No. 1 tip for selling your product or service: Stop selling

Imagine this: you take a call not recognizing the number and the person on the other end of the phone starts selling you something. You interrupt them politely to say "no thanks" and put the phone down. You've been cold called and it didn't work.
As a seller, you have to find that nagging problem your customer is experiencing and solve that pain point. By crafting a compelling Call To Action (CTA) you can entice customers to come to your website and open up a conversation with them—the opposite of cold calling.

You need to identify your target market and discover their No. 1 pain point, the one that can be solved by purchasing your product or service. You then need to provide the product/service that best fits their needs.

For example, in my coaching business, I have found that small to medium-size businesses are mainly concerned with increasing their sales and their profit margin. If you visit my website, you will see my main CTA (or conversation starter) that addresses this pain point with my target market. I will address how to identify your target market and their No. 1 pain point in my next article.

Next you need to build a relationship and trust with your customer before you should attempt to sell them anything. Imagine you’re on your first date with the man or woman of your dreams and the first thing you say is, “Will you marry me?" I don't think that would work too well for you—it would probably be the end of that relationship! The same thing will happen if the first thing you do with a potential new customer is start selling to them before getting to know them.

For example, on my website, the first time a new customer is introduced to my services they are asked a question about their pain point. I can then give them an answer coupled with the opportunity to take part in a free course. This approach builds trust. The same concept can be applied to a bricks and mortar company such as our bakery and restaurant. If we wanted to market a new catering service the conversation would start with the pain point we’re addressing: Do you want real, honest food delivered direct to you? We would then tell the potential customer how we would address that: We ensure your catering order is freshly prepared, with natural ingredients, from scratch, then delivered at your convenience. Then we would explain pricing and the finer details of the service—instead of saying: We do catering and it costs $15 per person.

So, in summary, it all starts with a conversation about why you do what you do. The conversation can take different forms. It can be an actual conversation where you are speaking to your customer on the phone or in person. Or it can be in the form of a Call To Action (CTA) on your website or on any of your social media feeds. But you need to be genuine and sincere, you need to identify your target market's No. 1 pain point and you need to establish trust between yourself and the customer.

If you achieve all of these things, you won't need to start selling because you, the conversation and your product or service will sell itself.

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