I often get this question from business owners, especially from those who are just starting: how do I sell my business? In particular, how can a business owner acquire the techniques to be better at selling what they have?

Many business owners, although they are very good at what they do, they often fall short in the selling category. In fact, many would rank selling as their weakest point in the many entrepreneurial skills they have. They might be great with coming up with ideas such as having brochure printing for their ads; and accomplishing the daily tasks involved in running a business. But all will agree that the marketing part is one of the most difficult things to do.

But for all those business owners feeling this way (whether you have a small food stall or a reputable brochure printing company), do not worry. There are millions of you out there. Take heart because even though marketing is truly difficult, it is not impossible. Selling your business to your target clients is very challenging indeed; but when you are able to harness the technique, you can very well sell anything even to the littlest thing available in your product line.

As selling and marketing is an art, there are many ways that can help you accomplish it and get the results you want. But you have to start at the very beginning when selling – concentrate on your image. This means having the reputation that you can be proud of. Your target clients need to have a positive impression of you and your business before you can even sell anything to them.

Many experts in fact highly recommend this one. If you want to be better at selling then, you need to focus your energies on providing your target clients with a good reputation. No amount of selling and marketing can help your business without a credible reputation in your niche. There is really no substitute to having a good name in the industry without any taint of disgrace and jaded customers.

However, having and keeping a good reputation entails hard work. It is not like you just have to sleep on it and tomorrow you will have one for your business. And it also does not mean that when you have a good reputation you can just sit back and relax. You need to really work on it.

So how do you gain credibility? There are 4 C’s you need to be aware of:

Competence

You need to know everything there is to know about your business. You need to be an expert in what you do. This is competence at the very core. By becoming an expert, you are most likely to gain clients as they would be looking for your solutions every time for their problems.

Confidence

As you know very well what your business can do, you will have confidence to market your product or services because you believe in them. The more confident you are, the more likely that your customers will think the same way you do.

Commitment

As a business owner, you got to have commitment as you are the first sales agent of your products and services. Who else would sell your business for you? Selling and marketing is a necessity to having a business. So it would be wise for you to be committed and stay that way to your business.

Character

If you want to stay in business for a very long time, you need to inculcate virtues that your customers would be looking for – honesty, integrity and a sense of fairness in all your transactions.

When you have all these C’s, it would be much easier for you to stand by your products and services which in turn, make it less stressful for you to sell and market your business.