Fall in love with selling: the four factors to get you there
You’re in business to make money. And making money means you have to get out there and sell.
Did that just make you wince? Because for the longest time that was my reaction to “selling.” 😬😬
“Selling” made me think of people I’d met that I DID NOT want to be like.
For example:
The leering man with the greasy hair who yelled “Hey, honey! Come over here and give this a shot! Dollar to play, dollar to win!” when I walked down the midway at the country fair.
The desperate furniture salesman who sold us a dining room set and kept trying to talk my husband and I into an extended warranty and special cleaning kit we didn’t want. After we refused several times, he practically yelled at us “I’m just trying to PROTECT YOUR INVESTMENT!!”
And yes, the classic: the used car salesman who sold us a used car that turned out to be the mechanical equivalent of an infected hemorrhoid on wheels.
I know you have cringe-worthy stories of being “sold,” too.
Gravy. No wonder we all hate sales.
Here are just a couple of reasons why that type of “selling” turns us off:
We feel like we’re being talked into doing something we don’t want to do.
We feel foolish — like we were tricked into buying something we didn’t want or need.
We feel like we didn’t get good value for our money.
We feel gross interacting with people who don’t seem to have our best interests in mind.
Feel me?
Now let’s wash those slimy sales impressions out of our minds with a different set of stories.
Have you ever been *excited* to buy something? And then you were glad you did?
In 2007, we bought a Honda Element. We were so delighted with it that we went back to the same salesperson (even though he’d moved to a different Honda dealership) a couple years later and bought another Honda Element. (Yes, we had two of the same car lol) We’d still have those cars today, but as our family grew, we eventually needed cars that would hold more than four people at a time.
Back in the day when I was starting my freelancing business, I needed a laptop. I went to Best Buy and was immediately overwhelmed by all the options. I just stood there looking around like a total dumbo. I had no idea what I needed or wanted. No one asked if I needed any help (I needed SO MUCH HELP), so I left. I headed to the Apple store. Even though I’d never been there before and hadn’t ever owned an Apple-brand anything, I’d heard it was cool. I walked in and was immediately greeted by a salesperson. He asked me a couple questions, helped me figure out which laptop fit my needs and budget, and 15 minutes later I walked out of there a devoted Apple fan for life.
You have successful sales stories, too — stores or people you enjoy buying from. You didn’t feel “sold,” or have buyer’s remorse — even when you paid a lot of money.
Why?
The salesperson helped you get a thing you already wanted.
You felt like it was an honest, transparent transaction.
You got a product or service you were genuinely happy with.
Your salesperson was actually trying to help you.
When you sell, it doesn’t have to be icky. It can be just like that second set of stories above.
Here are the four factors that make selling fun — and get your customers excited to buy:
Sell an amazing product or service you believe in
Be honest and transparent
Only sell to people you know are a good fit for what you’re offering
Care about your customer and how you can help them
When you do those four things, you’re not even “selling” anymore. You’re just providing something to someone that needs it.
Approaching sales like this means you’ll be more comfortable, which will make your customers more comfortable, which will make everything easier (including adding dollars to your revenue).