I was so fired up by this week’s conversation on SUCCESS Line. I talk to Mehdi, an ambitious young entrepreneur living in Iran. He has long dreamed of becoming an entrepreneur and recently quit his job in order to go all in on his new business.
He has a business idea, and he has a business partner. So now, how does he actually sell the product? How do you get prospective buyers to see the value in your product, especially when it’s costly?
In this conversation, Mehdi and I dive deep into the art of making sales, an art I’ve been practicing since I was 17 years old. If the thought of selling makes you nervous, read on for my top three takeaways for selling with ease. Remember: No one can buy your product if they don’t know it exists.
1. Pricing is relative.
It is pretty much useless to talk about the price of your product or service. You should only share that information in the context of two things: the problem your buyers have that your product/service solves, or the pay off that your product could provide to your buyers.
The price of your item in and of itself doesn’t matter. All that matters is the relation between the cost of your item and how much it either reduces buyers expenses or increases their profitability.
I know this to be true because I’ve sold just about everything under the sun—baseball cards, sunglasses, music albums, coaching programs, book proposals, and more. It is always the same conversation. It is not, “How much is it,” but rather, “How much is it worth?”
Furthermore, you can get almost any product to justify its own cost by simply extending the time horizon further. Will your product/service save and/or make this person money in five, 10 or 15 years? Lead with that. The price itself doesn’t matter—it is all about how you frame it.
2. Sales is a numbers game.
The reason most people fail is not because their product isn’t good enough or they have the wrong team. The number one reason people fail or succeed is directly correlated to how many people they talked to. Did they talk to enough people who are the right fit for their product or service and tell them about it?
I’m sure you can name tons of crappy products that have succeeded because they found a way to get in front of a lot of people. And what is even more true and heartbreaking is that we know a lot of amazing products that failed because the team couldn’t figure out how to get their product in front of enough people.
Sales is simply a numbers game, and there is no shortcut around that. You need to increase your numbers and expand your reach in order to find success. At Brand Builders Group we often say, “Results x reach = reputation.” The larger your reach, the more opportunities you will have to impress, help and serve future clients.
You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take. Expand your numbers and take more shots—you will reap the benefits in time.
3. Entrepreneurs find a way.
The entrepreneurship mindset is a rare mindset. In fact, most people are not built to be entrepreneurs. Most have a finite pain threshold; they can make five or so attempts before they reach a quitting point.
But entrepreneurs do not have a quitting point. They believe there is a way and they work until they find it.
If you’re wondering, “Well, Rory, just how many attempts do I need to make?” My answer is simple: however many it takes.
If you want to be an entrepreneur you need to be willing to do whatever it takes to make your business succeed. Have an honest conversation with yourself before you embark on this journey: Do you have the spirit of an entrepreneur in you? Because I do not know of a single successful entrepreneur who has had an easy road where everything worked out and fell into place. Every single entrepreneur’s story is filled with problems, setbacks, rejection and failure. But those problems are no match for the steely resilience, relentless perseverance and passionate commitment of an entrepreneur.
The problems, setbacks and failures are the job. If you want to be an entrepreneur, embrace the challenges and prepare to conquer them.
The SUCCESS Line is no longer releasing new episodes on the SUCCESS Podcast Network, but you can still listen to the full conversation below.
