These may sound like quite obvious traits, but undertaking a positive approach does help to build relationships with potential customers. The passion should derive from your social cause. Utilising your social mission can be a great way to show people that you are not solely focused on making money but want to create positive societal change. Positivity is not just in your choice of words — pay attention to your tone and body language too.

Active listening is an important skill for social entrepreneurs and can be used whilst communicating with staff, customers, and beneficiaries. In a sales context, active listening helps build an open dialogue. Be careful to react to how the person acts and what they say. Making sales is not achieved by blurting out a rehearsed speech; rather, it’s about tailoring the discussion around the needs and wishes of a potential customer.

Patience and resilience. 

Selling is not an all-or-nothing process and can not be defined purely by buyers and people who do not buy. It is about developing the customer’s journey with the organisation. Often conversations may not immediately lead to a direct sale but could lead to a sale in the future or from that individual telling someone else about your products or services. Therefore be patient and resilient, and ensure that you provide good customer service to put your organisation in a strong position going forward.

 

Having a depth of knowledge is important as it allows you to answer any questions which people might have about your product or services. As well as having good personal knowledge, ensure that your website provides sufficient contextual information about your services for potential customers to understand your offerings. Be mindful of other stakeholders who represent your brand — ensure that any volunteers and/or staff have a good knowledge of your services or can signpost potential customers in the right direction.