In our Social Enterprise Incubator Series, we follow 15 incredible social entrepreneurs who are leading the road to change with our Incubator Programme.
Get a glimpse into their challenges, developments and lightbulb moments as the cohort shares their experience over the 6 month programme!
“I want you to sell this chair to me.” My heart sunk when I heard these words as the thought of trying to persuade someone to part with their money (even when it’s just pretend) freaks me out. Not ideal when you’re a business owner! The chair selling scenario was one of the role-play exercises sales expert Gerald Vanderpuye used to demonstrate the ways we tend to approach sales. We go in for the big hard sell talking about the features of a product and why the customer should like it.
Thankfully, this session taught us that there is another way. Gerald highlighted the importance of really getting to know our potential customers. We can do this by reaching out to them and remembering to talk less and listen more, ask questions to learn about their lives and find out about past behaviours that are relevant to our product. When we do this we can figure out if a person really cares about the problem we’re trying to solve and know whether to pursue further conversations from a sales perspective.
The next challenge is to find out where our potential customers are so that we can have these conversations in the first place. My life coaching business is aimed at people who are seeking more joy and creative flow in their lives and want to feel more fulfilled in their work and relationships. This sales session has tested me to think about where these people are hanging out, what media they are accessing and where they are online – the next step is to start to be seen in these spaces too.
Watch this space as we share more posts by the incredible changemakers on our Incubator programme!
