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Sales is both an art and a skill. In fact, many of the world’s best salespeople take an artistic approach to their customer’s buying process. They intuitively understand how to put themselves in their customer’s shoes, and anticipate their pain points. Sales guru Zig Ziglar wisely observed, “people don’t buy for logical reasons. They buy for emotional reasons.” So, you don’t have to dread doing sales pitches. Instead, think of sales as an opportunity to be creative, by providing a solution to a problem. And entrepreneurs love solving problems, especially since solving problems is essential to building a profitable business!

Why is sales simplification important?

It’s important to simplify your product sales for one big reason: confusion stalls sales. If your client doesn’t know what to order, when to order, how to order, or just gets confused, you might lose the sale or undersell to someone who wanted to purchase more. If you want your clients to buy products, you have to make it easy and fast for them! Make your sales communication – emails, phone calls, and in-person consultations – simple and succinct so clients can quickly find everything they want to order.

Not sure how to keep it simple when it comes to your product sales? Here are three important tips.

Tip #1: Integrate the sales conversation throughout the experience with each client.

Since sales is equal parts artful psychology and tactical skill, you should plant sales seeds in your earliest communications with clients. Think of it as educating your client throughout their entire experience with you. Then, sales becomes about helping your client solve a problem. Give examples of which products will work best for the type of photographs you’re shooting and—especially if you’ve gotten to know your clients well—what will work best for their taste and style.

Tip #2: Be Prepared! Do the sales work upfront.

A surefire way to cause confusion when educating clients on the products you sell is to be unprepared. Before you start explaining your products to clients, make sure you too have a clear understanding of your pricing, turnaround times, product details and–most importantly–benefits for your clients!

If you don’t know these details, you’ll come across as erratic or unprepared, ultimately causing confusion and slowing your sales.

Tip #3: Try easy-to-use product sales tools.

If you don’t enjoy the sales side of your business, gain confidence by leaning on easy-to-use product sales tools. There are a lot of great sales tools out there for professional photographers, but that doesn’t mean you have to use them all. Keep your sales process simple, by choosing one or two tools that work for you.

We recently partnered with ShootProof, a tool that offers an easy and efficient way to proof and sell your photos online. Plus, you can now send your images straight from ShootDotEdit’s photography editing services into your ShootProof account, instantly making your product sales process more efficient. For more information on how ShootDotEdit can help your business and introduce you to other helpful partners, download our free guide.