One Top Sales Mistake New Entrepreneurs Make

Marketing Articles | July 28, 2009

Several years ago I started my first business, a training company. You can imagine my disappointment over the next several months, as I found myself making virtually no sales.

Several years ago I started my first business. It was a training company and I was excited to finally have the opportunity to design and develop the kinds of programs and products I wanted to sell. Consequently, every workshop, seminar, workbook and audio I thought my prospective clients needed, I designed. You can imagine my disappointment over the next several months, as I found myself making virtually no sales. I had a big problem – no sales, no money.

I quickly discovered that what I thought my prospective clients needed was quite different from what they actually wanted. Many new business owners make this same mistake. You may be experiencing a similar problem in your business. If so, here’s what you can do about it.

Step #1 – Clearly Define Your Target Market

When I started marketing my training products, I had not clearly defined who my market was. I tried to market to everybody and as desperation set in, anybody who I thought needed what I had to sell. That does not work. Take the time to clearly define who you will market your products to. Here are some examples: adult business owners with ADHD, attorneys who want to leave the legal profession or women business owners who work at home.

Before you attempt to share your products and services, make sure

there are people who want to buy them
they have the money to pay for them
you know how to reach them

Step #2 – Ask Your Market What They Want

Once I was able to answer these three questions, I set about finding out what my market wanted. I discovered there was a big difference between what I thought they needed and what they actually were willing to pay for. Similarly, you should find out what is keeping your market up at night; what is their biggest problem?

You can get this information by simply asking them. There are several free tools you can use

create a survey
put together a live or tele-call focus group
do a keyword search
place a poll on your website or blog
ask a question in your ezine
research the books your market is buying on Amazon

Once you are clear on who your market is and what they want , you should have more success with your sales process.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Joyce M. Averils is the Start Up Success Coach and the founder of Enterprising Divas, helping women gain more freedom by sharing their gifts with the world through entrepreneurship. Read Joyce’s blog at http://ww.enterprisingdivas.com. Visit http://ww.newbizplanner.com for a free copy of 101 Ways to Get Visibility, Gain Credibility and Attract More Clients.