Selling is an important function in every industry however for some, the very thought of selling is intimidating and they shy away from it. Nevertheless, every business owner and Freelance consultant will benefit from becoming a competent sales professionals in tandem with their primary area of expertise because—-you went into business to sell your products and services! No matter what you pay an employee, s/he will never be a more passionate and knowledgeable sales person than the company founder or owner.

Selling can be learned like any other skill and just about everyone who tries will learn to become a competent and reasonably confident seller. Read on to get an easy-to-follow recipe that will result in successful sales for you.

Selling is asking questions

For sure, you need to get your prospective buyer talking because unless s/he approaches you directly, and even if that happens, you need to confirm that your product or service is the right solution for the problem and that the prospect intends to buy from you and soon. To do that, you must learn to ask a series purposeful questions. Primarily, your questions must make the prospective buyer feel comfortable telling you about his/ her need or problem and specify the desired outcome or objective that ideally will be achieved.

Successful sales professionals have discovered that open-ended questions are perhaps the most useful sales tool because they are conversation-starters that get the prospect talking about him/herself and what brought him/her to you. Good questions allow you to launch the sales process. They allow the prospective buyer to reveal the objective or outcome that s/he wants to achieve, the purpose of it all. You can come to understand the prospective buyer’s priorities, concerns, timetable and budget. You might also learn about unsuccessful trials with competitive products or services.

Selling is listening

The most important fact to understand about selling is that it’s not about you, the aspiring seller. The act of selling centers on the potential buyer, the prospective customer. Unless the buyer is extremely motivated, has an urgent need for a solution ASAP, you’ll need to persuade the prospective buyer that your product or service will fulfill his/her needs and should be purchased now (or in the near term).

In order to understand the problems and need of a prospective buyer, the aspiring seller (you, Freelancer friend) must listen carefully to the answers to the questions you’ve asked. This can only be done by spending the majority of the conversation listening rather than talking.

Expert salespeople are nearly always very good listeners. Experience has taught them that in order to sell, they must first understand the prospective buyer and personalize their sales pitch to align with the prospective buyer’s needs, objective, priorities, timeline and budget.

Recognizing window shoppers

These are people who are not serious about buying anything in the immediate future, if ever. They may be amusing and great to talk to, but they are not your friend. They are time-wasters and they cost you money by siphoning off your valuable time and energy to engage in a sales process that they will not complete.

These false prospects merely want to see what’s available, how it works and what it costs. They may not yet know what they need, if they need it, or what they can afford. They may have lots of questions and they may not be shy about taking up your valuable time to discuss a product or service that they will not buy anytime soon and if they do buy, they probably will not buy from you,

So how do you handle these people? You ask the right questions during your sales conversation. As you ask questions, be certain that one or two are designed to reveal if the prospective buyer needs/wants the product or service now, or sometime down the road. Asking direct, rather than open-ended, questions to discover when the product or service is needed is appropriate and an essential component of a successful sale. You must confirm the prospect’s motive and understand the urgency.

Uncovering and resolving objections

If a prospective buyer who appears to have a need to buy starts displaying pushback, this could signal that s/he is worried about whether the product or service is a good fit for his/ her needs. If a direct or speculative objection is made by your prospective buyer (“I heard this stuff doesn’t really work.”), I recommend you use a tactic that my colleagues in the sales department invented years ago. We called it Feel, Felt, Found.

• I agree that there are some who’ve heard about our service but haven’t tried it themselves but they might feel that way.
• Some of my best customers once felt the same way as you do now. They had doubts and questions.
• But when they focused on the benefits they knew they could receive from the service, they found that what concerned them would not happen as long as they used the service according to our guidelines.

Confirmation and close

Once you’ve addressed the objection(s), confirm that the prospective buyer has dropped all doubts and now trusts your product or service (“Do you feel comfortable about using the service now, or do you need more information or maybe a demo, so you can see it in action?”). You cannot move forward with the sale until and unless you’ve resolved any objections and reassured your prospective buyer that your product or service is safe and effective. Once you’ve done that you’re able to either continue the sale, or invite the prospective buyer to fish or cut bait—-do the deal or look elsewhere.

Find the courage to ask for the sale! Get there by helping the prospective buyer envision the process by —tah- dah!—asking a few more questions as the sale draws to a successful close:

“Would you like to have the concierge service option, to make your life easier?”

“Do you like the blue or do you prefer the green?”

“Is the 20th of the month a good delivery date for your team, or will the 18th be more convenient?”

“Would you like to put this on a credit or debit card now, or do you prefer to write a check?”

“If you’ll be kind enough to sign in this line, we can seal the deal.”

After sale service

Avoid one-and-done syndrome and lay the groundwork for repeat business by extending customer service beyond the sale. Support the buyer who has now become your customer by answering questions or resolving problems that may occur after the sale. You want to take steps to make doing business with you a rewarding and pleasant experience. You want to be referred to your new customer’s friends and family. You want glowing online reviews and testimonials. You can use every sale to enhance your reputation and build your brand.  

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Image: © Annie Sahlin, photographer. Courtesy Palace of the Governors Photo Archives. Hopi Artist Elsie Talahytewa at the Santa Fe Indian Market in Santa Fe, NM, 1991