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Women's Business News

Empowering women to succeed in business

How to Sell in 7 Simple Steps

Selling can be fun!

No sales = no business! That is the brutal truth. And that is also why we are committed to helping you with your sales this month. Would you like to be sitting on a hot sunny beach this summer while your business is growing? It is possible with a solid sales pipeline in place. Would you like to have a warm sunny feeling when you do your sales rather than a stormy dark rain cloud looming over your head? It is possible with our Sunny Sales month in July using our 7 Step Sales Process.

  • 2% of sales occur when two parties meet for the first time
  • 98% will only buy once a certain level of trust has been built up
  • 65% of people requesting information on your company will not purchase for at least 3 months afterward
  • 20% will take more than 12 months to buy after requesting info

Step 1 – Understanding You

Let’s first start by considering how you currently feel about selling as this will have a direct impact on how you sell. 

How do you feel about selling?
What do you like about selling?
What don’t you like about selling?
What are your fears about selling?

Based on what you have answered above what do you see that you most need to work on right now? Hopefully, the plan that follows will help you get to where you would like to be in the area of sales.

Step 2 – Selling You

People buy from people! Selling is not just about your product or service but it’s also about you, in fact, it’s mostly about you. If people don’t buy into you, they are unlikely to even bother to listen to what you have to sell. 

Be Authentic
Before you can even begin to sell anything you need to be able to sell yourself and before you can sell yourself you need to be able to believe in yourself.

Tips for developing authenticity:
Don’t worry about what people think of you
Trust yourself
Value truth

Be Confident
You may be a skilled and talented business person but a lack of self-confidence can prevent you from performing at your full potential.  

Tips for developing confidence:
‘Fake’ it at first – soon it will become real
Dress in a way that makes you feel confident
Ask, “What is the worst that can happen?”

Be Passionate
Passion is contagious!  A passionate person can sell ice to an Eskimo or sand in a desert!  Passion sells without selling.  

Tips for developing passion:
Decide to be passionate
Speak confidently with enthusiasm
Listen well, really lean in and listen
Exercise and eat well to gain energy
Stay hydrated, drink lots of water
Know your subject or product really well
Share the benefits of your subject or product
Get obsessed

Step 3 – Selling Your Business

The next step is to move onto what you have to sell – your business. Here are a few keys to selling what you have to offer well.

BELIEVE in what you do
First and foremost, do you use your product or service and do you love using it?  If you can’t say yes to that then stop the business you are in and get a better one.

CARE about people
Focus on having a conversation with people rather than on selling.  Learn about their needs and ask yourself if you have anything to offer that can meet their need.

CONNECT needs with solutions
Connecting with people is key to growing your business.  Caring is part one of connecting but it is not the whole story; you need to have a real connection with people.  

Step 4 – Selfless Serving

Sales should be serving! For many it is the complete opposite like money grabbing, taking and that sort of things. True sales should be when you have something to offer that serves the need of another. 

When considering who to contact, immediately think about who needs your help and not who you can sell something to.  Starting off with this frame of mind will keep you in the right frame of mind in all your relationships.  It is not about what you can get but what you can give.  We call this selfless serving.  Running your business and your life with this attitude will not only make you a more likeable person that others want to be around but it will also help you feel better about yourself.  Before you take another step forward in your business take a step aside and work on your mindset towards your clients and prospects.

Step 5 – Clients and Prospects

Before trying to sell to anyone you need to understand them. Without understanding them how will you know who they are, where they are and how to best serve them?

Who do you want to reach?
Where are they?
What do they need?
What are their goals?
What is stopping them from buying from you?

Step 6 – Your Products and Services

Now you are ready to consider what it is that you have to offer. Everything is in place, all you need to do is define, price and communicate your offering. 

Your Standard Products
Take everything that you have to offer and write down clear standardised products that you can offer – name them. You are not cutting out your earning potential, you are becoming focused and an expert.  

For example, a florist only has a limited number of set bouquets using a combination of a set number of flowers that you can mix and match.  They do not offer you every possibility of flower in any combination of a bouquet!  Too many businesses feel that when they start out they need to do everything for everyone.  You don’t!  You can’t! Decide what your products and services will be and then customise them for each client when necessary.  

Step 7 – Get Them Talking

The ultimate aim is to get your clients to talk about you to their clients with as much passion as you have for your business.  How do you make that happen?  

Ask
Often we forget the basics.  Just ask.  Ask them if they can tell people about what you have done for them.  Ask them to leave a review on a website that you can use.  Ask them who might also benefit from what you do, then ask them to make the introduction.

Deliver
Promise less deliver more.  If you promise a lot and can’t deliver then you will look really bad but if you promise little and blow them away with how much you deliver then you have exceeded their expectations. People talk to other people and will either mention their disappointment with you or their pleasure of dealing with you.

Reward
Thank you goes a long way.  Try saying thank you for everything that should be thanked and when there is nothing to thank, try and find something.  Reward those that send you referrals.  Reward them extravagantly with a card and a gift.  Make them want to send more referrals your way.

This is a glimpse of our full 7 step workbook that is available for £2.99.  It’s a ridiculous price so grab your copy quickly before we realise that we accidentally put a dot in the £299!  Get your copy here

We have dedicated an entire chapter of our Success Story System to sales, get involved and tap into all of our valuable resources to support you in your business.

By Women's Business Club

Women's Business Club empowers women to succeed in business through awards, conferences, business support membership, and news. Find out more at www.womensbusiness.club or send your press release [email protected]. Articles and adverts are chargeable, see media pack at www.womensbusiness.club/media-pack

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