Once you have your website up and people have started visiting it, your battle has only just begun. Everything is for sale in the Internet from snake oil to – maybe – atomic power barbecues. Why should people buy from you and how can you be sure you are making money on the sales? Making money on sales seems easy – if you buy for $8 and sell for $10, you have made a $2 profit. Right! Wrong. It may have cost you $3 to sell the product and you won’t know it till you have lost a lot of money. So here are some things to keep in mind.

• Know why people should buy from you. If you don’t, how will they? You need to know your product or service inside out. Nothing is ever perfect. Your product will have its weaknesses. Recognize them, try to minimize them and work with what you have.
• Believe in your product. It’s not enough knowing it’s good. You have to believe it. This belief will come out in your approach to sales and add value to the sales pitch. Would you buy a Rolls Royce from a salesman who could recite why it is the best car in the world if you felt he did not really believe what he was saying?
• What is different about your product? What benefits does buying from you provide to the customer as compared to other similar items or suppliers? These are called USPs or Unique Selling Points and make your product stand out in a crowd. Know these strength and capitalize on them when selling.
• Many people believe that in online business where there is no physical interaction with the customer, products sell on price, quality and features alone. Sorry, but it’s not that easy. The way your website presents you, your business and your product is, to the client, as good as meeting you and any lack of belief in your product will show through sooner or later.
• Have a selling plan. List out every step to take and pitfall to avoid from the first contact with the customer to closing the sale. Put in the smallest details and follow it without fail.
• Look for online resources like http://www.ringgle.com that can lighten your work load.
• Remember that closing the sales is not getting the order, but getting the payment!
• Be careful about your pricing. Being more expensive than the competition only works if you are selling a “status” product where the more expensive it is, the more value it is perceived to have.
• Have realistic monthly targets. Whenever you do not meet them, spend time understanding why and what you can do to improve things.
• Be very careful about the cost of sales. Take every expense you have from coffee to paper clips to Internet bills over a fixed period and total them up. Divide this amount by the total volume of sales you expect to make during this period and add this figure to the product cost. Is your selling price enough to cover these overheads and leaves you with a sufficient profit?

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Everything is communications! Your hairstyle and the way you dress say a lot about you. But it’s not just what you do or say, but how you do it that’s important. For example, say you drive a big expensive car. Whether the world sees you as someone who doesn’t care if his gas guzzler damages the environment or someone who loves a piece of great engineering depends on your attitude.

Communications is a subject that fills libraries, but let’s look at the 2 of the 3 basics of business communications. The third is in house communications, but that comes in when you have grown and have a number of people working for you.

Personal Communications

• This does not mean talking to yourself. We’re talking of what your personality says.
• It doesn’t matter if you are wearing a suit or jeans and a tee short as long as you look like you mean business Are you approachable? Can people come to you without feeling nervous?
• At the same time do you have a professional attitude to discourage people wasting your time needlessly with gossip and idle chat? In times of crisis you may not have all the answers, but are you seen as someone in control?
• Are people ready to bring you unpleasant news knowing you will not blame the messenger?
• When you have a business success, are people ready to join you in celebration, knowing you will share the success?
• Think of these and the many other things that communicate who you are. Change where you need to, but be genuine about it. You can’t fool all the people all the time and if you are just presenting a façade, it will be seen through in time and backfire on you

Customer Communications

• Your customers are what keep you in business. You need them.
• Always show them the respect they are due, no matter how angry they may make you. As a professional, you should be able to communicate to the customers their value and importance, no matter what.
• That being said, business is a two way street. They are buying from you but you are giving them something they need. Never be too humble or too servile. If your customers do not respect you, they will try to take advantage of you.
• Different people need to be spoken to differently. Understand this and adapt your style of communications. Never talk down to or at some. Always talk to them.
• Learn how to say “No” politely yet firmly. You can’t meet every customer requirement. Let them know why. If you are open they may come back to you later for something else. If a customer requests a service that is beyond the scope of the initial requirement, then do not be afraid to let the customer know that it would take extra time and effort and hence that you would charge them extra.
• If you don’t have the answer to a question, promptly say you will find out and revert back as soon as you can. Hesitating shows weakness. Giving them assumptions or guessed answers could tarnish your reputation.
• If you cannot commit to something the customer wants, like a confirmed delivery date, explain why and what you can do to try and have it delivered in time. You need to communicate your desire to provide service. Touch base with the customer before hand and let them know there would be a delay rather than trying to come up with an apology and excuse after the fact. Customers respect businesses that are upfront and honest with them.
• When communicating with a customer you are not just selling to him. You are providing him a service. And the quality of the service you are able to communicate is as valuable as this product satisfaction in bringing him back to you. To achieve use newsletters as vehicle to push forward your brand. This is not about selling but building a relation with a customer or a prospect. The newsletter campaign module in Ringgle will help you achieve this with less amount of effort.

Remember that communications is not just about what you have to offer as a person or a supplier, but also why you are the right person to deal with. And communication is not just one to one. Your business has to communicate too – what it offers and why customers should come to it.

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