Written by Karen D. Swim, Photo:© Wolfgang Amri | Dreamstime.com
For many non-sales professionals, the mention of salesperson is synonomous with manipulative money-grubber to be resisted at all costs. So, it comes as no surprise to me that small business owners and freelancers cringe at the thought of “selling” their services.
My background in sales management has proven valuable in my professional and personal life. As a business owner, it is an area in which I am extremely comfortable and I love demystifying the process for those new to selling.
- Sales is not manipulation. The object of the sales process is not to twist your prospect’s arm into buying something they neither want or need. A sales person uncovers needs and finds solutions, making them more matchmaker than manipulator. Remember that you are building a relationship with a future client, and the sales process establishes a good foundation.
- It is a numbers game. It’s true selling is all about the numbers. You have to generate a certain amount of leads to get a certain number of prospects to make a certain number of presentations to get a certain number of new clients. The numbers may vary with industry and your level of expertise but the bottom line is you must work the numbers.
- Keep your pipeline full. You should always have a steady flow of leads, and sales in progress. A big mistake that new freelancers and business owners make is to neglect sales when things are busy. You should spend time selling every business day. I try to set aside a minimum of one hour per day and one day per week I may spend 4-6 hours on sales activities.
- Two ears, one mouth. The old adage says that God gave us two ears and only one mouth for a reason. Sales is all about listening. People will tell you exactly what they want and need if you will listen. Ask questions, and take notes. When they’ve discussed their needs, validate what they said by repeating it, taking note of any adjustments they make. You now have a blueprint of their problem and can give them a solution tailor made to their needs.
- Don’t fear objections. Objections are part of the sales process. List the most common objections and overcome them in your presentation before they are asked. Objections are not an end to the sales process but simply an opportunity to provide more information and dig deeper into your prospect’s needs. Answering objections effectively will strengthen your relationship with your potential client.
The sales process is not limited to business owners or freelancers. As an employee you may sell your ideas to your colleagues or boss. Job seekers must sell their unique value in the market place. Everyone can benefit from understanding more about the sales process.
Are you comfortable with selling? What tips have worked for you? Share freely in the comments.
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July 1st, 2008 on 2:35 pm
This is great information Karen, I’m bookmarking it. Many writers know little or nothing about sales. I think we definetly all can benefit from this information.
Stick up a stumble button so I can stumble it for you. See, I’m learning about giving out good advice here!
I would like to hear more about the “numbers game.” Maybe you can do another post on it.
Ellen Wilsons last blog post..Brevity is Best for Blogs
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July 1st, 2008 on 6:08 pm
I must not be very good at sales because all my efforts for getting business go into marketing. I thought I knew the difference but now I’m not so sure. For example, I would consider sending out sales letters or emails part of sales while paying for ad space or visiting job boards as marketing. With all the talk about online marketing, I’d love to hear more tips on the sales side!
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July 1st, 2008 on 6:58 pm
So many people get it all wrong. Selling is not telling and it is not something you do to someone but rather something you provide for someone.
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July 1st, 2008 on 7:11 pm
Hey Ellen! I’m so glad this was helpful! *thunking head* in all my technical wizardry I forgot to install the bookmarks! I laughed so hard when I read your message because I use shareaholic (firefox install, one right click of the mouse and you can stumble, digg, post on FriendFeed) all the time to share other people’s stuff but forgot to give that option for my own posts. *shakes head* silly, silly, silly
Hey there Melissa! Totally loved your poetry post, gotta make it over there to comment! My heart skipped a beat with your comment because I love both Sales and Marketing and did both functions in Corporate. Look for more posts on the topic. Sales and marketing are different. Marketing is the planning, strategy and execution of delivering your message to your audience. Sales is the actual conversation that moves your leads to prospects and then customers. While marketing messages do play a huge role in the sales process and should pre-qualify your leads, sales is where the magic happens. Thank you so much for the comment and allowing me discuss something I really, really love!
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July 1st, 2008 on 7:26 pm
@Devin, you are so right! However, we can help dispel the myths and show people the art and science of sales. I’m so glad you popped in and hope that you will add your insight to the next sales post.
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July 1st, 2008 on 7:51 pm
I can switch to Firefox browser and then bookmark the post then. I’m just so used to IE that I hardly use Firefox. I’m slowly acclimating myself to it.
Thanks for clarifying that for Melissa because I didn’t know the difference either between sales and marketing. I thought they were pretty much intertwined.
Ellen Wilsons last blog post..Brevity is Best for Blogs
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July 1st, 2008 on 8:01 pm
@Ellen, yea I started using Firefox last year when IE kept crashing. Although a few sites will only let you use IE so it’s good to have them both. Firefox has built in spell check and I have not had the security issues I had with IE. I just added the Share/Save bookmark, no pretty icon but the link is right up there at the end of the post.
I did good? LOL! I am so feeling like a WP genius these days.
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July 2nd, 2008 on 6:47 am
Hi Karen, your list is excellent. Listening is especially important, but not as easy to do as it sounds! One thing I might add to your list is persistence. Often sales don’t close because the sales person simply gave up too soon. Here’s a series on building sales relationships I did recently – http://tinyurl.com/56adom, which goes into quite a bit of depth on other types of issues.
Brad Shorrs last blog post..What Warren Zevon Can Teach Us about Storytelling
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July 2nd, 2008 on 9:39 am
Hi Brad, I believe the first post of yours I ever read dealt with sales management, and I was hooked!
I just went and stumbled this post and posted to facebook. This was an excellent in depth look and worth bookmarking for reference. I hope everyone will give it a read and pass it on. If you ever have a hankering to write a guest post on the topic, you have an open invitation.
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July 2nd, 2008 on 10:55 am
Karen, thank you so much! It’s a lot of information, but hopefully worth reading. I appreciate the opportunity to guest post, and I will definitely take you up on it. Consider the invitation mutual! If you want to talk about how to stay fresh and inspired as a writer, what a fine addition that would be to Word Sell.
Brad Shorrs last blog post..What Warren Zevon Can Teach Us about Storytelling
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July 3rd, 2008 on 7:51 am
Karen,
As usual, an excellent piece! I can especially attest to the numbers games point. When I ran my own painting co, my marketing budget was nil so it was ALL about door-to-door canvassing, and you haven’t really experienced business by the numbers until you’ve done 150+k in work all sourced from door-knocking!
Anyway, we must be in synch this week – my post last night on my blog is all about dealing with objections in sales and marketing pieces, and why it is important to do despite the conventional wisdom about avoiding negative statements. I enjoyed your post so much, I’ve gone back and added it as one of my outgoing resource links in my post!
Keep up the great work Karen,
Daniel
Daniel Smith – Smithereens Blogs last blog post..Positively Negative: Is There Ever a Place for Alternate Perspectives in Marketing?
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July 3rd, 2008 on 9:35 am
Daniel, I read your excellent post this morning and could barely keep from cheering out loud. (Okay I did cheer out loud).
In my corporate career, I did tons of cold calling with my reps. You truly do appreciate the numbers when your livelihood depends on it! However, after having my business card crumpled up and thrown at me, and having people treat me and my reps like scum just because we were in Sales, I am pretty darn tough. I hope you’ll write more on the subject Daniel, we can all learn from one another!
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July 4th, 2008 on 9:46 pm
Excellent article.
Generating leads are definite important, especially when you’re busy. How to do it is that hard part. And that’s where most people struggle.
However, there are too many resources out there that make the process easier, but they still require the effort.
One way I’m able to generate leads is giving things away for free.
We can all afford to give something away for free. So think about it and you’ll come up with something. However, the longer you think the more the leads will keep passing you by.
Dhane Diesils last blog post..642 Must Have Web & Graphic Design Resources
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July 7th, 2008 on 4:47 am
Hi, when you say ;
“Two ears, one mouth. The old adage says that God gave us two ears and only one mouth for a reason. Sales is all about listening.”
I agree with you , but the first few minutes, you need to “communicate” clearly what you have to propose, and “then” listen.
Body language is also really important ……
I prefer to face someone than try to sell something on the phone.
Moises last blog post..Lessons from Wimbledon
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July 18th, 2008 on 5:30 pm
I particularly like the last paragraph on objections. It’s so easy to focus on the negative when objections are really an opportunity to greatly improve.
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July 18th, 2008 on 6:12 pm
Hi Sara, that is so true. However, it does take a bit of practice to take the objections and not internalize. My first month in sales I ate a lot of ice cream!
Thanks for dropping in and commenting!
Moise, I was so certain I had responded to your comment early on. Please forgive me! Two ears, one mouth. Yes, I can think of how that applies to so much of life. It is interesting that you mention face to face versus phone. I am not fond of selling by phone but since going into business I have had to adjust. All of my clients are somewhere else so I have had to learn. Thanks for furthering the discussion!
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June 30th, 2010 on 1:32 pm
sometimes Sales Management takes a lot of effort and skill.*:.
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karen
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June 30th, 2010 at 2:15 pm
Hi Brady, yes it definitely takes effort and skill which can be learned. Thanks for your comment!
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