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In the last stage, we went over the different marketing activities we

can undertake to bring customers to our front door.

In addition to that however, we also need to do some direct selling to

get the product into our customer's hands and bring in revenue.

In this series, we're going to learn about sales, and

how we can start selling our product.

But first, what is sales?

Sales goes hand-in-hand with marketing,

and it involves everything you need to do to convert those

potential customers into buying ones by getting an agreement or a contract.

Without sales, your company won't last long.

Like marketing, sales is not a one solution fits all activity.

In fact, your approach to selling depends on the type of sale.

There's B2B, or business to business sales, B2C, business to consumer,

B2G, business to government, and even consumer to consumer, or C2C.

Sales strategies and

tactics really depend on which of these types of sales you are undertaking.

For example, with B2C sales,

your strategy might be to appeal to the emotions, wants and needs of the consumer.

But with B2B, you probably want to focus on cost benefits, advantages and so on.

When you sell, there are certain steps you can take to ensure success.

First off, you make the initial contact with the potential customer or prospect.

This step is also called prospecting.

Next, you plan out the sales process and the materials you need to make the sale.

Once you have that ready,

then you approach your prospect, which involves getting in touch with them.

This step will lead to certain information about the prospect that you can assess and

analyze to get a better understanding of their wants and needs.

You then make your presentation based on the collection of information

about their needs.

This is where you sell your product.

If everything goes according to plan, and you sell your product or

service, that's great.

But if they don't want to buy from you, the next step is to listen to

their objections, and to respond to them without sounding defensive or pushy.

If you convince them to buy,

well then you get a commitment from the prospect, who is now a buyer.

Once you have made the sale,

you follow up with a customer with post-sale services and support.

That is the sales process in a nutshell.

Having a scripted process like this reduces the uncertainity involved in

the process, and thereby the risk that you won't be able to make the sale.

Sales is not just about relaying facts and expecting your prospect to buy.

It is also about understanding the needs, wants and desires of your target audience,

the ability to listen, and relate to your customer.

For someone inexperienced, sales can be very hard to get into.

But don't worry, we'll go over each step together, and with time and

effort you will get good at it.