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Successfully selling your product or service

Guest post by: Rene Truter

Article Overview: You may not see it this way, but no matter what type of business you operate, you will have to sell. Whether you are selling your product, your service or simply your company's reputation, you have to be good at it to guarantee the long-term success of your enterprise.

Successfully selling your product or service

Direct selling can take many forms, including literally going out to make sales, marketing and advertising. To stake your claim to a certain customer base, you have to do a lot of hard selling, either to demonstrate the unique selling points of your product or service, or to convince people of your idea, how it works and that it fulfills a need or desire.

Making sales requires a certain set of skills, so if personal selling is not your strong point, you'll have toemploy or partner with someone who is a good salesperson. Employees who are not sales people, but deal directly with clients, also need training in good customer relations and service.

Advertising your business is another way of attracting sales. How and where you advertise, will depend on the type of product, your target market and the goals you are trying to achieve. Budget is also amajor factor.

A not-so-obvious way of boosting your sales is the way in which you display your product. This includes your branding, packaging and the occasions where you promote your goods at a trade event, for instance. Also, many small businesses don't pay attention to the way their goods are displayed in their shops, when in fact itinfluences whether you make a sale of not.

Do some research on this aspect of business and consider calling in an expert to help youor mentor you so you can do it yourself in the future. The type of product you are offering will dictate the way it's presented, so consider all these factors when planning this part of the selling process.

While your sales strategy is one of the most important facets of business, don't forget to keep the budget under control, as you don't want this to dent your profits in a big way.

Many SMEs are so passionate about their idea or product that they forget to focus on how they will make their customers just as excited about it. So now that you have some insight into the selling process, you can start planning your course of action, or review your current system.

Copyright© 2010 Business Partners Ltd. All rights reserved.

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Article Tags: pitch, reputation, sales, sell, selling



Related Forum Posts
franchising - Franchising isn't cheap and easy. I've worked with lots of franchisors and the ones who understand that they are changing jobs from selling their product/service to selling franchises. Jim Adams
Re: Advice needed to earn money online!!!! - Hi, I agree with all the above comments. What ever happened to good old fashion selling a good product or service? It seems like a few illegitimate companies "dangled some flashy keys" in front of entrepreneurs eyes and everyone took that bait. My advice would be like the rest; find out what you like doing in life and figure out a way to sell a service or a product that relates to the industry. Jeff
Re: Service Or Product? - Hi Evan, A late response to your question but I thought I'd throw in my 2 cents worth as it's still a great topic. I like services personally as a business model but products would work as well. It all depends on the demand for the product. I learned a long time ago that if the demand out weighs the supply, whether it be a service or a product, the potential for success is far greater. When consumers or businesses are looking for what you're selling, the sale is that much easier and the risk is that much lower. Think about businesses that never have to advertise and just have websites and yellow page listings to be found. There is normally such a demand for their product or service that there's no need to advertise to find business as their customers will find them. These businesses do exist and if you think long and hard about it, you'll come up with a few that dispite the economy, spend next to nothing on advertising. So, product or service... who cares... demand and finding a niche is what matters and either or could be very successfull.
Re: Service Or Product? - Very insightful, and I totally aggree, service first... it is a substantial foundation for any business. Products and service go hand in hand to make a business really successful. Nevertheless quality control for both is also actually a must; you will never offer services that are not par with the standards neither with products. Focusing on the product aspect, in stores or in deliveries or in any other way you get to sell your products there is a pinch of service involved. Even after a product is sold "customer service hotlines" is another form of service buyers somehow expect from you. So IMHO service or product are like chicken and eggs... lol,,,
Due Dilligence - Hi Praveenv, I'm big on due diligence when exploring any type of business opportunity. One of the first things I would want to know is who else is is selling this distributor's products in their country? Would you be the first? I would ask for contact information for others who are selling his products in other countries, then contacting those parties and asking for input such as: 1. Do they pay in advance for the product, then sell it from their end? 2. Who takes care of customer service, returns? 3. Is risk equally assumed or does one party carry all of the risk? 4. Who makes up the target market for this product? 5. How are they best reaching members of that market? 6. Who are their biggest competitors and how do they differentiate their product from others? There are a host of questions to ask before proceeding with operational details. If I was satisfied with the information gathered, I would then seek out someone who is already doing what I plan to do. Someone else who is selling an overseas product using the internet -- and ask him/her for advice. Of course, legal guidance, etc. are a given. I'd make sure there are no assumptions and I have full understanding on what is involved before proceeding. (I've posted this reply in the first person because I simply want to give you a few things to think about -- not to tell you what to do. I can only recommend you do your due diligence and proceed with full knowledge of what is involved.) Good luck to you!


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