This post was originally published September 2nd, 2019, after I had returned from a sales conference in Toronto. It has been updated to reflect changes in sales and marketing since then, to help you make more sales in our increasingly AI-driven world.
It feels like AI is taking over the world.
We’re all seeing more AI-created content, programs and classes about how to use AI, fake products and services created by AI, even literal AI-created “fake news”.
This is making it harder to sell genuine products and services.
The more people are scammed, or hear about others being scammed, the more sensitive their “bullsh*t meters” become.
That’ doesn’t change the fact that we, as business owners still have to “make the sale.” It may be something we all dread but it is how we make money for our businesses, pay our bills, take care of our families and keep our lives functioning.
Which means we need to find ways to be comfortable with making more sales while not feeling “salesy.”
This post is all about what truly goes into making more sales and doing it in a way that makes you and your customers feel good about the whole thing. You’ll also discover the secret to making it easy for your customers to say, “yes,” as well as how to avoid the dreaded “no.”
Avoid the Used Car Salesperson Feeling
This is why most people hate selling.
That weird feeling of being “sold.”
The high-pressure tactics many salespeople use to close the sale so they can make their commissions.
Candidly, the whole sales process can just feel slimy.
It’s why most people say “just looking” when they’re approached by a salesperson. They don’t want to be backed into a corner and forced to buy something.
To be fair, most salespeople don’t like feeling “salesy.”
The interesting thing is, when you actively look for a salesperson because you have a question or because you know you want something the entire relationship changes.
Now, it’s on your terms. You feel like you’re in control and the salesperson’s job is to help you get where you want to be.
Really, that’s how all sales should be conducted. With the goal of helping the customer get where they want to be.
Don’t Focus on the Transaction – Focus on the Transformation
If there is one big take-away I want you to keep from reading this blog post it is this statement.
It has been reiterated to me hundreds of times at conferences… in workshops… in sales and marketing courses… Pretty much everywhere I turn in the marketing world.
So often, we, as business owners, obsess over our bottom lines.
That makes sense. We’re running businesses. We need to stay in the black. For us, it’s all about making more sales.
Guess what?
Your customers don’t care about that.
As mentioned in my blog post on features and benefits, the only thing they want to know is the answer to the question, “What’s In It For Me?”
Honestly, you ask the same question when you’re faced with any purchase. Why wouldn’t you want to give your customers the same answer?
The problem is, you’re so focused on making the sale, you don’t think about the person on the other end of the transaction.
They don’t want to be sold. They want to solve the problem your product or service is supposed to help them with.
They’re searching for a transformation.
They want the one thing that will make their life so much better. Fulfill their wildest dreams. Deliver exactly what they’ve been looking for.
You know your product or service can do that.
Focus on how it will do that and share that with your customer.
Paint the Picture of Their Dreams Being Fulfilled
We all have dreams we want to see come true.
These dreams might be as big and elaborate as winning the lottery and being able to take care of our friends and loved ones for the rest of their lives.
They might be as simple as wanting to not be in pain all the time or to feel better about how their bodies look in the mirror.
Internally, your potential customer knows what having achieved their dream looks like.
Your job is to show your potential customer what their dream looks like with your product or service as part of that picture.
This is where the transformation comes in.
You need to take them from where they are now to where they want so desperately to be.
That means describing their lives with your product or service in it.
You can do this directly, stating the specific steps a potential customer must take to achieve their dreams, including using your product.
You can tell the stories of your current customers and how they achieved their own dreams, many of which should be similar to your potential customer’s dream.
You can describe what their life will be like once they’ve made this transformation with the help of your product or service.
You can tell your own story of why you created your product or service in the first place and how it has affected your own life.
Many businesses start because we have a problem we need to solve. Once we solve it, others ask for our help and suddenly, we discover there’s a need for what we have to offer.
Your own story can be incredibly convincing when it comes to painting the picture of your potential customer’s dreams coming true, because you’ve been where they are and you’ve achieved your dreams.
We Are Humans First, Seller and Customer Second
Whether you are selling in person, online or via direct mail, always remember there is a person on the other end of your transaction.
Our lives have become very disconnected from each other. This started long before the internet took over, but that and the wave of AI-generated content have both definitely played into this problem.
As business owners, we want to see results! We want to analyze our performance and see where we can improve so we can make more sales and grow our businesses.
We can’t have those businesses without the people we sell to.
And we must remember, they are people, not statistics or open pocketbooks.
Part of painting that picture of your potential customer achieving their dreams is building a relationship with them.
Do you need to become best friends?
No. Though in some cases, you may. Stranger things have happened.
You do need to show that you understand where they are right now and have compassion for their situation, because you’ve been there.
You need to be the example of success their looking for, and show other examples of success, so they understand their dreams are achievable.
Above all, you need to show your own humanity, flaws and all.
If you are relatable, they will want to relate to you. They’ll want to open up to you and build that relationship, person to person.
When you allow that to happen, when you build that relationship with your current and potential customers and show that you are human, like them, you’ll help more people achieve their transformation and you’ll make more sales.
(Hint: Weekly nurture emails are a great way to build your relationship with current and potential customers.)
Approach Every Sale from a Place of Abundance
I know this sounds a bit woo-woo, but it’s also really practical advice.
In that same way everyone hates feeling like they’re “being sold” your customers can tell when you’re desperate to make the sale. That turns a lot of people off. Worse yet, it can attract the wrong kinds of customers to your business. The ones that are hard to please, that take up a lot of your time and who return things or give you bad reviews.
Instead of projecting an air of desperation because you “really need to make this sale,” come from a place of “if this is right, it will happen.”
I realize for most of us, that’s a strange way to run a business. The truth is, if you make your case for your product or service clear, then leave that space open for your customers to say “yes” and convince themselves… you’re going to make more sales.
There are simple ways to do this, like:
- Showing your customers why your product or service is ideal for them and their situation.
- Making it clear who your product or service is not for. (No one wants to be part of the “out” group.)
- Not pressuring your customers but giving them the choice to come back when they’re ready.
Again, this all comes back to remembering that we’re all human and should treat each other as such. The more you can find ways to guide your ideal customers along their own buyer’s journey, the more likely they are to hand over their hard-earned cash to you once they’re ready to buy.
Sending regular nurture emails is a perfect way to offer this guidance. So is the occasional check-in via SMS text message marketing or direct personal contact, if you have those options.
Still Worried That You Come Off as Too Salesy?
It’s an easy habit to fall into, especially when you know you need to make sales to survive.
Your relationship with your customers is incredibly important to your bottom line. If you’re sending emails that feel to your subscribers like they’re employing all the high-pressure sales tactics, you risk losing both sales and subscribers.
A big part of making the sale is building a good relationship with your subscribers, so they trust you, like what you sell and are primed to buy.
To be able to do that, you have to figure out what the heck to write in those relationship-building nurture emails.
I’m going to reveal an email marketing secret…
Your subscribers have a Nurture Email “Type” they’re most likely to open, read, and buy from.
Once you know this Nurture Email Type, you can use the standard formula this type follows to write engaging email after engaging email, which will build that relationship and remove the feeling of high-pressure sales tactics on both sides.
Then you won’t feel sleazy or salesy when you write your emails and your subscribers will be happy to read your emails and buy your product or service.
Find out your subscribers’ Nurture Email Type by clicking on the button below to take my free, 60-second quiz.