The Art of Selling

By Mike OJ

Friday, March 1, 2019

The Art of Selling Online

The ability to sell is a necessity in our world. Whether it’s standing out in the crowd or winning over some new customers; selling is something we do every day, and we should endeavor to be great at it. In our fast-paced world, most of the decisions we make are made based on natural factors around us, with less time to consider every aspect of information presented before us, we leave the hard work of being rational to our subconscious mind to process it.

What is selling?

Selling is first and foremost a transaction between the seller and the prospective buyer or buyers where money (or something considered to have monetary value) is exchanged for goods or services. It is an art of persuasion where you (The seller) directs the buyer to a point of decision. It is understanding the basic psychology of the customer and using it to your advantage. Staying entirely focused with the prospective customer in the communication of the benefits of your products or services, be it tangible or intangible, and being able to convince the customer that he or she will personally experience the benefits has to offer.

Confused, let’s break down a bit, if you really want to be a master at selling, you must be a successful communicator. You must be able to use the tools at your disposal to reach out to the customer, you must be ready to make use of the knowledge that will show you what lies beneath the decisions people make and how they make them. It might seem like a complex task but it is achievable with the following steps.

Be bold in your approach

You want to capture the right audience, you want to project a credible brand, you want to engage and positively influence their decision. But first, you need an approach that projects self-confidence and allows the customer to feel your personality behind your online store. You need to create a good impression while being able to build a long lasting relationship with your visitor/customers. There are many business sales approach but we would be talking about three of them.

1. Transactional Selling: This approach focuses on making quick sales; there is no attempt to form a long-term relationship with the customer. While transactional selling tends to be looked down on today, it does have its place. Looking at it from the customer's point of view, sometimes a simple transaction is all the customer wants.

1. Consultative selling a.k.a. relationship selling: Consultative selling depends on developing a long-term relationship with the customer. The salesperson's goal is to get to know the customer's needs and wants so he or she can do the best job of giving the customer what they want.

1. Collaborative Selling: Collaborative selling takes relationship selling one step further; this sales approach depends on a partnership mentality between buyer and seller.

Be a Good and Proactive listener

In my previous post, " Why you need a live help platform for your website” I made mention of the fact that when you respond to your customers’ requests/ inquiries at real time, it makes them happy, it gives your business a credible image and increases the probability of a positive conversion rate. Finding out what it is the customer actually wants and helping out in the best way possible leaves you in the good books of the customer. Even though the customer may not be interested in the product/services you are selling at that moment of inquiry but they may have a need you for another product or service that you can fulfill now or in the nearest future.

Be Credible

Always remember, nothing turns off a customer faster than broken sales promises. So as much as you want to make a credible sale with the customer, please don’t be in hurry to project the wrong image to the customer.

Maintain the communication channel

Constantly look for new ways to promote your store, make good use of your email marketing, SEO, website updates, and social media postings so your customers can be kept up to date with the latest product or service offerings on your store. If you are not into videos as a marketing tool, you might want to start it.

Always Give Back

Investing in your customer increases the likelihood that customers will return the favor when next they have a need for your products or services. So it is time to give back to the customer, create a Customer Loyalty System on your website and watch the sales go boom.

In order to be remembered in a crowded marketplace, it helps if your business has a trait that is worth remembering. While a superior product and outstanding service are the foundation for growing a company that goes the distance, there is an opportunity to use differentiation as a competitive advantage in order to stand out like a sore thumb.