No one likes that guy, you know, the one that keeps contacting you to try and sell you that awesome thing he is so excited about. It isn’t a secret that people don’t like being sold to. People don’t want to feel like you’re trying to use them for something. That makes sales a difficult task. How can we sell our product, but not seem like a desperate sales agent calling anyone they can?

You don’t have to make 100 cold calls to make money. Here are a few tips to help you focus your task of getting your product out there.

1.     Know who your audience is. If you’re trying to connect with various types of people in the market, you have to cater your pitch to whom you’d like to speak with. Don’t just regurgitate a heavily rehearsed speech to anyone you speak to. You have to talk with them, not at them.

2.     Don’t sell any product you don’t believe in. If you feel like you’re getting away with a high-profile crime each time you make a sale, it’s probably time to find a better product to sell.

3.     Don’t just contact people when you need something. People are not ATMs, they have value and purpose outside of what they will spend on your product. Get to know your clients and make a genuine connection with them. You don’t want them to only see you as a service provider; you want them to view you as a pillar of your community, a person that not only provides valuable products but has a personality behind the business.

4. Remember that your pitch is not as interesting to the other person as it is to you. That swell product you’re so proud of? Yeah, it sure is cool, but the world does not know that right away. You have to show them, not just word vomit all over them for a whole ten minutes without breathing like a normal human is not going to convince them.

5. Authenticity is vital to human connection. Sure, it feels like a slow process, but it is 100 million times better to make a genuine connection or a friend in the business world than it is to make one really big sale. People who like you as a person will refer you to people because they will trust that you will treat their friends and family with respect. Your reputation is worth so much more than any big sell.