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Even Engineers Sell

Written by: Sandy Schussel

Article Overview: If you offer a professional service, you need to sell that service in order to grow. Change how you view selling and you’ll see immediate growth.

Even Engineers Sell

"I'm an engineer, Sandy, not a salesman," my client Ted pleaded, "Why do you insist on talking about sales?"

"Ted," I asked, "there are a lot of engineers who do what you do out there. Why do clients choose you?"

"Wait, that's not fair," Ted exclaimed. "You answered my question with a question."

"This is part of coaching," I explained. "I help you get the answers for yourself."

"Okay, then," he responded. "My clients choose me because I convince them I can do the best job and save them money besides."

"That's great, Ted," I told him. "How do you convince prospective clients of those two things?"

Although we were talking on the telephone, I could imagine the sheepish grin that was growing on Ted's face. He knew that his next words would have something to do with sales. There was a long silence, finally broken by Ted with "Okay. I get it." I do-I've been selling my services all along, haven't I?"

"Yes," I replied. "That's why you need to know the best ways to do these parts of your business."

Ted didn't think he was selling, because the picture in his head of someone who sells is the guy in the loud plaid jacket on the used car lot.

But professionals sell-whether to prospective clients or to prospective employers. They just sell professionally, and can always do better if they have some good training and coaching.

Sales of professional services of any kind involve three distinct skill sets:

Asking great questions.
Listening to the answers.
Sharing stories.

When I explained these to Ted, he was surprised. "What about closing?" he asked. "Isn't that the most important skill in sales?"

In professional sales, I told him, closing is simply asking the client if he wants to get started. Ted was ready to start his journey in professional sales.

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Article Tags: car lot, engineer, job, journey, money, plaid jacket, professional sales, professional services, prospective clients, prospective employers, sheepish grin, silence, ted



Related Forum Posts
Your advantage over others - Sell using your USP - unique selling proposition. Why should people buy from you, instead of your competitors? Think about it, why are you so great? It may be a hard question, but finding the answer can multiply the effectiveness of any advertising or marketing activities you undertake.
Re: When do entrepreneurs retire, if ever? - Why would you ever retire when you love what you are doing? Sell the business and start another one maybe - but retire - NEVER! You should all read, The 4 Hour Work Week - By Timothy Ferris. He talks about building your business so that you can take mini 'retirement's throughout your life, instead of saving it all up for when you are old. Great concept - what do you think??
Re: SES Toronto - Day 1! - ...oh and even though it's 21 secrets, why do you have [quote:1gz722fe]Tip #22: Use Your Thank You Page to Sell[/quote:1gz722fe] on your blog? Are you holding out on secrets or are you adding your own? Hope to see you at the next conference!
Some online business suggstions debunked - 2. Sell photos on stock photography sites --- I tried this, couldn't even get in the front door. But then, I'm apparently a lousy photographer... However, if you do get in, I think you only get something like 25 cents a download... 8. Build services atop Amazon Web Services ---I've been an Amazon associate for a loooong time, selling books, and business has been lousy since the beginning. Nobody reads anymore...I do get a few DVD sales every now and again... but frankly I make much more money though Google Ads on my site. It took several months for that to build up, but now as my website has more readers those ads are starting to pay off, whereas there's been no corresponding jump from Amazon ads on the same pages...
Foreclosure? - [quote:2075tw2d]I slipped when I hopped on the real estate wave two year ago and unfortunately now I have to seriously consider foreclosure. [/quote:2075tw2d] I'm not quite sure what you mean by this. Are you saying that the bank is going to repossess your house. Foreclose on [i:2075tw2d]you[/i:2075tw2d]? Or you have to foreclose on someone [i:2075tw2d]else[/i:2075tw2d]? Depending on where you're located, there's a business that buys houses for cash...regardless of how much equity you have in them... For the life of me I can't remember their name, but they advertise on the radio all the time. But that'd be the solution to your problem, if they do business in your area. Sell them the property you're having trouble with... "We buy ugly houses." I think that's their slogan?


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