How To Sell A Product: 2024 Step-by-Step Guide

Selling Made Simple And Salesman Podcast

In today's fast-paced market, knowing how to sell a product is crucial for business success,. he truth is, the art of selling has evolved, and staying ahead means adapting. The good news? I’m here to guide you through this transformation. To sell a product effectively, you need to navigate through six essential steps we'll uncover in this video. These steps are designed to not only grab attention but convert that interest into tangible sales. Let’s begin:

Step #1: Find Your Ideal Customer Persona

Kicking off our journey into mastering sales, the first thing you gotta nail down is finding your ideal customer persona. Think of this as detective work where you're piecing together a profile of your dream buyer. Why? Because aiming your pitch at the right crowd makes everything else smoother. You're looking for folks who get what you're selling, feel the pain it solves, and basically have their wallets out already.

Now, you might be wondering, “How do I find these dream buyers?” Easy! Dive into your past sales and spot the common threads.

• What job titles keep popping up?
• Which industries?
• Any patterns in company sizes or locations?

This detective work helps you sketch out a buyer persona that’s not just a shot in the dark but a targeted blueprint of who you’re after.

Now, why bother with all this profiling? Because knowing your ideal customer is like having a treasure map. It leads you to sales gold. Once you’ve got this down, crafting a killer value proposition becomes a piece of cake. That’s what we’re diving into next. Step #2: Build A Value Proposition

Step #2: Define Your Value Proposition

Alright, you've got your dream buyer in mind; now let's chat about your value proposition. Imagine you're at a party, and someone asks, “So, what do you do?” Your value proposition is that killer response that has them saying, “Wow, tell me more!”

Instead of looking for the nearest exit. It's your sales pitch's secret sauce, promising your buyer why you're their best bet.

Think of a value proposition as your business's pledge to your customers,

minus the fluff and filler. It's where you spell out the perks of choosing you over the guy next door. But here’s the twist: it’s not just any promise; it’s a laser-focused, jargon-free promise that shows you get your buyer’s needs like no one else.

Why’s it a big deal? Because when what you’re selling fits like a glove with what they’re itching for, it’s like magic. They’re more likely to say, “Where do I sign?” This alignment is crucial, and it’s your job to broadcast it loud and clear.

Crafting this golden message isn’t something you leave to chance or pass off to a marketer who’s never chatted with your buyers. You've got to roll up your sleeves and build it yourself, with insights gleaned from understanding your audience inside out.

A good structure to present your value proposition is – I help X person, solve Y problem, by doing Z thing.

For me selling sales training to B2B salespeople and small business owners at Salesman.com I might say – I help B2B sellers, find and close more deals using proven, step-by-step frameworks.

A rock-solid value proposition isn't just a nice-to-have. It's your secret sauce when we get to the last step: Closing. That's right, stick around because, in our last step, we’ll dive deep into how this all comes together to seal the deal.

Step #3 Use A Cadence

So, you've got a killer value proposition. Now, how do you get it in front of those dream buyers? Welcome to the world of sales cadence—a fancy way of saying “a killer follow-up plan.” Without a plan, you're just throwing darts in the dark, hoping to hit the bullseye.

Here’s the deal: winging it in sales is like trying to bake a cake by guessing the ingredients. Spoiler alert – it doesn’t work. A structured sales cadence is your recipe for success. It simplifies your outreach, lets you scale without turning into a spam monster, and gives you insights to tweak and improve.

The endgame of your sales cadence? To get your ideal customers to book a call, not to seal the deal right off the bat. Here's a pro tip: open a “curiosity loop.”

Highlight a problem they might not even realize they have, tease them with the possibility of a solution, and make them understand that the only way out is through a call with you. If you spark enough curiosity about solving their issue, they’ll be dialing your number in no time.

The final thing to do with your sales cadence, when you’re happy that you’re sparking enough curiosity to book a meeting is to systematize your outreach.

Stick to a predefined series of sales activities, group them together into daily plays and then finally stick to the same message across multiple days to share the different angles of value that you can potentially offer the prospect.

Now that you’ve got the gist of a sales cadence, stay tuned. Next up, we’ll dive into how to uncover and diagnose your buyer’s real challenges. Ready to become a diagnosis detective?

Step #4: Diagnose Their Issues

After setting the stage with your sales cadence, it’s showtime: the diagnosis call.

We’ve lots of content on how to run a diagnosis call on this YouTube channel. There is also a full chapter on it in the Selling Made Simple book which you can download for free from Salesman.com.

Something to think about within your diagnosis call though is to ease into your pitch with a smooth transition rather than diving straight into it.

Imagine saying, “I think we can help. Would you like me to explain how?”

When they say yes (because who wouldn't?), you've just earned the green light to share your solution. It’s like asking, “Mind if I show you a trick?” And everyone loves a good trick.

This approach is gold. Why? Because it feels less like a sales pitch and more like you're offering a helping hand. You're asking permission, turning the whole conversation into a two-way street. It’s a game-changer, breaking the pattern of those pushy sales calls we all dread.

Now, for the grand finale: moving towards closing without making it awkward. Picture easing into it with, “Does it make sense to take the next step?” It’s smooth, it's respectful, and it opens the door for them to say, “Yeah, let’s do this.”

Now it’s time to learn how to follow up!

Step #5: Follow up

When you're following up and hitting a wall of objections, it's time for a reality check. First, sketch out where your buyer currently stands. Ask them to lay out the facts—the real numbers showing where things are at. Then, dive into how this problem is actually affecting them. Are they pulling extra hours? Missing out on personal goals? How's that making them feel? Stressed? Overwhelmed?

Next up, paint a picture of what life could look like if they solved this issue. . Get the prospect to imagine hitting those sales targets, feeling the stress melt away, and regaining confidence.

But here’s the clincher: measure the gap between their now and that brighter future. If that future doesn't seem worth the leap, it's your cue to amp up the appeal or dial up the pain of staying put.

Your goal? Make that gap look like the Grand Canyon. They should feel like they’ve got no choice but to jump to the other side—with your help, of course.

This can be the basis of the majority of your follow up communication with the prospect. You both agreed that they have a pain and they know you’re the right person to fix it in the previous diagnosis call. All you have to do now is make the pain of not taking action so great that they get the contracts signed.

Step #6: Close

Getting agreement that you can help doesn’t mean anything until the buyer pays the cash and your product is delivered.

To do that we’re going to use the Salesman.com closing framework.

Lots of sellers get stressed about the closing process. They think it’s this big, crazy, magical moment where you ask for the business and the buyer… maybe gives it to you.

There is a better way of closing in sales. Follow this two-steo process –

• Ask the question “does it make sense to…” It could be, does it make sense for me to send over the contracts or does it make sense to get this wrapped up today.
• If the buyer sales “yes” then congrats, you just closed the sale.
• If they say “no”, then you ask “No worries, what do we need to do to move this forward?”

That’s it. Closing the sale shouldn’t be scary, it’s as simple as that.

The post How To Sell A Product: 2024 Step-by-Step Guide appeared first on Salesman.com.