Wednesday, August 10, 2011

SELL YOURSELF FIRST BEFORE YOU SELL YOUR PRODUCTS OR SERVICES:


There are lots of ideas and concepts from old schools about selling. Unfortunately, they do not apply anymore because the present-day context is completely different. Customers are highly informed and their expectations are also rapidly increasing.  If we apply old ideas in selling, they may become defensive and have doubts about our intentions.  If we allow potential customers to drift away like this, it will be disastrous to our business because we will be left with a reduced customer base. There are many sales executives who struggle to sell because they are still applying these traditional ideas. Therefore they must change the way they think and adopt new ideas and concepts in selling.
There are empirical evidences to prove that these old ideas are counterproductive and do not yield the desired results. So, as an entrepreneur, it is imperative that you study the new concepts in selling and apply them to obtain good results. Experts are time and again highlighting the importance you should give to the expectations of customers. Therefore, they have come out with certain new theories taking this highly crucial aspect into account. In fact, anchoring customers' expectations has become one of the biggest challenges of every business. Though the lack of this knowledge is a huge limitation, the new sales principles are sure to minimize the subjectivity involved in the sales process to a major extent. 
The most important point you should understand is that when you try to sell your products or services to customers, you should sell yourself first. Customers have fear and they are skeptical about sellers like you. You should remove this fear from their minds by selling yourself first.  If you succeed in this, you can rest assured that you will be able to sell your products or services to these prospective customers. Simply put, according to the new concepts of selling, you are not actually selling. You are creating a relationship with the customers.
If you compare the traditional thinking and the new ideas, the traditional ideas advocate a strong sales pitch but according to the new concepts, you should not start a sales pitch but you should begin a conversation with your customers. Secondly, you should not approach the whole issue with an aim to close a sale. You should remember that you are actually exploring if there can be a relationship between you and the prospective customers.
According to the old ideas, if a sale fails, that is called the end of the sales process but the contemporary concept says that the loss of a sale happens when you begin the sales process itself. In the same manner, rejections are absolutely normal in the traditional concepts but they are viewed differently in the new concept. Likewise, you are not advised to chase a prospective customer because it may create a sales pressure.
Similarly, a customer who asks several questions is not a trouble-maker. Such a customer provides you with many opportunities to learn. So, you should not become defensive, try to prove your points and spoil your chances of learning. To put it in a nutshell, customers do not like to be sold. If they get a feeling that you are trying to convince them for selling your products or services, they become defensive. So, your approach should be to help them to find out solutions for their requirements. This should also be handled in a subtle manner by creating a relationship with them.
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