How to sell your product? How to present it and make people buy it? Tough questions, even tougher to answer them… It is funny how I encounter almost identical mistakes when people try to present their products to their future customers. Most business owners are usually so enthusiastic about their business before they start that they forget to actually think of how to present their product or service the right way.
First mistake: Gaining No Trust
When I see how much they are boasting about their product and how self-confident they are before the product launch, I almost immediately know that it’s gonna be a rough trip. Both for me and for them. They usually think that everybody already knows about their existence.
The first awful truth I have to say is – nobody knows about you and nobody cares about you and your product. Yet! People don’t stay in line waiting for you to show up and solve all their problems, no matter how good and useful your product might be for them. It is simple: you need to let them know that you exist and that you have something valuable.
But how can you sell something on the internet if they don’t trust you? You are just one in a million who wants their money. You are one in a million who has a great offer for them and can satisfy their needs. Why should they trust you? How can they know that you are not a fraud boasting about something? How can they trust that you are not going to take their money and vanish before they realize that your product is worthless?
It is not easy to gain someone’s trust, even when you are standing in front of them looking them in the eye. Let alone if you are an anonymous person hiding behind some product description and some generic photo that can be found on the internet for free.
So, how to present yourself on the internet?
Show people who is a person standing behind that Instagram profile, behind that website, and that product. It is especially important when you offer a service yourself, or you have a product connected to health or something very expensive. People trust the people with the true story behind the product, so show them who you are, and how trustworthy you are by showing your expertise. People want to know to whom they give their money. Are you competent for what you talk about? Do they like your energy and find you a pleasant person?
Feel free to stand in front of the camera and tell your story. Tell them who you are and why you are doing what you are doing. This is important for presentation everywhere: on your website, on social networks, or when you want to sell your product to other businesses in person.
The importance of storytelling
No matter how much you think of yourself as a boring person, completely not interesting to other people to hear your story, it is not true! People want to know you better, to see how you came up with the idea to make something different. Maybe they will not buy from you, but you will inspire them to pursue their dreams. But there are certainly people who will be your audience and your customers.
Competition is huge nowadays, and you simply cannot be discouraged that you are not needed. Just imagine how many times you have bought something in that specific shop, not in the one next to it, or why you like to sit at one cafe, not at the other. Simply, there is something for everyone. And if you let people know you, there is most likely to be someone liking your story and buying from you just because they think you are a good person.
So, let’s hear it one more time: people don’t buy from people they don’t trust. You need to show them who you are, and how competent you are for the things you offer. When they trust you as a person and when they assure themselves that you are an expert in what you are talking about, they will be glad to buy your product or service.
That’s not all for sure!
As I have already said, how would they know that your product is of high quality and that you will not just vanish with their money? How to assure them that you are not going to do that? Simply by telling them that you are going to give them their money back if they are not satisfied, give them a free trial or a sample. And to show that there are people who have already bought the product and that they are satisfied. You will do that by making the section on your website or social networks with testimonials. So, find real customers, take their pictures or videos, and ask them to talk about your product. But make it real, make it true. Everything that is fake is easily uncovered.
So now, when you see how you should present yourself to people so they can trust you first and then buy from you, let’s see about the next problem.
Second mistake: Bad Product Presentation
How to present your product or service? If you know all about your product, it doesn’t mean that everybody knows! Repeat this a couple of times in your head. Maybe you don’t think that you have communication problems and you think that everything you say is well understood, but you are soooo wrong.
Believe me, even I had such a problem when I presented this website to a bunch of my colleagues. I thought that everything was clearly explained on the home page and that everyone landing on the site will know in a second what it is all about and they will know where to go and how to find solutions for their problems. But unfortunately, all of that was just in my head. It was cooking for more than a year in my head, and I thought that it is more than obvious what is the website for. And it was not easy to admit that I might be wrong.
But it is easier when you listen to someone else talking about a product you know nothing about. Then, you start asking questions making sure that you clearly understand what is the product about or what kind of services people offer. When I have to do the marketing for the product, many times I needed more than a day to understand everything. Many times I ask people to give me the product to see how it works or to simulate the service so I can present it the right way.
So, if you don’t have someone who will present your product instead of you, try talking with people who don’t know anything about you or your product and see if you have explained it the right way. Don’t ever ask friends and family, because they love you and they will tell you anything you want to hear just to make you happy.
Third mistake: Missing CALL TO ACTION
You want people to make certain actions: subscribe, buy, order, enroll… but you don’t tell them that and especially HOW to do that. If you don’t tell your customers that you receive your orders when they write you in DM or when they fill in a contact form, they will not know that, and they will not take the last important thing after believing you and wanting to have your product. Tell them: “Write an email, leave your contact and we will call you and tell you further instructions,” “Call us to make an appointment,” “Fill in the questionnaire and we will contact you,” “Put the product in a shopping cart…”
Don’t think that it implies that everybody knows who you are, what you sell, and how they can buy your product. Be very specific and detailed when explaining and there will be no misunderstanding. Your audience will turn into your customers, just be patient.
Good luck!
