Selling

Article supplied by www.SalesclubUK.com - The UK's online meeting place for salespeople.

What's harder to sell - a bag of cement or a £1 million computer?

We recently heard about a dinner party conversation between a Builder's Merchant and a computer salesman.

The Builder's Merchant argued the case for the bag of cement.........

1. Hundreds of people sell bags of cement......only a few companies sell £1m computers

2. A bag of cement is a bag of cement is a bag of cement......all computers are different and have their special 'widgets'

3. The buyer knows exactly what he wants (a bag of cement)........the buyer thinks he knows what he wants (a £1m computer) but you can dazzle him with 'widgets' and get him to pick your 'unique' system

.....after a while the computer salesman started to think that actually the bag of cement was pretty tricky to sell...he asked "how do you sell a bag of cement then?"

Well, whilst the price has got to be competitive......it's all really about service:

1. You have to give a local, personal service
2. Easy collection - the yard should be easy to move in-and-out
3. Delivery options - different times; quick off-load
4. Knowledgeable staff - know products, prices etc.
5. Flexible payment/account options

Summary

Interesting! Selling is tough whatever your market - look around at other industries and think how they actually sell their products - it may just give you the edge.