The Art of Selling

side on both sides of a dusty street. Some people in the crowd are simply going from one place to another, and some have come to purchase a particular item. The vendors use all sorts of schemes and strategies to get the attention of the passersby and draw them to their own stall rather than to their neighbor’s. Each vendor must convince one person at a time that he has the best product compared to all those around him and that it would be a grave mistake to buy from anyone else besides him. The buyer has to be convinced that what he is giving up is nothing in exchange for the value that he is getting in return.

This is the art of selling.

Every business person, whether on a dusty street in the Middle East or in an air-conditioned high-rise in New York City, has to convince the buyer that his product is the best and that the buyer would be missing out on a great deal by walking away from the transaction. The object of the person or company selling the goods and services is to convince the buyer that he will get more than he is being asked to give.

People have been mastering the art of selling products and services to those who need them since the beginning of time. The methods

The buyer has to be convinced that what he is giving up is nothing in exchange for the value that he is getting in return.

that entrepreneurs use to sell their goods have changed down through the millennia, but the principles are still the same.

No business exists without a buyer.

No sale happens until a buyer is convinced that he will benefit by making the purchase. The buyer has to believe that what he is giving up in exchange is worth less than what he is getting. A person who walks into a fast food restaurant values the meal more than the few dollars that the meal will cost. If the buyer doesn't perceive that he is getting more than he's giving, there is no transaction.

Selling online is no different.

Granted, the method of selling online is relatively new in the history of commerce, and there are certain unique strengths and weaknesses related to online commerce that did not come into play just a few years ago. Selling online is still selling, and the principles have remained unchanged down through centuries of business transactions.

One of the biggest complaints about online sellers is that the vast majority of them seem to think only about closing the sale.

Because of the universal reach of the Internet, it's easy for some online sellers to feel they can hide because they're not looking the buyer eye-to-eye over a counter in a retail shop. Buyers likewise also feel less secure because they can't see the seller face-to-face, and they usually cannot visit

the store in person and reassure themselves of the legitimacy of the business.

These unscrupulous online sellers really have no regard for the customer; they value only what the customer can do for them, which is adding dollars to their bank account. It is quite possible for an online seller to build an entire business model on one-time sales rather than building a list of satisfied clientele who come back for repeated purchases.

That’s the danger awaiting online sellers – the bad reputation of a few.

Other online sellers – the kind you want to be – couldn’t be more different. They really do want to do the right thing, and they're aware of the need to provide honest value to their customers. Their desire is to provide significant value to the buyer at a fair price, but they sometimes struggle to communicate that value. Their

heart is in the right place, but they have difficulty reaching out and convincing the buyer that they're different than the other group.

No business can succeed without a seller convincing a buyer to pay.

Even if your heart is in the right place, you’ll have to develop the art of convincing people that you have what they need if you want to succeed in your online business. People browsing the Internet today have the attention span of the Middle Eastern customers walking down a dusty street, scarcely glancing at the vendors who shout for their attention. Online sellers must hold the attention of potential buyers and convince them that the products they are selling really can help them solve their problems and can do it better and cheaper than anyone else’s product can. What you are selling simply must be better, and you must also believe that it is better and be able to communicate that.

Whatever your product or service, you must be able to convince the buyer that what he gives up in return is less than the value he's getting by making a purchase from your online store.

It's your job to create the need, or at least to magnify it, so that you’re standing ready with your product or service just as soon as the buyer is convinced of his need.

Chapter 2: Show Customers the Value

A well-known quotation goes like this: "I don't mind buying; I just don't like being sold." That expression rings true for a lot of Internet buyers. They don't mind buying more, even high-ticket items, if they feel they are getting more value than they're giving up. Whether it's $5, $500, or $5000, there's a buyer at each one of those price points if you, the seller, can convince him that he will get at least double his money back from the purchase.

It’s not the dollar amount per se; it’s the amount of expected return.

It's not about selling cheap, low-ticket items but about remembering that buyers always want more than they're willing to give.

You have to show them very clearly the value of what you're offering. It's the classic distinction between features and benefits. Features are things that a product can do, but benefits are what those features can do for the buyer. You need to focus on the benefit to the buyer by showing exactly what the buyer will be able to get by purchasing your product.

Today's Internet shoppers are savvy and skeptical. They’ve seen all kinds of gimmicks and scams and may have lost money in the past. With such a high level of skepticism, Internet buyers today must understand clearly what the product can do for them before they are willing to pull out their credit card.

There must be a reasonable match between the values the product is offering and the price that customers are being asked to pay. If there's too much of a discrepancy between the two, buyers will be suspicious. They’ll think either that you're trying to scam them if the price is too high, or that there must be a trick if the price is too low. You can't really blame them, because there are many Internet marketers who are employing all kinds of unethical strategies just to get the buyer to click on the Buy Now button.

But you've already decided that you're going to be different – that's good.

What can you do to help buyers understand the value in your product? 1. Show the value. This is the point we've been discussing. You must reiterate the benefits of your product so that the buyer comes to associate those benefits with your product. Use every platform available: affiliate ads, banner ads, payper-click click campaigns, even classified ads. Your goal is that your product becomes synonymous with the benefits that it offers the buyer. When the buyer thinks of a particular problem, you want him to think of your product as the only solution for that problem.

Be unique. The marketplace today is flooded with products competing with yours, many of which are almost indistinguishable. 2. make your product

stand out? You have to find something about your product which is new or unique. People are very interested in the latest thing. No one is interested in last year's model, whether it's a cell phone, a DVD player, or car. People don't want average products, and they don't want outdated products. They want the latest thing so they can show their friends and brag on the great deal they got. You need to be aware of this tendency and market toward it. If you think you should be subtle, don't. Be bold and direct. Make sure the buyer knows what you have to offer compared to all the other products which seem very similar.

3. Offer a guarantee. Yes, it's true that some scam artists will put a "Satisfaction Guaranteed" image on their website with no intention whatsoever of offering money back to dissatisfied customers, much less answering an e-mail from a disgruntled customer. We've already determined that you are committed to be a different kind of online marketer. Giving a money-back guarantee gives the buyer a sense of reassurance when shopping on your website. If you're hesitant to give a full money-back guarantee, consider a free trial version with an expiration date, or a basic model with an offer to upgrade later to a premium model if the buyer is satisfied. The main point is that the buyer has to be convinced that you stand behind your product.

Be honest. There's really not another way to say this. It's true that every salesperson is committed to magnifying the2. benefits of this product and minimizing weaknesses. No one is asking you to do anything different. You must believe in the value of your product and be able to communicate that value

to the buyer. There are so many fly-by-night websites that make all kinds of claims and then disappear after a short period of selling online. The classic golden rule is one of the best guidelines for this aspect of your business: treat others as you would want to be treated. And it's also good to remember that people communicate more openly on the Internet about the experiences they've had. You want to do all you can to protect your online reputation. The last thing you want is blog posts and forum comments with consistently critical comments about your product. That's death to an online business. Be honest, be proud of your product, and be truthful about what it can and can't do. You may lose some sales in the short term, but in the long run your business will be built on a more solid foundation.