An Introduction to Sales
Like it or not: if you’ve chosen the path of self-employment (or side hustle that you want to take a little more seriously), you’ve chosen the path of sales.
For most people, the thought of being a salesman (or saleswoman) either makes you feel anxiety or nausea. The good news is that sales doesn’t have to be a terrible, uncomfortable situation. In fact, I would argue:
If sales makes you uncomfortable, you’re doing it wrong.
Let me state right upfront: I am hardly the most well-rounded teacher on this subject. But in my 5 years of full-time self-employment and some 9 years of making money on my own, I’ve learned a few things.
First and foremost: sales is not convincing someone to give you their money. It’s giving them enough information to make an informed decision on their own.
Stop trying to persuade: focus instead on education. This changes the tone of the conversation and communicates an innate confidence about you to your customer.
Successful business people aren’t desperate for sales. People sense when all you’re trying to do is pull them into your way of thinking. Instead, openly show them what you know, and let them decide to jump in on their own. This is the foundation of much more successful business relationships.
Now that we’ve got the basic premise of what sales is and isn’t, here are a bunch of things I’ve learned along the way in my own years of being self employed (thus, a salesman).
1. Problems & Products
One of the biggest pitfalls new business owners (and experienced ones—guilty!) fall into is focusing on the product or service they sell instead of the problem they solve.
For example: I know how to use a camera relatively well. Instead of selling my clients on “I take good photos”, I instead focus on the problem they’re experiencing, and how my skills solve it. “I provide you with tons of phenomenal content for Instagram + your website.” A much more compelling pitch!
Instead of advertising, “I make pretty videos”, I instead focus on, “I help you better connect with your audience.” Boom. Much more appealing.
As you can hopefully see here, I’m reverse-engineering the problem my clients have, and positioning my service in a way that solves that issue for them.
2. Know your Competitors
The longer you’re in the industry, the more this becomes second nature. But especially in the beginning, you need to know what your competitors are doing, how they’re doing it, and what they’re charging.
The morality of this could be debated, but early in my career, I would message my competitors under a made up name + email in order to learn just a slight bit more about their process and packages. I quickly rescinded my interest and didn’t lead anyone on (I was little more than your average tire-kicker, which exist in every industry), but what I gained in that series of emails was invaluable to the way I could define my own business.
In order to sell well, you must know your competitors. This gives you the upper hand any time your prospective customer threatens you with the other guys.
You should know so much about your industry and competitors that you could describe it inside and out, forwards and backwards. This really can’t be overstated.
3. Define Your Unique Selling Feature
Every business that has a chance of surviving must do something better—or at least different—from their competitors.
If you sell cookies for a living, maybe you’re the only person with a particular flavour, or particular ingredient, or a particular method of creation. If you’re a plumber, perhaps it’s that you don’t charge extra on service calls that happen in the middle of the night.
Whatever it is that you do differently than 90% of your competitors—that is actually relevant and useful to your target audience—is the thing that becomes what you sell the most.
The default “unique selling feature” for any business is customer service. This isn’t a terrible one, but it’s pretty well the standard that customer service should at least be adequate for every business in life. I’m going to go ahead and argue that if customer service is the only unique thing you can come up with about your business, you’re setting the bar waaaaayyyyy too low.
Knowing what it is that you do different or better than the competition is going to help you in literally every conversation about your business.
When you can easily articulate what it is you’re (humbly) better at than someone else, it’s going to help your clients remember you for that one thing, and make them more confident when they choose you for it.
The last quick side-note about your unique selling feature: I strong advise against competing on price alone. No one wins in a rush to the bottom. When your customers only care about you because you’re their cheapest option, they’re indicating they don’t value what you do. This is a reason you should leave that customer behind.
4. Believe in Your Product
If you’re selling something you don’t believe in, you should honestly get out of that industry. The way you sell someone on your product (without feeling slimy) is if you could see yourself using it in a similar circumstance.
If you can genuinely integrate the product or service you sell into your own business or life, you immediately add credibility to your sales pitch. But you shouldn’t do it just so that it’s another feather in your hat.
In a lot of ways, sales is just describing your product/service to your customer, and teaching them about the stuff they don’t know. If you’re trying to “trick” anyone into something, you’re way off track. And if you’re a human being, you’ll have a hard time sleeping most nights.
This leads us right into our next point.
5. Don’t Sell Anyone Something They Don’t Need
Especially if your livelihood depends on your ability to sell—and especially if you’re just starting out—every sale can feel like a desperate sale. You see the customer as money in your pocket. And while this isn’t necessarily a wrong thing (everyone’s gotta eat), it can be if you stay this way for too long.
You should never, ever, sell someone a product they don’t need. You can definitely sell someone that’s a luxury (if they are in a position not to be hurt by the sale) or an insurance item for their life, but:
If you realize partway through a conversation, the person you’re selling to doesn’t need your product? Have the integrity to walk away from the sale.
As the expert in the scenario, you will instinctually learn when your service is, indeed, going to solve your customer’s problem. You owe it to them to only do so in good conscience.
6. You are Not for Everyone
This one took me a long time to learn.
You cannot be all things to all people. Not everyone who considers giving you their money ought to. Not everyone you spend your time selling to is worthy of it.
Again, the longer you do this, the more you will recognize the signs and little red flags as you go along. In the beginning, it’s a lot harder. But it does get easier (especially if you’re reading a blog like this and actively seeking to improve yourself).
Your product or service is ideal for a handful of people—not everyone.
Even a pizza place isn’t for everyone. It’s either a $9.99 XL Pepperoni kind of place, or it’s a The Keg of pizza kind of place. It cannot be both.
There is nothing wrong with turning people away, or having people turn away because you weren’t the right fit. In this instance, if you know your competitors, you might even be able to direct that customer to someone better suited to their needs! You might think that’s dumb to do, but the customer will remember the integrity you demonstrated, and possibly refer you business in the future for it (I’ve seen it happen).
Integrity isn’t the difference between right and wrong; it’s the difference between right and almost right. Don’t make a sale to someone who’s only almost right.
7. Know When to Walk Away
There are instances when the person you’re trying to schmooze might fit the bill entirely. They’re qualified; your service solves their problem; they have the budget; everything lines up. But time after time when you think you’re about to close on the deal, they still have questions, and they still hesitate to actually commit to you.
It’s important that you walk away when you’ve done all you can. You can’t be all things to all people, but you also can’t be everything to one person.
If your prospect isn’t convinced, move onto the next one.
You cannot turn a bad client into a good one.
And if someone is still not convinced after all you’ve done, it’s probably a sign you don’t want them as a client.
A bad client will eat up your time, stress you out, have unexpected demands, and otherwise make your working life crap. They will suck the fun and joy out of what you do faster than you can realize.
You do yourself a favour when you catch + release a bad prospective client.
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If you found these tips useful, let me know! I’d love to hear how you did or plan to use them to make your business better. Feel free to drop me a line just to say hi.
