Business is war, so you must come ready. Don’t let your guards down – Be smart. Everyone is trying to be better at their craft, so don’t be caught napping; Refuse to lag or copy the next person. Customers like to buy from brands that establish themselves in unique, special ways. Be that brand.
Operating in a crowded and highly competitive market can be very tricky. Many entrepreneurs find it easy to run away when the competition seems stiff. Competing in a crowded market as a new entrant especially when there are established brands and businesses can be very intimidating and most times frustrating.
Many entrepreneurs have mastered the art of everything in entrepreneurship, except one: selling through branding. They have a pass mark in every other thing: determination, discipline, creativity, you name it. But when it comes to branding, most entrepreneurs struggle.
To sell in crowded markets like Nigeria, you must stand out in the minds of your clients as a go-to company, you must consistently pitch your company as a quality over quantity outfit, and more importantly, pay attention to customer experience above your competitions.
To stand out in the mind of your clients as a go-to company, you would need to consistently pitch your company as a quality over quantity outfit, and more importantly, pay attention to customer experience above your competitions. – Olufemi Tobi Akinyemi
It does not matter if your product has the quality that would eventually put an end to global warming or is the best thing since sliced bread (all pun intended) if you cannot sell it in a market where others exist, nobody will buy and you will be kicked out.
When it comes to entrepreneurship if you do not master the art of sales, it does not matter what great idea you have, you will fail.
So, how do you stand out enough to sell your product and services in crowded markets like Nigeria? Here are 5 simple tips to keep in mind:
Total Time: 15 minutes
Contents
Find Your Niche
Finding your niche is the first step to successfully selling anything. In fact, becoming an entrepreneur without first discovering and putting a stamp on your niche is a colossal mistake that should be diligently avoided. You need to be very clear about what niche you are playing in as an entrepreneur.Who are you out to serve? Is it children, nursing mums, or is it the single sect? This is simply you defining exactly who your ideal customer is. Finding your niche is important because it helps define how to channel your sales effort. You cannot scatter your sales efforts all over the market, hoping, just like spaghetti, something sticks. That is not how to sell. Learn not to go too widespread with your niche.
Understand the customers in your chosen Niche
Once you have identified your niche, please do well to segment your market accordingly within your chosen niche; not everyone is your customer. Be very specific and intentional about who you are set up for. This is the one quick way to win in sales: It is critical to understand your customers. It is only in understanding your customers would you learn how to best serve them. Once you have identified your niche, please do well to segment your market accordingly within your chosen niche; not everyone is your customer. Be very specific and intentional about who you are set up for. This is the one quick way to win in sales It is critical to understand your customers. It is only in understanding your customers would you learn how to best serve them.
Find out your customers’ pain points
In entrepreneurship, the more pain you solve, the more relevant you become. The level of the pains you solve determines the value your product or service brings to the customer’s table.
Find out what your customers really want. This will help you understand them better thereby making selling easy. A customer’s pain point, when soothed, will move him to buy what it is that you are selling. A salesman is essentially a problem solver to customers hence you must understand the problem you are out to solve, and sell it in such a way that no other company would be able to beat you at your game.
Imagine taking a uber in summer, and on getting into the car, your driver offers you a hot towel and a very cold bottle of water at no extra cost! I bet you would always want to ride with that specific driver if you could choose.
Leverage the power of groups
To sell corporate ties, you must position yourself where people in the corporate can be found: To sell makeup, you may have known that beauty parlors are the best stops to find a large number of ladies in need of your product. You have to find out where your clients go, where they congregate, and where you are bound to find a large number of them at the same time. When you sell there, you might not get all of them to buy at once, but you will have a better chance to make sales conversion than any other place you would have visited. Do not walk into a church premise to sell alcoholic drinks, that would be a wrong sales move. A good sales executive understands that positioning is a major key to selling; you would do good to identify other products that mix with or complement yours. For example, if you hawk beans (Ewa Aganyi) in Nigeria, you would do well to find yourself a bread seller.Be intentional about where you apply your sales effort at. Make sure you are selling at the right places and to the right people. It does not make economic sense spending advertisement budget trying to sell at locations or using channels where your customers cannot be found.
Be distinct; Play a different game
In a crowded market with a lot of people selling and grappling for a share of the customer’s wallet, only those that are able to stand out from the crowd win. This is why you must learn to be different. Don’t be like the rest; change the game. Find a way to stand out from the crowd. This is the only way you can make headway in the entrepreneurship sphere with respect to selling. Selling is war, so you must come ready. Don’t let your guards down. Be smart. Everyone is trying to be better at their craft so don’t be caught napping. Refuse to lag behind or copy the next person. Customers like to buy from people who establish themselves in unique ways. Be that person.
Be consistent
There is no way you can get ahead in business if you are not consistent in your sales effort. Consistency has been said to be a breeding ground for success in every area of life, including selling. To really stand out and master the art of selling, then you must learn to show up every day. Be there seven days a week, making it easier for customers to find you. Truth is, if you don’t show up, customers will switch to those who will. In a crowded market, the last thing you want is to be lost in the hay, or just blend in like others. Be determined to always put your unique voice out there. A customer may not buy the first time, but that doesn’t mean you should turn off the light and quit. Those who succeed in selling don’t give up easily. They know how to dig their heels in and keep pressing further. They are like cats with nine lives: they hardly die.Okay, those are 5 simple tips you can apply immediately to become better in selling. Let me know your thoughts on them and I would love to read more selling secrets that have worked for you. Please share your thoughts in the comment session below.
