Category: Sales

I’m a master at acing interviews.
My number one trick?
I try to ensure
the interviewer does
most of the talking.

People feel good
when they talk a lot.
They feel intelligent.
They feel appreciated.
They feel listened to.

I once had an interview
in which I said less than 30 words.
That was it.
The interviewer talked the rest of the time.

I was offered the job.

Ruthi Byrne,
Founder of
Zinn, Graves & Field Inc.,
shares

“Be a good listener.
If you’re talking,
you’re not selling.
People like to hear their own voice,
so let them talk.
And when you do speak,
synthesize your thoughts.
Do not ramble.
Speak in sound bites.
It’s the way we remember things.”

Allow others to talk.
They will love you for it.

There are a dozen or so
key influencers
in one of the niches
I play in.
When I entered this niche,
I courted them.
I basically hand picked them
as customers,
catering to their tastes.

They then promoted my books,
sharing them
with their followers.

Clay Trainum,
co-founder of
Autumn Olive Farms,
did the same thing
with his first customers.

“We were looking
for compatibility
and menu price points
that would match the fact
that our products are never going to be
inexpensive.
It made sense to sit at home
and do that leg work
versus driving to DC
to stay in hotels and
hoof it up and down the streets.”

Consider hand picking
your first few customers
to give your product or service
the best chance for success
and sales-driving buzz.

Like many online shoppers,
I shop via the internet
because I’m super busy.
Super busy people
get interrupted.
They get distracted.
They have emergencies.

One of the features
I LOVE on online stores
is, if I’m interrupted
in the middle of shopping
and I don’t check out,
these stores will send me
reminders.

Mike Trevino,
Founder of
Indigenous Software,
shares

“For customers
who were browsing products,
does your e-commerce platform
allow you to see
if they got stuck at the shopping cart?

Maybe they just need
a little reminder.
Many platforms can auto-send
cart abandonment emails,
inviting customers to return
and complete their purchase.”

If you have an online store,
ensure you send reminders
if shoppers don’t check out
properly.
Your customers will thank you.

There are no easy sales.
Almost every big sale you make
will have speed bumps,
times in the sale
where everything goes wrong
and you think
the sale is lost.

You will be depressed,
frustrated, angry,
in the depths of despair.

This is when
your loved ones,
the folks who support you,
can make a big difference.

They can remind you
there are no easy sales,
that this is a speed bump
you will get over,
that you have other sales
in the funnel,
that you HAVE this,
you can deal with this situation.
They can give you
the optimism
that every salesperson requires
to make a sale.

If they are new to supporting you
in sales,
these loved ones will likely need
to be coached
(as you needed to be coached
when you took on a new role).

Our natural reaction
is to dwell in the depths of despair
with our loved ones.
This isn’t helpful.

To help you,
as a salesperson,
our loved ones need training.
They need to learn
how to do the opposite
of what their instincts
tell them to do.

When you feel able
(i.e. semi-rational),
tell them what you need to hear,
give them the tools
they will require
to support you.
Then remind them
from time to time
because they will relapse.
It takes time
to learn this new skill.

Supporting a salesperson
isn’t something
people are born to do.
Coach your loved ones.

I have a romance novel
(a product)
that isn’t for everyone.
So I tell people exactly this.
“This story isn’t for everyone.
If you are sensitive to X,
consider reading another one
of my stories.”

I thought this warning
would decrease sales.
This story is my number one best seller.

Tim Berry,
Founder of
Palo Alto Software,
shares

“I learned to say
“No, that’s not what I do.”
And I discovered that
saying no
gave me credibility.

Some potential clients would then
ask more about what I did do.
And some would call me back later
for what I did do.

I saw selling as
first listening to what my prospect needed,
then matching that—or not—
to what I could deliver.”

If your service or product
isn’t right for the prospect,
tell her.
Say ‘no’ to that sale.

I sell more books
when I’m super excited
about the book
and super excited
about sharing it
with readers.

Readers feel that excitement
and they want a part of it.

So before I craft promo
or attend an event
or speak to readers,
I get myself pumped up
about the book I’m selling.
Sometimes I’ll get help
from loved ones
(this is one great way
loved ones can contribute
to our business building).

Seth Godin
shares

“We can’t be
on our toes
all the time.
It’s too exhausting,
and we can’t keep it up.

But what happens
if we decide,
everyone in this room,
right here and right now,
at least for a little while,
that we’ll act as if
it’s the first time,
or the last time,
or our best shot?

What would happen
if we all got on our toes,
together?
Just for a little while?

That’s when
big things happen.”

Get excited about
whatever you’re doing
or marketing
or selling.

Much of my success
in life
and especially in sales
is due to persistence.

I rarely wow prospects
on the first meeting
and even if I do,
they usually take more convincing
to buy.
I reach out.
I reach out again.
And again.
And again.
Being friendly.
Offering different information,
different products.
Eventually I capture them.

John Shi,
co-founder of
Hillflint,
shares

“A lot of these are
really, really slow-play pitches.
I reached out to
[one university] bookstore
in the spring of 2013.
They placed their first order,
like,
over a year later.
That was just being consistent,
showing growth,
being nice and
a lot of persistence.
Now this person is
one of our closest retail partners.”

Much of success
in sales
is persistence.
Don’t give up.

The Easy Sale.
Saleswomen dream of it.

A previously unknown prospect
works into the office
or the showroom
or calls the business
or visits the website
and buys the product
without any prep,
without a pitch,
without negotiating.

It is, unfortunately, a myth.
No one buys like this.
Someone did the prep work,
the bulk of the selling.
It might not be you.
It could be another customer,
a friend of a friend
or even a competitor.
But someone did the work.

You can’t count on this happening.

If you want the sale,
you have to do the work.

There is a growing group
of readers on Amazon
who buy my books,
read them,
and return them.

Amazon has a very inexpensive
unlimited borrowing option
but
these readers pride themselves
on paying nothing for their entertainment.

Readers pay nothing
Amazon incurs costs.
They send the eBook.
Invoice the eBook.
Process that payment.
Process the return.
Deal with customer service issues.

Amazon is a big company
and can, I guess, absorb these costs.
You and I have smaller companies.
These costs are significant for us.

AND this method of legally stealing
from our businesses
is contagious.
I’ve heard readers boast to others
about what they’re doing,
saying if companies didn’t approve of it,
they wouldn’t allow it.

Track the information
around returns.
Look for serial offenders.
Have a return policy.