Professional Selling involves 6 steps. Whether you sell Online or Offline here are the basic 6 steps:

1. Make/Establish Contact-For many, this is one of the most difficult things to do.  Cold Calling a potential client can be as terrifying as public speaking for some people, but for the professional sales person, this is one of the most exciting moments in the sales process. This is the time that sales person has to “enter into the mind of the client”.  This is much like typing in the Keywords into Google.  Basically you are entering keywords into his  mind and you want to have the potential client/customer listen to you exclusively.  There are four topics that will help you get into the client’s mind: Recognition, Romance, Money, and Self-Preservation. Your role as a professional sales person is to identify what category your prospective client falls into.  And since first contacts can often times determine the outcome of the sale, it is important to know how to do this well.  This is where the Spirit and Mental side of Professional Selling comes into play.  Positive first contact is essential to winning the sale.
2. Create Interest through Questions-You don’t have to be an extrovert to create interest or to strike up a conversation with people.  Just ask them questions about themselves and they will begin to pour out information about themselves.  It is the simplest thing to do and all you have to do is listen.  When you ask questions about “them” they start to get interested.  As the potential client begins to talk about themselves, you take mental notes about likes/dislikes/interests and dreams.  This is where you find common interests and shared experiences that create a bond between you both.
3. Create a Preference-Through your questions, you create interest and a preference for your product or service.  This is essential so that your potential customer realizes the value in doing business with you.  Remember, that you, the professional sales person, is the “reason why the potential customer” will say “yes”.
4. Ask for the Sale–  It is mandatory to ask for the order or the sale. You see it online when you see the “BUY NOW” or “ORDER NOW” button, and you must ask for the order if you are doing traditional selling.  I will go into the mental triggers that are used to move the potential customer along in upcoming posts.
5. Close the Sale-Closing the sale is critical because you want to offer proof that what you are offering is going to meet the needs and or exceed the needs of the potential customer.   While you may not get the order on the first visit, what you are always working to do whether online or offline is to make sure the potential customer wants to do business with you.
6. Keep The Sale Closed-After you make the sale, a professional sales person keeps the sale closed through service to the customer.  By repeating steps 1-5 daily, the professional sales person habitually keeps the sale closed through exceptional service and skills.  Remember, it costs 5 times more to go out and get a new customer then to keep the old one happy.