Selling Strategy - 5 Ways To Success
Web sites exist for essentially two purposes. The first isto provide information. The second is to sell. If yourpurpose for being online is to sell products or services,but you don't have tons of sales experience to fall back on,this article is for you!
Selling is not some mysterious process that happens in smokefilled rooms or some gift you are born with. At it's core,selling is really finding out what people want and providinga way for them to get it. And you must take the buyerthrough a certain logical order before they will buy.
Like almost any other skill, selling can be learned. Todaywe look at the five basic steps of a sale. After you finishreading today's article take a close look at your website,selling letters, ad copy and more to see if they take thebuyer through these five steps. If not, take steps to makeyour copy stronger and measure the results.
After going through this 'fine-tuning' process a few timesyou will have a web site that consistently makes sales andcreates a reliable income for you. Now, the five steps ofthe sale.
There are five distinct steps you must go through with aprospect in order to get them to say yes. Write these on anindex card and use them as a checklist each time you make apresentation.
1) Attention - Without your prospect's full attention, youcan't proceed. Make sure that your prospect pays attentionto your selling message, not your graphics or hot colorcombos. Spinning ducks are cute, powerful words sellproducts.
2) Involvement - Once you have their attention, get theminvolved. Have them do something. Ask them to sign up foryour newsletter or take an online survey right from yourhome page. If they are interested enough to take this step,you're headed in the right direction.
3) Conviction - They have to be convinced in order to buy.Make sure your words include the FACTS they need to make alogical decision. Prospects buy on emotional impulse but ifthey can't defend their purchase with logic you'll lose thesale.
4) Desire - This is where the art of selling lives. THEYMUST WANT IT. Include strong emotional 'hooks' for people torelate to. Tell them exactly what's in it for them. Rememberthat people are usually motivated by the promise of gain(making more money) or the fear of loss (act now before theprice goes up).
The simple fact is that people will buy on an emotionalimpulse. They may defend their purchase with logic -especially to their spouse
but they buy things becausethey WANT to.
A great example of this is the Golden Gate Bridge. I'mtotally convinced the Golden Gate Bridge is a great bridge,but I don't want to buy it.
Dry stats won't do the job,emotion will.
5) Close - If you've done your job in the four precedingpoints, closing is a matter of arranging the details. But itis in this step that many sales are lost. Here's the key toclosing the sale. TELL them exactly what to do next and keepthem laser focused on doing that one thing. Do NOT includelinks to other products or programs on your order page. Keeptheir focus on whipping out that credit card and buying now.Make it simple and easy to do.
Now that you know the five steps of a sale, examine yourwebsite and selling material to see how you stack up. Nomatter what you sell, the prospect must complete the stepsbefore they will buy. The fact that they visit your site atall indicates interest. Gently guide them through the otherfour steps and success will be yours!
