Sales Do's And Don'ts

Today's post is written by Legiit Founder and CEO Chris M. Walker

During a job interview once when I was in my early 20s the person interviewing me asked what department I wanted to work in.

I replied "I am not very good at dealing with people so you should keep me away from the customers".

At that time that was true, and I believed being personable, and selling was some sort of bad thing.

I was wrong.

Everything in life is sales.

Want to get someone to go on a date with you? You have to sell the person you are interested in on the idea that of all the possible ways they can spend their evening, that going out with you is the best possible way.

Want to get your children to do something? You have to sell them on the idea that doing what you want them to do is worse than the consequence they will receive if they don't do it.

Want to get some sales on your Legiit service? You have to persuade prospective clients that they should use your service over the thousands of others available.

So no sales aren't bad. Sales make the world go round.

Having said that there are a lot of things you need to do in order to make sales... and there are a lot of things you shouldn't do.

Here are some sales Do's and Some Don'ts if you want to make more sales on Legiit (or anywhere else).

Do - Make Sure You Are Selling Something People Want

This should go without saying but it often doesn't. If you are offering something no one wants you won't ever sell any significant amount of anything.

Look at what is already selling.

If it is a product or service you are capable of providing, then you know you have a potential winner.

If no one is offering what you know how to do, then it is likely that no one wants it and it won't sell no matter what you do (there are exceptions of course, but if you are in a position where you need to make sales to pay yourself or grow your business).

One more point on this... seeing a lot of people offering something does not mean the market is "saturated" it means there are a lot of people there, ready to buy. Take that as a good sign and get to work.

Don't - Completely Copy Something Someone Else Is Offering

While you should look at what is working, and model it, you should not 100% copy it.

Not only is it unethical, and potentially illegal... it won't work to any large degree.

Find something that works, but put your own twist on it.

Fast food franchises are a good example of this.

McDonald's for example is (or at least was when I was a kid) the place for kids. Subway is the "healthy" place. Burger King has flame-grilled burgers etc... they offer very similar products, but they put their own angle on it.

You need to do the same once you identify what is working... find a way to stand out, even if you have a comparable offer.

Do - Ask For Help

There is nothing wrong with getting help if you are struggling.

We are often taught, whether directly or indirectly that asking for help is a bad thing and a sign of weakness.

That is a terrible, toxic take that is only going to hold you back if you are struggling to make sales, or do anything else for that matter.

There are a lot of things I don't know how to do that I need to know in order to make sales or progress... when I come across things like this I ask for help from someone that I think can help.

I also get asked for help a lot and I usually do my best to help when I can.

I say usually because there is a wrong way to get help which brings us to...

Don't - Ask For Help The Wrong Way

When you ask for help, a big part of what you are actually saying to the person you are asking help from is "The time that it would take me to figure this out for myself is more valuable than the time it would take for you to help me with it."

So before you ask for help... make sure that is true.

Can you figure this out for yourself? Have you tried? Have you tried hard enough? Does the person you are asking for help owe you any kind of help?

These are just a few things you need to analyze before asking for help.

Some simple tips to avoid asking for help the wrong way:

• Make sure you approach someone through the correct medium. If they make a post on their personal social media about spending the day with their kids, don't leave a comment asking about how to increase your conversion rate.
  
  
• Don't waste their time. I know that it is taught that you have to make small talk with people and get to know them etc... but starting with "Hello. How're you? How are things?" etc... is a huge waste of time. Get to the point, ask what you have to ask.
  
  
• Be polite and respectful. You'd think this goes without saying but it doesn't.

  For example if you were to message me wondering how you can get more orders on Legiit and you started with "I am struggling. I listed my service and so far no one is buying, can you give me some advice? Here is my service [URL]." I will be pretty likely to help.

  However is you say "sir, it's not a good system on legiit. no review no order. Lol" (that is a real example by the way) you have just approached me expecting something from me, telling me what you think I need to do in order to help you, insulted my life's work... and laughed about it. At best you are going to get ignored, at worst I am going to be... unkind to you.

• Decide if you will need to compensate someone for their help. Often the thing you need help with is something someone has spent a long time learning how to do or becoming skilled at. You may need to pay them for it. I do this often, and it usually pays off.
  
  
• Finally, don't contradict someone if the answer isn't what you want to hear. Take the advice and decide if you want to implement it or not, but don't argue with someone that gives you help.

Do - Remember That Style Matters

It shouldn't matter...   but it does.

All things being equal, the product or service with the best presentation will get the sale... that is likely common sense... however what may not be common sense is that an inferior product or service may get more sales because it is presented better than a better service or product.

Use clean-looking graphics and video, well-formatted text, and copy that is persuasive. Then test the individual variables to see what is working and what isn't.

Style matters and is important but...

Don't - But Sizzle Over Substance

Just because presentation matters please don't think it is all that matters. I have heard some very successful people say "The product doesn't matter". That is total nonsense and is unsustainable, and is borderline unethical.

Do - Ask For The Sale

This is probably the biggest failure I see in sales and marketing. People refuse to ask for the sale.

This takes on many forms.

• Giving away too much free information - Do this long enough and people will start thinking of you as the free resource and won't be willing to pay you. It's ok to give free information, but you have to draw the line and ask for the sale before it's too late and people put you in the sales friend zone... they like you, and they hang out with you, but they won't date (buy from) you.
  
  
• People wait for sales to come to them. This one drives me nuts more than anything else in business. People think that opening a business, making a product, listing a service etc... entitles them to sales. It doesn't. Sitting around waiting for people to walk into your restaurant, or waiting for some algorithm to magically send you sales isn't going to work. You have to deserve sales in order to get them and sitting around waiting for them isn't a way to deserve business, it isn't going to work, and it shouldn't.
  
  
• Finishing a presentation without literally asking someone to buy. If you are an agency or something of that nature and you present your offer to someone... be sure to ask at the end for them to sign up. It is mind-boggling how many people lose business this way.
  
  
• So whatever you sell... sell it. You should be proud of what you sell and feel obligated to sell it to as many people as possible and asking for the sale is key to that.

Don't - Over Or Under Value Your Product, Service, Or Skill

"Charge your worth" is a common business expression and it is valid. The problem is that many people overestimate their value, especially in the beginning. People think that they can have an expensive offer that people will just buy if they see it, regardless of you having proof of concept and credibility.

When you are getting started and don't have any sort of proof of concept, you may have to make some concessions, whether it is on price, or something else to get established.

Remember you have to deserve business before you can get it, and if you can't prove it you may have to do some things that aren't 100% ideal until you do deserve the business.

Having said that, once you are established, you don't want to devalue yourself, your product, or your service. Once you have an established business don't let people haggle with you just because they don't see the value at the level you offer it at.

That doesn't mean you can't make deals when there is a win for you and the prospect... but when people start by asking for a discount, or a price below what you are successfully making sales at etc... it is best to politely redirect them back to what you offer and how much you offer it at, explain the value, and ask for the sale at that level rather than what they tried to get you to do.

Don't think that "some sales are better than no sales" it will end up as nothing but a race to the bottom.

Do - Get Started

I wanted to be sure that I ended this piece (though I may add additional do's and don'ts later) on a "Do" because I want to be as encouraging as possible.

If you want to do anything in life, including making sales of your service on Legiit, or anything else it always begins... at the beginning.

Just get started. No matter how much you prepare ahead of time you aren't going to think of everything, the problems you think you are going to have often won't be the problems you end up having, the things that you are sure will work won't work and on and on.

No matter how long you think, delay, or procrastinate these things are still going to be true. So just get started, start testing, start selling and get whatever it is that you have to offer out there as soon as possible because you owe it to yourself, and you owe it to the world.