The Art of Preselling

Do you hate “selling”? That’s a big problem when you’re actually in the business of selling something, whether it’s a product or service. Selling can feel sleazy, salesman-sy and dirty.

Here’s something that might make you feel better about selling your wares. Brian Clark of Copyblogger.com says that, in fact, “People love to buy stuff, but they don’t like to be sold to.”

The answer, then, is not to sell, but to presell.

What Is Preselling?

Preselling means getting your prospects in a buying mood. You’re not actually selling something, like a salesman does. Instead, you’re creating the desire to buy.

You get pre-sold all the time. For example:

• Your girlfriend calls you gushing about the new Italian restaurant that opened in town. You make a mental note to try it after your next movie.

• You’re looking for a breadmaker but don’t know which model to buy, so you read a blog which reviews and compares different models.

• Your brother tells you how he completely cleared his sinus infection by using a neti pot. Since you suffer from allergic rhinitis, too, you decide to go out and try a neti pot yourself.

In each of these examples, the people you interacted with did not try to sell anything to you. They were simply giving you information that you might find helpful. In fact, except for the blogger, none of them had anything to gain  from your purchase of the product or service in question.

This is what preselling is all about.

Preselling Principles

How do you presell effectively through content?

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