How To Sell (Almost) Anything

At the end of the day, the world revolves around selling things. I believe some things should be free (education, art and water, among other things), but most of the world is driven by the exchange of products/services in return for money. Learning how to make the most of this exchange is the tricky part.

Selling And Why it Matters

You wouldn’t be driving to work if you hadn’t bought that car. I wouldn’t be writing this blog if I hadn’t bought this laptop. My barber wouldn’t be the best I’ve ever seen if he hadn’t bought a straight razor, scissors and a trimmer when he first started practicing and perfecting his craft.

My point is that purchasing things is what drives the world. Don’t get me wrong, over-consumption is a global, current issue and I’m not condoning it in any way. Consuming and wasting too much is a pressing matter and I’m a strong advocate for planet-conscious movements, but this world wouldn’t function the way it does if it weren’t for the selling of goods and services.

“Selling is so important — it drives the economy which keeps the world afloat.”

By selling, I don’t just mean going to the market and buying a jar of jam. I mean any process where money is exchanged for a product or service — of any kind. This could be anything from buying a new sofa to setting up a mortgage at the bank. Someone buying a new sofa gives their money to the company from which the sofa was bought. This company will use the money it generates from the sale of this sofa to pay staff, taxes and other expenses. The money the government gets in taxes will be used for municipal services while the employees who get paid from the selling of sofas will have income to take home. This income will also be spent on taxes, as well as food, clothes, holidays and just about anything else that constitutes part of the economy. This is the basics of an economy and it should serve to illustrate why selling is so important — it drives the economy which keeps the world afloat.

How to Sell

I’ve illustrated why selling is important. The next step is to cover how to do it. Essentially, selling is very similar to pitching to investors — you’re attempting to explain why your product/service is superior to what competitors are offering. When you craft an ad for your new product, you’re pitching it to the consumer. When you employ students to hand out flyers in the street, you’re pitching your company to the consumer. In short, selling is a specific type of pitching.

Because of this, I like to approach selling the way I approach pitching. Indeed, there are differences between the two, but the elements that constitute success are remarkably similar. Like I always say, the way I do things are not exhaustive or universal — they’re just methods I’ve found that work. The tips below can be applied both to pitching and to selling.

• Know your product well. If you need to take thinking pauses or say ‘umm’ all the time, you won’t interest the person/people you’re selling to. No matter what avenue of the sale, make sure you know the ins and outs of your product or service like the back of your hand. If you can’t explain your product to someone who has NO IDEA what you do in 30 seconds or less, you need to rethink how you’re pitching.
• Confidence. If you’re not confident about what you have to offer, why should a consumer be? Always emphasize how confident you are in the quality of what you’re offering.
• Enthusiasm. Similar to the above, if you’re not enthusiastic about what you have to offer, chances are that the people listening to you won’t be either.
• Directness. Granted, the most important features of what you’re offering should be emphasized but if you choose to emphasize that your new speaker is made of 23.345% composite carbon fiber and titanium alloy (if that actually exists), people might get a bit bored. Instead, emphasize that the sound your speaker delivers is unparalleled.
• Illustrate the benefits. Rather than simply explaining how good your product or service is, also illustrate how someone would benefit from using what you’re offering, without bashing competitors of course.
• Establish a connection. Establishing a personal connection with whoever you’re selling to will always help — make yourself relatable.
• Don’t be pushy. If someone clearly isn’t interested in what you’re offering, then leave it at that — make sure they know you appreciate their time and move on, for both your and their sakes.

Conclusion

As usual, I’ve kept this relatively short in an attempt to briefly explain how I approach selling. Overall, selling and pitching are very similar — both have as their goal to convince others that your product or service is superior, hence me drawing comparisons between the two.

The tips I’ve outlined here can be applied to almost any aspect of business, from marketing to account management. But as I’ve mentioned, selling is what drives business. As such, apply these tips to selling and the rest will fall into place.