NCET Biz Tips: Sales is NOT a four-letter word

In a recent Biz Café session, there was a discussion about what is the most important activity for a business to be successful. There were several different activities proposed, but the group reached a general consensus on the most important activity.

I’m a relative newcomer to the entrepreneur life, but want to offer some advice to anyone who is, or plans to be, successful in their own business. Regardless of what business you are considering, your success, even your survival, depends on your ability to sell. If you’re not successful at selling your products or services, you may have a wonderful hobby, but you don’t meet the definition of a professional business.

I was part of a panel discussion recently and we were talking about the difference between marketing and sales. Maybe you consider these two very different disciplines. Or just different components of a unified effort. I’d call it somewhere in the middle.

One way to differentiate the two is active engagement with your prospective clients. Posting social media content, writing blogs and creating podcasts are all viable ways to create awareness but are not reliable ways to generate sales for most businesses. I say most, because there are many online-only businesses that are very successful.

But what if your business requires contact with a live human?

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but if you can’t confidently sell your wares it’s going to be very tough to be successful. In the panel discussion referenced above, we talked about the difference between marketing and sales in this way: Marketing is mostly a passive activity, sales is an active engagement activity. Yes, you really do have to talk to people. You need to be willing and able to ask them to make a decision. Sometimes they will say no. But I promise, you’ll survive and learn from the experience, and grow your business as a result.

Here are some keys to being more successful in your selling efforts:

• Start with an approach focused on your customer (or prospect). It’s easy to let our interests influence our conversations, but counterproductive.

• Different products and services require different methodologies. The scale of your offerings dictate the right approach. Simple sales benefit from an efficiency approach, online sales are the most obvious example. Complex sales benefit from an effectiveness focus.

• Good sales skills revolve more around what you ask rather than what you tell. Questions that require your prospect to think or visualize future outcomes, good or bad, can be used to benefit them as well as you.

• Is there such a thing as a dumb question? I’d argue yes, but if that’s a bit too harsh, you could call them untimely questions, awkward questions, or unproductive questions. We’ll talk about how to avoid them and respect your clients and prospects with purposeful discussions.

• And here’s a bonus. The skills we’ll be discussing will benefit you as much in your personal lives as your career.

Learn about sales skills and developing lasting relationships at NCET’s Biz Cafe on March 20.

NCET is a member-supported nonprofit organization that produces educational and networking events to help people explore business and technology. More info at www.NCETcafe.org

Tom DuBos spent 38 years in diverse sales roles before launching his professional speaking business. He helps busy professionals achieve greater success, in their professional and personal lives. More information is available at www.tomdubos.com