How to sell without being a sh!t
There are so many potentially embarrassing aspects to selling that it’s hard to know where to start. Or is it? The answer is simple — stop selling.
Stop selling — and stop objectifying your customers.
These are people not robots, and sales should not be the primary goal. Why?
The 80:20 rule says this…
Roughly speaking, over the lifetime of your business, 80% of your turnover is going to come from a 20% slice of your customer base.
That 20% slice is made up of people who grow to love what you do, and who keep coming back for more.
So your primary goal should really be creating and maintaining the relationships that will sustain your business in the long term.
Corporations spend a lot of time working out who the 20% are — figuring out what they need to do to keep those customers loyal — and in attracting more and more people that share the characteristics of that loyal 20%.
It’s all about relationships.
So make friends, don’t sell.
Building your tribe
If you run a social enterprise or purpose-driven business then you’ll be attracting customers on the basis of a shared value system anyway.
That shared value system means your relationship with them is already operating on a whole different level — one where the expectation is of a quality conversation from the get-go.
If you don’t already, get to know your customers. Like really know.
Find out who they really are.
Ask questions. Connect.
Get them to tell you what they want rather than making assumptions or telling them what you think they need. You don’t go to a bespoke tailor only to be sold an ‘off the peg’ suit.
The road to failure is littered with bright people who had a fab idea but didn’t ask anyone if they really needed it or if it solved their problem.
Test ideas
Not sure that your product or service really ‘fits’ the marketplace?
Ask some real people — and if you are just starting out don’t rely on the opinion of people who know you well. Their affiliation bias will kick in and you won’t get a straight response.
Find people who look like they might be your future customers and ask them. If the product is a good fit it’ll start to generate sales and enquiries even before you’ve finished testing it.
These conversations are the key to success and survival.
Once people get used to the fact that you are open to talking about their wants and needs they are much more likely to stick around and be an active part of that conversation. Maintaining their loyalty is easier because they feel more of a part of what you do.
Carlos Saba, co-founder of the The Happy Startup School reflects on a conversation with an app developer:
‘The breakthrough came from getting him to realise he needed to talk to his customers and find out how the app was helping them. He could then focus on understanding how he could then help others with similar problems. If he truly cared about his customers, was passionate about how he could help them and what he did actually helped, then he could start selling more authentically. It was amazing to see the penny drop. He wasn’t just pushing his product he was trying to help people.’
Finally — a word about authentic selling
We all aspire to authenticity.
We also have a highly-tuned sense of what (or who) is or is not authentic.
If we try to sell something that we have doubts about, the conflict shows and we end up sounding inauthentic. If we claim to be an expert or guru, people will rightfully think or say ‘prove it’.
If on the other hand we go to a group of people who share our basic aims and values and say ‘Hey, this is who I am and I’m trying to figure out how to make this thing work, can you help me’, those people will usually step up to the mark and take part in the conversation.
Authenticity is when the story in your head and the story you reveal to others really match up.
That’s what triggers empathy, builds trust and gets you the group of customers you really need.
So, if you don’t want to come across as a sh*t when you are selling, change your focus.
Think about ways in which you can get to know your customers, build and maintain relationships with them, and involve them in an ongoing conversation about how you can best serve their needs.
By doing that you will also get the feedback you need to keep growing your business in the right direction. Everybody wins, everyone gets to feel much better about the whole process.
I’m Pete Mosley, speaker, coach and author of The Art of Shouting Quietly. Are you struggling to get people to care or understand what it is that you do? Then my new online class will help you to sell more authentically, so that you turn potential customers into loyal fans, all without being a sh!t about it.
