Sorry, not interested.
The three sweetest words I heard since “I love you.”
???
Let me explain.
For the longest time since I was born, I was petrified of sales. But today was the first time I had to push product, a Stevia sweetener at the Mid Valley IT Fair.
It wasn’t meant to be like this…
My friend Lingesh told me to go to the booth to “help out.” I was supposed to devise a content strategy based on my observations. But little did I know that I had to sell on my feet at the front of the booth for 3 hours.
I hesitated. I was scared. I used to tell my friends: “Sales are for extroverts, marketing is for introverts.”
But I went with it anyway. All the while, a few things ran through my mind as Lingesh coerced suggested I do sales.
I always knew I had to be good at sales if I wanted to be an entrepreneur.
If I was gonna do sales (and be in the profit center) of any business, I was gonna have to learn it – whether I liked it or not.
Promoter jobs pay well for a short amount of selling (they pay hourly + commissions). So if I’m good at this - it can also be a good side income.
I pulled my weight, unmelted my shoes from the floor and started selling.
Three hours later, this is what I learned from selling for the first time at a fair:
1. I was saying sh*t outloud (MISTAKE)
When people rejected me, I actually reaffirmed outloud what they said. Goes like this:
“Hi sir, would you like to try refreshing cold tea with Stevia?”
They would raise up the infamous Malaysian hand.
And I would say:
“No.”
Because of this verbal tick, I slowly changed the word “No” to “Thank You.”
FAAAR less damaging.
2. You gotta know everything about the product and the company
When customers buy purely from your unilateral pitch, congratulations! You made the sale!
When customers start asking deeper questions beyond the surface features…. You better know the product’s benefits and your company’s brand story to sell them the WHY.
Knowing everything may not be needed but adds a lot more trust, credibility and authority. You will be seen as a founder more than just a sales rep.
3. Appearance matters
SMILE! If you don’t have a good outfit – go with a smile.
If you are handsome or pretty, it helps too.
Dress your best. Get a good haircut. Raise your voice and speak in a clear and calm manner.
4. You got to close!
I found that my blogging formula played the same with sales pitches.
If you understand copywriting, it helps a lot.
My blogging formula was HOOK, MEAT, Call-to-action (CTA).
The HOOK was the tea.
The MEAT was the pitch.
The CTA was the close.
Let’s start with the HOOK
The HOOK is the most important bit.
In the world of blogging, it relates to the thumbnail and headline.
In the world of sales pitches, it’s the first line you say with compassion that stops them in their tracks.
With the added benefit of selling in-person, you can use body movement to emphasize your point.
When you realize your opener isn’t working, you can try other ones.
Like we started with “Cold Tea with Stevia.”
We ended up with “Cold Tea with Stevia for a long walk.”
If you really wanted to personalize – use different slang with different groups.
Or say stuff like “As sweet as Dua Lipa’s voice.”
Again – it depends on your crowd.
The MEAT
That’s your pitch.
I realized I made the biggest mistake in sales.
I lead with features, not benefits.
My features were:
- Zero calories
- 250x sweeter than sugar
- All natural
- 99.5% stevia
- Diabetic friendly
BOOOOORING.
What I should have said was:
- Zero calories, so that you can enjoy your sweet coffee or tea without feeling guilty afterwards.
- 250x sweeter than sugar, so that all you need is small sachet to get the same sweetness as two teaspoons of sugar.
- All natural, it’s from a plant – so you are getting the sweetness from vegetables (and we all know veggies are good for us).
- 99.5% stevia – other products in the market don’t have the same purity as we do. So no extra stuff you can’t pronounce.
- Diabetic friendly, so you can enjoy and indulge your sweet tooth without the worry of sugar related diseases
Now we move on to the CTA
This is where you close.
My pitch was:
“So today we currently have two sizes. The small one is for RM21 for 30 sachets. The big one is for RM38 for 60 sachets – so you can actually save RM4.”
To add further emphasis – we would say:
“You can buy the 60 sachet one today so you don’t need to return to buy another pack.”
And we would tie it up with:
“Would you like to try one today?”
5. Don’t treat your pitch like a pitch, treat it like a conversation.
There’s a saying that goes: “Customers don’t like to be sold, but they sure love to buy!”
To be honest, I still pitched – I feel that you can only treat it like a conversation once you are a little more seasoned selling the product you are selling.
It takes time to be truly comfortable with selling.
6. You have to be proactive ALL the time.
I realized that when I was selling, I would scan people, find the person and still let externalities get in the way.
“She was too far.”
“She moved too fast and there were people coming the other way.”
But the more I tried to sell, I noticed the other salespeople couldn’t care less.
To quote a cliché – “they would stop at nothing and let nothing stop them from getting what they want.”
Lingesh told me “Remember the 3 second rule” which states that if you see the girl, approach her within 3 seconds before your planning and rationalizing brain paralyzes you or holds you back.
The same applies to selling - go for it without thinking twice.
7. It’s a numbers game
When it comes to having a booth at a fair, sales is purely a numbers game. Same goes with approaching women.
I remember a Dan Lok saying that goes: “Communication is wealth.”
And that can’t be further than the truth.
The more you communicate, the more money you can make.
Whether you are doing B2B sales or B2C sales, what it really is H2H – human to human.
It’s the business that gives you the money, it’s a person (hence why salespeople always target key decision makers if they wish to optimize their time.)
8. Rejection is not as bad as you think.
I have yet to be on the other end of a really foul customer so I have yet to experience full-on humiliation. [crosses fingers]
But I can safely say that most of the rejection you face – isn’t as bad you as you think.
I wasn’t thinking of myself to be thick skin.
I guess that the older you become, the less you take things personally.
The end of it all
I sold one unit!
Not too bad for a first timer I would say...
If you guys are interested, you can always check the product here.
Thanks for reading.