The Truth About Offline Consulting: It's Software Sales

Everything in the offline space = software.

When I was drafting this it was more than 3 pages long so I had to figure out how to get my point across in a short post but be informative and helpful at the same time.

I write this in hopes of giving some people a road map they can follow on techniques that are field tested, actually work and not full of hype.

I'm concerned that there are so called online gurus selling material on how to market to local business owners offline but have never been in the trenches learning how to make a living in this wonderful professional called...Sales!

There are a lot of different opinions on the forum about what works in offline consulting....here are my tips for selling application software to local business owners. In particular, software sales (application software).

So hopefully this helps......


Software vs Hardware

The distinction between software and hardware is sometimes confusing because they are so integrally linked. Clearly, when you purchase a program, you are buying software. But to buy the software, you need to buy the disk (hardware) on which the software is recorded.
Click here for more info What is software? Webopedia

Facebook marketing, video marketing, mobile marketing and wordpress, etc., = application software.

Learn how to sell software and you will get results as an offline consultant.

Why?
Many people are trying to sell software but don't know it, so as a result, struggle at software sales in particular in addition to professional sales in general.

Whether it's web design, mobile marketing, video marketing, facebook marketing, wordpress, etc. it's SOFTWARE.....application software.
An application is a program, or group of programs, that is designed for the end user.

The key to selling software successfully is taking the "intangible" (an abstract quality or attribute) and making it "tangible" (capable of being appraised at an actual or approximate value).

Example of intangibles that are all too common:

"My product does blah, blah, blah, you need this because yadda, yadda, yadda and you can save money bloop de bloop de bloop...."

Here's the deal folks! Local business owners need offline consultants to educate them. I'm amazed at how so many business owners and others know so little about online marketing.

However, they are not going to make a decision and move forward if they don't understand how they benefit.

What this means is you must ask lots of questions, talk to people and forget one call closing techniques and not doing your homework.

Poor sales techniques will lead to indecision on the part of the business owners and others that can benefit.

So you ask, "How do I go from the intangible to the tangible"?

Here is the best example I've seen online on how to go from the "intangible" to the "tangible" to sell software/IT services.

Click here:

Go to slides 13 - 18. Complete the activities based on whatever software you are selling. It's going to take some thought and some research (homework) but don't get frustrated.

Complete these steps and you will be on your way to becoming a top tier software sales professional.

Most of your competitors simply won't take the time to do this exercise.

You will be able to explain the benefits of your product/service in a practical way that your prospects/customers will understand and appreciate.

Now create your presentation, flyers and scripts based on these results.