What Is Selling?

     What is selling? In simplest terms, selling is the process of helping a person conclude that your product or service is of greater value to him or her than the price you are asking for it. Our market society is based on the principles of freedom and mutual benefit. 

     In a free market, the customer always has three options with any purchase decision.  First, the customer can buy your product or service. Second, the customer can buy the product or service from someone else. Third, the customer can decide to buy nothing at all. 

     For the customer to buy your particular product or service, he must be convinced that it is not only the best choice available but he must also be persuaded that there is no better way for him to spend the equivalent amount of money. Your job as a salesperson is to convince the customer that all these conditions exist and then to elicit a commitment from him to take action on your offer.

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TOP SHELF TIP NO. 168

"If you do build a great experience, customers tell each other about that. Word of mouth is very powerful."

Jeff Bezos, founder, president, chief executive officer and chairman of the board of Amazon.com

     The field of professional selling has changed dramatically since through the years. In a way, selling methodologies are merely responses to customer requirements. At one time, customers were relatively unsophisticated and poorly informed about their choices. Salespeople catered to this customer with carefully planned and memorized sales presentations, loads of enthusiasm and a bag full of techniques designed to crush resistance and get the order at virtually any cost.

     Today, customers are now more knowledgeable than ever before. They are experienced buyers and they have interacted with hundreds of salespeople. They are extremely sophisticated and aware of the incredible variety of products and services available to them, as well as the relative strengths and weaknesses of those products. Many customers are smarter and better educated than some salespeople and they are far more careful about making a buying decision of any kind.

     In addition, they are overwhelmed with work and under-supplied with time. Because of the rapidly increasing pace of change, down-sizing, restructuring and the competitive pressures surrounding them, customers today are harried and hassled. They are swamped with responsibilities, impatient, suspicious, critical, demanding and spoiled. To sell to today's customer requires a higher caliber of sales professional than has ever before been required. It is only going to become tougher and more complicated in the years ahead.

Following are a few ideas that you can immediately put into action to assist you in selling to today's customer.

• Think continually about how you can convince your customer that your product or service is the very best available.
• Learn why he buys, or refuses to buy and develop strategies to turn non-buyers into buyers. 
• Upgrade your knowledge and skills every day so you can sell more effectively. You always want to know more about your product or service than your customer.

Source: Brian Tracy is a leading authority on personal effectiveness, management, leadership and sales. His clients include the executives and staff of IBM, Deloitte Touche, McDonnell Douglas and The Million Dollar Round Table. He has produced more than 300 audio/video programs and has written 28 books, including Getting Rich Your Own Way and TurboStrategy!