Highlights of our IGTV about gaining sales confidence with Brand Consultant Elizabeth Stiles.
Pedddle Founder Nicki recently to spoke to Elizabeth Styles, a Fashion Brand Consultant, course leader and public speaker who works with creatives and brand owners who wish to monetise their businesses.
They chatted about growing confidence with selling, showing up on Instagram, and what it means to be a small business owner.
You can watch the full IGTV below (via the PedddleUK Instagram IGTV):
Main take-aways from the IGTV Live chat:
Focus on the sales
Making sales is a priority – once you make sales and get the money in, you can then employ people to look after the other things or run your operations more smoothly. The difference between having a hobby and having a business is that one makes money and one doesn’t! Sales come first, then the day-to-day running of your business will go more smoothly.
How do we make selling a daily habit so it doesn’t become a chore?
I’ve created a FREE 30-day sales planner, which is currently in the link in my Insta bio (but will be taken down soon). 30 day challenges always help to get you started on a new habit, and help you show up frequently for your business.
The way I see it showing up for your business is the same as showing up psychically for any job – you have to put in the actions if you want to get results. Once you have a plan, it’s more easy to action each day.
You can also use your audience to hold you accountable; tell them you’re planning to do a focus for 30 days and they’ll help make sure you do!
Remember, in general the higher your price point, the longer the customer journey so you need to show up for their journey along the way.
Don’t put out content just for the sake of it
It’s all about building connection and trust with your audience. You have to give something in order to get something back, so you the strategy should be should be should be 75% giving and 25% selling: give, give, give, then you get something back, or nurture, nurture, nurture then sell. E.g. ask questions, invite people to talk back to you and engage, and then sell. This way, when you ask customers to buy from you, they’re already used to engaging with you so the check-out process will seem natural.
How can you maximise sales without always launching a new product?
Remember – features tell and benefits sell. For example, if you have a clothing item to sell, show people wearing your products but also tell them the features of the product and why it will benefit the wearer. It’s all about finding the balance between showing off the benefits of your product, it’s quality and how it’s produced, and showing the aspirational side of why people should buy it.
How can you make it easier to buy from you?
Instagram shopping is definitely having a moment now, it’s becoming more than a trend and lots of people are shopping via social media.
Make sure all of the features of your product are listed on your website or selling platform too – tell people who made it, where it was made, the quality and sizing aspects of it and so on.
People buy in different ways – some will respond to a product listing, some are visual, some people respond to videos and so on, so it’s important to try and cover all bases to reach your audience.
Tell us more about your Pushy vs Perfectionism Instagram post
There’s so much fun to be had in selling! I posted about this on Instagram recently. Perfectionism is irrelevant to you personally, what’s most important is finding out what is perfect to your audience. Show them your products and ask them what they want to see. This helps you know your audience and builds brand trust with them too.
Many people struggle with wanting to not feel ‘pushy’, but also worry that nobody is seeing their social media posts. Remember that you will see 100% of your social media posts but not all of your audience will, so whenever you feel ‘pushy’, remember that many of your audience won’t have seen half of your posts.
Customers need multiple touch points and won’t mind being reminded that your events are on or that you’re launching a new product – if they’re following you, they want to know what you’re up to and what you’ve made.
This works at markets too – show your audience that you’re at a market and how lovely the atmosphere is, but also say exactly where you are and what you’re selling, and why your audience should come along to experience it. One post is not enough, customers can easily miss it so make sure you’re showing up frequently and posting multiple times.
Plan your posts in advance
Sometimes, you just don’t feel like posting! Apps like Preview or Planoly can help you plan out the look of your grid and help you visualise and organise the content you’re putting out too. This is so useful especially on the days you don’t feel like posting, as you’ll already have good content lined up.
Watch the full IGTV Live here:
Work with Elizabeth
Click here to find out more about Elizabeth and the courses she offers. She offers a range of fab FREE resources too – click here to check them out.
We hope this helps you sell with more confidence! Check out our other blogs for further small business tips.