When you are starting a business and trying to generate sales revenue—especially advertising sales revenue—sales can seem like a very complex undertaking. This is not surprising, given the number of consultants and high-level salespeople that have made a nice business for themselves by mystifying the process. Sales training companies (like Huthwaite’s SPIN Selling, which I am trained in, among others) have designed and built an industry which profits by making sales appear to be some sort of magic process that requires a complex skill set to understand and master. Nothing could be farther from the truth.
Sales is quite simple, actually. Being an effective sales organization basically amounts to:
* Having something worthwhile to sell.
* Creating awareness among the people that buy it.
* Making it easy to buy at a fair price.
* Making them buy it again.
Can it really be that simple? Yes, actually. In subsequent posts, I drill down into each of these elements, so stay tuned...
