Get More Clients by Abandoning the Hard Sell

In this article, I’m going to explain why I think you should stop using the hard sell, and why you should adopt a more progressive approach.

I’m also going to talk about selling too softly, the importance of honesty, and why a long term relationship will always be more valuable than a sale.

People Have Gotten Smarter

During the golden age of advertising, the hard sell used to work because people didn’t know any better. To put it mildly, that is no longer the case : )

After the golden age, people still accepted hard selling because it came with the privilege of new entertainment. If they wanted the privilege of watching TV, they needed to watch the salesman too. Now, thanks to the availability of so many different forms of media, we’ve all grown to expect more than that.

Can you imagine a Super Bowl ad that was directly selling something, and being pushy about it? I’d be furious — I expect to be entertained by funny commercials, not pushed around by some sales person who probably doesn’t even have a good product. I can see my thumb pressing the TiVo’s FF button already.

The point of all of this is that people are smarter now. We can all smell a salesman from a mile away, and we know we don’t have to listen if we don’t want. People are giving you the privilege of talking to them, and they know it.

The Hard Sell is Just Plain Annoying

The definition of a hard sell is being aggressive and high pressured in the pursuit of a sale.

Do you like to be pushed around by a sales person? I don’t, and neither do most consumers.

In this age where relationships and long-term business mean so much more than one sale, it’s important to take your customer’s feelings and desires into consideration immediately.

Long-Term Relationships Are More Valuable

A single sale will only bring in money one time. A repeat customer, on the other hand, can bring in the money from hundreds of sales. Repeat customers are made by providing them with consistent value, not by pushing them into buying something.

Even if they don’t buy anything, a long-term relationship can still be a whole lot more valuable than a sale. I have business acquaintances who have referred more business to me than any one of my best clients. I also know several people who don’t buy from me, and don’t refer people to me, but who are still valuable because they compliment my business and talk about me in the community.

You never know who might turn into your next big customer advocate, so it just makes sense to build relationships. Build enough valuable relationships, and word-of-mouth might just grow your business on it’s own.

Value, Honesty, and the Progressive Sell

The key to building relationships is value. If you can provide something to people that helps them, they will want to remain in contact with you. If you provide enough value to them, you might just win a new product evangelist.

But providing value doesn’t mean not selling your product—and selling softly does not mean beating around the bush. You still need to tell people about your product or service.

What works best is to start slowly—find out about them and how you can help them. Then, provide something valuable to them as a show of good faith and to cement the relationship. Finally, assuming you offer something that will benefit them, tell them about it. Don’t pressure them into buying it, but tell them exactly why you think they would benefit from it and why you think they should buy it.

Build the relationship first, then make the sale second. Be upfront and honest, but don’t be pushy.

If you agree with me about all of this, then you should subscribe to our blog. If you don’t agree, you should still subscribe, and we can enjoy some debating in the comments section.