Ladies Who Launch

by Julie Steelman

As you embark on your new business venture, you might be wondering how you’re going to generate sales. You have this fantastic idea, but when you think about taking it out into the world and asking for money, you may feel queasy.

There are five power tools that let you naturally tell your story and help you get paid lavishly for your idea. It’s a simple fact that when the buyer knows what you know, they’ll do business with you. Your goal is to become comfortable with how you present your product or service. By using these tools, you’ll turn a sales call into a meaningful conversation.

All of these tips can be used for any situation where you need to be influential and attain a goal. They even work to smooth over personal conflicts.

1. Know your customer. Every product that was ever sold provided either a benefit, solved a problem, or supported an emotional need. Understand what problem the customer needs solved, what benefit they can gain from your product, or what emotional need the product supports. Use this information to create value for your product. Tell the customer how and why they’ll benefit from the use of your product. Once the customer agrees with you, ask for their business. Remember, you explain the value of your product every day to your friends and family because it’s the driving factor in creating your idea.

2. Learn how to “hear” what your customer is communicating. Your customer will tell you exactly how to sell them on your product if you listen to what is said and what is not said. That means your brain is quiet and your intuition is on. Once you’re clear on how the customer defines value, ask them how they’ll know when they’ve received that value. Acknowledge what you’ve heard by repeating it, ensuring your understanding of what was said. If you’re unclear or hear a contradiction, politely ask them to clarify what they meant. If you reach an agreement, invite the customer to work with you.

3. Use the power of focus. Define and clarify for yourself the minimum and maximum goals you’d like to achieve in the meeting or correspondence. Write those goals down on a small note card and work them into the conversation. When you set these goals for any communication, it helps relieve nervousness and supports you with focus and direction. Clients respect prepared, organized, and efficient meetings. Once they understand you can be trusted with their time, they’ll agree to additional meetings. If you do nothing else, never waste anyone’s time and make sure you always provide value to the customer.

4. Let your passion shine through. Convey enthusiasm for your product and story to get the client excited and interested. Customers can be swayed by a great story and your own passion for your product. An enthusiastically told story creates an emotional connection for the customer, and they can justify a purchase. If needed, it’s acceptable to use your passion to politely disagree with the client yet continue to make your point. They will respect you for being more than just another friendly face and they’ll be more likely to buy.

5. Build lasting relationships. Use the word “I” less in any communication and make your statements about the customer and what is important to them. Customers want to know they can trust you to take care of them once they buy, so always keep your promises and follow-up timely. If you make a mistake, apologize for it once and let it go. Do special things for your clients because they’re human and often appreciate kindness. Think about how your product/service can help reduce your customers’ “to do” lists.

Ultimately, selling is simply a conversation that requires strong listening skills and addresses the customers’ needs. Selling is an exchange of information, and if the customer knows what you know, they’ll buy. Keep in mind that you always want to express gratitude for a customer’s time by communicating that you understand their needs. Be confident that your idea is valuable to the world, and when that is understood and conveyed, a sale is a natural byproduct.

Julie Steelman is a member of the Orange County, CA, Incubator and is the founder of Sales Nirvana.