“If I say it you can doubt me, if you say it, it is true”

In Selling, Step 1, I stated that most importantly of all is qualifying the customer. You can’t and shouldn’t be trying to sell something to someone with no desire or means. Once you are past that step, what are the best ways to get in front of customers to sell, well, I’d argue it is in finding others that are more than happy to sell for you.

Now this may sound like I am the laziest salesperson in the world by trying to get other people to do my work for me, and while you may be right, there are some sound reasons for taking this approach. Some of these are:

• Sometimes you may have a partner (distributor, rep, etc) that has a better relationship with a particular customer than you… give them the proper tools, information, and motivation and that will be a much easier customer for you to access once they’ve been approached already by a trusted friend
• It is much harder to turn down a request from a friend than a salesperson (examples: MCI friends and family, Tupperware, Rodan & Fields). Why were all of these successful…because no stranger was coming knocking on your door asking you to buy, you were being approached by someone you already trusted.
• How much more can you sell if everything doesn’t have to go through you first…multiplying yourself by bringing others onto your side to help you is how you get your sales to grow exponentially. If everything has to go through you, you are severely limited.

OK, makes sense, and maybe I can give it a whirl, but what next. What are some ways to do this:

• Get recommendations from current customers… especially first-time buyers (treat them special)… they are more inclined to talk about their experience. Customers are usually happiest right after buying… this is the best time to ask
• Give people that want to help you an easy way to do this…give them business cards, discount offers they can pass to friends, or give them a discount for helping you find other customers. Social Media is phenomenal for this…discount codes on Instagram and Facebook abound and giving someone good content to share also translates extremely well to LinkedIn and Twitter.
• Go old school with this “Selling to Vito” technique. Find six people in a company that you feel would be the best influencers for what you are selling. Write a letter to each with a cc to the other five on top. When they receive the letter, they will talk to the other five to make sure all are on the same page… someone will get assigned to you. This gets all six talking about you.

Any of these steps should help, but just about anything is better than cold calling. At the end of the day, you are just trying to multiply yourself… can you create content others will gladly spread for you? Who can you enlist to sell for you gladly: friends, family, coworkers, distributors, reps, customers, partners, and maybe even non-direct competitors.

If I am really happy with someone’s service or product I am more than happy to extol their virtues for them…there is a reason there is a YELP and Google Reviews and why people post pictures of their favorite restaurants, food, clothes etc. on Instagram and Facebook…people like to help those with whom they’d like to be associated and they also like to feel like they are in the know. Make it easier for them to help you spread the word. That’s the way you create separation from your competition!