Ahh, sales. Nobody loves it. Well, maybe some people do. Those people are born with a certain knack for it and are probably in roles that are specific to that. However, if you’re an entrepreneur, sales are part of your job to grow your business and it may not be where your strengths lie. It is a necessary evil, and a very important one at that to drum up new business and succeed. If you’re one of these people, do not fret, there are some tactics that you can take to keep up with best practices in sales. Here are some of our tips.
1. Know your audience: In B2B sales, you need to know what other businesses are looking for. What do they want from you? What can you offer them that others can’t?
2. Sell in a buyer-responsive way: Provide the buyer with what they want, when they want it.
3. Establish trust: Be transparent with your prospective clients. Honestly goes a long way and showing them that you are human will strengthen this.
4. Demonstrate your expertise: How is your brand the best out there? Why? What makes you stand out? Let prospective clients know your worth and show them you’re an expert. This will increase the likelihood that they will go with your brand instead of someone else’s.
5. Be a good storyteller: We’ve said this in the past and we’ll say it again. Telling good stories is important for so many aspects of business and this is one of them. When selling, it’s important to sell your story too. Let businesses know who you are and why you do what you do. This will show your humanity as well. Everyone has a story to tell. What’s yours?
6. Personalize: Do research on prospective clients before reaching out. Let them know you’ve done your homework and it will show your desire to want to work with them.
7. Try multiple marketing tactics: Send emails, try cold calls, social media DM’s, etc. You never know what the best way to reach someone will be and everyone’s preferred method will be different. That’s why it is important to try multiple forms of contact.
This list is just somewhere to get you started on your sales journey but it can help you begin to understand the strategies necessary to meet sales goals. Not everyone is born good at selling but the good news is that it can be improved on. “Become the persona who would attract the results you seek.” -Jim Cathcart
