Every business owner’s ultimate goal is to make as many sales as possible. The more people you attract to your products or business, the faster it will grow, but it’s also essential to have consistent growth. You don’t want to make many sales once or twice a year, and then the traffic dries off the rest of the year.
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There are two different approaches you can use when convincing customers to make a sale. These are the hard and soft sell. Both might help you close a deal, but understanding each approach will enable you to choose the best one with more permanent or long-term effects. You’ll also have more positive results with an infomercial and other marketing strategies.
What’s a Hard Sell
A hard sell is a marketing approach that uses a more direct, forceful, and urgent message to convince customers to buy. The entire process makes some buyers suspicious and hesitant to complete a purchase. In hard-selling, you’ll hear words like a clearance sale, discounted prices, the best deal in the locality, and it’s running out of stock.
A hard sale drives you to make an immediate buying decision without considering your needs, budget, or preferences. The salesman will make you believe that you are missing out on a good deal and probably won’t get such an offer anytime soon.
When hard-selling, the salesperson drives a hard bargain. He concentrates more on closing a quick sale than helping the customers make an informed decision. They also don’t take no for an answer unless you reject the offer more than three times. In most cases, the customer ends up buying something they don’t need or hadn’t budgeted for. Most regret the purchase.
What’s a Soft Sell
A soft sell is less aggressive and uses subtle language. The salesperson doesn’t sell the features of the product but the benefits. With this approach, the marketer understands the clients’ needs and pain points and connects them to the product. They are convinced that they are making a good buy because you’ll be helping them solve an issue.
For instance, a customer can learn from an infomercial that a particular product can help their dry skin, reduce acne and wrinkles without bleaching or weakening it. With this approach, the customer will be more interested in learning about the product.
They might get back to you to understand how it works, the ingredients, and how they can get it. When you offer value, people are more likely to spend more. It might take longer to close a sale, but you’ll build a firmer relationship with the buyer. The client is more likely to make a second purchase or refer others.
Which Option Should You Choose
You can make quick sales from hard-selling, but you might not keep a loyal customer base. Most customers will buy because you’re nagging them or because they feel it’s a good bargain, but they won’t return for a repeat purchase. However, when customers see value in your products, they build a long-term relationship.
Soft selling can be a slow process, but it eventually pays off because you don’t have to market your products as much. You’ll also build a strong network of happy customers.
