New Book Removes Fear From Sales With Practical, Easy-To-Implement Techniques

As a small business owner, I found Greg Andersen's Small Business Sales, WTF (Without the Fear) full of practical advice, new ideas, and down-to-earth common sense that made me rethink my sales approach Helped. Anderson has been in sales for many years in the printing business, but the advice he gives applies to anyone in sales, especially small business owners who are all wearing hats themselves or are unable to focus on sales Because they are very busy. After all else.

Small business sales, WTFs, are divided into two sections: pre-sales planning, in which Anderson discusses products, goes to market with products, creates a sales environment, and then the sales process, in which he searches for customers Do search to make contact. , Get the opportunity to sell to the customer, execute the sale, and then follow and retain the customer long-term. Anderson walks readers through each stage of the sales process, providing practical and personal examples of the work that readers can easily model or impose their own spin on.

Anderson writes in a humorous manner but points out that this is the genre to debunk myths about the sales process and cut through sales jargon that the reader really needs to know. For example, at the beginning of the book, he has "a list of words/phrases you may not have heard in my book." Among the included phrases is "belly-to-belly", which he answers, "gross. How about face to face." Another phrase is "Low Hanging Fruit", which says he doesn't really exist and still has another "hook", which he finds derogatory because it assumes customers are suckers or fish. Instead, Anderson prefers to treat his customers like humans and instead of "close the sale" come to an "agreement" between two parties who trust and respect each other.

For most people, sales can be a bad name. Nobody likes to be sold, and those who reluctantly plays the sales role are aware of it and often afraid to sell. Anderson teaches readers how to overcome the fear of sales that is actually sales. Most people are afraid of "cold calls", so Anderson talks about seeing sales as "demand generation". It is a search for something where there is a demand for your services and then to provide a product or service to meet that demand. It is also about listening to customers.

Anderson says: "When all is said and done, only a few methods of outreach will actually get you in touch with a potential new customer — phone, letter writing, a trade show, and email. The technique you actually employ is. "He then provides creative examples of how to handle sales through each of these methods, as well as discussing social media as a sales strategy. His examples are drawn from personal experiences, his current sales role in Nordstrom as a shoe salesman in his printing industry. Best of all, he also includes copies of letters he has sent to customers. Their techniques are simple and straightforward, so anyone, no matter how afraid of a sale, can apply them.

Of course, there will be difficult customers or people who do not want to hear how you can help them. Anderson provides a strategy to past the gatekeepers of decision-makers. He reveals his research techniques, which are quite clever and even include job postings of potential customers to determine who is in the company or in a buyer position for their product.

When faced with the resistance of a potential customer, Anderson realizes that it is not always about him, his vision, or his product. I loved the following invaluable point he made: "Another way I like to approach these challenging situations is to remind myself that all these excuses mean that the customer will probably protect their current vendor Doing. If he is loyal to his current salesperson, someday he will. Be loyal to me. Be positive. "Personally, I know that a business It is true, as the health of the owner. If I have a seller who is offering me a good service at a good price, I feel loyal to that seller and am not ready to change. Such customers may be resistant to change, but they are what you want because they are loyal. Anderson shows how persistence pays off in these situations. Sometimes he makes contact with customers who don't need his services back then, but years later, he does business with them, and even if he doesn't already do that level of business If he wants to, they will often give him some business as a test and then he can work with them in his own way for big sales.

Perhaps what I loved the most about Anderson's point of view is that he actually