Everybody needs to sell! Part 2

Part 2: Personas, Outreach, Conversion

For those of us who aren’t natural salespeople, it’s often the fear of rejection—or thinking we don’t have the right sales patter—that stops us from getting on with the vitally important job of finding customers (and income!). But the reality is, rejection is normal—not everyone wants to buy what you offer. Selling is more about asking questions, listening, and matching your offer to the buyer’s needs.

In Part 1 of this series, we looked at how to define your offer, assess your market, and choose the right route to reach it. With those in place, we can move onto the final three steps - focus on who you’re actually selling to, how you engage them, and what it takes to turn interest into sales.

4. Personas: Who Are You Really Selling To?

Selling to organisations means selling to people—with different roles, responsibilities and priorities. That’s where personas come in. A persona is a profile that combines someone’s job function with the pressures they’re under and the outcomes they’re looking for.There are lots of roles in any buying journey, but most sales conversations will need to address two key personas:

- The business buyer – the person with the problem you solve. Messaging here should focus on how your offer makes their life easier, faster, cheaper, or more effective.

- The economic buyer – the person who controls the budget or signs off the purchase. This persona needs a business case: evidence, numbers, risks, timelines.

Knowing the difference—and speaking to both—can make the difference to your progress. More is better: decision making in many businesses is not down to one person, you will have budget holders, sponsors and influencers each with their own agendas and having a broad connection to understand the different tensions in a business will help you be more successful by finding advocates and internal barriers to overcome.

5. Outreach: Creating and Communicating Valuable Content

There are countless ways to start a conversation, but most fall into two buckets: lead generation and brand building.For lead generation, your goal is to offer something useful enough that a prospect is willing to exchange their contact details for it.

This might be:

- A report or white paper on a timely issue

- A webinar featuring your expertise

- A practical workshop or event

- A sharp, insightful post on LinkedIn

The point is, it has to be genuinely useful. Thoughtful. Relevant. Not a thinly disguised sales pitch.

For brand building, the focus shifts to awareness. You're not asking for contact details—you’re aiming to make an impression, build familiarity and establish credibility. Think targeted advertising, organic posts, Google Ads, talking at a conference or industry press.Knowing the customer personas will help you know their needs and so you can be more confident in creating content and channels to meet those needs.

6. Conversion: Qualifying and Closing

Once someone shows interest, you have a lead. But not all leads are worth pursuing. To avoid wasting time, qualify them. Ask:

- Are they in the right sector, size or geography?

- Are they senior enough to influence or approve a purchase?

- Do they actually have the problem you solve?

- Is the timing right?

The better your qualification process, the fewer leads you’ll chase—but the more likely they are to convert. That’s the sales funnel: leads in at the top, filtered into a smaller number of genuine opportunities.

At that point, you move to proposal—covering cost, scope, timing and delivery. If your offer is strong and well targeted, momentum builds. It’s still competitive, but because of your qualification process, conversion rates often jump—sometimes to one in three.

Accept you won’t win every opportunity, so keep a regular process to replenish your leads and create more opportunities

Final thought

After 16 years running a consulting practice, I’ve learned that sales is about clarity—being clear about the value you bring, who it’s for, and how it helps. I’ve never seen myself as a natural salesperson, and I know I’m not alone in that. But structure helps. Having a process helps. There are rarely quick wins. Progress takes time. Sales is a long game—and if you rely on it to bring in clients and income (like me!), it needs regular attention. So, build in the time. Every week. Even when you’re busy. Especially when you’re busy.

What next?

There’s a fuller version in my book which you can find here, or you’d like to see the full process in action, I’m running a free one-hour session for people who don’t do sales. drop me a line at: bruce@thebrandarrow.com.

Why work together?  

I’m now celebrating my 16th year running my Brand Strategy consultancy, as well as regularly speaking at conferences and lecturing at business schools, I teach brand management on the Chartered Institute of Marketing’s diploma course and am an accredited speaker with the Vistage CEO network. My expertise has helped hundreds of small businesses stand out, grow, and thrive.  

If you’d like to explore how The Brand Arrow can help your business, reach out to me directly at bruce@thebrandarrow.com.