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How Not To Sell Your Product or Service

Written by: Laurie Hayes

Article Overview: Letting people know about you and your services doesn't have to painful or scary. Today I received a reminder of how not to sell. This is something every new entrepreneur can learn from.

How Not To Sell Your Product or Service

I received an interesting call today. It went like this …

Fred: Hi, this is Fred from ?? Web Design. I just came across your name in the yellow pages. I don't even know what a life coach is, but I found you under Business Consulting.

Me: Uh huh.

Fred: I don't know if you've ever considered having a web site built or if you already have one.

Me: Yes I do. It's thehbbsource.com

Fred: Oh … well, I guess I'm too late. Thank you. (end of conversation)

That was it. And no, I'm not exaggerating.

My question to you is how would you like someone like Fred selling your product or service?

I'm going to assume you answered with an emphatic "Not on your life!"

And here's my next question … have you found yourself being this indifferent in your own efforts to sell?

I know I have been, especially when I started my home business. I couldn’t wait to get off the phone fast enough!

Most of us start in the same place. Fearful, inexperienced, intimidated … it all boils down to learning and growing.

First, you need to determine whether or not your prospect has an immediate need for what you offer. If she doesn't, might she some day? Could you possibly give her something to remember you by in case she ever does need you?

After I hung up the phone, I thought about Fred for quite a while. I wanted to call him back and give him a few pointers on how he could have engaged me in a conversation and possibly got me interested in finding out more about his services.

Unfortunately, he blurted out his company name so quickly, I never did get it, but if I could have talked to him, I would have suggested he carry on his call by asking a few simple questions such as:

- On a scale of one to ten, how well do you feel your site is performing for you?

- Most viewers click away in the first 30 seconds of visiting a site. I may be able to spot a couple potential trouble spots and give you some quick fix pointers you can implement right away to get your site working better for you. Would you like me to take a brief 30-second look at your site while we're on the phone together just to give you some quick feedback on what I see at first glance?

- Is there anything you've been thinking of doing with your site that you haven't gotten around to such as search engine optimization?

- If you ever need help with your web site and would like someone closer to home to help out, please visit our web site at … or contact us at …, we'd be honored to help you. We also offer a complimentary 15-minute review of your site and get back to you with any ideas that may help you improve on it.

I know if he had offered to take a 30-second look at my site while I was on the phone with him, I would have said, "Sure." Who doesn't want a second opinion or to show off something they think is already great?

I also would have loved for him to leave me his contact info in the event my web design provider (who is 3,000 miles west of me) isn't available.

As you speak with potential customers, keep in mind a couple of things … 1) they may say they don't need you right now, but may quickly change their tune after you ask a few simple questions, and 2) even though they may not need you today, they may in the future.

Make sure they know how and where to find you because their needs can change in the blink of an eye and wouldn't it be great to know they have you to come to?

I'm sure you also caught the suicidal statement he made by starting the conversation with not knowing what I was, then dismissing it to carry on his mission. We'll save that lesson for another day. ;-)

Be your best.

2007 © Laurie Hayes - The HBB Source

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Article Tags: conversation, Fred Hi, Fred Oh well



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Re: Service Or Product? - I agree with starting a Service-based Business in the economy. Here is what I think is critical: 1. Researching that your Service business has a market. 2. Marketing the Service with as much leverage as possible. 3. Product-izing the Service (aka Package Expert Knowledge). This will only help elevate you as "the" expert in your niche and make you accessible to people in different price points.
Show the Benefits - Offer a free test drive of the Product or Service with a Money Back Guarantee - Take the Risk out. This will help them make the decision but you have to work with them to realize it by explicitly state the benefits they are receiving.
Offer Credit instead - I'm not sure if ChrisH was referring to this but i'll state it more expicitly .. Charge upfront and offer a refund of double the value back in "Credit" towards your Product or Service you have for sale at the end of the event.
Don't leave your Wallet on the table - Targetzone, Evan has great points on targeting you package. Also I read the revenue model you mentioned and i believe you are leaving a lot of money on the table. Aisde from making just $15/sale of a package you could also be making income from sales generated after the people use the coupon on their second and ongoing visits to the Service/Product company. I've sent you a PM - We can talk more advanced strategies. BTW - I'm a Dollarmakers Member and have taken the Joint Venture BootCamp 101 and highly recommend it if you wish to pursue this idea. PM me privately and we can talk.
Who Said Twitter Doesn't Work...? - Last month, the BBC World Service programme, The Strand, featured 21 year-old Icelandic pianist/composer Olafur Arnalds. Arnalds achieved extraordinary success through his internet-led project to compose 7 tunes in 7 days, post them on his website and then post links to it via TWITTER. As a result his website got thousands of visitors eager to listen to his music, catapulting him to fame and bringing his music to the attention of the BBC, who featured an interview with him on the World Service programme, The Strand! So who says Twitter doesn't work? (HINT: It does help if you have something uniquely your own that other people want to get hold of...)


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