For many entrepreneurs, selling is a four letter word. This my friends, is a BIG problem.
As we learned from Grant Cardone during the exclusive interview I did with him for the magazine, every business needs revenue (i.e. sales) to survive. So why do they hate it so much? I think it comes down to two reasons. First, they don’t want to come across as salesy. Second, they don’t have an easy sales system.
Let’s address both of those points.
“But, I Don’t Want to Sound Salesy”
This one can be addressed by a simple mindset shift. You need to stop thinking of it as “selling” and start thinking of it as “helping”. How is your product or service going to help the customer? How is it going to fill their need? Once you shift your thought process and understand that what you do is help people, it’s impossible to sound salesy.
Here’s what I mean. Suppose you sell commercial insurance… Most people don’t really understand the purpose of insurance and cringe when someone tries to “sell them” insurance, right?
Now, let’s say you are at an event and someone asks you what you do. If you say, “I sell commercial insurance.”, you’ve lost. Chances are you’ll have that person running for the bathroom. 
So what should you say?
This is one way that you could answer this question: “I help entrepreneurs manage risk and protect their businesses.”
See the difference? As an entrepreneur, I would be all over that! I would want to know more. What entrepreneur wouldn’t want to reduce risk or protect their business? Followed by the right information, this simple answer went from sales pitch to great advice. (For the record, I used this example because it happened to me. I love insurance thanks to a great entrepreneur who took the time to “help” me with insurance instead of selling me insurance)
Lack of a Simple Sales System
This one is also very simple. The problem is that many entrepreneurs tend to overcomplicate or overanalyze the selling process. As our friends at FedEx so brilliantly presented it in this classic commercial, it doesn’t have to be that hard!
So what does a simple sales system look like?
3 Steps to Selling Anything
1 – Present a Problem (Whether they know it exists or not)
This is how every sale begins. A customer has a need, whether they know it or not. It is your job to tell them what that is. Let’s stick with the insurance example for this system. In the case of the insurance salesperson, he presented me with a problem about risks in my business. He eluded that as a small business owner, I might be faced with risks that I may not know about (I help entrepreneurs manage risk) and he told me that I may need to protect my business from those risks. What were those risks? I didn’t know, but I was sure eager to find out.
2 – Agitate the Problem
When I asked about the risks, he agitated the problem. He told me about other several businesses that were faced with situations that nearly cost them the livelihood of the business. “It really is a shame that we live in such a litigious society”, he said. He went on to tell me how one business was nearly devastated by a baseless lawsuit. He also told me of one business that was on track to have a record year only to have it interrupted by a port strike, and how the owner of that business had to lay off his staff.
Making the problem worse ties the customer emotionally. They start to think to themselves, “Hey, this can happen to me!” Notice, at no time did the salesperson ever say, “This can happen to your business too.” I made that assumption on my own. So will your customers.
3 – Offer a Solution
Finally, he said, “That’s why I help entrepreneurs. It pains me to see them go through situations that could have been easily avoided. When I started my company, I wanted to be able to provide the most comprehensive protection to small business owners like myself and make it easy for them to understand.” I was hooked. I wanted to know more. He had the solution to a problem that I didn’t even know I had and I wanted it because I didn’t want to be like those other entrepreneurs who were hurt bad!
By the way, did you catch the fact that at no time in the entire pitch did he say the word “insurance“? That is the power of an effective sales system, sales pitch and story!
Follow this 3 step system consistently, you will be on a fast track to more revenue, bigger profits and an abundance of customers. Try it… You won’t be disappointed.
