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Everyone who offers a product or service to others is in the sales business. No matter how you feel about “sales”, you must be able to present your offer well if you hope to succeed. Most people start by making that offer to one person at a time. When you’re ready for greater success, though, it’s time to make the leap to one-to-many sales.

Why Should I Make the Leap?

What’s the most valuable commodity a small business owner has? A line of credit? A great business plan? Those are both important, but the most valuable asset you own as an entrepreneur is time.

Each of us has a limited amount of time to create products, market them, makes sales and run our businesses. Doesn’t it make sense to maximize every minute? By learning to present your offer to many people at once, your time is preserved for business activities other than sales.

Think of it this way—a great marketing campaign can bring potential clients to your door, but if you don’t have time to answer it, some of them are going to go away disappointed. Meeting with one prospect at a time is like dropping one single penny, rather than a handful of dollars, into your bank account.

Here’s another reason making one-to-many sales is a brilliant business strategy: presenting your offer to more than one person at a time increases your exposure to new markets exponentially. When the barrier to additional markets is removed by presenting your offer to a variety of groups, real success is within your grasp.

What If I’m Not Good with Groups?

If your natural selling style is one-to-one, that’s great! Not everyone can sit across the desk from another person and persuade them to buy a product. By all means, continue to build that strength.

As we mentioned above, however, your time is limited and you can only make so many one-to-one calls each month. You can do yourself a real favor by scheduling in one-to-many sales opportunities, as well. The increase in sales will help overcome your “public speaking anxiety” and persuade you to devote more of your time to reaching groups of people with your offer.

How Do I Jump In?

Many people are nervous at the thought of making a presentation to a room full of people. Try these steps to set up your first presentation:

* Ask existing clients for referrals to small groups they belong to. Anytime someone else is convening a meeting of people who need products like yours, that’s a built-in opportunity.
* Once you’ve booked your first group presentation, deliver information this group will find useful, whether they buy from you or not. The key is great content; once you’ve gained their respect by providing information they can use, they’ll be much more open to your offer.
* As your confidence grows, offer to speak to larger associations, clubs and other groups who regularly need guest speakers. Remember—great content plus your offer will build your reputation and your sales.

Making the leap from one-to-one sales opportunities to the compounding power of group presentations can be exhilarating. Get your toe in the water by presenting yourself to small groups, then dive in head first as you find yourself in demand as a speaker. Once you discover the advantages of one-to-many versus one-to-one, your business will prosper and you’ll actually have time to enjoy the results.

© Bernadette Doyle, 2009
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