Tips on Ways to Sell a Product

Show customers how your products save time or money.

Good communications skills are essential to selling a product. Ask appropriate questions and listen to the customer's answers to make the shopping experience profitable. For example, a customer might inform you that she needs a new refrigerator and wants an ice-making feature but is worried about the price. Use this information to direct her to a refrigerator with an ice maker. Explain how a lower priced model with the features she wants saves money over a higher priced one, but offers more advantages than a refrigerator without an ice maker.

Sell Features and Benefits

Features are the physical attributes of a product, such as its style, color, size and construction materials. The way a product is made is also part of its features. Benefits, on the other hand, are the ways a product can save a customer money or time, make her life more enjoyable or elevate her sense of status. Although a customer may already have some information about a product, you can point out less obvious features and benefits to help her make a purchasing decision.

Interact

Art festivals are a good place to sell handcrafted products such as paintings, jewelry, wood carvings and lawn ornaments. Increase traffic in your booth by placing an inviting piece near the entrance and greeting people. Art buyers are often interested in knowing more about the artist, the inspiration behind a piece of art and special techniques the artist used, which can increase a buyer's appreciation of the art and give her a story to tell others who admire the artwork in her home.

Selling Online

An online store can reach a much wider audience than a physical store. Create a professional looking website with clear images of your products, a description of the features and benefits of each product and a convenient method to make a purchase. Focus your advertising on the niche market your product serves. For example, if you sell running shoes, place ads with sites and magazines that cater to runners. Offer a free electronic newsletter, or invite viewers to subscribe to email notices from your store. Send newsletters or emails on a regular schedule with information about new products, sales and helpful information about how to use or benefit from your products.

Adjust the Price

If you control the pricing of a product, adjust the price to end with 99 cents. Although rounding the price up to an even dollar amount makes computing sums and giving change easier at the checkout, a price ending in "9" suggests a deal to the customer with a price ending in "99" suggesting the best deal. When pricing your product, though, don't price it so low you cannot make a profit or so high you appear greedy.

References

• University of Idaho; Business Management and Technology Curriculum Guide; How to Present the Product; Selling the Product
• ArtShow; Insider Tips to Quadruple Your Art Show Sales; Steve Popkin
• University of Wyoming; Wyoming Entrepreneur Small Business Development Center; Sell Online with a Website; Mark Atkinson
• "The New York Times"; Bet Your Bottom Dollar on 99 Cents; Tim Arango; February 2009
• Purdue University Extension Agricultural Innovation & Commercialization Center; Marketing's Four P's: First Steps for New Entrepreneurs; Cole Ehmke, et al.; May 2005