Selling isn’t about forcing a product down anybody’s throat.
As a salesperson or marketer, you need to demonstrate and educate. Your customer will choose your product if it’s truly right for them.
Demonstrating and educating means giving your customer all the information they need to understand what you’re selling, and all the details they personally need to know about it.
This should be the purpose of your sales process.
Marketing as Teaching
You may need to start by educating prospects about your general topic first.
If you’re selling health products, you’ll need to explain not just the benefits, but also how the products work to achieve their results.
For any type of technological products, unless your target market consists of technology experts,
you’ll need to assume your prospects have no prior knowledge.
Break difficult subjects into more easily digestible pieces to help them understand.
Make your site a go-to for information on everything related to the products you sell.
Show, Don’t Tell
It’s important to demonstrate as well as educate.
People believe what they see more than what they read.
It’s not enough to simply tell them what your product does.
A good way to do this is to create videos that show your products in use.
You can also produce videos that show the many different uses of your product, especially those that may not be obvious.
Two Sides to Every Story
In the past, marketers have downplayed or outright lied about the weaknesses of their products.
But as a marketer, you want your customer to make the right decision.
If they buy something from you that doesn’t suit their needs,
there’s a good chance they’ll return it, and
they won’t do business with you again.
They’re definitely not going to go and tell their friends about you.
The sale becomes a wasted opportunity, or even a
black mark against your name.
Present the advantages, as well as disadvantages, of your product.
This gives prospects a balanced picture and helps them make the right decision.
It also engenders trust.
If you’re willing to be honest with people about your products, it makes your customers more likely to do business with you.
This doesn’t mean that you have to present any disadvantages in a negative light.
When talking about the pros and cons of your product or service, you can discuss how the pros outweigh the cons.
Or you can explain the relative unimportance of any downsides based on your target audience’s needs
.
The key is to address any potential objections in advance so that people can decide whether the product, with all its features, will solve their problem or fill their need.
Ideas for Demonstrating and Educating
Make sure your website has information resource pages.
Try to anticipate the questions in your prospects’ minds, and answer them.
Aside from producing videos, other good ways to educate include eBooks, reports, webinars, newsletters, and blogs.
Use as many different media formats as possible.
Some people are more receptive to certain types of media than others.
Too Much Information?
There is no such thing as too much information.
The key is to present enough information to answer your prospects’ questions.
Create a wide variety of content to show your audience what your products can do.
Create additional content to demonstrate how your product solves simple problems related to your niche.
Customers have a variety of questions when they’re shopping, and your goal should be to create a one-stop resource for all of the answers they need to make a purchasing decision.
