Learn to sell. In business you’re always selling – to your prospects, investors and employees. To be the best salesperson put yourself in the shoes of the person to whom you’re selling. Don’t sell your product. Solve their problems.
Whether it is discussing your product or service with potential customers, pitching your business to investors, or perhaps even just talking to fellow entrepreneurs at a networking event, as an early-stage entrepreneur sales and selling are something that you will have to do. Yet many people struggle with sales and the notion of selling.
In this unit you will consider the nature of sales and selling in a start-up context, and look at some practical ways in which you can improve your own sales ability.
As an entrepreneur, your ability to sell your product’s big idea to potential investors, or sell your product and service to buyers, can mean the difference between success and failure. Yet how comfortable are you with the concept of sales and selling?
What is your experience of selling or being sold to?
If your immediate reaction is to think of pushy, aggressive people foisting unwanted products on you at inconvenient times, then you may well not want to be associated with that. Or if you fear having your idea or request rejected or criticised then this will make it harder for you to approach sales confidently and positively.
To become effective, selling your business or idea comes down to how you feel about it, as the first thing that people will buy into is you – even before they know about your product or service. As the old adage goes – people buy from people!
If you don’t convey confidence and passion for your own idea, why would you expect others to engage with you? After all, they have alternatives.
All too often the act of selling is regarded as manipulation or even exploitation. Yet that is not the case at all, as this definition highlights:
Selling is any transaction in which money is exchanged for a good or service. During a sales negotiation, the seller attempts to convince or ‘sell’ the buyer on the benefits of their offer. If the buyer wishes to strike a deal, they will give the seller an agreed upon amount of money in exchange for the seller’s product/service. Put simply, selling is the act of persuading.
At their core, selling and sales are simply about providing solutions or solving problems for potential buyers. Sometimes those buyers (including investors) might already have expressed an interest, but on other occasions you will need to find them and persuade them of the merits of what you have to offer. In such cases successful sales can require both ‘problem finding’ and ‘problem solving’.
While ‘problem finding’ typically involves significant research and investigation, ‘problem solving’ can mean demonstrating not just how your idea, product or service meets a need but also how it resolves a problem faced by the buyer. Equally, depending on the stage of the sales cycle, you might need to spend time establishing your credibility, describing the key benefits and advantages of your offering, or even dealing with objections (Leverington, 2016).
As long as you undertake this process honestly and are meeting the genuine needs of buyers, then selling should be seen in a positive light. One writer in the area of sales makes the point that:
Selling is not about achieving the salesperson’s goals; but fulfilling those of the customer.
It is not about making sales; but helping people buy.
It is about concentrating on the process; not the outcome.
Every business owner has a commercial imperative. They need to make sales in order to stay in business. However, selling is ‘win–win’; not ‘win–lose’.
More than that, however, Leverington (2016) is clear that, ‘the key is to remember you are having a conversation; it doesn’t have to be a hardcore pitch’.
How you sell your product, service or idea will very much depend on who you are selling to.
B2B – Business-to-Business sales occur when you sell your product or service to another business, which may then resell it or possibly integrate it into their own products or services. For example, a supplier of automotive parts might sell its products to a retailer who will then sell them to consumers.
B2C – Business-to-Consumer sales is where you are selling your product or service to consumers directly. For example, a business creates a smartphone app, which it makes available directly to consumers via the App Store.
Some businesses will engage in both B2B and B2C sales at the same time, depending on customer need. For example, a bakery might sell bread directly to the public (B2C) as well as to the local café (B2B), which then uses the bakery’s bread in the sandwiches it makes and sells to the public.
The sales approach you take can differ significantly between B2B and B2C. For B2C sales, relationships are important but the process can often be much more remote and customers might be more interested in added extras and perceived bonuses.
Alternatively, for B2B sales you might need to spend time developing relationships in order to ensure long-term repeat purchases. Research by global consultancy firm McKinsey & Company highlighted the specific interests of B2B customers:
[B2B] Customers insisted price and product aspects were the dominant factors that influenced their opinion of a supplier’s performance and, as a result, their purchasing decisions. Yet when we examined what actually determined how customers rated a vendor’s overall performance, the most important factors were product or service features and the overall sales experience.
When dealing with B2B customers you might consequently need to spend more time working to overcome objections and highlighting the features, advantages and benefits of your offering.
Successful selling requires a combination of various interpersonal and professional skills, all of which can be developed. Roberts-Phelps (2001, p. 103) argues that these skills include the functions listed in Table 1.
Skill | Function |
---|---|
Connecting | To establish a personal bond with the customer. |
Encouraging | To keep the customer participating in the sales call. |
Questioning | To get in-depth information on the situation, problems and needs. |
Listening | To hear and remember the facts and feelings shared by the customers. |
Confirming | To make the progress of the sales call explicit. |
Providing | To give information to create a clear, positive image of the salesperson, company, products, and services. |
Successful selling requires that you develop and draw upon each of these skills at various points throughout the sales process – from prospecting and initial contact through to final delivery and ongoing support. The judicious use of questioning techniques (most particularly open and closed questions) is key, as is active listening, which is discussed in the Communications unit.
Most sales models generally follow a similar pattern. The one illustrated below (Figure 4) is typical because it shows sales as a cycle – an iterative series of interactions with the client or customer.
The key activities you would undertake at each phase of the sales process are outlined in the following sections.
Prospecting is the foundation of the entire sales process as it is critical to establish a solid baseline of knowledge, including:
Knowledge about your own company
Knowledge of the potential client or customer
Knowledge of the individuals making the purchase decision
Initial ideas about likely needs
Knowledge and ideas about how your company could respond to these needs.
When dealing with B2B customers it is important to know who will make the purchasing decision. On some occasions your contact could be just a representative of a team and someone else will make the final decision, such as a senior manager.
Make a list of prospective customers. Where are they based and how might you find out more about them?
Researching prospective customers might involve monitoring the media, carrying out internet searches, attending industry events, or even reviewing public databases of companies and organisations. Leads or introductions from existing clients can also be helpful during this phase.
If people don’t know you exist the sale will never happen. During the ‘Making contact’ phase you need to start making contact with potential clients and customers.
How do you make contact?
Your background research will hopefully guide and inform your approach, though ultimately the way you make contact will very much depend on two key things:
the nature of the product, service or idea you are offering
the profile of the clients or customers you are targeting.
Each will have a bearing on the nature of the sales channel chosen and the key messages you choose to convey.
If you are selling to consumers the key focus should be on where they are and where they purchase. So, for example, if you have developed an app that you believe will appeal to 18-year-olds, then you need to be online and building awareness on platforms and social media relevant to that demographic. Alternatively, if you are selling a service to busy working parents or to retirees then a very different approach would be needed.
If you are selling to businesses the approach will be quite different. While you might need to ‘go to where they are’ by attending trade shows or industry networking events, cold-calling (i.e. making an unsolicited call to a business or contact) and direct mail or emailing will probably also be necessary. Introductions from existing customers or trusted contacts can also be of critical importance when engaging with businesses.
If you are ever in doubt about the best channel to use, why not ask your customers or look at what other businesses are doing successfully. You might be surprised by what you find out, and by showing interest in people from your target market you could find sales in new and unexpected areas.
As you engage with potential clients and customers, whether face-to-face, online, by phone or any other channel, it is critical that you have an ‘elevator pitch’ ready.
An elevator pitch… is a short description of an idea, product, company, or oneself that explains the concept in a way such that any listener can understand it in a short period of time. This description typically explains who the product/company is for, what it does, why it is needed, and how it will get done.
A coherent elevator pitch will help you to swiftly and effectively communicate the essence of your offer. If in doubt, give it a go and see what the reaction is like… developing an effective elevator pitch takes time, effort and practice!
What is your elevator pitch? Spend some time developing or refining your elevator pitch and testing it on some friends and colleagues. Be sure to get some feedback from them on how effective they felt it was in describing your business and business idea.
Developing an elevator pitch is one thing, perfecting it is another. By constantly practising your pitch you will become more effective at outlining the key elements of your offer in a way that it is interesting and engaging. If through the practice process you find that people are not quite understanding the key elements then it should act as a prompt to modify and revise your pitch.
Hopefully during the development of your product, service or idea you will have spent time understanding and identifying the market need that you are trying to satisfy. Nonetheless, when you actually meet and engage with potential clients and customers you will need to ensure that you spend time exploring and reconfirming those needs. In order to explore these needs, Tasso (2000, p. 57) argues that you should:
ask relevant questions
confirm your understanding of the issues
offer ideas and suggestions to gauge reaction
provide a reason to sustain the information exchange
identify any potential issues or constraints.
Making a pitch or a proposal is your opportunity to let your product, service or idea shine. If you are selling to consumers it will likely be simple and straightforward (‘Our new app will simplify your weekly shopping, saving you time and money!’), whereas if you are selling to a business or an organisation it will likely be more complex. You might have to write a proposal in which you outline the costs, the benefits your product offers and the requirements you will fulfil.
Whatever form it takes, your proposal should target the needs identified during the previous stages and demonstrate how your offering can uniquely meet those needs.
In an ideal world, your proposal would be so compelling that customers or clients would simply sign-up immediately. Yet the reality is that people always have questions and want clarification – and this is a good thing.
Dealing with objections can be a very important learning opportunity, giving you greater insight into market needs and how you might adapt or modify your offering or proposal for next time.
The key is to really listen and understand the objections so that you can respond appropriately. Whatever you do, don’t get defensive and don’t take the questions or objections personally. Put yourself in their shoes: you would probably do the same thing if you were in their position.
In practical terms, when questions or objections are raised you should always seek to listen to the client, acknowledge their query or concern, ask further questions to understand their underlying need or requirement and then respond fully to answer their question.
What kinds of question would you expect to receive from a customer or a client after you made a proposal?
As you meet more and more potential customers you might start to recognise patterns in the types of question they ask. Maybe there are certain features they are interested in, maybe it is the delivery cycle, maybe it is the terms and conditions.
By reflecting on these questions you will be able to develop and gradually refine your responses, though it might also point you towards gaps in your presentation or even potential deficiencies with your offering.
Assuming that you have successfully understood customer needs, delivered a compelling proposal and effectively responded to objections, finalising the sale should be pretty simple… at least in theory.
Finalising or closing the sale can be one of the most difficult elements of the sales process. You might be afraid of appearing pushy or demanding, or perhaps even be overly conscious of the investment that you are asking a potential customer or client to make. Yet in order to successfully sell your offering you need to finalise the sale.
It might seem strange at first, but finalising a sale or a deal might just mean asking if the customer or client is ready to buy. Perhaps they have tried a sample of your product and seem to really like it, or maybe they keep coming back and asking more and more questions. Some examples might include:
Asking for details of a specific service or feature
Asking detailed questions about pricing
Focusing on the potential benefits
Clarifying terms and conditions
Investigating payment methods and processes
Asking about next steps.
These can be genuine buying signals that you should be aware of, though needless to say, each buyer will behave in different ways. Think of the various meanings that could be attached to a simple statement such as ‘That is great, I will bear it in mind’. Some might be using this as a way to fob you off, while others will genuinely want to bear it in mind as they consider their options.
For B2B sales, in particular, you also need to know whether the person you are dealing with is the key decision maker. While they might be, it could be the case that your contact is representing a team and someone else is responsible for the decision. It can therefore be helpful to get a chance to speak directly to the key decision maker in order to finalise a sale.
After you have finalised the sale, it might be a case of starting all over again with new customers or clients. Equally, however, you should always be on the lookout for repeat sales from existing customers. So… don’t forget to follow-up and keep in touch.
Taking a strategic approach to sales will enable you to go beyond a short-term ‘just make the sale!’ approach and focus on sales as a long-term enabler of business growth. Any strategy within your business, be it an innovation strategy, HR strategy or sales strategy should reflect the vision, mission and goals of your overall strategy. Should they ever not be aligned, or perhaps even contradict each other, then you may need to rethink what it is that you are aiming to achieve.
Key questions to ask in this regard include:
Have you clearly defined your market and market segment?
Do you have a clear picture of the value of your offering to that market?
Do you understand your customers’ needs and expectations?
Do your selling timelines match the customers’ buying timelines?
How many customers can you successfully manage and how many do you need to be successful?
How do you manage sales to existing customers while simultaneously developing new customers?
The answers to these questions will help you develop a comprehensive sales plan:
A sales plan is a strategy that sets out sales targets and tactics for your business, and identifies the steps you will take to meet your targets.
A sales plan will help you:
define a set of sales targets for your business
choose sales strategies that are suited to your target market
identify sales tactics
budget and clarify steps you’ll take to achieve your targets
review your goals periodically and improve your approaches to sales.
This unit has explored some of the key aspects of sales and selling that you will need to consider as you continue your entrepreneurial journey. While for many people sales can seem difficult at first, the more you get out and engage with customers the better you will become.
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Figure 1: Image by Mediamodifier from Pixabay
Figure 2: Image by Pashminu Mansukhani from Pixabay
Figure 3: Image by Анастасия Гепп from Pixabay
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