Learn How to Sell
Even if You’re Not a Sales Person

SME Owners - Self Employed - Freelancers 
Learn to Sell Your Products or Services

Learn how to sell your products and services and boost your SME, Self Employed or Freelance business sales.

Even if you’ve not had any formal sales training, or you don’t see yourself as a sales person, you can put a basic consultative selling process into action today and enjoy selling to potential customers or clients. 

As a business owner or service provider you may be experienced and knowledgeable in your chosen field of expertise but not have the skills to hold sales conversations that lead to a sale, service agreement, or sign up. This is understandable, why should you have these skills, you've never been taught the art of selling.

'No one is a natural sales person, sales skills need to be learned. People I have come across that think they are born with a talent for selling usually talk too much, come across as arrogant, or use their overbearing confidence to bully prospects into buying.'

You Need to Learn How to Sell

Builders, interior designers, gardeners, therapist, beauticians and many more professionals need to learn how to sell if they are to build a business or make a living from their skills.

B2B service providers: SEO services, website creation, accountants, marketers, logistics, cleaners, anyone selling a product or service to businesses and commercial premises has to be able to sell to be successful.

Small business owners might not have the resources to employ a full time seller so someone with no sales training may have to do it as part of their role. When they meet or phone a potential customer where do they start, what should they say, how should they structure the conversation?

Another option is to work with a sales agent, you can see more on how sales agents can help your small business at: Sales Agents

With no training most people will try to sell on price, which means if you’re not the cheapest you don’t get the sale or new client. If you are the cheapest you could get the sale but not at the best price.

Learning how to sell is easy and you can quickly add this valuable skill to your small business or freelance enterprise....

Learn How to Sell With a Consultative Sales Process

A basic sales process that you can use to structure your sales conversations includes several stages to move your prospect from being a potential buyer to a paying customer or client. For quick and easy, simple sales offers you may cover all the stages in one brief conversation.

For other small businesses, freelancers and self employed service providers wanting to learn how to sell, the objective of the first conversation may be to arrange a sales appointment, gain agreement to a trial or to the prospect accepting and reading information. Then another conversation is arranged to follow up on the agreed actions and move the sale forward through the remaining stages to the close of the sale.

Once you understand the stages and the objectives you can structure your sales conversations around them...

Stages to Structure Your Sales Conversations

Sales Appointments - Arrange meetings or calls with prospects

The first contact with a prospect could be a cold call, response to an incomg enquiry, a follow up to information sent, or other reason to contact. Ask yourself: What's my objective? What do you want to achive at this first stage of the sales process?

If you need to meet with the prospect then that's your objective, focus on it. Don't try to close a sale, or cram in all the products and features of your product or service, stick to your objective of gaining a sales appointment.

Want to learn how to make sales appointments, see this Free Training on Appointment Setting

Learn How to Sell - Selling Success for SMEs

When you're ready to start selling to the prospect there are 4 simple stages to structure your conversation around.

The stages form the consultative sales approach. Called a consultative process because it works by discovering the buyer’s needs and presenting a proposal that meets those needs. You are working with the buyer as a consultant rather than using a hard pitch to get them to buy your product.

As an SME, service provider or self employed professional, you are an expert in your chosen field and have the knowledge and experience to advise the prospect as a qualified consultant.

Learn how to sell using the sales stages...

The sales process:

• Introduce yourself.
• Question their needs.
• Present your proposal to fulfil those needs.
• Close the sale by gaining agreement to the next step.
  

Add to this some objection handling if required and you have the basics of selling. It's simple, effective, and it works. I've used it throughout my 25 year career in sales.

You can learn more about using the stages and what should be in each one at: the Sales Process

Let’s take a closer look at each stage and what actions you should be taking and techniques you should be using...

The Introduction

Introduce yourself, your business, and your products or services. Two important actions at this stage are: to give the prospect a good reason why you are meeting with them, and to show there is a potential benefit for them. Learn how to sell with this free training on the Introduction Stage

Discover what the prospect wants

The questioning stage, where you find out exactly what the prospect wants, needs, or desires. This is why it’s called consultative selling, you are working with them to find a way to deliver what they want.

Whether you're a builder offering repairs or improvements to B2C customers, or a B2B service, this is where you get a clear picture of the problem the prospect wants a solution for or what they want your help to achieve. The information you gain at this stage will be used to present your sales offer in the next stage.

There is a unique and simple way to question prospects in a conversational style, it works well, is easy to learn, and lets you organise your presentation as you gather the information. Take a look at: Sales Questioning Technique

Present your sales offer

Using the information gathered in the previous stage, present your sales offer, proposal, solution, or whatver you want to call it.

The secret to presenting a successful sales offer is to show the prospect what it will do for them. Not just what your product or service does. Present the benefits not just the features.

An SEO service can get your company to the top of the first page on the search engines!
So what? What does that do for the business owner? It's a feature.

An SEO service can get your business to the top of the first page on the search engines, trippling enquiries and closed sales compared to your current ranking. The feature supports the benenfit.

Learn how to create a sales presentation that leads to more closed sales at Sales Presentation

Close the sale - Gain agreement - Grow your business

Learn how to sell actually means learn how to close more sales. Everything in the earlier stages is aimed at closing the sale. After the sales presentation you are ready to ask that big question to gain the order, recruit the client, get the contract.

The more you learn about using the earlier stages the easier it is to close sales at this stage.

In the sales presentation stage you can add a trial close, this will tell you if the prospect is ready to buy or if you need to overcome objections or concerns.

In the introduction stage you made them aware you would present a sales proposal and ask if it met their needs. So no shock when you ask for the order.

In the sales questioning stage you asked if there were any other needs, wants, desires that you hadn't discussed, Ensuring you have all you need to know to create a great sales proposal.

All you need to do now is asked for agreement to whatever your sales close is: an order, agreement to a trial, delivery dates, commencement of service, signed contract. See how to frame your closing question at: Closing the Sale

Learn How to Sell - In a Nutshell

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