How to Sell Anything
Author: ©Charlie Page

Web sites exist for essentially two purposes. The first is to provide information. The second is to sell. If your purpose for being online is to sell products or services, but you don't have tons of sales experience to fall back on, this article is for you!

Selling is not some mysterious process that happens in smoke filled rooms or some gift you are born with. At it's core, selling is really finding out what people want and providing a way for them to get it. And you must take the buyer through a certain logical order before they will buy.

Like almost any other skill, selling can be learned. Today we look at the five basic steps of a sale. After you finish reading today's article take a close look at your website, selling letters, ad copy and more to see if they take the buyer through these five steps. If not, take steps to make your copy stronger and measure the results.

After going through this 'fine-tuning' process a few times you will have a web site that consistently makes sales and creates a reliable income for you. Now, the five steps of the sale.

There are five distinct steps you must go through with a prospect in order to get them to say yes. Write these on an index card and use them as a checklist each time you make a presentation.

1) Attention - Without your prospect's full attention, you can't proceed. Make sure that your prospect pays attention to your selling message, not your graphics or hot color combos. Spinning ducks are cute. Powerful words sell products.

2) Involvement - Once you have their attention, get them involved. Have them do something. Ask them to sign up for your newsletter or take an online survey right from your home page. If they are interested enough to take this step, you're headed in the right direction.

3) Conviction - They have to be convinced in order to buy. Make sure your words include the FACTS they need to make a logical decision. Prospects buy on emotional impulse but if they can't defend their purchase with logic you'll lose the sale.

4) Desire - This is where the art of selling lives. THEY MUST WANT IT. Include strong emotional 'hooks' for people to relate to. Tell them exactly what's in it for them. Remember that people are usually motivated by the promise of gain (making more money) or the fear of loss (act now before the price goes up).

The simple fact is that people will buy on an emotional impulse. They may defend their purchase with logic (especially to their spouse ;) but they buy things because they WANT to.

A great example of this is the Golden Gate Bridge. I'm totally convinced the Golden Gate Bridge is a great bridge, but I don't want to buy it. ;) Dry stats won't do the job, emotion will.

5) Close - If you've done your job in the four preceding points, closing is a matter of arranging the details. But it is in this step that many sales are lost. Here's the key to closing the sale. TELL them exactly what to do next and keep them laser focused on doing that one thing. Do NOT include links to other products or programs on your order page. Keep their focus on whipping out that credit card and buying now. Make it simple and easy to do.

Now that you know the five steps of a sale, examine your website and selling material to see how you stack up. No matter what you sell, the prospect must complete the steps before they will buy. The fact that they visit your site at all indicates interest. Gently guide them through the other four steps and success will be yours!

Web sites exist for essentially two purposes. The first is to provide information. The second is to sell. If your purpose for being online is to sell products or services, but you don't have tons of sales experience to fall back on, this article is for you!

Selling is not some mysterious process that happens in smoke filled rooms or some gift you are born with. At it's core, selling is really finding out what people want and providing a way for them to get it. And you must take the buyer through a certain logical order before they will buy.

Like almost any other skill, selling can be learned.