You can’t believe how many times I’ve heard gift basket designers say “I love to design, but I don’t like to sell.” Then they ask how they can go about getting customers.

If you are stockpiling inventory, creating beautiful designs, but not enjoying any sales, then you are a gift basket scaredy cat. You are headed down a course that spells financial disaster and mental distress.

But all is not lost. If you are ready to get over your fear of selling and watch your business prosper, here are seven things you can do.

1. Hire an associate or take on a partner who is skilled at sales. This person’s job will be to gather and follow leads to keep you busy filling orders. You will still to work on your own sales skills but the whole burden won’t be on your shoulders.

2. Become active in your local chamber or business network where you can meet potential customers on a weekly or monthly basis. Focus on building business relationships rather than selling. Getting to know your colleagues will reduce your fear and alleviate their hesitance. Most people buy from companies they’ve gotten to know and trust.

3. Listen to your colleagues and potential clients. Encourage them to talk about their themselves and their needs. The more people talk about themselves, the more they like you.

4. Face the fact that no one is a born salesman. It may seem that way to you as you watch others land accounts with little effort. But the truth is, becoming good at sales takes effort, work, perseverance and practice.

5. Face your fear. You are not alone. Good salesmen have had to overcome shyness, low self-esteem, stuttering, physical deformities and many other hurdles. They were determined to succeed and it was this determination that pushed them to learn and grow. You can too.

6. Take a baby step each day toward getting the sales you need to stay in business. You can learn about this by reading articles, books, subscribing to newsletters, attending conferences and networking with the successful members of the gift basket industry. The Small Business Administration offers tremendous free to low-cost help to businesses in every state.

7. Stop thinking of yourself as an interruption. You are offering a service that clients need. By neglecting to offer your gift basket service, you are depriving potential clients of a service that could help their businesses grow.

Companies who invest in the $1 trillion advertising and marketing industry are seeing half of their investment go down the drain reported an Economist article.That’s because consumers are increasingly relying on other ways to make their buying decisions. Word of mouth, an old way to spread news, is still the fastest and most affordable to advertise. Here are some ways to put word of mouth to work for your gift basket business:

1. Get current happy customers talking by asking for referrals. Put it on your business card, fliers and brochures. Offer incentives for new customers who result from these referrals.
2. Give customers and visitors to your website something to talk about: contests, giveaways, but most of all, provide great, unique products.
3. Provide customers with frequent information and updates about your business such as with a weekly newsletter. Ask for their opinions, questions and reactions. Encourage them to forward your e-newsletters to their friends.
4. Give your customers the tools to get them talking. Start a blog, message board, or chat to encourage customers to speak out.
5. Use social media to get the word out about new products, services or to ask for information. The most popular are Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter. You can visit me on all three:

• Facebook
• LinkedIn
• Twitter

Get word of mouth working for you and watch your profits grow.