“Selling is not about convincing; it’s about helping”
I heard this quote a while ago and it’s still true in sales and business.
The best salespeople don’t push their own product. Instead, they figure out what the prospect wants and helps them make the decision.
This was the birth of my favorite sales strategy: unselling.
My definition of unselling: strategically telling customers not to buy, so you can educate them and sell more later.
Now, I’m going to break down this sales strategy and how you can use it.
Let’s get into it.
1/ You don’t need this… You need that
The first step of the sales process is figuring out what your customer wants.
To find this, ask about their problems, desired outcomes, and perceived obstacles. This is the intelligence gathering phase.
Then, instead of pushing one of your products, unsell them.
Educate them on which products they DON’T need and why the product might not be a good fit for them.
By being honest that your products won’t work for them, you build trust.
So, tell them, “You don’t need this,” and then, if your products truly fit their wants, say, “You need that.”
(If you want to learn about crafting the most persuasive marketing message for your customer, check out this article)
2/ Selling online with forms
But what if my business is online and doesn’t have salespeople?
You can still ask questions using forms.
Place the form during onboarding or sign-up.
source: fity.club
The shorter the form is, the better.
Ask important questions with multiple-choice answers about
Problems
Desires
Demographics
Important data advertisers or investors might want to know
With this information, you can segment your customers into different groups and send them personalized messages.
Want to spend more time selling and less time on the numbers?
3/ The AB selling strategy
Here’s another version of unselling.
Compare your products and explain why one fits them better.
“If they want more of [benefit] solved this way, they should buy [solution A]. But if they want more of [other benefit] solved in another way, they should buy [solution B].”
Then, ask them which product they would like.
Pro Tip:
DON’T ask them what they want to buy. Ask them which product works better for them.
This assumption that they’re going to buy makes the prospect more likely to purchase something.
- Warren
PS: Sometimes your product may not be the best solution for the prospect.
In that case, graciously accept it and tell them what they can do.
This action creates goodwill and might bring that same prospect back later when they want to buy.
If you want more branding advice, you can check this Reddit post I made on the top branding lessons that get people to buy.