The Online Marketing Newsletter
for Independent Professionals
from Action
Plan Marketing
and Robert Middleton
-
The Art of Effortless Selling -
Can
selling be effortless? Yes, it can be easier than
you
ever thought possible. Here's how.
Last
week I discussed the negative mindset we often have
around the selling process and ways you can
create a new mindset.
I'm
working on ideas for my new UnSales ToolKit and
I've been kicking around some ideas - ideas to
make selling easier, less of a traumatic ordeal.
And I remembered that at some point selling had
become effortless for me.
What
do I know that others don't?
Can
selling really be effortless? Is it what you
do, what you say, what you ask, or what your
service is? No, effortless selling has very little
to do with any of this. In effortless selling you
don't need to convince anyone. People convince
themselves.
But
how?
I
learned pretty early in my career that I couldn't
really convince anyone to do business with me.
I certainly tried. I used great arguments. Lots of
features and benefits. But it never worked. This
approach always met with resistance and
rejection.
Then
I learned to ask questions. The idea is that if
you ask enough questions you can know enough about
the prospect's situation to jump in with the
solution to their problem (your service).
That
worked a little better.
But
not good enough. So I kept researching. What
was selling all about? Why was it such a struggle?
How could I make it easier? I read a lot of books
and tried a lot of stuff. I recall it was rather
painful, no, perhaps agonizing.
I
finally realized that selling rarely happened in a
vacuum. As you know, it's almost impossible to
just call someone up and sell them on your
services. They have to be warmed up first. They
need to know something about what you
offer.
They
need to be exposed to MARKETING.
Selling
can't happen until a prospect has responded to your
marketing messages, learned something about
your services and has a sense that you might be
able to help them. In my Marketing Ball Model,
that's what I call getting on second
base.
When
you start selling before you get to second base you
always get tagged out. Many people are
frustrated with selling because they're trying to
sell to someone who isn't even on first base yet.
As
a result of this realization, I started marketing
myself like there was no tomorrow. I networked,
gave talks, hosted events, created brochures, sent
out newsletters, gave stuff away. I was out there.
I warmed up my prospective clients through
marketing. Still do.
When
someone showed interest I set up a time to talk and
the sales process began. And almost everyone I
spoke with became a client. You see, they had
already pre-sold themselves before I even talked to
them.
All
I had to do was get out of the way and see if I
could really help them or not. And now my
questions had a different purpose. I just needed to
determine if the prospect was sufficiently
motivated and if my service was right for them.
In
a nutshell here's my selling process. I ask
questions that get at these four issues:
1.
Is there a real problem begging for a
solution? Is something missing and are they
unable to find a solution by themselves?
2.
Is there a commitment to change things and move
forward? Are they in a place where they are
finally ready to take action?
3.
Are they willing to invest in a solution?
Can they put in the time, energy and money
to do what it takes to make the
change?
4.
Can they envision the future? Can they
imagine more positive outcomes than they are
experiencing now?
If
I get positive signs on all of the above and I have
a good sense that I can help them, then I go
into the presentation of my services. I want to
assure them that I can help them solve their
problem and produce the results they want.
This
part takes about two minutes.
No
kidding. Look, they already know about my
services or they wouldn't be meeting with me in the
first place. Marketing got the job done.
The
presentation goes something like: "This is what
I do. This is how it works and what happens. This
is the kind of result you can expect. Any
questions?"
No
pressure, manipulation or fancy closes are
necessary. By this time the prospect sees me as
someone who can help them get what they want. They
certainly don't see me as a salesperson.
And
then closing is a simple formality: "Here's
what the service costs. Does that work with your
budget right now?" or "So that's how the service
works. Do you have any questions?" My favorite
answer to that one is, "When can we get
started?"
If
you follow this path of effortless selling, you'll
hear that a lot.
*
The
More Clients Bottom Line:
The
key to effortless selling is good marketing. Then
you can take your attention off trying to convince
someone to do business with you. You can relax and
get interested in them and see if they're ready to
change and take action.
*
The
More Clients Blog - Please comment on today's
More Clients
http://www.actionplan.blogs.com
*
Creating
Your Ultimate Outcome - A New Audio
Program
You
might call this program the prequel to this eZine.
When
I began working on this program, I was only
focusing on the Ultimate Outcome - the
marketing message that declared the bottom-line
results you produced for clients. But as the
program evolved, I got more deeply into the "Unique
Service Offering" - which is the vehicle that
actually delivers the Ultimate Outcome.
In
this TeleClass you'll learn the important
distinctions of these foundational marketing
ideas and see how you can apply them to your
business to get more attention and interest for
your services. This is what sets up the effortless
selling process.
This
TeleClass has been recorded and is now available as
Online Audio and/or an Audio CD. In addition,
you'll get the complete printed materials (as a
pdf) that the program is based on.
For
complete details about the Audio Program
"Creating
Your Ultimate
Outcome,"
just click on the link below.
http://www.actionplan.com/ultoutcome.html
For
other Audio Programs in our
Expert
Series
click below:
http://www.actionplan.com/teleclasses.html
Until
next week, all the best,
Robert
Middleton
ACTION
PLAN MARKETING
Helping Independent Professionals Attract More
Clients
www.actionplan.com
210
Riverside Drive
Boulder Creek, CA 95006
831-338-7790
Contact
by email
©
2006 Robert Middleton, All rights reserved. You
are free to use material from the More Clients
eZine in whole or in part, as long as you include
complete attribution, including live web site link.
Please also notify me where the material will
appear. The attribution should read:
"By
Robert Middleton of Action Plan Marketing. Please
visit Robert's web site at http://www.actionplan.com
for additional marketing articles and resources on
marketing for professional service
businesses."
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