Does the Internet affect your selling ability?

You are an Internet Sales Consultant and don’t know it yet.

If you are selling a product or service (and most everyone is), you should realize by now that the Internet has changed the rules. You need to have an Internet presence in order to compete and be proficient in sales! I’d like to share a real world example…

I attended a networking event recently where a guest speaker was presenting his specialty and demonstrating his expertise. Many of the points he addressed were of interest to me and may have motivated me to take further action and possibly purchase his services. The product he was promoting was a 4 session workshop or study course promising an understanding of the marketing process utilizing Search Engine Optimization and Social Media Marketing.

I don’t think I’m much different in my decision making process than most people so I will itemize the next few steps I took to decide if I would take his course.

• I opened my browser and first Googled his name. Result = nowhere to be found on the first page of organic search results.
• Then, I Googled his stated profession (some may call it his occupation). Result = nowhere to be found on the first page of organic search results.
• Then, I Googled the name of his company. Result = his company was nowhere to be found on the first page of organic search results.
• Then, I Googled the title of his class. Result = his class was nowhere to be found on the first page of organic search results.
• Then, I Googled the problem he was promising to solve for me. Result = his company or any reference to anything related to him was nowhere to be found on the first page of organic search results.
• Finally, I did a Facebook search for his company name. Result = he had a fairly decent landing page, so I checked out his wall and the first status update that interested me prompted a click-through to his blog. I received a “Error 404 – Page Not Found”.

It was about this time that I decided in my mind that I don’t think this person can teach me much about SEO and Social Media Networking.

You’ve heard it before

We do business with who we “know, like, and trust”.

I met this guy, he seemed likable, but a cursory Internet exercise that took me about 3 minutes, immediately took my first impression to a level of “no trust in his expertise”. Why would I want to take a class from someone who had not demonstrated to me that he has mastered the principles and techniques that he was proposing to teach me?

We are always making sales presentations, whether we realize it or not. You are consulting and selling people on your ability to be the expert they need while they are verifying what you present on the Internet. Every encounter you have is a sales presentation and YOUR Internet presence should back you up.

Do you think anything like this ever happens to you? Do you even know how many potential customers you have lost an opportunity to serve because you do not understand how the Internet affects your selling ability?

You can use the Internet as a tool to help build trust with your customers or clients, but if you ignore this new media reality, your competition will outshine you. Simply coordinate your online image with your authentic live self. It does take time and effort. But, I recommend that you learn from those that are actually doing it. There are experienced teachers. Just take a few minutes to search before you decide.

BTW… I am an Internet Sales Consultant

My name is Howard Howell, and my business name is Sensible Selling. I teach a class titled How To Sell Your Expertise where you will learn about Selling With Social Media. You can learn more about it at Weekly Sales Training .com