5 Basic Principles of Selling [Critical]
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Basic Principles of Selling #1: Follow the data, not your gut.
I don't trust anyone’s gut instinct when it comes to selling.
In today’s selling world, so much of the information we’re fed comes directly from some random sales guru’s “gut instinct” on what has made them successful. The problem is, just because something worked for that guru doesn’t mean it’ll work for others.
The key is to stop listening to anecdotal advice from gurus or salespeople and instead follow what the data tells us.
We live in an unparalleled time for sales, when we have so much more data than ever before about what actually works for the highest number of salespeople. Take advantage of this.
When you choose a sales approach to follow, make sure it’s based on data, not gut instinct—whether yours or someone else’s.
Basic Principles of Selling #2: Show insight up front.
When I tell salespeople to show insight up front, many misinterpret this to mean that I’m suggesting they “educate” their prospects. I want to clear this up right now. Your job as a salesperson is not to educate your prospects. Your prospects aren’t your clients. And while it’s fine to educate your clients, your goal with prospects should never be to educate them, but rather simply to demonstrate valuable insight at the beginning of the selling situation.
The aim here is to show insight that makes the prospect think, “This person is worth taking the time to talk to.” Put yourself in your prospects’ shoes—do you want to just sit and chat with any salesperson who calls you up or emails you, asking to “hop on a call so I can learn more about your business and see if I can help”? Of course not.
The fact is that most salespeople open up their sales interactions without sharing any valuable or relevant insight. That’s why showing insight is the differentiator you must master if you want to really nail the basic principles of selling. Once you show insight, your prospects will be far more likely to want to hear what you have to say.
Basic Principles of Selling #3: Drop the persuasion.
The data tells us that great selling isn’t about persuasion at all. In fact, persuasion is an old-school idea about manipulating people to agree with what you’re saying by using some fancy language of salesy technique.
If you’re selling something that’s actually useful to people who have the right budget, however, then your prospects aren’t going to fall for all that—they’re going to be savvy, smart, and well-informed.
Your savvy prospects don’t need to be persuaded. Instead, they need an expert who can walk them through a thorough conversation to help them determine whether you can solve their biggest challenges.
Basic Principles of Selling #4: No more features and benefits.
This is an extension of the idea of persuasion. You were probably taught to present your offering by demonstrating features and benefits. (For example, the feature of a computer is that it has a keyboard. The benefit is that you can put information into that computer. The feature of a light bulb is that it’s a 350-watt light bulb. The benefit is that it can light up an entire auditorium.)
This is a very simplistic idea in sales: Demonstrate the feature of what we're offering and then share the benefit that it has for our prospects. But again, it’s an outdated, old-school approach to selling that assumes that prospects are a little bit dumb.
The reality is that your prospects don't care about your features and they don't need your benefits. And they’re not dumb.
What they need are solutions to their problems. When you stop feature-and-benefit selling and instead focus on determining whether the prospect is a fit, then you can actually speak to what your prospect wants and needs.
Basic Principles of Selling #5: Next steps are everything.
I saved this for last because it’s one of the most critical basic principles of selling. Next steps are everything in sales, yet many salespeople completely overlook them. Maybe it’s because they’re just a bit lazy, or maybe it’s because they were really never taught the importance of establishing clear next steps. Whatever the reason, it’s time to make sure next steps are implemented in your selling process at every relevant juncture.
Simply put, if you’re finding yourself consistently following up in your selling situations, you’re in big trouble. You’ve already put yourself at a huge disadvantage.
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