How To Selling Product And Idea

You're working on straight commission, or you're a work at home mom... you're in sales. (Yes, seriously)

A lot of people think that being in sales means that you have to knock on doors or make cold calls. And that couldn't be the furthest thing from the truth.

In life, you're either selling or you're buying.

You could be trying to convince your best friend to go to the movies at 7:30 instead of 9:30. And whoever gets the other person to agree is the one who sold it and the other one bought it.

Or you could be at a job interview trying to get a job as a data entry clerk. While you're in that interview, you're selling the hiring manager on why they should pick you over all the other candidates. And even once you're hired, you have to perform well enough on a daily basis and sell your services on a daily basis so they don't fire you.

So, being in sales doesn't always mean that you're trying to get someone to agree to buying a product or service from you.

That being said, I'd like to actually talk about the process of selling any idea, product or service. And this process is done in 5 different steps.

1. Find qualified prospects

You can't sell car insurance to someone who doesn't have a driver's license. You can't sell a family phone plan to someone who isn't married and has no children.

These people simply are not qualified to buy from you.

So the most important thing you could do for yourself to make your selling life easier is actually go after people who are qualified to say "yes". They have to not only be financially capable, but emotionally and intellectually competent to understand what they're buying and keeping.

2. Find out what their specific hot button is

People buy the same things for different reasons, and your job is to find out what that specific reason is.

One person could be buying the service to avoid pain, and the other could be buying to gain pleasure. The service essentially does the same thing, but that thing means different things to different people.

So, your job is to ask great questions to find out the specific reasons why that person wants your product or service instead of trying to push a reason on them.

3. Educate them about their options

The natural progression from finding out why they want your product or service is to explain to them what different options are available to them that could fill that need for them.

For example: If a family has explained to you that they need life insurance, there are different types of life insurance policies that can cover their family. There is Term Life that can cover the family for a certain period of time, and there is Permanent Life that will cover the family indefinitely.

Each product has different features and different costs and so the client needs to be aware of these things so that they can make an educated decision.

4. Find out which 2 options they find more attractive

Following the previous example, let's say your client has expressed to you that they're interested in Term Life insurance.

Well, there are many companies that offer that product and there are many different "terms of time" that they can choose from. So, through a series of probing questions, you have to find out which two are the MOST attractive to them.

This is because most people get overwhelmed and confused from the vast variety of options that are available. And because they are overwhelmed, they usually don't even go through with the purchase because it's "just too much".

5. Ask for a commitment

And finally, once you've explained everything that is available and found out which two options are the most attractive, your job is to confidently ask for a commitment. 

"Mr. & Mrs. Smith... we've gone over your needs and you've told me that you're interested in A, B, and C. And based on the research that I've done for you, we've come to agree that these 2 companies are the best for those features. And you've mentioned to me that you like company 1 over company 2. So, is there any reason that you can think of that we wouldn't go through with this decision today?"

It all comes down to this...

If you actually have a product or service that truly adds value to people's lives... your job is to do everything that you possibly can to make sure that they own that product or service.