5 Easy Steps to Your First Sale
Some people think sales is hard, some people think it’s a dark art, and some people think it’s annoying. The truth is that selling is easy.
Once you become good at sales you’re able to control your own destiny.
“Sales” is really just having conversations with people. It’s a lot of listening (70%), and a little bit of explaining who you are and what you do (30%). People who sell used cars often get this ratio backwards. Here are some straightforward steps to getting started:
1. Tell everyone what you’re doing. I mean every single person you speak with: friends, family, the barista at Starbucks, etc. Don’t try to sell them anything. Simply tell them what you’re doing. You can get started right away!
This is good for a few reasons. First, it forces you to refine your elevator pitch so it’s both short and effective. It may take awhile, but you’ll get there because you’ll be able to see in real time what’s working and what’s not. Second, people will say things like, “Oh, I have a friend who does that. Let me introduce you.” Accept the introduction and meet for coffee. Repeat this enough times and you’ll start finding customers.
2. Tune up your LinkedIn profile. Like it or not, LinkedIn is the place everyone goes to see who they’re dealing with in business. As soon as I know your name I want to see who you are, where you work, and what you’ve done. So make sure your profile is telling the same story that’s coming out of your mouth.
Connect with everyone you meet. The more connections you have on LinkedIn, the easier it is to find people. And the easier it is to send them an email out of the blue because you know someone in common: “Hi, I see that you and I both know a bunch of the same people. I’m reaching out because I’m impressed with the investors you’ve been able to attract to your company. I’d love your advice on how I can help more startups with their pitch decks. Can we meet for coffee?”
3. Print business cards. Yes, most of us still use business cards in 2016. Have yours ready to hand out. Include your name, email, phone number, company name, website (if you have one), and a brief blurb about what you do.
Try to make your card stand out in some way. Mine’s square instead of rectangular and has a cool graphic on one side. I know it’s effective because people often comment on it.
Hand out as many business cards as you can, and take other people’s business cards. It’s a good thing if you have to order more.
4. Follow up. This is the most important thing you can do each morning. Not following up is the same thing as leaving money on the table, yet nine times out of ten when I exchange business cards with people I’m the one who follows up (or maybe I’m not as friendly as I think I am lol).
Here’s how I follow up:
- I enter the person’s info into my CRM, along with the date and a reminder about where I met them. Once you start talking to enough people you’ll forget if you don’t write it down.
- I send them a short email. I’ll say something funny, or include a useful link, or make the intro I promised them. I may also ask to meet up.
- I connect with them on LinkedIn, but only after I’ve sent the email.
5. Do at least three things related to sales every day. No need to stress yourself out, just keep moving the ball down the field and good things will happen. Things related to sales include:
- Follow up with someone you met yesterday.
- Meet someone for coffee.
- Send an email asking someone for advice.
- Respond to a request for more information.
- Ask for an introduction to someone.
- Go to a networking event.
These are all simple things. None of them take much time. The trick is to just get started and the rest will take care of itself.
Mike Lingle is obsessed with helping founders grow their businesses. I’m a serial entrepreneur, mentor, and executive in residence at Babson College. Check out my Rocket Pro Forma if you want to quickly create your financial projections.
