4 Expert Sales Tips For Startups

August 4, 2021

What are the best sales tips for startups?

1. Sell the Benefit, Not the Comparison
2. Always Listen To Your Customer
3. Embrace Social Selling
4. Reward Interest

Sales is an integral part of bringing money into your start-up business. Business owners have to know how to sell their products, but this operation has a lot of nuances to it and can be tricky for new startups. This presents the dilemma — how do you, with your limited resources, sell your product against your competitor’s offers? For those seeking help, follow these sales tips for startups to better focus your sales efforts.

Sell the Benefit, Not the Comparison

Directly comparing your product to your competitors’ — who are often more established companies than yours — is foolish. These competitors likely have loyal customers who wouldn’t bat an eye at your comparison.

Instead, always sell the benefits of your product to catch attention. How you market your product usually focuses on what makes it different. You can use any quality you think might appeal to your target market — this can be cost, quality, additional features, or design.

However, selling is always about the benefit your product can give to your customer’s life. While your marketing highlights these features, it won’t explain the benefit. Selling should entice the customer by focusing on how their life would be improved with your product.

Always Listen To The Customer

The customer may at times defy logic, but it’s always important to listen to them and their needs because this is what dictates their buying habits. To listen to your customer, lay down the right foundation by doing your market research.

This might seem like a no-brainer, but many startups get this wrong and don’t know how to assess their customer profiles properly. While you might think your product is amazing, it may not click with your target market because you did not build it with them in mind.

It’s also very easy to want to pitch your product and explain its benefits right away to your potential customers. However, this is not listening to the customer. Always ask questions first to uncover their needs and their preferences. Through this, you will gain a better understanding of them.

You will gain more customers and referrals when you take the time to ask them the right questions. With this, you understand them better and sell your product in a way that appeals directly to their dilemmas. This can also improve your selling process and get your products to customers with similar problems much quicker.

Embrace Social Selling

Embrace social networks like Twitter and Instagram to better connect with your intended audience. The modern generation of buyers is more digitally-driven and socially connected. When they make purchases, they often do so online and at the recommendations of their peers.

These buyer habits make social networks the perfect sales channel to build new customer relations and drive revenue. With these platforms, you can encourage past customers to use their profiles to shine a spotlight on your products. This catches the attention of their social circle and can potentially lead new customers to your startup.

Reward Interest

Always provide incentives to your customers, not just for loyalty — but even interest. By using rewards, it encourages customers and audiences alike to become brand advocates. When rewarded, these people will have a more positive opinion of your brand, which will help create support.

Rewards can be anything from discounts to heartfelt thank-you messages for their patronage. Startups should be obsessed with providing a good experience to customers, and rewards are a part of that experience. By using these, you can establish a good reputation with the customer base you currently have.

Support can come in the form of word-of-mouth testimonials, which can work better than any sales team. Support can also come with engagement — more comments, likes, and shares on your social media platforms can also spread the word about your product.

Key Takeaway

While sales can be tricky for any business, it does not have to become a pitfall for your startup company. To avoid hardships and even failure when putting your business out there, you have to find the best ways to sell your products. To begin building the right techniques for this business operation, follow these expert sales tips for startups.

Interested in more financial and business tips? Filipino entrepreneur Benito Keh is ready to provide invaluable advice that you’ll be able to use for your business or personal life. Get in touch with him!