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Strategy

How To Sell Your First Order

A how-to guide for those just starting out in sales

Step 1:
Brand yourself to be different from ordinary price sellers. This might mean wearing unique shoes, ties or scarves – no matter, it should be something that stands out and gets you recognized. Also, ditch traditional business cards. Instead, use promo products with your name and contact information to hand out to prospects.

Step 2:
Don’t offer customers too many product choices. Let’s say a realtor contacts you looking for thank-you gifts for her home-buying clients. Instead of showing the realtor 50 different branded kitchen items, only show her three. If she doesn’t like them, come back with three more.

Step 3:
Spend time on buyers and don’t waste time on lookers. Never work on orders unless a customer can answer four specific questions. Ask: When do you need the items by? How much do you want to spend? How many items do you need? And, what are the products for? Remember, customers must answer all four questions for you to consider them buyers.

Step 4:
Think outside of the box. You can do this by simply taking common products and putting an interesting spin on them. For example, if you put a photo of a happy wedding couple on a cup, you can sell the item as a rehearsal dinner or reception gift. Hundreds of products have been around forever. If you’re creative in truly personalizing them, people will want to deal with you.