Selling
It's an essential life skill.

For anyone ambitious about taking your career to the next level:
You need to learn how to sell.

I was an account manager before going full-time in my consulting business.

Here are 5 tips on how to sell

Start by recognizing the importance of it!
A lot of people immediately feel this sense of resentment when they hear the word "selling".

It's these annoying people who want to push something on to you, who only care about money. They are manipulative and dishonest.

Yes, some of them are.
But certainly not everyone!

In fact, we are all salesmen.
When you try to convince your partner, why you should go to this specific restaurant tonight, or why your yearly vacation should go to this specific place; you sell

You present the facts.
But you also highlight all the benefits of these places, and you strategically argue why you think they are so great.
You probably also downplay - or even miss to mention - certain cons.

This doesn't make you a dishonest person.
We all do this! We sell

So, let's get started!
Here are 5 great, actionable tips on how you can get better at this!

Use these to get a better wager, get your next client, ace the interview, or go to your favorite restaurant tonight

Understand how to talk.

You need to identify who you are talking to, and which rhetoric you need to use.
There are great studies on personality types, and how to make the right appeal.

The most popular choices are:
- Meyers Briggs
- Enneagram
- PCM

Let me give you a super boiled down version of this.
All people in the world can be put into these three categories:

Thinkers
Feelers
Actors

When selling to a "thinker", use analytics, logic, and reason.
Don't bother painting a colorful picture for them.
They typically won't care.

Don't bother with "fast results" either.
They typically have all the patience in the world.

If the numbers add up, they're gain!

When selling to a "feeler", use a very colorful language, and keep the focus on human relations.

They don't care much about numbers and logic.
They are not prone to act if it doesn't "feel" right.

Speak with passion!
If you can make them go into tears, you got them!

When selling to an "actor", get to the point!
They are inherently impatient, and they don't want you to waste their time.

They don't care if every detail adds up - they are willing to take risks!
They care about results, as fast as possible.

Get them excited and they'll buy!

Now, whenever you need to sell something, identify which type of person you are speaking to.
Use the correct language.

Which type are you?
Your boyfriend? Girlfriend? Your kids?

Get into the habit of classifying people.
See if it gets easier to influence them

Use Neuro-Linguistic Programming.

This is a huge field, and I'll go through this very briefly.
By making people use certain words and speak in a certain language, you can influence their decisions on a subconscious level.

Most importantly:
Avoid "no-programming" and use "yes-programming".

When you are in a dialogue, be careful not to make the other side repeat the word "no", and instead see if you can make them repeat the word "yes".

Example of a bad "no" spiral:

A: Do you want to hire our UX team?
B: No.
A: What if I give you a small discount?
B: No.
A: Ok, maybe think about it, and I'll call you back tomorrow?
B: NO!

Example of a good "yes" spiral:

A: Do you think good UX is important for your users?
B: Yes, of course.
A: Do you think good UX will make more users buy your product?
B: Yes, it probably will.
A: So by hiring our UX team, there will be an ROI for your business?
B: Yes!

Compare these two examples above.
When you ask the final question: "Should we make it a deal then?".

What do you think the likely answer will be, in each case?
Yes or no?

Listen more than you talk

I've been working with many salespeople in my career.
A common mistake is, that a salesperson talks fast, and a lot!
They go on and on about how great the product is - and they don't listen to the other side.

Remember, the first thing you need to do is to classify which type of person you are talking to.
Next, you need to understand what motives and desires the person has.
Otherwise, you'll be very little likely to sell.

You need to thoroughly *listen* to pick this up!

Know who to sell to

Make a reasonable assumption about who you are selling to.
If you are a freelancer and want to sell a webshop solution for $10K, don't call the local plumber.

They won't need it, and it's likely that they won't have the budget.

The same goes when you're applying for jobs.
Where it is perfectly fine not to be able to check off all requirements, be careful when it's the other way around.

If the company is hiring a junior, don't expect them to raise the salary level, just because you apply as a senior.

Keep it simple

As said, it's important to adjust your wording according to which type of person you are talking to.
It's also great to have them repeat "yes" and similar confirming words.

What rarely works well, is to sound like a wise-guy.

Don't use fancy words or jargon in order to sound more knowledgeable.
It's not gonna come off more convincing. Believe me!

Think about it.
If you were thinking to yourself "I have no idea what he's talking about" - would you feel like buying anything?

You won't sound clever, and best case, you'll just make the other side feel stupid, which is not gonna help.

Keep it simple. Dumb it down.
Make sure the other side perfectly understands the full picture.

Ask often, and make sure you didn't lose them.

Conclusion

Of course, there is much more to it.
But these are small tips, that you can start implementing already today.

I hope you enjoyed reading

Do you want to learn more about how to use your skills as a software developer to create your own business?

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