All of us sell all
time. From a child asking Mom for a cookie to CEO of a major corporation trying to ink a million dollar order, each of us sells. We sell our ideas and beliefs to co-workers, bosses, and family. We sell products, services, and concepts.Here are three simple ways to sell anything. You can use them in person, on telephone, or with email.
Way 1: Start a conversation. I never realized how effective this super-simple method was until I met Ted. He is able to get an order an amazing 98% of time.
How does he do it? "Simple. I just talk to people," he says.
It all started early in Ted's career when he couldn't seem to sell anything. "I had recently gotten married and just when I really wanted to succeed, no one seemed interested in my sales pitches."
Sometimes our best ideas come when we're really discouraged. Ted got so down on his sales technique he forgot about it and just started talking with people. Amazingly, they bought. Sales started to trickle, then turned into a flood as Ted became company's top sales person for his region.
I watched closely to see how Ted does it. He starts up a conversation. As soon as you mention something about yourself, he show a big interest. He talks about whatever you are interested in.
I immediately feel like Ted is a friend I've known all my life. After twenty to forty minutes, Ted casually says "so can we get you set up with an order?" After such a good conversation, 98% of his prospects say yet.
Way 2: Ask questions. This is a very simple way to sell and it works for both products and services.
Most customers don't know half as much about your product as you do. In fact, most probably don't know much at all. Yet it is a rare customer who starts off by saying I'm a complete idiot on this.
Ask questions to help find customers find areas where they need more information. They may not even know what areas they want to know more about.
Let's say a customer comes into your computer store and starts looking for a new desktop. Ask questions to find out if customer is mostly interested in processing speed, reliability, or a popular feature. Ask what frustrates them about their current computer or what they like that they fear losing with a new computer.
