![\"alecbaldwin\"](\"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/alecbaldwin.jpg\")
Selling can be sleazy when it\u2019s manipulative. \u201cLet me convince you to do something, so I\u2019ll get what I want.\u201d<\/p>\nSelling can be sleazy when it\u2019s manipulative. \u201cLet me convince you to do something, so I\u2019ll get what I want.\u201d<\/p>\n
If you want to grow your business, and feel good about yourself at the same time, it\u2019s necessary to change the way you think about \u201cselling.\u201d<\/p>\n
Everyone buys things. If you provide a product or service that has real value and helps people solve real problems, there is someone who will want to buy it. That someone is struggling with the problem you\u2019re prepared to solve. They wouldn\u2019t want a solution if solving the problem wasn\u2019t important to them. So if you can help them solve their problem and do a good job of it, you have become their new best friend. They not only will want to buy what you have to sell, they will want to buy from you again and again because now they have begun to trust that you are someone who can help them solve their problems.<\/p>\n
When you are able to shift your thinking from \u201cI\u2019m selling something\u201d to \u201cI\u2019m serving someone by helping them solve a problem that they care about,\u201d you\u2019ll find yourself feeling great when that someone buys your stuff.<\/p>\n
I have developed 5 ways to make that shift.<\/p>\n
Step #1 \u2013 Be Clear on the Value You Offer<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n It all begins with you understanding; what are the problems you are uniquely qualified to help your clients or customers solve?<\/p>\n But you can\u2019t stop there. What problems does your product or service address? What resources do you bring to help your customer\/client solve those problems? Why should people believe that your proposed solution really works?<\/p>\n Make a list of the problems and then list how your product or service solves each problem. Make a list of the resources your customer or client will have at their disposal when they purchase your product or service. Then gather testimonials, endorsements, case studies and anything else that will demonstrate your solution really works.<\/p>\n It\u2019s been found that people are 10 times more likely to respond to a solution to a problem they have than they will to an opportunity to achieve something they want. So, make sure you really understand how you can help others solve their problems.<\/p>\n Step #2 \u2013 Understand Your Client or Customer\u2019s \u201cCritical Need\u201d<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Once you\u2019ve understood, in general, the types of problems you are uniquely qualified to solve, the next step is to understand who has those sorts of problems and would be attracted to your particular solution.<\/p>\n You may think that everyone needs what you have, but that\u2019s never true. Even if we assume everyone has the problem you\u2019re solving, only certain types of people will be attracted to the way you solve it.<\/p>\n Apple has done an amazing job of helping people solve problems they didn\u2019t even know they had\u2013like the ability to carry their entire music library with them in a pocket size device, or to watch TV shows or videos on a book size device. Most people will agree that Apple\u2019s products are good quality. And just about everyone wants to listen to music or watch videos these days, but not everyone is going to buy an Apple iPod, iPhone or iPad. For some the products are too expensive. For others, the products don\u2019t go well with other equipment they already use. Apple\u2019s success has been successfully targeting people who are willing to pay more for a product that helps them feel special and unique while being useful at the same time.<\/p>\n My name is \u201cGrant Stanley\u201d and my entire focus has been building on the alliances I\u2019ve been able to make with influential people in many industries. What I\u2019ve learned is that you can connect with anyone, no matter how famous, how successful, or how inaccessible they may be, when you can identify their \u201ccritical need.\u201d<\/p>\n I define my perfect alliance partner as \u201cthat person or organisation for whom you are uniquely qualified to fulfill their most critical need and in fulfilling that need you fulfill your own critical need at the same time.\u201d<\/p>\n You\u2019re in the business of solving problems. \u00a0Step #2 is about finding the people who have those problems and consider them significant enough that they\u2019re willing to pay to solve them.<\/p>\n Step #3 \u2013 Build Trust<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n People will only buy from or work with people they trust. These days, building trust begins by establishing a relationship with people who have the problems you are prepared to solve. You build trust by getting testimonials, endorsements, or case studies from people who have benefited from your products or services. You can also build trust by demonstrating you have had success in the past. And you can build trust by offering knowledge, service, or even products for free so that your potential customers and clients have the chance to see how well you can help them solve their problems.<\/p>\n Step #4 \u2013 Remove the Perception of Risk<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Whenever someone purchases something there is a risk that it won\u2019t serve their needs. To the extent you can show others that the risk that your product or service will not provide the promised value is very low, the more likely it is that people will be willing to invest in what you offer them.<\/p>\n One simple way to reduce risk is to offer a guarantee. If they\u2019re not happy, they can return the product or service and get a refund within some period of time. A guarantee allows the customer to see if the promise matches up to their experience.<\/p>\n But you can reduce risk in other ways as well. You can offer additional bonuses and extras for free so the value customers receive is so much greater than what they\u2019re paying that they feel the risk of not being satisfied is low.<\/p>\n The more you build your reputation, the less risky people will feel about doing business with you. When you have endorsements or support from well-known or trusted authorities, you inspire confidence that you can deliver on your promises.<\/p>\n Step #5 \u2013 Genuinely Care About Your Customer<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n This is Hugely Important!<\/strong><\/p>\n When you see yourself as \u201cserving\u201d rather than \u201cselling\u201d then you let go of your attachment to \u201cmaking the sale.\u201d Your focus and concern is with making sure that your customer really has a need you (or your products and services) are uniquely qualified to fulfil. This is the place where the Golden Rule comes in: treat your customers as you would want to be treated. Your job is no longer trying to sell to anyone. It becomes identifying people who have problems you can solve. These are the people you are here to serve and serving them becomes fun!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Selling can be sleazy when it\u2019s manipulative. \u201cLet me convince you to do something, so I\u2019ll get what I want.\u201d If you want to grow your business, and feel good about yourself at the same time, it\u2019s necessary to change the way you think about \u201cselling.\u201d Everyone buys things. If you provide a product or… Selling the Solution, Not the Product<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"neve_meta_sidebar":"","neve_meta_container":"","neve_meta_enable_content_width":"","neve_meta_content_width":0,"neve_meta_title_alignment":"","neve_meta_author_avatar":"","neve_post_elements_order":"","neve_meta_disable_header":"","neve_meta_disable_footer":"","neve_meta_disable_title":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[81],"tags":[680,293,113],"class_list":["post-1309","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-strategy","tag-critical-need","tag-sales-strategy","tag-value-proposition"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1309","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/36"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1309"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1309\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1311,"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1309\/revisions\/1311"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1309"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1309"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1309"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}