Selling Without Selling – The Art of the Anti-Sell

Published on August 4th, 2009 by Mitchell Harper

About the Author

Mitch (@mitchellharper) is the co-founder and CEO of BigCommerce. Way back in 2007 he built what eventually became BigCommerce as you know it. Today he runs the company alongside Eddie and along with our 100+ team members, is passionate about helping businesses succeed with e-commerce. Mitch spends time between our Sydney and Austin offices and is giving the keynote at TechConnect 2012 in Sydney on April 19th.

anti_sell When it comes to software it’s amazing how many companies try to take the typical 1990′s enterprise approach to sales – you know, 12 month contracts and overly pushy sales reps who amazingly promise the world just to close a deal. I personally believe that selling is about relationships more than the actual product being sold. Case in point: Google Apps.

We switched our team of 40+ from a mish mash of Outlook, Thunderbird and GMail to Google Apps about 6 months ago. Yes, Google Apps is excellent, but it was the relationship we had with Google that pushed us over the line. Now when I say we had a relationship with Google, I’m not talking about our AdWords account manager. I’m talking about our relationship with Google’s business model, in this case specifically their freemium approach.

For example, I’ve been using Gmail for about 2 years now. It’s free, always has been and probably always will be. Along with Google revolutionizing my inbox, their free offerings in calendar, docs (I no longer use Office) and search have allowed me to build up my own relationship with Google the brand as time has gone by. Now that we’re of a sufficient size to need a company-wide communications platform, Google’s paid offering was our first choice because they’d already earned my trust with their free offerings.

So how did they sell me on Google Apps without an army of sales reps cold calling and emailing me 24/7? Well, their Google Apps website has a tonne of product-specific videos which sold me on the featureset, ease-of-use and fast migration time.

If you look at our website, specifically our support page you’ll see that we’re massive fans of video – especially for how to videos. Apple’s website also does an excellent job of selling without selling. Just look at their iPhone 3GS video tour and how they never once tell you why you should buy it. The idea is that the video will have such an effect on you that you will essentially convince yourself that you deserve an iPhone.

Getting back to the Google Apps website, they also have dozens of case studies, video testimonials, a boat load of technical documentation and migration tools for our system administrators.

They also took a very public stance against Microsoft Exchange, positioning Google Apps as new and cool, and Microsoft Exchange as dated and bloated. Being that we develop software in the browser too, Google’s bashing of desktop and client/server software resonated with me quite deeply.

So in this case there were no sales reps. Their self-service website had everything I needed to convince myself that Google Apps was the right choice for us:

The video tours showed me how the apps work together
The case studies showed me that similar companies were using Google Apps successfully
The migration tools showed me that it would be easy to get our team using Google Apps quickly
Google’s track record of reliable, secure servers put any worries about downtime to rest
The (now removed) free version allowed us to get everything up and running before spending a cent
The positive feedback from team members then lead to us switching the entire company over to Google Apps

If you’re selling anything online then you really do need more than just product descriptions and images, because the decision to purchase something involves more than just a product or a price. Specifically, I would recommend you:

Have a detailed About Us page with photos (see ours here). Tell your story and explain why you’re different. For example, if you sell trucker hats online then why would I buy from you when there are thousands of other online stores to choose from, probably with better pricing? You should tell shoppers whose behind the website. Your About Us page should include phone numbers, email addresses, twitter accounts, photos (maybe a link to a company Flickr account?), a link to your FaceBook fan page and the story of how and why your online store was started.
Publish both the good and bad product reviews. Amazon’s #1 asset is its unbiased product reviews. Most people know they can go to Amazon.com and read both the good and the bad reviews about a product before making a purchase. You might think that leaving bad reviews on your website will deter shoppers, but in most cases it will do the exact opposite because they will realize you’re honest enough to publish both the positive and negative feedback from your customers. They might not buy that exact product, but they will buy something.
Inform, don’t sell. More than posting new products in your store, you need to provide value beyond just price discounts. For example, if you sell expensive shoes then you might start a blog where you discuss and post photos of celebrities wearing the shoes you sell. Under each photo you might include a “Learn more about these shoes” link which takes the reader to the product page for those shoes in your online store.
Be a part of the conversation. Jump on Twitter and search for your company name, website name or the products you sell. See what people are saying about you and respond. If someone’s asking about a product then send them a tweet with a link back to your online store where they can learn more (preferably to a blog post instead of your Buy Now page). Remember, your competition probably aren’t using Twitter yet, so take full advantage of it.
Answer common questions about your products. If you’re always getting asked the same questions about your products then it’s time to publish a list of frequently asked questions. Depending on what you sell you might have a site-wide FAQ or a per-product FAQ. Address common concerns and how to questions. A good example of this would be discussing your returns/exchange policy if you sell shoes or t-shirts, because your shoppers don’t want to be stuck with something that doesn’t fit. Can they return it? Will you give them store credit?
Make it easy to speak with someone. Don’t fall into the trap of removing the phone number from your online store. Being able to pick up the phone and speak with someone will always trump getting a reply by email. The phone is more personable and allows you or your team to make a positive impression which people will remember.
Make your brand memorable. If you sell everyday items such as shoes, computers or clothing then your brand is what will set you apart from the competition. Look at Zappos.com and their Powered by Service tag line. Find one thing your company does better than anyone else and become known for that. It could be customer service, variety, exclusivity, a liberal returns policy, a weekly video blog (WineLibrary.tv takes the cake here) or really anything you do better than your competitors.