If you were always told as a kid that To Give Is To Receive then your parents inadvertently prepared you well for one of the key small business sales techniques.

Small Business likes the the idea of selling. We pride ourself in our small business sales techniques. Honing our persuasive selling skills. Bowling over objection after objection. Channelling our prospect into the appropriate corner and nailing him. Ah, the sweet smell of victory. A sale. And nothing given away. Perfect.

But small business sales techniques don’t need to focus around selling at all.  Just for a minute, put the selling mauals down and think about this:

Stop selling and start giving.

Small Business is not very good at giving things away. Things of real value. We hand out pens, keyrings, badges and other completely useless items. We indulge in promotions.  10% discount. Money off next purchase. Buy 2 get 1 free. Win a holiday. Win 2 holidays.

But that’s not giving away. Giving away means giving away. Free. Nada. Zilch. Chargeless. For nothing.

The point about small business sales techniques is that they allow us to do things that the big boys don’t. Or can’t. So we have to take advantage of that.

How often have you walked into your local Comet store and been handed a free telly? Or got to the checkout at Tesco and the manager has waived you through saying “that trolley is on the house sir” just for the hell of it?

Sure, when you go to the summer fair the local brewery is always on standby to hand out copious quantities of free beer. But that’s not giving away either. What your local brewery should do is to supply your village pub landlord with enough free beer to last him a month. And encourage him to sell to his customers at normal prices and he keep all the profit.

Do you know why small business sales techiques like this are so powerful?

They remove the prospect’s buying objections in one hit. Because they aren’t buying anything. You’re giving it away.

Not only that but if you have got your giveaway strategy right then you have sewn the seeds of a strongly loyal customer for a long time to come. One that will bring you returns well in excess of the costs of your original giveaway.

Now don’t start giving your children’s inheritance away willy nilly.  First decide who are your top 20% of customers. Prospects like them are your target.  Then, stop thinking about your own small business needs and start thinking about theirs.  What are their biggest issues likely to be? How can you best help them by giving away?

If you’re not sure, ask your top 20% customers. What are their problems? How could you take away some pain for them?  They will queue up to tell  you that.

If you can solve any of these by giving away, then what are you waiting for?

Small business sales techniques sometimes involve giving, not selling.