Want More Sales? Stop Selling

No one wants to be sold something . . . they want to buy it. So stop trying to sell.
Instead of selling, you need to solve problems.
People turn off a sales pitch. Don’t have them turn off you, too. Here are some tips on selling by solving problems:

• Ask Questions: People love to talk. Especially about themselves. So let them. Be genuinely interested in them. Everyone is interesting if you take the time to know them. So ask questions, delve deep. Eventually, you will hit upon a problem that needs a solution. Listen long enough, and you will know how to present the solution—your product or service.
• You are a Consultant, Not a Salesperson: Think of yourself as a counselor or a consultation. Your job is not to push your agenda, but to truly help the other person. Don’t rush in. Hold your tongue and feel your way through it. Show empathy. Get to the root of the problem. When the time is right, present your product or opportunity as if you were talking with a friend. Remember that you are not selling them your product—you are helping them solve their problem.
• Tell, Don’t Sell: The key to selling is to tell. Tell your story. How did it help you? Tell other people’s stories. How did it help them? We all love a good story. I’d much rather hear how someone else’s life changed or got better than hear a list of features and benefits of a product or service. So make it personal and tell a story.
•  You are not Concerned with Sales: It’s as if you have to divorce yourself from the outcome. You can’t care whether you make a sale or not, it’s about the other person. From start to finish. Think long-term. This person may not buy now. But nothing is stopping him from buying later. So sow the seed now, water it . . . and eventually it will push out of the ground and blossom.
• You have other things to offer: You are not a one-sided deal. You are a whole human being outside of your product or opportunity. Show that to the world. Here’s where personal branding comes in. If you build a strong enough brand, you can capitalize on it: with ebooks, speaking engagements, consultations, your own line of products . . . you name it. So you open up as many other revenue streams as you can. And with each sale, you have another lead for your network marketing opportunity. But that lead is warm to hot, not ice cold.
• No Strangleholds: So you had a perfect first encounter with a prospect. She didn’t buy right away, but you feel good about it. You started off on the right foot. So don’t shot yourself in the foot by following up too much. I see it done offline and online, too. I do not want an email every day with increasingly insistent messages. I don’t want phone calls, voicemails, texts, etc., coming at me all the time. There’s no hard-and-fast formula to it. But every day is too much. Every other day is too much. For some people, every two weeks is too much. And then there are those who’d prefer to call you instead. You can tell. People start to ignore your calls. You can never reach them in person. Online, they unsubscribe to your email. They don’t respond to your posts. Don’t get to that point. When it comes to follow up, err on the side of caution. Contact them less than you think they want. Less is definitely more in this case! 

If you do it right, prospects will know about your product and opportunity.
But they won’t feel pushed, prodded, and poked into acting on it . . . until they truly want to and are ready.

Think about it: Those are the people you want in your organization.