A patient goes to the doctor with a very bad stomach ache. The doctor checks his tummy and writes him a prescription. You go to a car dealership to buy a car. You expect the salesperson to walk you through the car, explain its features, and answer your questions. In short, you expect the salesperson to sell you the car. Humans have an inherent need to be sold to. And as a small business owner, that's why you need to sell.
In my last post, I talked about why people buy. I talked about the two forces that make people buy something. But something happens the minute you present them with your solution...
The Brain Slams the Brakes.
While it wants you to buy, it also wants you to be careful...
So you don't get conned...
Or make the wrong decisions...
Or hurt ourselves financially...
So you think before you spend your money.
That's the third force in this picture. And the reason for this force lies in the innermost part of the human brain.
Sometimes this opposing force can look like speed bumps. But at other times, they can act like a concrete wall...preventing people from buying your products.
And your job as a business owner is to help them overcome these speed bumps. Break down these concrete walls so they can get to the "problem-free world"...using your solution.
Don't sell like the dirty car salesman.
They are aggressive and intimidating. And they guilt-trip people into buying something they don't want. They are focused on closing the sale...pushing you into it. And you feel tricked.
The dirty car salesman acts as a con artist. Instead of removing the speed bumps and concrete walls, they ignore or distract people by focusing on the solution...instead of getting you to the "problem-free world."
That's not called selling. So how do you sell like a professional salesman? How do you sell without feeling icky? Is there a systematic way to sell products or services to people so they buy?
So How to Sell When Your Clients Are Ready to Buy?
There are two parts to a good selling system: a good offer and a good argument (read good copy).
Often business owners confuse the two. And that makes you go round and round around the sales-berry bush! You need to stop.
Let's look at these two separately.
1. Create a Good Offer
A good offer is the basis of a good selling system. Without this, no matter how hard you try, you ain't gonna make money. You need a good offer. It doesn't have to have a thousand bonuses. You don't need to be selling high-ticket. Or neither does it have to be a low-priced tripwire offer.
Your offer needs to be good enough. And that needs you to focus on two things:
- Focus on a specific niche and a target audience
- Give them a solution that will get them the result
1.1 Narrow Your Niche and Target Audience
There's so much written about this. I don't want to repeat what's been said. But if there's one thing I've learned over the years that's helped me sell my courses successfully, it's this: always focus on one targeted subset of your audience when you launch/start. You can always expand the audience as you grow. But always begin with one subset.
When I launched my first podcasting course, I made the mistake of saying it was for every solopreneur. I did make some sales. But it was not until I decided to focus on a specific segment that I started to sell ten times more.
1.2 Give Them a Solution That Gets Them the Result
It doesn't matter what your solution is. Whether an ebook, online course, coaching, or anything else, it must give your audience a specific result. Sometimes it's not possible to give the exact result. If so, your solution needs to give them a specific process for getting that result.
2. Good Sales Argument (Good Copy)
A good offer is like the car that you want to buy. And the sales argument or copy (we'll call this sales copy from now on) is what the salesperson uses to help you make the buying decision. Most small business owners focus on the offer, not the sales copy.
Once you've made a good offer, the job of a good sales copy is to help the buyer overcome the speed bumps. It's to break down the walls stopping them from choosing your solution. And finally, to get them to pay. Broadly, you do this in three stages:
- Overcome Objections
- Focus on Your Offer
- Help Take Action
2.1. Help Them Overcome Objections
This is when you look for the speed bumps and the concrete walls. And once you know them, you break them down or eliminate them one by one.
2.2. Help Your Clients Focus on Your Offer
And now that the objections are out of the way, it's time to focus on your offer. Remind your clients of your offer. Shine a light on the aspects of your product or service that helps them get to the result.
2.3. Help Your Clients Take Action
And finally, get your clients to make the purchase. Click the buy button. Ask for their credit card or fill out the purchase order. It may seem logical that your clients would do that naturally. But here's the thing with the human brain–it gets third.
Did you know the human brain uses ~320 calories to think on any given day? And it uses 165-220 calories per hour when shopping. So, by the time they reach the end of your sales page, your clients are tired. And you need to remind them.
Clients don't buy when they are tired.
They need the incentive to buy—a reason to click the buy button and enter their credit card details. Because that's what they are waiting for. And you need to give them the reason.
This is where you see yourself using tools like scarcity and urgency triggers.
And that brings us one full circle. I hope you find this helpful.
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