Improve Your Craft Sales Results
By: Liza Schmitt
Want to improve your craft sales results?
You have to change the process to change the results.
It's estimated (and I can well believe it) that of every ten sales people, only three will actually ask for the business. Of those three, only one will be successful in closing the deal. Are you the one who makes the sale, or are you part of the nine who don't?
If you're in business for yourself, it's because you have something to sell. Are your results what you expect or would like them to be? Do you think (or know) that you could do better?
Improve Your Craft Sales Results - Can You Sell?
It's a common scenario - for example: You make something that everybody loves, so you decide to start selling your products in the hopes that you'll build your little business into something big enough to sustain a full time income, but you're just not selling enough to be able to quit your job and work for yourself.
It may be that you've never been trained in sales - this is not unusual, you're an artist or crafter for a reason, if sales is what you were born to do, that's what you would be doing. It may be that you're not very comfortable with or confident at selling - also not unusual if you've never been taught sales skills and techniques, because it takes time to develop the confidence to sell when you first start out.
Improve Your Craft Sales Results - Develop Your Skills
Whatever the reason, the good news is that it's really easy to turn the situation around so that you start closing one deal after the next, resulting in a much improved cash flow!
Yes, it does take confidence, and you will build that confidence up sale by sale, because it also takes skill and technique - once you've learned how to sell, and you apply your new skills, you'll be so thrilled with the results that your confidence will grow in leaps and bounds, and so will your sales!
I'd like to share a personal anecdote on this topic, because what I'm writing about here is what I've experienced myself.
Improve Your Craft Sales Results - A True Story
At one of my previous jobs where I worked in a customer service role, my employer thought I showed promise to do more, and offered me a position in sales. I accepted, wanting to improve my earnings and climb up a notch. However, I didn't do very well at all. My employer hadn't offered me any sales training, and all the other sales consultants came from experienced sales backgrounds, so they didn't need to be trained (or so he thought).
I didn't want to lose this opportunity or fail at it, so I made some enquiries and I found a one day seminar that offered sales training for beginners. I asked my employer if he would pay for it and allow me to go - he wasn't very keen at first, but he could see how enthusiastic I was, and he was impressed that I'd been proactive instead of just giving up.
Well, that one day practically changed my life! I didn't realize it at first, of course, because the techniques seemed like such a "hard sell", and I didn't think I was confident enough to go through with it all. But little by little I started trying a few things out - a different rebuttal if a customer was giving me a reason s/he didn't want to buy; or a different introduction to the beginning of my sales pitch - and I could see that these things were having an effect on my customers, an effect that was positive for me.
Improve Your Craft Sales Results - Take Action!
A lot of people think you have to be a "born salesperson", but I can testify that isn't true. When you learn the right sales skills and techniques, and you apply them, you can become a successful salesperson. And if you want to run your own successful craft business, you have to become a successful salesperson - your business depends on it.
There are a number of ways you can go about learning the sales skills and techniques you need:
* Search the internet
* Find out what courses are offered in your area
* Browse your local library or book store, etc.
Generally speaking, not everything of value that you find is going to necessarily be free or inexpensive, but very often "you get what you pay for".
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