Once upon a time, there was a woman with a
strong entrepreneurial spirit who was ready
to transform her side hustle into a magnificent
full-time business.
She identified a problem and crafted a solution,
and now she needs to make her voice heard
by the people.
But how?
This story might sound familiar.
Any entrepreneur’s path is full of critical
sales, elevator pitches, and persuasion.
We want people to buy our product or service,
but we also want them to believe in our ideas
and seek our expertise.
It can be hard to strike the right tone or
know what’s going to appeal to someone,
but there are tricks.
We can craft a narrative and use well-placed
emotional appeals to tell customers a story.
Maybe it doesn’t start with “once upon
a time…” but you get the idea.
Even if you don’t consider yourself a persuasive
person, you don’t need a +5 charisma modifier
to succeed at this crucial stage of entrepreneurship.
Today, I’ll be your fairy godmother of sales
and together, we’re going to learn how to
sell ANYTHING!
I’m Anna Akana, and this is Crash Course
Business: Entrepreneurship.
[Theme Music Plays]
For some of us, sales might be the scariest
part of starting a business, while others
might be like…
HECK YEAH WORLD COME BASK IN MY AWESOMENESS!
For me, putting my art online was intimidating
but exciting!
I loved wearing catstronaut merchandise, what
better way to use my entrepreneurial skills
than to turn my passion into a profitable
business?
If we did our job in the validation stage
of entrepreneurship -- talking with prospective
customers and making adjustments based on
their feedback --
we should have developed some relationships
that can turn (or have already turned!) into
a customer purchase.
And despite all the stereotypes, you don’t
have to turn into the worst version of a used
car salesman to sell something.
Turn off the smarm.
The key to selling is developing relationships
and telling a meaningful story to prospective
customers.
Now there’s a lot of research on how to
sell things, and everyone has their own 7-to-50
step process.
But all those strategies boil down to two
key points: persuasive people ask questions
and make emotional appeals.
Asking open-ended questions to learn more
about a customer’s life can help us make
a sale.
Don’t just ask one question then jump into
a pitch.
It’s clear to the customer you’re not
listening and that you’re only focused on
selling them something, and that’s no way
to build a relationship.
You believe your business can help these people.
So just like giving advice to a friend or
anyone you care about, have a meaningful conversation
where you’re asking a lot of questions to
understand their needs.
Or, convey that authenticity and empathy online
if you’re selling there.
Remember some entrepreneurs recommend asking
“why?”
five times, to get to the heart of an issue
and learn where a customer is coming from.
What do they really need?
How can you connect with them?
What does their time frame look like?
What obstacles are they facing?
Really hear what the person is saying.
If they mention the need or problem that inspired
you to become an entrepreneur, it’s totally
fine to say “I had a hard time with that
too.”
And then, once you have a connection, offer
suggestions or bring up your business.
“Gut instinct” also plays a huge role
in making purchases.
Even the most logical person can’t totally
separate themselves from their emotions, which
is why emotional appeals can be persuasive
too.
Marketing experts like Geoffrey James at Inc
magazine say customer decisions come down
to a mixture of six emotions:
greed, fear, envy, pride, shame, and altruism.
Depending on the situation, we can target
different ones.
With greed, entrepreneurs want the customer
to think “buying now means I’ll be rewarded.”
You can use words like “exclusive,” “profitable,”
or “distinguished,” and emphasize all
the great benefits you can provide.
Even toss in a few testimonials from satisfied
customers.
Think about fast food commercials.
Sure, you know those crisp french fries go
straight to your arteries, but those ads make
them look like salty heaven that will instantly
reward your tastebuds.
Fear can also spur immediate action.
Don’t leap out at people wearing a ski mask,
but you want customers to think “I have
to buy now or I’ll lose out!”
You can use words like “consequence,”
“cost,” or “harm,” or an argument
focused on “missing out,” to make a fear-based
appeal.
Pharmaceutical companies notoriously play
on fear.
They list off a whole textbook of symptoms
you may be feeling and how they might lead
to your untimely demise unless you buy this
one miracle product.
Envy can lead customers to think “my life
looks nothing like this, but if I buy this
product, maybe it could!”
When using this strategy, name drop -- who
are your current customers and what awesome
things did you do for them?
Instagram, with its well-framed and well-lit
photos, is a hotbed of envy.
We all see filtered views of people's lives
that make us yearn for something we don’t
have -- the perfect dinner, drink, or yoga
pose on a cliff overlooking the ocean.
Or we can appeal to someone’s sense of pride
and get them thinking “I’m so smart for
making this purchase” by using words like
“reputation,” “influence,” or “powerful”
to make the value all about their image or
status.
Show off awards you and your customers have
won!
Fair Trade labels do this implicitly.
Theo Chocolate is a Fair Trade company that
jumped through significant hoops to build
a mission-driven business and get that certification,
partly so customers can feel like they’re
spending money wisely.
On the flipside, shame can get people thinking
“I better listen or bad things will happen.”
Drop hints about how dark the future could
be with words like “mistake,” “disappointment”,
or even “failure.”
Seventh Generation doesn’t hide the fact
that they’re an eco-friendly business.
The environment is a key part of their sales
strategies and they can make people regret
wasteful past purchases.
But our darker emotions aren’t the only
decision-makers.
Altruism can get customers thinking “my
purchase will help people.”
When talking with customers, emphasize the
benefits to them, to employees, to partners,
or to the world.
Talk in terms of collaboration, and use vocab
like “give,” “help,” or “improve”
to drive your narrative home.
Any time you’ve bought something where the
“proceeds go to charity,” that’s an
altruistic plea.
Sarah McLachlan’s partnership with the SPCA
is a prime example of this, making soulful
appeals to raise money for animals.
In the aaarrrms of the angellllls...
To see how a new entrepreneur might combine
asking questions and making emotional appeals
to be persuasive, let’s go to the Thought
Bubble.
Andrea is a whiz at Excel with some statistics
training, and she wants to start working with
small firms and nonprofits to do some basic
data analysis and make visualizations for
them.
She knows her skills are top-notch, and she
even has a few examples of her work from personal
projects.
But to survive in the freelance world, she
needs to find new projects and customers.
So Andrea starts with her network.
She meets with a few people and businesses
who know someone who knows the manager of
her neighborhood grilled cheese-erie.
And she starts by asking those people questions
to figure out what a restaurant might want
to know, like if there’s a difference in
the number of appetizers they sell on Fridays
versus Wednesdays.
From there, Andrea can make informed suggestions
when she’s talking with the manager.
She could say, “That’s an interesting
problem.
Might I suggest creating a sales dashboard
that shows sales by category, and also what
your current top-selling dish is?”
If they’re still on the fence about working
with her, maybe she’ll add an emotional
appeal.
Fear would be a realistic starting point.
She might say, “Data analysis is complicated,
but without it, your business could suffer
in the future.
If you want to compete with big chain restaurants,
you’ll need an edge.
I can help you create that.”
Pride might work too.
Do they want to make the best decisions possible
and look like a business master?
She might say, “Your brand, You Cheddar
Believe It, is something that people want
to wear on a T-shirt.
If you wanted to create merchandise, I could
help you analyze what sells best.”
They still might say no, but Andrea will have
a much better idea of what to say (or not!)
with her next potential customer.
Thanks, Thought Bubble!
Even when using emotional appeals, the goal
shouldn’t be to trick a potential customer
into buying something.
By researching their pains and gains and asking
questions, we can know that a product or service
will authentically help them in some way.
We’re all on the same team.
If you’re still at a loss for how to get
started, or even if you’re well-prepared,
the internet is the place to be!
Developing a strong customer-base online can
make it easier to successfully start up a
physical store or network with bigger retailers
down the road.
Using tools like SquareSpace, Weebly, Wordpress,
or Wix, even the least tech-savvy person can
have a professional-looking site up and running
in no time.
But it shouldn’t just look good.
Websites are also important channels to communicate
with customers.
So a value proposition -- or at least a simplified
version of it -- should be on display.
Square, the point of sale system used by lots
of small businesses, says they “help you
save time and grow faster” on nearly every
page.
Then, you want to show off the site on social
media platforms -- as long as that’s where
your target market is.
If you’re trying to sell to the 60+ retirement
crew, maybe SnapChat isn’t where you want
to spend energy.
Now, the tasteful color scheme of your website,
your eye-catching tweets, or your value proposition
might be enough for some people to make a
purchase.
But entrepreneurs also want to generate leads
-- or lead gen in business slang -- and give
people lots of opportunities to “opt in”
besides making a purchase.
Email addresses are like gold in the marketing
world because we’re given more chances to
connect with the person.
We can use automated systems to follow-up
with an emotional appeal or attractive coupon
offer, and turn that lead into a real customer.
Systems like HubSpot or MailChimp help with
everything from formatting to mass-sending
email campaigns to thousands of people.
And many of these systems even have free versions
for startups.
Of course, not every visitor to your website
will become a lead, and not all leads will
actually become customers.
Here’s an analogy:
Traditionally, the marketing world has relied
on a visual called the sales funnel.
Once people are aware of a product, a fraction
of those leads will be interested in learning
more, and a fraction of that fraction will
decide to make a purchase.
That fraction of a fraction is where we can
put in the work with these sales strategies.
But there’s also a new visual popping up:
the flywheel.
Instead of constantly starting over and pouring
new potential customers through the funnel,
the sales flywheel captures the fact that
happy customers talk, and word-of-mouth can
lead to even more customers.
Whichever metaphor speaks to you, remember
it’s all about developing a relationship
with a person that eventually turns them into
a loyal customer.
The bottom line is, anyone can sell.
Listen, ask follow-up questions, and use all
your available information to tell a story,
develop a relationship, and make it easy to
make a purchase.
Next time, we’ll talk about revenue streams,
AKA all the ways your business is actually
bringing in the money.
Thanks for watching Crash Course Business,
which is sponsored by Google!
And thanks to Thought Cafe for these beautiful
graphics.
If you want to help keep Crash Course free
for everybody, forever, you can join our community
on Patreon.
And if you want to learn a lot more about
advertising and persuasion, check out Crash
Course Media Literacy:
