The key to great sales

I was on a sales board on Facebook earlier today and read a question from a seller asking if people even read the description of for sale posts or just look at the pictures. As I have spent quite a few years in sales the answer to this was obvious to me, however it occurred to me that to many folk (especially those running smaller businesses) this might not be immediately apparent. so here goes..

No matter what you are trying to sell and regardless of whom you are trying to sell it too (obviously apart from in part those with impaired vision) the image is 90% of the sale. Whether this is a showroom, glossy catalogue or an online shop, a single advertisement or a multinational business, no matter what you are selling – the image is what will get you 90% of that sale.

You have only to look at social media sharing everything from pets to holidays, from nights out to lost dogs, it is all about the image. Or what about the sales websites or auction sites? Be honest those of you who use them, how many people will look at an advertisement for a new or secondhand item that has no pictures of the product? But this does not stop at products; whether you are providing holiday homes or animal grooming, luxury cars or one bedroom flats – people want no NEED to see what they are getting as this is what will begin their thought process. They will ‘see’ themselves owning that car, living in that house, lying on that beach. ONLY when they have that picture in their mind will they begin to read off the tick list of features or approach the salesperson.

Now let’s be clear here I did point out that this is 90% of the sale, so what is the other 10%? Well 5% of that is the description. Here’s an example; you see a stunning new car in the colour you are looking for, check out those glossy pictures! Quick glance at the price, yes that works – ‘click’. The advertisement reads – “For sale, red car, runs well, two new tyres. Call me for more on…” How many of you will actually make that call? I won’t! My immediate thought is ‘well if you can’t make the effort why should I?’ What the seller should have done is list all of the cars features and add a few memory hooks like ‘drives like a new car’, ‘always gets looks’, ‘sad to part with her’ etc. Those first two especially will strengthen that image in the potential buyers mind into ‘oh that could be me driving that car..’

The remaining 5% is how you deal with the customer; too aggressive and they will walk away, too passive they will walk away, it’s a fine balance but it is worth learning. Part of this is your image, have you noticed how delivery vans are often lovely and clean? The drivers are wearing a smart uniform and are ‘so polite’? Yes this is also very important!

Final thought. I will never forget the early days of building websites with my partner, I was sat behind a car valeting van in traffic that was so filthy you could not read the phone number..do you think I ever called them to valet our vehicle? Now go get your camera clicking and sell it… And no this isn’t my car..yet!

PS. Don’t worry if you have no great pictures for your website yet, we know lots of great photographers who can help you with that – Debayne Web Design – Weaving the Web your Way