Selling is hard. Okay, maybe not hard, but it is difficult, especially if you are missing certain steps in the selling process.
I know many of you probably think that since I worked for TrainerTainment and ran a million dollar a year party program that I am a sales person. Well, yes I can sell, but it is not a strong skillset. Being a party manager meant I had an amazing team with the skills to sell. I was there to help, guide, and train them on what they needed to do to be successful.
Last year I decided to have a home-based business selling jewelry from Stella & Dot. It is a multi-level marketing company selling amazing jewelry. I did it for a few reasons. One, I wanted to pay for my travels around the world and two, I wanted to see if I could sell or not. I want to share with you what I have learned this past year.
The biggest thing I have learned about selling is that connection may be its most important part. I know, the close is really important, too, but if you don’t connect, you will never get to the close.
Being halfway across the world, I have to do 100% of my selling online, which has not been an easy task. Connecting online is a lot harder than I thought it would be. Sure, it’s easy to get people to like photos and comment on what they love, but true connection is building a relationship and building that relationship takes a real conversation.
When I was home last summer I was able to sell in person. I couldn’t believe how much easier it was when I was standing face-to-face with the client. I wasn’t talking about our product, but talking about them – their family and who they are. I could develop a sense of what they like and then connect them with a particular product. The difference between online and in-person selling was amazing. I sold more!
Selling online has shown me that yes, you use social media to make connections with people, but once you have made that connection you need to deepen it and turn it into a relationship. I know from experience that many sales people in centers are trying to connect, build relationships, and sell by sitting in the center using social media or just making phone calls. They don’t spend time out of the center every day going business to business. You have to go out, make a connection, and build a relationship. If you want to expand your business and take your sales to the next level, get out of the center on a daily basis and connecting with people, face to face.
I challenge you. Spend at least an hour outside the center every day. Start small, visiting five new businesses a day. Go to a shopping center. You’ll easily get five. Build on that five and shoot for ten after a few weeks. I promise when your connections grow, your number of events will grow!
