The Talented Art of Selling

Every one of us has something to sell at all times. It can be a product as simple as an orange, it can be a service as complicated as consulting, or it can even be something as touchy as convincing your wife that you do wash the dishes—sometimes.

It doesn’t matter what you are selling—the challenges are always big. We all agree that selling is hard, and an art mastered by very few. I can tell you I am not one of those lucky few. Maybe that is why I have spent most of my life trying to understand how it works.

This is what I have learned so far about the art of selling:

People follow a very simple formula when they buy something: They will only buy when the value is higher than the price they are paying.

Price X Value

The formula is indeed very simple and true, but let’s break these concepts down so we can understand the process a little better.

Value is what you think the product is worth. It is very subjective and more like a perception than a fact. It’s just a mental estimation of the benefits you will get by having that product. Every one of us has a different value for each product or service out in the market. For example, a family with four young children places more value on living in a house close to a good school than an old retired couple who are interested in fishing and living in a quiet neighborhood. Of course, the first family is willing to pay much more for the house than the latter because they value it more.

Price, on the other hand, is what you must pay for the product or service. And sometimes that can be much more than is written on the tag. Some parts of the cost include taxes, whether the product is delivered, and maintenance, etc. Most of the time there are costs related to a product that are not noticed at first sight. Restaurants are a very interesting business when it comes to price and value. It is common to find restaurants that offer very good food, provide good service, and are still not highly valued. After some examination, you find that the billing system is inefficient and takes too much time. Customers have to wait a long time before they can leave; that is part of the price of a meal, but it’s a negative contribution, of course.

There is no magic in sales. The goal is to make your product or service more attractive to your potential clients. There are only two basic ways of doing this: Either you reduce the price, or you increase the value of your product.

We all know how hard it is to bring costs down—it’s a constant battle. But how do you increase the value of your product? I don’t have the complete answer for that, but it usually helps if you increase its benefits. Most of the time, all you have to do is improve your communication. You will be surprised to learn how little your clients know about your company and your plans. Educate them, help them be more successful in their own businesses, and you will see your image and reputation gradually improve among your clients. As an old Irish saying goes, “If you don’t spend time creating your own image, your enemy will.”

As to convincing your wife you DO wash the dishes (sometimes), here is my suggestion: If you are going to do the dishes, do it when she is around—what the eyes can’t see, the heart can’t feel.

A marketing plan is more than your map for success.  It’s actually a map-making process that when complete will reveal a clear route to your prospective customers.

A good map reveals specific items of information.  A good marketing plan should do the same for you.  Here are six things your marketing plan should help you accomplish.

1. Prove that you understand your industry.  Knowing your product isn’t enough.
2. Identify your target market.  These are the people most likely to buy your product or use your services.
3. Identify your competition.  Who’s out there and what are they doing?
4. Establish your pricing, distribution, and product positioning.  How much will it cost plus a fair profit?  How will you get it there?  And where do you fit into the marketplace?
5. Get someone to subsidize your dream.  If you want to attract investors, a written marketing plan is essential.
6. Focus on a single effective marketing concept.  Define your strongest strength and lead with that.  For example, Little Caesar’s “pizza pizza” may not be the most innovative idea ever conceived —but it’s certainly one of the more effective.  Why?  Because it’s simple and consistent.

Here are the major components that you should consider when writing your marketing plan.

Mission (or vision) statement:

This is an external communication of your company’s values.  Like Admiral Stockdale, you’re answering the question, “Who am I and what am I doing here”.

Company objective:

This section communicates what you want to do, by when, and how (what are your resources?).  It is specific, quantifiable, and is inclusive of your entire company.  It is not merely a sales goal.  If you’re an entrepreneur, your company objective might also serve as your marketing objective.

Market analysis:

This section reports on the findings of the extensive research that you have pursued and prepared.  You need to discuss various factors of the market environment in relation to your product.  These factors include legal, social, political, economic, and technological considerations.

Target audience:

Based on your research, discuss who your customers are and how you can reach them.  Here’s where you decide whether to niche or not, or to segment your audience either vertically or horizontally.

Competitive analysis:

Your advance research should reveal your competitors, the obvious and especially the others.  How does what they’re doing relate to your product?  What advantages do you have?  How can you keep the advantage?

Action plan:

As Shakespeare said, “Action is eloquence”.  You’ve made your map.  Now you can define the best route to reach your customers.  This section of your marketing plan outlines what media mix you’ll use to reach your audience.  Advertising —where, how often, and at what cost.  Public relations —specific programs and promotions of interest to the community.  Sales strategies —incentive programs for representatives and distributors as well as prospective customers.

A successful marketing plan is based on research and analysis. But because information can be manipulated to prove almost anything, insight is equally important.  As Edward de Bono says, “Proof is often no more than a lack of imagination”.

source: The Entrepreneur Network

What exactly is marketing and why is it important to you as an entrepreneur?  Simply stated, marketing is everything you do to place your product or service in the hands of potential customers.

It includes diverse disciplines like sales, public relations, pricing, packaging, and distribution.  In order to distinguish marketing from other related professional services, S.H. Simmons, author and humorist, relates this anecdote.

“If a young man tells his date she’s intelligent, looks lovely, and is a great conversationalist, he’s saying the right things to the right person and that’s marketing.  If the young man tells his date how handsome, smart and successful he is —that’s advertising.  If someone else tells the young woman how handsome, smart and successful her date is —that’s public relations.”

You might think of marketing this way.  If business is all about people and money and the art of persuading one to part from the other, then marketing is all about finding the right people to persuade.

Marketing is your strategy for allocating resources (time and money) in order to achieve your objectives (a fair profit for supplying a good product or service).

Yet the most brilliant strategy won’t help you earn a profit or achieve your wildest dreams if it isn’t built around your potential customers.  A strategy that isn’t based on customers is rather like a man who knows a thousand ways to make love to a woman, but doesn’t know any women.  Great in theory but unrewarding in practice.

If you fit the classic definition of an entrepreneur (someone with a great idea who’s under-capitalized), you may think marketing is something you do later —after the product is developed, manufactured, or ready to sell.

Though it may feel counter-intuitive, marketing doesn’t begin with a great idea or a unique product.  It begins with customers —those people who want or need your product and will actually buy it.

Entrepreneurs are in love with their ideas, and they should be.  After all, why would anyone commit their energy, life savings, and no small part of their sanity to anything less than a consuming passion.  Because entrepreneurs are passionate about their idea, product, or service, they innocently assume other people will feel the same.  Here’s the bad news — it just doesn’t work that way!

People have their own unique perceptions of the world based on their belief system.  The most innovative ideas, the greatest products, or a superior service succeed only when you market within the context of people’s perceptions.

Context can be many things, singly or simultaneously.  To name a few, you may market to your customers within the context of their wants, needs, problems solved, or situation improved.  Entrepreneurs need to be aware of many other contexts, such as social and economic trends or governmental regulations, which we’ll discuss another time.

People don’t just “buy” a product.  They “buy” the concept of what that product will do for them, or help them do for themselves.  People who are overweight don’t join a franchise diet center to eat pre-packaged micro-meals.  They “buy” the concept of a new, thin, happy and successful self.

Before you become consumed with entrepreneurial zeal and invest your life savings in a new venture, become a smart marketer.  Take time at the beginning to discover who your potential customers are, and how to effectively reach them.

Without a plan, your entrepreneurial dream is really wishful thinking.  While a marketing plan can be a map for success, remember that the map is not the territory.  A strategy that ignores the customer isn’t an accurate reflection of the landscape.

A good marketing plan can help you focus your energy and resources.  But a plan created in a vacuum, based solely on your perceptions, does not advance the agenda.  That’s why market research, however simple or sophisticated, is important.

Just keep in mind that research attempts to predict the future by studying the past.  It reveals what people have done, and extrapolates what people might do —not what people will do.

Planning is imperative, research is important, but there’s no substitute for entrepreneurial insight.  After all, as Mark Twain wrote, “You cannot depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus”.

source: The Entrepreneur Network

• Our formula is very simple: develop and maintain an
  open and honest communication channel with your clients, making them a
  true partner in your business. When you have a product that your clients
  need and want, the effort on sales is reduced to taking orders. We at
  Business Spring try to offer a two way communication to your business, like
  a two way road.
• Our main goal as a company is to create a communication
  channel between you and your clients so that your company can come up with
  the products they are looking for.