Web Marketing Sales Strategies

By Jennifer Ryan  
07/05/2005  
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Basic Premises of Superior Sales Style

It sounds crass, but a sales transaction is actually a psychological exchange. Sales don't occur on a whim. It may look like just a sale on the surface, but beneath it all is a well-constructed psychological interchange. A persuasion. What lies beneath the simple process is a metamorphosis of a human mind.

The Basics  | Why Do People Buy?

Emotions: People buy because of the way a product or service will make them feel. Today I was in the store to buy a hair dryer. There were 100s of hair dryers on the shelves. I immediately turned my nose up at the less expensive brands, as I'd heard earlier this year that the better hair dryers cost up to $100. That narrowed my selection down to those in the $100 range. I was unsure which one to buy. There was the Chi, the Chi Turbo and some other brand I don't remember.

The brand I don't remember was $10 less than the Chi, but the Chi has a good reputation and is very popular these days. They're marketing department or ad agency has done an extraordinary job at branding their hair care products. For me the Chi was a good bet because so many people I know have raved about it. The verification of the Chi's product gave me confidence to buy it, and spend more money on buying it.

The Herding Principal: Wild dogs travel in packs and birds in flocks. We people aren't much different. We are more apt to buy a product or service if we see other people buying it. That's why testimonials are so important in web marketing. It's all due to the herding principal. Don't believe it? Then why on earth do people allow Paris, Hollywood and New York dictate the trends and styles of the day? Why do men where suits and women wear make-up. Because we don't really want to be as different as many of us suspect.

This principal is like the chicken before the egg anecdote. You've got to have a herd of people buying your product or service before you can rely on the herding principal to take effect. Thus, the herding principal is not a good premise from which to base your marketing strategy in the beginning. This is something you can bring into play once your momentum builds.

People Buy to Ease Their Pain: We buy software to save us from the pain of having to write thing everything by hand.

Other observations about selling...

1. People don't care about what you have to say. It's a cold

2. People are motivated to buy for selfish reasons.

3. People are self-interested.

5. People buy ideas, not facts.

6. People buy things based upon intangibles like how that particular
    product will make them look or feel.

8. Today people are smart and well-informed and can shop around easily.

9. You must offer concrete proof of any claims you make in a sales presentation.

10. Client testimonials work wonders.

11. Show, don't tell.

12. Hurry up. Don't take too long.

13. Don't bog people down with laborious details. Simply tell them how what you offer benefits them.

14. Sell benefits, not features.

15. You must have a reason for people to buy from you. Don't let it be typical.

16. People won't take action unless they feel some sort of pain, or are motivated by self interest.

17. You must differentiate your product from the competition.

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