Stop Selling Your Services
Stop Selling Your Services
Or, maybe you're struggling to find new clients because you're afraid that if you reach out to people you'll appear to be selling-something you just can't bring yourself to do?
STOP SELLING!
"What is selling?" I ask at the beginning of some of my programs.
The question brings out a variety of answers, most of which provide a window into the thinking of the professionals and entrepreneurs who attend:
"Trying to convince someone to buy what you offer," says one.
"Saying things that persuade someone to agree to buy your services," says another.
"Manipulating someone into realizing he or she has a need for what you offer," a third might say.
"If your view of "selling" your services is something along these lines, it's no wonder that you can't fill your practice or find enough clients for your businesses," I tell them.
"STOP SELLING YOUR SERVICES!"
After pausing for effect, I continue, "If by 'selling' you mean some kind of noisy, pushy, aggressive 'hawking' of your services, you've either discovered or sensed that 'selling' as you've defined it, doesn't work."
"But what if you had a different view of selling?" I ask them. "What if selling was asking appropriate questions so that your prospective clients understand that they need what you offer"?
"Stop selling," I tell them. "Start attracting business instead."
For the rest of the session, we discuss the difference. Among the points I ask them to consider are these:
Develop an "attraction" mindset. What you offer is something valuable, something people want or need. If you have any clients at all, you've already proved that. People need to know about your practice or business. You should be proud to tell them about it. But you don't have to "push" it on them.
Resist the urge to sell and ask great questions instead. The "selling" that doesn't work usually involves identifying a potential client and then trying to "close" him or her on a meeting with you or the purchase of your services.
Tell a prospective client what you do and then ask his permission to explore his situation. The conversation might end right there, but since people do like to buy-and you're not selling--he's likely to agree to let you explore. Once you have permission, ask questions designed to unearth some specific need or desire.
Address the specific need or desire. Then, instead of talking about generic features and advantages of your service, discuss how what you do meets that specific need or desire uncovered by your questions.
Rick owns a cleaning service franchise. He wanted to get more of the people he met during his various "networking" activities to agree to let him give them an estimate. More often than not, he somehow put them off.
Rick demonstrated how he'd start a conversation, find out where the person he was speaking with lived and then made his move: "Mary, I'd love to come out to your home next week and give you an estimate. What day is best for you?"
After some coaching, Rick's conversations went more like this:
Rick: It's basically a residential service, Mary. Do you mind if I ask... do you have a cleaning service?
Mary: No. It's not that I wouldn't like to have one, it's just that they're so expensive and we're really not in a position to afford one.
Rick: Do the two of you have children?
Mary: Yes, three. They're all school age, and they do help with the cleaning, but they get so much homework.
Rick: And you work, too, right? If the cost weren't a big issue, how would a cleaning service help?
Mary: Are you kidding? It would cut 4-5 hours out of my week.
Rick: That sounds great. What would you do with that extra time?
Mary: Well my little one, Tina, needs help with her homework and I'm always trying to squeeze out an extra few minutes here or there.
Rick: It sounds like you don't have the time you need to help Tina. I can't promise that I can make it affordable for you, but would it make sense to get an estimate for cleaning and discuss the different ways we might free up some time for you to work with Tina? How about sometime next week?
Using the "attraction approach," in a few weeks, Rick tripled his appointments from these conversations. He was amazed how easy it was to get people to say "yes."
Stop Selling Your Services - To learn more about this author, visit Sandy Schussel's Website.
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Are you aggressively selling your services and finding that few prospective clients-even those who are clearly in your target market-are buying?
Or, maybe you're struggling to find new clients because you're afraid that if you reach out to people you'll appear to be selling-something you just can't bring yourself to do?
STOP SELLING!
"What is selling?" I ask at the beginning of some of my programs.
The question brings out a variety of answers, most of which provide a window into the thinking of the professionals and entrepreneurs who attend:
"Trying to convince someone to buy what you offer," says one.
"Saying things that persuade someone to agree to buy your services," says another.
"Manipulating someone into realizing he or she has a need for what you offer," a third might say.
"If your view of "selling" your services is something along these lines, it's no wonder that you can't fill your practice or find enough clients for your businesses," I tell them.
"STOP SELLING YOUR SERVICES!"
After pausing for effect, I continue, "If by 'selling' you mean some kind of noisy, pushy, aggressive 'hawking' of your services, you've either discovered or sensed that 'selling' as you've defined it, doesn't work."
"But what if you had a different view of selling?" I ask them. "What if selling was asking appropriate questions so that your prospective clients understand that they need what you offer"?
"Stop selling," I tell them. "Start attracting business instead."
For the rest of the session, we discuss the difference. Among the points I ask them to consider are these:
Develop an "attraction" mindset. What you offer is something valuable, something people want or need. If you have any clients at all, you've already proved that. People need to know about your practice or business. You should be proud to tell them about it. But you don't have to "push" it on them.
Resist the urge to sell and ask great questions instead. The "selling" that doesn't work usually involves identifying a potential client and then trying to "close" him or her on a meeting with you or the purchase of your services.
Tell a prospective client what you do and then ask his permission to explore his situation. The conversation might end right there, but since people do like to buy-and you're not selling--he's likely to agree to let you explore. Once you have permission, ask questions designed to unearth some specific need or desire.
Address the specific need or desire. Then, instead of talking about generic features and advantages of your service, discuss how what you do meets that specific need or desire uncovered by your questions.
Rick owns a cleaning service franchise. He wanted to get more of the people he met during his various "networking" activities to agree to let him give them an estimate. More often than not, he somehow put them off.
Rick demonstrated how he'd start a conversation, find out where the person he was speaking with lived and then made his move: "Mary, I'd love to come out to your home next week and give you an estimate. What day is best for you?"
After some coaching, Rick's conversations went more like this:
Rick: It's basically a residential service, Mary. Do you mind if I ask... do you have a cleaning service?
Mary: No. It's not that I wouldn't like to have one, it's just that they're so expensive and we're really not in a position to afford one.
Rick: Do the two of you have children?
Mary: Yes, three. They're all school age, and they do help with the cleaning, but they get so much homework.
Rick: And you work, too, right? If the cost weren't a big issue, how would a cleaning service help?
Mary: Are you kidding? It would cut 4-5 hours out of my week.
Rick: That sounds great. What would you do with that extra time?
Mary: Well my little one, Tina, needs help with her homework and I'm always trying to squeeze out an extra few minutes here or there.
Rick: It sounds like you don't have the time you need to help Tina. I can't promise that I can make it affordable for you, but would it make sense to get an estimate for cleaning and discuss the different ways we might free up some time for you to work with Tina? How about sometime next week?
Using the "attraction approach," in a few weeks, Rick tripled his appointments from these conversations. He was amazed how easy it was to get people to say "yes."
Stop Selling Your Services - To learn more about this author, visit Sandy Schussel's Website.
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Linda RichardsonLinda Richardson is the Founder and Executive Chairwoman of Richardson, a global sales training and performance improvement company. As a recognized leader in the industry, she has won the coveted Stevie Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sales Excellence and she was identified by Training Industry, Inc. as one of the “Top 20 Most Influential Training Professionals.” Ms. Richardson is credited with the movement to Consultative Selling and is the author of ten books on selling and sales management, including Sales Coaching — Making the Great Leap from Sales Manager to Sales Coach, and Stop Telling, Start Selling. She teaches sales and management at the Wharton Graduate School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton Executive Development Center. Linda is a frequent speaker at industry and client conferences, has been published extensively in industry and training journals, and has been featured in numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Nation’s Business, Selling Power, Success, and The Conference Board Magazine. Learn more about Richardson's sales training and performance improvement solutions at http://www.richardson.com web - Visit Linda Richardson's Website |
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Dave KurlanDave Kurlan is the founder and CEO of Objective Management Group, Inc., the industry leader in sales assessments and sales force evaluations, and the CEO of David Kurlan & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in sales force development. Dave has been a top rated speaker at Inc. Magazine's Conference on Growing the Company, the Sales & Marketing Management Conference and the Gazelles Sales & Marketing Summit. He has been featured on radio and TV, including World Business Review with General Norman Schwarzkopf, in Inc. Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine and Incentive Magazine. He is the author of Mindless Selling and Baseline Selling – How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball. He created and wrote STAR, a proprietary recruiting process for hiring great salespeople, and he writes Understanding the Sales Force, a popular business Blog and is a contributing author to The Death of 20th Century Selling and 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2. - Visit Dave Kurlan's Website |
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George LudwigGeorge Ludwig is a recognized authority on sales strategy and peak performance psychology. An international speaker, trainer, and corporate consultant, he helps clients like Johnson & Johnson, Abbott Laboratories, Northwestern Mutual, CIGNA, and numerous others improve sales force effectiveness and performance. Though it's George's strategies and processes that help corporations increase productivity and performance, it's his tremendous energy and dynamism that spark the transformation. Again and again, clients remark on his amazing ability to unleash human capacity and inspire men and women to break out of their comfort zones. The result is a whole new type of salesperson. His customized presentations teach achievers to make stunning advances in their lives. From helping salespeople realize cherished dreams to helping corporations exponentially accelerate revenue streams, George Ludwig leaves audiences and individuals empowered, emboldened, and clamoring for more. George is the best-selling author of Power Selling: Seven Strategies for Cracking the Sales Code and Wise Moves: 60 Quick Tips to Improve Your Position in Life & Business. - Visit George Ludwig's Website |
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John PowerJohn Power, founder of Biltmore Franchise Consulting, has extensive experience developing and marketing franchises and business opportunities. He has been in and around franchising for over twenty years. From 1980 through 1990 he conceptualized, organized, and developed the American Video Association. He grew AVA to 2,000 national members, before selling the company it 1990. It was later merged into another home video marketing company. From 2000 to 2005 he worked as a contract marketing and human resources consultant to several local and national companies. In 2005 Mr. Power began working as a franchise development consultant on a full-time basis. Since that time he has helped more than three dozen companies initiate and develop their franchising program. He notes that there are many companies interested in developing a franchise program, and who need his specialized assistance. Mr. Power is a “hands-on” franchise consultant. He said, “I am the ‘nuts and bolts’ person who tends to the details for my clients.” Mr. Power holds a B.S. degree with a major in Marketing. See: www.biltmorefranchise.com You may contact Mr. Power at: jpower@biltmorefranchise.co - Visit John Power's Website |
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Staging DivaDebra Gould, aka The Staging Diva®, is President of Six Elements Inc., an internationally recognized home staging company. Inspired by many requests from aspiring home stagers wanting to start similar businesses, Gould created the Staging Diva Home Staging Business Training Program. Gould has trained over 1000 Staging Diva Graduates worldwide to start staging businesses. Buying decorating and selling six of her own homes in four years lead to an interest in real estate staging which she turned into a career with the launch of sixelements.com in 2002. Since then she has staged hundreds of homes in addition to teaching home staging training. Gould is the author of several home staging resources including a series of popular ebooks made up of a Design Guide, Color Guide and Portfolio Guide. For more information about Debra Gould visit stagingdiva.com. - Visit Staging Diva's Website |
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Jay Kubassek(Jay's Full Bio: EvanCarmichael.com/jaykubassek) In five years, Canadian-born entrepreneur Jay Kubassek went from selling mufflers at a Midas franchise to revolutionizing Internet marketing with the 2004 launch of CarbonCopyPRO, a online marketing education company, now worth over $20 million with customers in over 160 countries.
As an independent film producer, his upstart film fund Aliquot Films is currently producing a films with Spike Lee and Abel Fererra (starring Ethan Hawke and Dennis Hopper.)
Jay's entrepreneurial spirit is irrepressible. He’s the owner of five companies, a professional speaker and trainer, international real estate developer/investor, extreme sport enthusiast and emerging philanthropist. Jay resides in NYC with his wife Jamie, son Milo and dog Cooper. Visit Jay's official website: www.JayKubassek.com - Visit Jay Kubassek's Website |
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