How to sell anything to anyone

How to sell anything to anyone People are always asking me what our business model is for Brazen Careerist. Now that we have a network of 150 great bloggers, we are focusing on companies. A lot of companies come to us asking for access to the bloggers. Not surprisingly, companies want to recruit from the bloggers and their friends. But we think what the bloggers want is good conversation. We think that offering someone a job without conversation is like walking up to a stranger in a bar and asking for sex. It doesnt work. You need to establish some sort of rapport first. People want that from a job offer as well. People today want to work for a company that they feel some sort of connection toa connection probably from branding and conversation. So we want to help companies establish their brand as an employer, and create a conversation with people theyd like to hire, now or in the future. Thats our next step. And we have to sell the companies on this idea. So we had one of my mentors, who is also an outstanding salespersonKathleen Kurkegive us a little coaching session on how to sell. All of us at Brazen Careerist were in the training (there are eight employees now). And all of us were struck by how Kathleens advice applies to so much of life, not only to trying to get companies to engage the Brazen Careerist community. Heres what Kathleen said: 1. Ask a good question. You probably want a yes or no answer: Are you gonna buy my product, yes or no? But yes or no is short-term and opportunity limiting, because anything but a definite yes will be a showstopper. So ask instead a question like: What are the challenges you are facing? This sort of open-ended question helps you to understand the challenges, solutions, or opportunities you are trying to capture. And the more you can align yourself with your client and their concerns, the more likely you will be to capture their business. The better you get at asking these questions, the better answers youll get; and the best answers get you closer to the person who is accountable for solving the problem. And thats the person who will be most likely to give you that yes answer that you are looking for. 2. Solve a problem. People will buy stuff from you because you are solving a problem or capitalizing on an opportunity. In other words, people only buy stuff if it helps them make money or save money. If you cannot trace your solution to either making money or saving money, then you have a problem.