In the 3 previous articles of this series, I’ve talked about security, knowledge and experience, all important elements when selling something. In this fourth article I talk about the speech we use when selling, which is also very important. With this article we reach the middle of this 8-piece series.
The speech in the selling process can be explained as what it is said to the client in order to sell our product. However we must understand that this speech takes many forms. To start, it is the word of mouth told by a seller, but it can also be the description, videos and photos of the product used in an advertisement. With Internet and the World Wide Web, this also has to do with the information you’re publishing about your products in this medium. Generally speaking, it is the message we use to sell our products, services and even our company.
Without the speech, there is no sale. The speech can be explicit of tacit, and sometimes we don’t even realize it is there. For example if I’m hungry and I want to buy something from an automated machine, there is initially no speech. However, the machine shows me the available products and their price. This is the speech and with the available information I have to decide if this is what I want and if the products are worth my money. In this case, the information might not be text per se, but I understood the images that were transmitted to me.
However, most sales processes are much more elaborated and require a higher level of communication. For example high valued goods require the seller, one way or the other, to tell the buyer about the price, characteristics, unique values and more. The buyer will buy or not this product, depending on how well this information is transmitted. If the information fails to reach the buyer in an appropriate way, the sale is compromised.
As entrepreneurs, we have to learn all this lessons, as part of our job is to sell our products, but also our company. One case where this is quite important is with the many websites and other Internet presence that have been created to help with the sales process. This includes new ventures, and even old companies that have extended their reach to Internet. Since the barriers for entry in Internet are low, almost anyone can create presence. To be successful we have to create a competitive advantage and this includes, the way we sell our products online (even if we don’t do E-Commerce). This might include creating videos of our products, among other strategies.
As you can see this is a very important subject, with many elements and with time it can be more complex. The important thing is to know about this elements and make them part of your selling process, in order to achieve the best possible results.
Image taken from Flickr.com