style=”color: #888888;”>This post is one in a series of five guest posts authored by the super star bloggers pictured below. As part of a celebration of National Small Business Week we are asking readers to match all five guests posts up with the contributing blogger to be entered for a chance to win an iPad2. Read all five posts in today’s series and come back each day this week for five new posts in this great educational series and another chance to win.
Jill Konrath
Jill Konrath, author of SNAP Selling & Selling to Big Companies, helps sellers crack into new accounts and win big contracts. For more insights, download these four free sales tools.
I Hate Selling, So Now How Do I Convert Leads 2
Stop selling then – at least the way you think you’re supposed to. You’re rebelling against the self-serving, schmoozy, product-pushing peddlers image in your mind.
Let me offer you a different perspective. The word “selling” originated from a Swedish word that means “to serve.” As sellers, our job is to serve our customers by providing them with ideas, insights and information to help them do their job better.
So what does that mean you do with a lead? If someone downloaded information from your site, they likely have a business challenge they’re facing that can’t be addressed by their current product, service or solution. Same thing if they attended a webinar, requested a brochure, or even spent time visiting your web pages.
And, you have to realize that they’re crazy-busy. They have way too much to do, impossible deadlines and limited resources. They’re looking for someone (potentially you!) who can be a valuable resource to them.
Rather than getting on the phone to “pitch” your offering or blather about your company, you could call them up to:
- Learn more about the business issue that triggered their action – and see if you could make a difference. You may or may not be a good fit. After sharing a bit about the business outcomes you’ve helped other customers achieve, see if it makes sense to continue the conversation. Remember, it’s about their business, not your offering.
- Help them think about how to make the best decision for their organization. If your product/service is complex, most likely your prospects aren’t sure about all the factors they should be considering. They don’t know who to involve, the questions they should be asking, what they should be looking for.
If you can personally provide this type of value to your leads, they’ll want to work with you. And when that happens, you won’t hate selling anymore because it truly is service. You know what you do matters.
