In the business world, there are so many facets of running a company and maintaining your finances. Perhaps one of the most complex parts is sales. As someone who has worked in this field, I would like to offer some advice on how it works.
This is particularly critical for small businesses. After all, the movement of product is a big part of keeping yourself afloat. What you should note is that “product” can be many things – services, physical items, commodities, or deliveries. So, this topic is quite a broad one. For this reason, I will try to discuss a few different important facets.
What is Sales, Anyway?
There are a few definitions you may want to learn. For example, the legal way that they are defined is as an agreement that involves two consenting parties – the party that contracts provides a service or good in return for money at an established price. There are a few people involved in this process.
The first to know is the buyer. This is the customer. They are the one who is buying the product that the seller is providing. A seller usually lists their products and/or services in some form or another. Finally, the third agent is the good or service.
Methods of Selling
There are of course a variety of methods that a person can take when they undergo the selling process. Naturally, a lot of psychology goes into this, and a lot of research has been conducted to find the most effective methods. It tends to vary depending on the product or service, of course, but there are some general terms to be aware of.
Needs Oriented
First, I will talk about needs oriented sales. This is also called consultative selling in some circles. It is when you do your best to empathize with and understand a customer’s requirements and specific needs (as the title implies). From there, you should try to describe the item in question as something that is aimed to solve that specific issue that the customer is worried about.
Consultative methods have shown to be quite effective because of the nuanced approach they take to listing the benefits of a product and convincing a customer to make a purchase. However, you need to be sure to focus on a few things if you pick it: you should always be customer oriented, the explanations of products should be insightful, and you need to be adaptable in your presentation.
Social Media
Of course, one of the more recent additions to this field is the use of social media. If you are looking into maximizing sales, you may want to consider this option. It is generally preferable to engaging in cold calling and will alienate customers far less.
If you are wondering, it is not the same thing as social media marketing. Rather, this method of sales involves using a company or brand’s social media page to message and engage with customers or potential buyers. You can see a lot of examples of this on websites such as Twitter and Instagram, the usual platform for these methods.
You should keep in mind that this does not involve spamming random people in the hopes that they will purchase goods. That is generally quite ignoring and will probably not garner you much success.
Some methods that you can use are creating pages for your company on Facebook or LinkedIn, though they are not the only choices. Next, think about the audience that you want to reach. Your target demographic should help to determine what sort of things you post about your brand and goods.
The final thing I will mention about this method is that it is becoming increasingly relevant each and every day. As the COVID-19 pandemic has shown us, being able to connect virtually is beneficial and night vital for many brands. You should probably think about this strategy.
Aggressive Selling
Another way that has somewhat fallen out of favor in recent years is the aggressive method. There are a few different techniques that fall under this umbrella, but they all require being proactive and forward in reaching out to potential customers and current buyers.
Something you may want to employ in this strategy is creating a time limit for the person buying. This can work in a variety of ways. You can tell a client that the current price will increase after a certain period of time, or that it is a sale that is not going to last forever. It is key not to be too pushy but nudge a client just enough to land the sale.
Next, there is something called the takeaway. This is if a customer is close to deciding to buy but is for some reason uncertain about finalizing the deal. You can offer to take away features that they are most interested in to try to spur on them making a decision, or maybe even tell them that if they wait, those specific features may be taken away. This is a very forward method, so only utilize it if you are confident.
Finally, I will touch upon what is known as the persistent close. It is definitely one to be wary of, because if you push too much, you can actually turn a client away. However, offering a deal or asking how you can change a customer’s mind can sometimes turn a no into a yes.
Final Thoughts
As you can see, selling is a complex art that requires a lot of practice and a fine hand. The best salespeople can employ a variety of different methods and have mastered most, if not all of them. Try different ones out and decide what is best for your team and for your business. Never limit yourself!
