“Sell something that people want to buy.” Revolutionary advice, isn’t it? Maybe not. But it contains a hint of gold that people often ignore — understanding that your customer needs to be the focus of your product. If you’re not producing that something that is of value to your clients, what are you doing? You may be happy with the service itself, but it’s not going to garner a loyal following unless it directly helps people in their own lives.
During a recent panel for We Are Podcast, Australia’s first podcast conference, we assembled four industry experts to describe their own sales process and how they get through the uncomfortable feeling that comes with selling something.
Sales is uncomfortable for the vast majority of people. We don’t like being sold to and we don’t like selling. Unless you’re a natural born salesperson who was slinging lemonade on the side of the road every day as a child, you probably feel insecure cold-calling people and pitching them with your product. That’s because we’ve all been on the receiving end of something we don’t want or need, and it always feels like the biggest waste of our time.
There’s a few ways to avoid that uncomfortable feeling, according to our experts. The first is having a product that you truly believe in. If you think your product or service is great, then surely everyone else will too, right?
Sometimes we believe in our business, but still dislike selling to other people. This means that you’re too inwardly-focused, or you’re thinking too much about your own needs and desires. You should be looking at things from the customer’s’ point of view, asking yourself (and them!) how your product can help them achieve their goals or make their lives a little bit easier.
You also need to clearly define who your audience is. If you’re cold-calling or pitching to pretty much anybody that will listen, you will be faced with more rejection than most people can handle. Your sales pool is too big, and you’re speaking to plenty of people that really have no interest in your product.
Use surveys and social media analytics to refine the population that you’re selling to. Once you have that select group of people that could actually be benefited by your product, devote more of your energy towards bringing them on board.
And when you have that loyal group, work hard at keeping them on your team. Most people are going to use your free services without even thinking about paying for any of your products. That’s just the nature of business today. But once you can find a die-hard group of fans that will spread their love for your business to their friends and family, you’re golden.
Listen to the entire podcast episode here.
https://mustamplify.com/shouldistartapodcast146/
Author: Ronsley Vaz
Ronsley is the founder & chief day dreamer at AMPLIFY. He is an author, speaker & serial entrepreneur.
He has a Masters’ degree in Software Engineering and an MBA in Psychology and Leadership. He is known as the creator of We Are Podcast – the first Podcasting Conference in the Southern Hemisphere, and the host of The Bond Appetit Podcast and Should I Start a Podcast. He has an audience of over 3 million in 133 countries.