Sales 101

For a long time, sales was a mystery to me. I didn’t understand it. And every time I’d worked with a salesperson, I felt like I needed to take a shower.

But as I got more into business, you realize that the reason sales people give you the creeps is probably because they are bad sales people. With the good ones, you never know you’re being sold to.

The trick to good sales is meeting a need. If you have a product (or service) you’re selling, the person buys it because they want it to add value to their lives. With business to business, this usually means you’re helping your customers make money or save money.

With business to consumer, the motives can be a little more vague – maybe it’s a status symbol, maybe it’s something to save time. Regardless, they are hoping to get something out of it that they see as value.

So if you’re a sales person, he’s the basic process:

• Listen to the customers’ wants and needs
• Determine if your product/service meets those needs
• If (and only if) it does meet those needs, show them why and how it will be those needs.
• Profit.

That’s it. Sales 101.