As a business owner, it can be very hard to sell. Trying to sell it is like asking, “Isn’t my baby beautiful?” You run the risk that others will say “no.”
As the salesperson and the business owner, it’s like being the mom who wants everyone to say their baby is beautiful but runs the risk that they’ll say it’s ugly. Your ego is riding on the answer. You are approaching the situation from an emotional standpoint. You are very invested in the outcome. The truth is it’s not about whether your product or service is the greatest thing since sliced bread. It’s whether your product or service helps them solve a problem; whether they see value in it. When you shift your focus to the prospect and NOT your product or service, you can look at the situation more objectively.
It’s easy to be unemotional when you are focused on the prospect and their needs. And this is really what sales is all about. If they don’t want to buy your product or service, it’s not a judgement or a personal statement. They just don’t need it.
Your time is best spent understanding the value your product/service brings to your clients. Then you can seek out more qualified prospects. One of the reasons we misinterpret lost sales is because we are prospecting to everyone. While prospecting may be a numbers game, it is also a target game. The more we target our prospecting to the right potential customers, the better our odds will be. When we know the value it brings and who needs it, we have a better idea of where we should be spending our prospecting time.
If you are going down the wrong road you will not get to your destination. When you truly understand the value of your offering you can draw a direct line to your prospect base. Then, when you go down that road, you are really heading in the right direction. You won’t experience as many ‘no’ responses and your ego won’t take large hits.
And remember, it’s not about you – it’s about them. We have to stop thinking about every interaction as if it’s a direct reflection on us. It’s not.
When you try to ‘sell’ to someone who has no interest in your product or service you are setting yourself up. On the flip side, if you do your research and reach out to those companies/people that mirror your current clients, you are more likely to make a connection.
When you engage in ‘sales’ conversations with prospects you are an investigator, not an educator. Your job is to learn as much as you can about them so you can see where, and if, your product or service helps them. Only then can you sell to them, because you can connect how your offering has value for them and their situation.
Spend your time assuring you know the value your product or service provides. Reach out to companies/people that look like your current clients and have a conversation with them. Find out as much as you can about them. When you focus on value instead of selling you will stay in an unemotional state of mind and your sales will actually increase. Moreover, they will be more meaningful and long term. Value is objective, not personal. So, go with it!
