I've been kicking around some ideas - ideas to make selling easier, less of a traumatic ordeal. And I remembered that at some point selling had become effortless for me.



What do I know that others don't?

Can selling really be effortless? Is it what you do, what you say, what you ask, or what your service is? No, effortless selling has very little to do with any of this. In effortless selling you don't need to convince anyone. People convince themselves.

But how?

I learned pretty early in my career that I couldn't really convince anyone to do business with me. I certainly tried. I used great arguments. Lots of features and benefits. But it never worked. This approach always met with resistance and rejection.

Then I learned to ask questions. The idea is that if you ask enough questions you can know enough about the prospect's situation to jump in with the solution to their problem (your service).

That worked a little better.

But not good enough. So I kept researching. What was selling all about? Why was it such a struggle? How could I make it easier? I read a lot of books and tried a lot of stuff. I recall it was rather painful, no, perhaps agonizing.

I finally realized that selling rarely happened in a vacuum. As you know, it's almost impossible to just call someone up and sell them on your services. They have to be warmed up first. They need to know something about what you offer.

They need to be exposed to MARKETING.

Selling can't happen until a prospect has responded to your marketing messages, learned something about your services and has a sense that you might be able to help them. In my Marketing Ball Model, that's what I call getting on second base.

When you start selling before you get to second base you always get tagged out. Many people are frustrated with selling because they're trying to sell to someone who isn't even on first base yet.

As a result of this realization, I started marketing myself like there was no tomorrow. I networked, gave talks, hosted events, created brochures, sent out newsletters, gave stuff away. I was out there. I warmed up my prospective clients through marketing. Still do.

When someone showed interest I set up a time to talk and the sales process began. And almost everyone I spoke with became a client. You see, they had already pre-sold themselves before I even talked to them.

All I had to do was get out of the way and see if I could really help them or not. And now my questions had a different purpose. I just needed to determine if the prospect was sufficiently motivated and if my service was right for them.

In a nutshell here's my selling process. I ask questions that get at these four issues:

1. Is there a real problem begging for a solution? Is something missing and are they unable to find a solution by themselves?

2. Is there a commitment to change things and move forward? Are they in a place where they are finally ready to take action?

3. Are they willing to invest in a solution? Can they put in the time, energy and money to do what it takes to make the change?

4. Can they envision the future? Can they imagine more positive outcomes than they are experiencing now?

If I get positive signs on all of the above and I have a good sense that I can help them, then I go into the presentation of my services. I want to assure them that I can help them solve their problem and produce the results they want.

This part takes about two minutes.

No kidding. Look, they already know about my services or they wouldn't be meeting with me in the first place. Marketing got the job done.

The presentation goes something like: "This is what I do. This is how it works and what happens. This is the kind of result you can expect. Any questions?"

No pressure, manipulation or fancy closes are necessary. By this time the prospect sees me as someone who can help them get what they want. They certainly don't see me as a salesperson.

And then closing is a simple formality: "Here's what the service costs. Does that work with your budget right now?" or "So that's how the service works. Do you have any questions?" My favorite answer to that one is, "When can we get started?"

If you follow this path of effortless selling, you'll hear that a lot.

To summarize: The key to effortless selling is good marketing. Then you can take your attention off trying to convince someone to do business with you. You can relax and get interested in them and see if they're ready to change and take action.