7 Tips to Selling Almost Anything

Here’s the thing – I’m the worst customer.  I want to stroll through a store and look around without anyone invading my personal space or interrupting my train of thought.  I’m particular and I have an active imagination and I can make up in my head the ideal product and I know perfectly well that it doesn’t exist so please just leave me alone to wander through the pretty things and then leave purchase-less and disappointed.  Also I have three children, which means I have zero discretionary funds to spend on myself.  Furthermore, because of those offpspring, I have to be excruciatingly aware that whatever amount I spend on Kid One must also be spent on Kid Two and Kid Three, and therefore I am compelled to be quite careful about what I spend on Kid One because I need to be able to triple it.

So please don’t try to sell me anything.  It’s 99% certain that I will say no, even if that disappoints both you and me.  As for that other 1%, maybe we’ll talk about impulse shopping another day.

Conversely, and interestingly (in my opinion), I’m a very good salesperson.  I can’t even help it.  I’ve sold everything from crème brulee to credit cards, popcorn to perfume, wine to Wonderbras.  I’ve won sales awards and competitions, and been a top seller in every job I’ve had.  If I know a fair amount about a product and I believe in it, I will sell it to you.  One day I was in a cosmetics store and sold the cashier one of her own products.  See, she’d never tried it and I had and loved it and so I described it and raved about it then she bought it.  I once had a customer approach me just to complain that everything in my store was ugly, that she couldn’t find a single thing she wanted to buy.  She may as well have waved a red cape in front of a bull.  And let me tell you, she left that store happy and with a bag full of new clothes.

I realize that this is going to come as a complete surprise, so brace yourself:  I have a lot of opinions about how to be a good salesperson.  I don’t care if you’re selling toothbrushes or cars or software – your technique should be the same. 

1. Be the expert – customers have a lot of research at their fingertips and as soon as they even consider a purchase, they turn to the internet for opinions and reviews.  But that doesn’t necessarily mean they’ve made up their mind and your expertise makes all the difference.

2. Ask your customer the right questions – toothbrushes come in a lot of shapes, sizes, colors, and textures.  All that variety can be confusing to the casual toothbrush shopper, so it’s up to you to dig in and find out what his oral hygiene needs are and show him the product that’s going to suit him best.

3. Address your customer’s concerns – even after you’ve asked the right questions and determined the right product, he might not be completely confident in your toothbrush recommendation.  Find out what his hesitation is.  Even though you know what’s best, you have to communicate to him why that’s the case.

4. Share your own enthusiasm – like the inadvertent sale I made in the cosmetics store, you spark someone’s interest in a product when you are sincerely excited about it.  It’s important that you believe in the products you sell, and that you make sure you customers can see it.

5. Be genuine – we live in an acquisitive world and the internet has made shopping easier and customers savvier.  They can spot a phony sales pitch from a mile away and it will turn them off completely.

6. Be nice – if you’ve read any of my other blogs, you’ll know that this is my life code.  I believe in karma and the golden rule and the social contract, in both my personal and my professional life.  Give your customer your attention and treat her with respect.  Smile, listen, be calm, be a problem solver.  And I know with absolute certainty that the way I treat my customers helps them to trust me and brings them back to see me again.

7. Follow up - wouldn’t you love it if someone from the drugstore texted you to let you know it’s probably time to replace your toothbrush?  Just like you should call your customer to let him know his car is due for service, or there’s an upgrade to his software that will help his business run more smoothly.  In turn, your customers learn that they can trust you, and you become their first point of contact when they need something new. 

The days of the Willy Loman, Glengarry Glen Ross selling styles are, thankfully, behind us.  Your job is less about trying to persuade your customer to buy your product than getting and providing information.  You advise, teach, and assist, and the sale will come as a matter of course.  Along the way you build relationships and foster loyalty. 

If you have a favorite selling story of your own, I would love to hear it.