In case you haven’t heard, Facebook has bought the photo sharing site Instagram for $1bn this week.

For a two-year old, 13-staff business that’s one enormous deal. Co-founder Kevin Systrom trousers $400m of it. Sigh.

Online media and sharing is expanding at such a fast rate that innovative ideas like Instagram are worth more after two years than some companies are worth after 100years of trading. It just shows you the value of creative thinking.

So this got me thinking about sales – it’s pretty much all I think about. We always advocate a natural approach when talking to customers and prospects. But, how many sales men and women dig deep for creativity and fresh ideas each time they are faced with a potential buyer?

The answer is probably not all that many.

If Instagram and other sale success stories have taught us anything, it’s that creativity sells. With that in mind, here are some great ways you can inject the powerful ingredient of creativity into your selling strategy:

1. Be mindful of processes

There might be processes and protocol that the sales team has to stick to, but always be on the lookout to break free. Bring creativity to the sale by showing signs of being a maverick instead of someone simply going through the motions.

Think about the estate agent who has to gather vital pieces of information from prospects each time they are shown a property. It might be name, age, budget and moving date. The customer will respond far more positively to the agent who sneaks in a question or two while walking around their dream property compared to the agent tapping his clipboard as soon as they arrive.

2. Creative communication

In competitive markets creative thinking will stand you out from the crowd. So it’s important to always look for opportunities to be different in your sales approach.

Until fairly recently communication was limited to letter, fax and email – today this isn’t the case.

If your prospects expect you to email them, why not try something different? Ask to follow them on Twitter or link up on Linkedin. Imagine if none of your competitors communicate with your prospects on these platforms – you could get the opportunity to have one-on-one conversations away from the circling vultures!

In next week’s PART 2 I’ll give you access to TWO MORE ways to get creative in the sale – don’t miss it.

Our sales training helps to ignite your creativity, stepping out of the norm and bringing your sale to life. Give us a call on 020 7613 7830 if you would like to know more.