Why the Hard Sell Doesn't Work

I have done a lot of jobs in my time. Dont get me wrong I am not that old. I just know that when I was studying at University I did lots of different jobs. Everything from working behind bars to selling jobs.

This is where the idea for this blog came from, I noticed whilst doing my sales gigs, that both jobs, one was actually selling milk door to door and one was getting appointments for double glazing salesman to go to, again this was door to door.

In both roles one think I noticed help constant, we were trained not to sell. Thats right not to sell.

Not Selling? How Did you Make Sales?

I am glad you asked. I will start from the beginning, people dont want you to sell to them they want to buy from you. Think of it this way, when you go to your local supermarket do you get approached by a salesperson trying to sell you your groceries. No

The reason for this is simple, there is already a need or want to buy.  If you go for the hard sales approach, people will be put off. You will get some sales, but the people you have sold to will most probably only use the product for the free period, or return it within a few days.

I remember when I was trying to get booking appointments for the double glazing sales people, the approach I took was to open with a line, something like "Sorry to bother you when you are full of busy", as we were going door to door it was dinner time, and people were getting dinner ready after being at work. So this approach broke down the barrier of the salesman calling when you are too busy. It also opened up the home owner to wondering why I was at their door.

Ok so after doing these jobs and now with the increased use of remote selling, namely via the internet, we have more regulations to allow people to return goods, namely Distance Selling Regulations. This means that we need to be sure that when we sell our product, that the buyer is genuine and will not return it.

Now Heres The Secret

I guess by this point you are thinking, ok so how do I sell without selling?

Easy

You are already part of Apsense, and no doubt you have made contacts on this and other web 2.0 websites. The main thing al of these websites, blogs, etc have in common is that everyone wants to sell something, but no one is going for the hard sell.

Take this example, when ever you attend a business networking event, its always difficult to sell your product or service. Why? The reason is that everyone is in the same mindset. That of selling, no one is receptive to buying.

Now if you attend a seminar, say a seminar on how to advertise online, when you attend this seminar its a lot easier to come away with sales appointments. Now why is this?

The Reason

The main difference is in the mindset, not only the minset of the person you want to sell to, but in your mindset. As you are attending the event to learn something, and chatting about your business is more of a choice than a need.

What this means is that you are not coming on too strong, you are not directly selling anything. Then when you say something interesting people are willing to purchase, and you get the buy in.

In Conclusion

So with the increased ability to get your name out there, by Apsense, Twitter, Squidoo and many others, it is never easier to make people aware of what you do and how they can take advantage of it. Without Selling.

So no longer do you need to be a salesman to sell. If you have something worth buying, it will sell itself. All you  need to do is create the awareness.

Happy Selling (or Not, tee hee)

SeanJC
http://www.buzzproperties.co.uk/