Have you ever been sold something so brilliantly you couldn’t NOT buy what the person was selling?
This happened a few years ago when I went into a shoe store.
I wanted a new pair of sneakers for the gym but I didn’t really need them as I already had a pair. I thought I’d have a gander at the options anyway and consider them once my current pair had been worn to shreds.
I walked in knowing full well I wasn’t actually going to buy a pair – or so I thought.
After being greeted by the technician, he asks me what I’m looking for. I tell him I don’t know and I’m just browsing.
He looks down at my shoes and says, “Having arch issues?”
I look at him like he’s a wizard. “How did you know?”
He said, “The way you’re standing in those shoes tells me you’re having arch issues, which can also mean you’re having calf and knee issues as well.”
I stare at him blankly. Can he also see me naked through my clothes? He knows I have issues! What kind of sorcery is this?
“May I?” He asks, insinuating I take off my shoe and show him.
“Uhhhh…,” I look around the store and see another woman has obliged and taken off her shoe.
I take off my shoe and give it to him and he examines it up close like it’s an ancient artifact from 430 BC.
He contorts it around like it’s piece of soft rubber. “Ah, you see how I can do this? This indicates there’s no support for your foot whatsoever. It’s a poorly made shoe.”
“But they’re Nike!” I exclaim.
“I know. So many people get caught out like this. They think because it’s expensive, it’s high quality. But what you’ve really done is paid for the brand name. Because in this case, this is not a high quality shoe.”
Part of me thinks it’s a sales tactic but the other part knows that I’ve had problems with my feet for years.
He asks me if I’d be willing to do a foot examination to see what type of shoe would be best for my foot.
“There’s absolutely no obligation to purchase and it’s totally free.”
Since I’ve just learned I’m wearing peasant shoes I agree.
He proceeds to test and examine my feet (which is a bizarre and awkward ordeal I must say), I hop on a treadmill and walk while he takes snapshots of my foot placements, he asks me what type of use my shoes are for and I explain for the gym and suddenly whisks off to the back of the store to find gym shoes that will help align my walk correctly. He explains to me what my results mean and what can help overcome the pain I get in my arch when I walk, then he points out which shoes help realign my foot the best.
I try them on and find them very comfortable and extremely supportive, something I didn’t even know I was missing in my choice of sneakers.
He shares his own story with misaligned sneakers and how it cost him a year off playing sports because his ankles were too weak. Once he found the right pair of sneakers, his ankles strengthened and his gait become significantly more aligned and eventually was able to play sports again.
While he’s cleaning up and I’m putting my shoes back on, he casually asks the question I know is coming. “Would you like to buy the shoes today?”
And without a single hesitation I say, “Absolutely.”
I walked out of that shop having spent $200 I didn’t intend on spending, which was SO MUCH MONEY for me back then. But this man hadn’t just sold me a pair of shoes, he had taken me on a journey and made me feel something – not like that you weirdo.
He was funny, relatable and relaxed. Not once did I ever feel like he was just trying to make a sale.
But with complete finesse, he showed me he understood my problem, how he could help me and and the positive results I could get if I trusted his expertise.
And today this is exactly what I am showing you how to do when it comes to selling your own digital products, because the process is exactly the same.
So, let’s get into the 3 essential steps that you must take to sell your products with finesse and leave your competition in the dust!
1. Choose one type of customer to sell your product to
I know it’s natural to want to include EVERYONE as your target customer, and your digital product may very well be for everyone, but if you want faster results in selling your digital product, you need to zone in on one.
Focusing on one customer helps you make your sales copy and marketing process ultra clear and people are able to know very quickly if the product is right for them or not.
Here’s an example: Say I’m a make up artist and I want to start showcasing my work on Instagram as well as teaching via reels to start promoting my beginner natural make up course. For this, I would like to buy some Canva social media templates so I can create a branding aesthetic that I like. Now as I search for social media templates, there’s hundreds of options to choose from and it’s very overwhelming. They’re all for business owners, they all do and say the same thing, so how do I choose? I decide to tag on ‘for make up artists’ at the end of my search phrase and now the results are different. Now they’re showing social media templates catered specifically to make up artists. They have exactly what the other generic business templates had, but the stock images and text in the templates are catered to my niche. I purchase them right then and there.
The difference was tiny, but it’s what turns anyone from overwhelmed and confused to clear and confident about buying your digital product.
The more generic you make your product, the more it blends into all the others like it and the more your target customer becomes overwhelmed and confused about it – this is the last thing you want to do.
So, instead, you’re going to get ultra clear about who it’s for and how it helps them with the questions below:
- Who is this digital product for?
- What are they struggling with that you help fix?
- What does this digital product make possible for them?
- How can you display this in your sales copy?
- How can you display this in your marketing?
Don’t be afraid to get specific in who you’re talking to, when you make people feel seen they want to listen to you.
2. Explain exactly how your product will help your customer
One of the greatest things you can demonstrate to your target customer is how much you understand them. This comes from knowing exactly who that target customer is (which is why it’s important to choose one only for your product) and how your digital product can help them.
When you know exactly how your product solves the problem they have, this will not only show off your confidence and expertise when you’re talking and sharing about your product, but it will also help you show your target customer that you understand their problem intricately and that you’re helping them with your best and proven solution.
Now, their problem could be as significant as getting a mortgage, handling a messy divorce or finding a natural remedy for eczema to as minor as creating a mood board for their website, DIYing an entranceway or shopping for a stylish winter wardrobe, the process is still the same: share how you understand them and can help them.
For example: Let’s say you’re a stylist and you’re selling your 101 guide on how to dress stylishly (but toasty) for winter.
“Winter has arrived and you are sick of wearing the same old dowdy clothes. You want to be comfortable and warm, naturally, but gosh darn it you’d also like to feel attractive, graceful and chic instead of how you usually feel – like sausage meat stuffed in casing. It would make a world of difference not feeling frumpy for half the year. Except, you have no idea how to be stylish AND comfortable in below-freezing temperatures. That’s where ‘Stylishly Toasty’, my 101 guide on helping you stay warm this winter while feeling like a million bucks can help….”
Use these questions below to help you explain how you will help your target customer:
- How does your digital product help your target customer?
- What are the road blocks they’ve come up against when it comes to solving their problem?
- What words are they using to describe their problem?
- How do they currently feel about their problem?
- How does it make them feel knowing it’s still not solved?
The more you show you understand their problem and can help them, the easier it is to sell to your solution target customer.
3. Highlight the results and benefits.
The next and final thing you have to do is highlight the results and benefits they will get from purchasing your digital product.
Benefits are the outcomes customers experience by using your digital product or service (e.g a beautiful entranceway your friends envy or easy and natural 5 minute make up that’ll make you feel like you’re glowing), features are the aspects your product has (such as modules or lessons or a private community etc).
The features are important but far less important than the benefits. The benefits are what seals the deal. It’s what shimmies your target customer off the fence and onto your checkout cart page to hit that big juicy buy now button.
- How will your digital product change their life/business/relationships?
- What impact will it have on them and those closest to them?
- What need or problem does your digital product solve?
- What are the tangible results they will get?
- What are the intangible results they will get?
Make sure that you focus on adding your answers above onto your sales pages and into your marketing and watch your sales start multiplying.
And that my friend is how you sell your digital products with finesse while leaving your competitors in the dust.
The more you make your target customer feel seen and understood, the more they’ll keep coming back for seconds and thirds and fourths.
And isn’t that kind of the point of having a business?
Not just to make money, but to feel connected to you and your work that they WANT to come back and buy more?
