Sales and Selling One of America's Premier Sales Blog's provided by the Selling Fool
Selling is an art that if we are not careful could become a soon to be, long forgotten art in America. Most people think selling is simply price but this is just not always the case.
Sure price has a lot to do with it. The customer not only has to get a certain amount of value for the money he spends but has to feel that he was fairly treated as well.
If all of these things are in place and provided the prospect wants what is offered, has the means to make the purchase and the timing is right, a sale will be made. That is, provided the salesperson, website or what ever selling apparatus is available is willing to ask for the sale.
Selling has changed for a lot of things that have been offered for hundreds of years. For example groceries. Grocery stores used to have buyers and they would buy at wholesale and sell at retail. This should be the same today, wouldn't you think.
Not so now days. It seems that now days, the producers and manufacturer of most of the items that are sold in the modern super market now have to bid for the shelf space. The one's that agree to pay the stores the most, get their products on the shelf. In addition to getting the products on the shelf, these products must also have to sell well. The store wants to make a good commission on the product. So a lot of products fail, even good products because they either do not sell well or else they get out bid by their competitors for the shelf space in the store.
I for example like frozen pancakes. They are a convenience food, they taste great and are easy to put in the microwave for approximately one minute or so and TA-Da breakfast is ready. The store where I have bought them for years, suddenly no longer has them, period. Instead, they have twice as many waffles. Now I like waffles but some days I prefer pancakes. Now it is either cook them my self or eat waffles or some other breakfast food. That's life! Who knows, maybe pancakes will out bid waffles next month.
Once products are on the shelf then they have to use the packaging, different contest and all sorts of advertising slogans and catchy phrases to move the product. These slogans and phrases are tied in with millions of dollars worth of TV, Radio and Print advertising to build a following to move the products.
You will also see websites by the thousands offering recipes and tips on how to use different food items along with diets and how to cook down home country meals to help sell the items.
If the products don't move "Guess What!" It's off the shelf and something new moves in.
I was in the Direct Sales Business for most of my so far 42 year sales career but the field I was in the longest ( 24 years ) came to an almost complete stand still as far as direct marketing was concerned. This of course did not phase me, as I just found something else to sell and I made more money doing it, I might add. The career I was in was the book business, door to door encyclopedia sales to be exact. The field was completely taken over by the internet. The company I was working for now probably sells four times as much and is many times more profitable. Most of their sales or now down loaded and so they don't have the printing cost or shipping and handling expenses they once had. They don't have to pay all of the sales commissions they once had either. So all of this goes to the bottom line and is a plus for the consumer because the company can now afford to spend even more money for their editorial expense, which equals a better product.
So guess what I do now? I felt if it is good enough for the goose it might as well be good enough for the gander.
You can always see what I am up to at http://www.thesellingfool.com/
True this Internet business is new to me but so far it has really been a great learning experience and I have loved every minute of it. I will eventually get to tell all of the old stories that I lived through the last 42 years and I feel I am really making a difference in the lives of a number of young people who are aspiring to be the up and coming industrialist, politicians and top sales people of the future.
There is one thing that no one will argue with me on. It is the fact that you have to have a good back ground in sales if you want to be able to pitch your dreams and have them fall on receptive ears. Regardless of what career path you decide to follow a good back ground in sales will do you well. With out sales knowledge it is almost impossible to excel at anything in the business world.
You have to learn to entice your listeners to want what you are selling and then, and only then does the sale it self, become a mere formality.
For a lot of new insights on how to sell well, come see me.
Billy J Gibson
thesellingfoolbjg@yahoo.com
http://www.thesellingfool.com/
Sure price has a lot to do with it. The customer not only has to get a certain amount of value for the money he spends but has to feel that he was fairly treated as well.
If all of these things are in place and provided the prospect wants what is offered, has the means to make the purchase and the timing is right, a sale will be made. That is, provided the salesperson, website or what ever selling apparatus is available is willing to ask for the sale.
Selling has changed for a lot of things that have been offered for hundreds of years. For example groceries. Grocery stores used to have buyers and they would buy at wholesale and sell at retail. This should be the same today, wouldn't you think.
Not so now days. It seems that now days, the producers and manufacturer of most of the items that are sold in the modern super market now have to bid for the shelf space. The one's that agree to pay the stores the most, get their products on the shelf. In addition to getting the products on the shelf, these products must also have to sell well. The store wants to make a good commission on the product. So a lot of products fail, even good products because they either do not sell well or else they get out bid by their competitors for the shelf space in the store.
I for example like frozen pancakes. They are a convenience food, they taste great and are easy to put in the microwave for approximately one minute or so and TA-Da breakfast is ready. The store where I have bought them for years, suddenly no longer has them, period. Instead, they have twice as many waffles. Now I like waffles but some days I prefer pancakes. Now it is either cook them my self or eat waffles or some other breakfast food. That's life! Who knows, maybe pancakes will out bid waffles next month.
Once products are on the shelf then they have to use the packaging, different contest and all sorts of advertising slogans and catchy phrases to move the product. These slogans and phrases are tied in with millions of dollars worth of TV, Radio and Print advertising to build a following to move the products.
You will also see websites by the thousands offering recipes and tips on how to use different food items along with diets and how to cook down home country meals to help sell the items.
If the products don't move "Guess What!" It's off the shelf and something new moves in.
I was in the Direct Sales Business for most of my so far 42 year sales career but the field I was in the longest ( 24 years ) came to an almost complete stand still as far as direct marketing was concerned. This of course did not phase me, as I just found something else to sell and I made more money doing it, I might add. The career I was in was the book business, door to door encyclopedia sales to be exact. The field was completely taken over by the internet. The company I was working for now probably sells four times as much and is many times more profitable. Most of their sales or now down loaded and so they don't have the printing cost or shipping and handling expenses they once had. They don't have to pay all of the sales commissions they once had either. So all of this goes to the bottom line and is a plus for the consumer because the company can now afford to spend even more money for their editorial expense, which equals a better product.
So guess what I do now? I felt if it is good enough for the goose it might as well be good enough for the gander.
You can always see what I am up to at http://www.thesellingfool.com/
True this Internet business is new to me but so far it has really been a great learning experience and I have loved every minute of it. I will eventually get to tell all of the old stories that I lived through the last 42 years and I feel I am really making a difference in the lives of a number of young people who are aspiring to be the up and coming industrialist, politicians and top sales people of the future.
There is one thing that no one will argue with me on. It is the fact that you have to have a good back ground in sales if you want to be able to pitch your dreams and have them fall on receptive ears. Regardless of what career path you decide to follow a good back ground in sales will do you well. With out sales knowledge it is almost impossible to excel at anything in the business world.
You have to learn to entice your listeners to want what you are selling and then, and only then does the sale it self, become a mere formality.
For a lot of new insights on how to sell well, come see me.
Billy J Gibson
thesellingfoolbjg@yahoo.com
http://www.thesellingfool.com/
posted by thesellingfool | 12:09 PM
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