain points and wants and develop a good sales strategy to suit you and them. I would always tell myself that budget might stop people from buying your product or service, but you are assuming there budget is low with this attitude. Never assume you know how much they have to spend and believe in the value of what you are selling. A tiered price structure can also help early on eg . Small, medium, large always start at large and work your way back to meet them if you need.
5. Wander into any show and you will find people who really do not want to sell, hence the popularity of online sales. Am certain if you believe in your work/product/service it is impossible bad at sales.
6. I’m in my 20th year of flying solo and have had many days of self doubt just like you. Here’s two tips that will help: 1. When selling your services; you need to reinforce that your client is making an “investment” that will bring a return – not an “expense”. Every time a client flinches at the price keep bringing them back to the word “investment”. 2. When you make a sale; offer them a discount for “payment upon ordering”. This will help your cashflow dramatically.
7. Know your product, Just be helpful in your marketing and follow up your quotes.
8. Outsource.
Anything else you’d add to this list?