How to Get People to Buy What You are Selling
I love cold calling!
Said no one, ever. It sucks.
Sure, you can spin it by saying “you learn so many good skills” or “it’s a numbers game” or “this is the price of admission for the big leagues.” Those may be true statements, but that doesn’t change the fact that cold calling is the worst. I would rather be the fish that eats skin off peoples’ toes rather than cold call.
You get my point. Instead of cold calling, or its many equivalents in business, I thought I would share some more enjoyable ways to sell.
Here are 7 ways to sell that won’t steal your soul:
1. Serve peoples’ bleeding neck. This sounds gruesome, but the principle is simple. People will have needs and NEEDS. If you can find out what people absolutely must have for themselves, their relationships, or their business you’ve found yourself a bleeding neck. Basically, what do they need to survive?
2. Follow the Law of Reciprocity. Granted, this one can be misconstrued as manipulative but I don’t think of it that way. Essentially, it means be SOOO generous with people that they feel compelled to work with you or buy from you. Contribute so much FREE value for people that they start to feel odd about it.
It’s like a relationship. If one person is doing all the giving, it starts to get weird (just ask my ex).
3. Break Up People’s Patterns - Humans are pattern creators and followers. In college, I used to switch seats almost every day. I wanted to get to know new people, but boy did it piss other students off.
“That’s my seat!,” they would huff.
It was always entertaining to watch them contemplate what rule I was breaking, and why it felt so betraying for them to have to find a new seat. They had an unspoken pattern I was intentionally breaking.
In business, we must understand patterns and when people should break them. We must give them a COMPELLING reason to abandon what they have for an alternative. It isn’t enough to be “a little better” than your competitor. You must provide emotional and intellectual rationale for why it is worth them abandoning their sense of security for a new experience.
4. Give Benefits, Not Features - This is a common pitfall for big and small companies. Company ZZZ explains we have “x widget with Y speed.” Whoopity-doo!
Why do we care?
Answer: We don’t.
Consumers want to know the benefit to them.
You can answer this for consumers by constantly asking yourself, “why do they care?”
If you can answer that question for your customers (and potential customers) consistently they will want what you are offering.
5. Treat People as. . .People. Not Product Consumers - Successful businesses and businesspeople are excellent at connecting with the individual. They make the individual feel seen, known, understood and valued. And they place the individual’s benefit ABOVE the business’s.
For example, I recently found a business online that had ZERO complaints with the Better Business Bureau (and hundreds of positive reviews). They were in one of the most contentious industries as well. I mean, people REALLY love to hate these types of businesses. What the heck?
I called them to inquire about their services and they spent ten minutes explaining why I shouldn’t hire them, They then told me what to do instead, and texted me their phone number and email in case I had any questions. I didn’t hire them.
But you know what I did do? Yep, I recommended them to everyone I could find and will unquestionably use them in the future. Get it? Got it? Good.
6. Don’t be Desperate - Desperation has a feeling. . .and it doesn’t feel good. Don’t get me wrong, it is REALLY attractive when someone totally desperate tries to hit on you, right? Wait, nope!
The same holds true for business. A good consideration is, “how can I give myself enough security so I don’t have to proceed desperately?”
For example, do you keep your full time job until you can comfortably migrate into your side hustle? Do you create a certain amount of reserve cash so you don’t need “the sale?” It’s different for everyone, but be sure to find what keeps you out of desperation mode.
7. Create from “Life” - Don’t sell a widget you don’t like. When creating or selling, you must infuse your enthusiasm and enjoyment of the product/service. Your customers will feel how you feel about what you are selling. You can feel the passion behind the best products.
Consider the initial iPhone: You could feel Jony Ive and Steve Jobs’ enthusiasm for it.
Ever felt Tony Robbins enthusiasm for his work? It’s palpable. And now he buys islands when he is bored.
If you hate your job, hate your product, or aren’t jazzed about the service you are offering; maybe you need to pivot.
Bonus Tip: Provide More Value than the Cost - One of my favorite speakers says, “provide 10x the value of what your product cost.” I like that idea.
How can you insanely over-deliver? How can you make a customer compelled to want to work with you again? How can you make your product so exceptional that they can’t shut up about it?
It just makes sense. It cost 5x more to acquire a new customer compared to selling to an old one. And your current customers are the most likely to upgrade to higher levels of service or products. Why wouldn’t you want to turn them into raving fans who feel good about spending with you?
What is the bottom line? It’s simple. Selling does not have to be horrible. When we are aligned, offering significant value, doing something we love, and connecting with people (instead of their money) we will love business and marketing.
We won’t ever have to cold call because we will be attracting people to us, instead of tryin’ to run after them.
We will also be attracting the right kind of people.
I’d rather be a meth-addicted, side-show carney pulling levers on a barely-legal, transitory tilt-a-whirl ride 16 hours a day than ever have to make another cold call.
How about you?