HOW TO SELL WITHOUT SELLING

 Written By Chukwuocha Ikedi 

HOW TO SELL WITHOUT SELLING

Now looking at this title, I'm guessing you smirked, most of you must have heard this at certain masterclasses, some might have passed it and not bothered about it, while the rest are reading this because of sheer curiosity.

Whatever brought you here, give me a few minutes of your time especially if you're a vendor, marketer or brand ambassador or wanna be

Now it is very important to know that everyone sells, and if you think you're not selling then you're selling your ignorance or the fact that you need to be sold to.

When we need a spouse, we sell ourselves using words and appearance, when we want a scholarship we sell our results and ambitions, when we need a promotion we sell our KPI's and milestones etc

Selling isn't just about physical goods and services but more, some sell their personality, looks and appearance to get what they want to buy (achieve)

There are ways to sell and not appear salesy and this why I've come to help you, ready?

1. Content marketing- Content marketing is a way to use contents to get a goal of achieve a sale (ambition)

Contents basically are used to entertain, inform and educate.

The KLT principle flows on the structure of Knowing, Liking and Trusting a vendor before you are able to patronize their business or buy their goods and services. Content marketing helps you to position yourself as an authority in your niche because you would be giving out so much information that your audience can't help but patronize you.

Let's say one is a car dealer, you could make contents around, how to insure a car, how to lock the car to avoid theft, how to know the right engine oil to use, how to find the VIN of the car, how to know the best car dealer, how to spot a fake dealer etc

Teaching your audience these things would make them see you as an authority in that niche and run to you for more information and questions as well as when they want to buy a car.

2. Create an offer

If everyone is doing the same thing, try creating an offer. So you work in a monopolistic market, where everyone knows that the price is fixed and no one can charge higher or lower, why not add certain benefits.

A vendor who sells cement in a cement market can choose to pay for his customer's loading, or get them something as little as water to drink while they are buying your cement.

What is the effect of this, when customers know that others offer the same but you do yours differently, they will come to you. 

You can serve snacks, get customised bags, give Birthday presents etc

3. Study the problem that your competitors aren't solving, the beauty of being a man is that we aren't perfect, this is one's weakness and others' strength. 

I'll explain further, the fact that there is something someone is not doing so well could be the way you could break even.

So your competition has a large market that they are focused on quality products and are lacking in the quality customer service to retain their customers because of the large audience can be an advantage for you to focus on your own little audience.

4. Storytelling

One time I went to the bank to withdraw money and I saw the elderly woman sitting on the floor of the ATM, little did we know that she was armed, not with guns but with a story, she would recite a well memorised story of how the ATM swallowed her card and she has kids to feed and she was out of cash and the story sold her so well that She made over 5k from about 4 different ATMs daily, I'm not saying this to criticize her or anything, I'm just showing you a lady who makes 5k daily by selling a predicament with a story

As a vendor, you have to tell stories or learn how to, it doesn't have to be so perfect, it just needs to be genuine. You can also notice how my own story provoked an emotion in you, probably pity, anger or even hatred for that woman (that's also the power of a good story, we can't help it)

5. Relationships

The best way to sell is by building relationships, learn to listen to people, nurture relationships with people.

Let me tell you a story 🤣

The Club Juventus bought C Ronaldo for over 120 million dollars and in 24 hours, they got over a million followers and made over 60 million dollars in the sales of his jersey (they made twice of an investment within a day because of the relationship they had with a brand) 

Let's not talk about the cup they won and the views they started getting from C Ronaldo's fans.

This is why most companies pay for brand ambassadors, Network marketing flourishes on who you know and who you're affiliated with.

Hope you found value?

Which point will you start working on and which have you been using without being aware?