Write with power; sales content that wins

"Use them wisely, use them well.'Cause words can make a heaven or a hell." - Kendrick Lamar

Everyone, whether it is their career or otherwise, has sold and has been sold to. The differences between good selling and bad selling are numerous, and there’s little doubt that when you experience bad selling, you remember it. Below are a few tips for crafting sales content that can help you win over even the most discerning of buyers.

1. Don’t talk down to your buyer.

   • Assume your buyer is intelligent. They might not share the same expertise that you do, but they likely have an existing knowledge base to work off of.

   • Respect your buyer and do your research. Don’t assume that because you’ve sold to similar people, the same rules will apply to this person. Draw parallels to previous sales you’ve made, but work to build in originality.

   • Don’t talk down to your buyer. It’s easy to assume that someone you’re speaking to is just another door to get through towards getting the deal closed. Assume that all those you come in contact with, whether it’s a receptionist or the CEO, will be heavily involved in the buying decision (multi-threading!!).

2. Everyone has an opinion. Present research.

   • If there’s one thing a decision-maker is good at, it’s parsing opinion from fact.

   • Opinions are as easy as they are lazy. A qualified decision-maker doesn’t much care for your or anyone else's opinion on what you’re selling (at least not early on in the process). Their job is to determine whether or not this purchase will benefit the bottom line. Presenting opinions rather than facts (or worse, opinions disguised as facts), wastes both your time and theirs.

   • Avoid saying, “Our product is better,” or “Using our technology will increase your demand.” Provide concrete examples, case studies, and facts for why a buyer should move forward with your offer.

   • Good research and solid data take time to produce, as well as a great salesperson to present in a digestible and memorable form. The payoff, however, is well worth it.

3. Tell a story

   • This is among the first pieces of advice any salesperson receives, but it’s one that is so often overlooked or cast aside.

   • Everyone loves a story. Stories are how we’ve related to one another since the beginning of everything. Research alone does not keep a buyer engaged. Stories offer a dual opportunity. You can both inform your buyer and entertain them at the same time. That’s valuable real estate to occupy.

   • If research is the science, presenting it as a story is the art.

4. Ask better questions

   • An average salesperson gets to the end of a pitch and, facing no questions or objections, thinks they’ve done a great job. A good salesperson knows that there is much more work to be done.

   • Asking your client complex and thoughtful questions early and often will pay dividends down the road when it comes time to close the deal. It also emphasizes to the client that you care about their needs and are aiming to find them a solution rather than sell them a product.

   • Take nothing at face value, and do not be complacent. If you sense that there’s more to be done to close the deal, you’re probably right. Don’t assume that your buyer is being 100% forthcoming with you. Use your questions to poke and prod until you get to the truth, then use it. Questions that get you to the core of an issue are the better questions.

5. Focus on wordcraft

   • “A person's name is, to that person, the sweetest, most important sound in any language.” - Dale Carnegie. Any salesperson who’s worth their weight knows this to be true. People love hearing their own names. People love knowing that you know their names. The trick in sales becomes deploying a buyer’s name at the right time. Underusing their name is bad, but overusing it might be worse. A good salesperson should be strategic about when, where, and how they use a client’s name.

   • Whether you’re speaking to a client or writing to them, the words you use should always be at the forefront of your mind. This is where there truly is no one-size-fits-all all approach. The best thing you can do is mirror the language a client is using. You don’t need to use the exact same words (though there is a time and a place), but you can aim to use words and phrases that are similar.

   • Think about great writing. Sentences are not all the same length. Great writing uses sentences of all different lengths to draw the reader in and engage them. Whether you’re speaking or writing, manipulating the way you use language can be just as powerful as the words that you use.

6. Be persistent

   • “It’s so hard to beat someone who keeps coming back for more.” -Ben Aldis. While that motivational tidbit does come from a Peloton instructor in the middle of a workout, it rings true in so many aspects of life, especially sales.

   • Persistence is the name of the game, yes, but persistence without intelligence is a big waste of everyone’s time. Persistence is where you weave in the previous five bullet points. Don’t talk down to your prospect, present research to them and tell it in an interesting way (like a story). If it “isn’t the right time,” ask questions and find out why it isn’t a good time. Use mirroring and wordplay to make yourself more interesting to talk to. And, if it is, in fact not the right time, keep some light pressure on for whenever the right time might be.

   • Be persistent because, as every salesperson knows, getting to a “yes” after a tough battle is about as rewarding a feeling as there is.

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