Do you feel a little uncomfortable when you talk with a prospect about your services? Do you find yourself tongue-tied when it comes to telling them about what you do and how much you charge?
When I started my first business, I thought I had to convince people that I could help them. I thought I had to explain what my credentials were and how qualified I was. I thought I had to explain exactly how I coached them and what it was like to be coached. I thought that all of this would prove to them that they should hire me and that I was worth what I charged.
I couldn’t have been more wrong.
Selling your services has nothing to do with convincing a prospect that you’re the right person to hire. Selling your services is all about being completely transparent about what you do and who you help.
Instead of trying to convince your prospect that she should hire you, listen to her. Ask questions. Be genuinely curious. Really try to understand exactly what she needs. Are you the person that can best help her?
Your goal is not to persuade your prospect that she should work with you. Your goal is to convince yourself that you can really help this potential client.
If you are not positive that you can help her with exactly what she needs, tell her! Then, make a recommendation as to where she can get her needs met.
If she turns out to be the perfect fit, you both will be excited at the opportunity to work together. If she isn’t a perfect match but you work with her anyway, you will both be dissatisfied with the relationship and the outcome.
Every time you turn away a client, you’re building your reputation as someone who is honest, is genuinely helpful, and has high integrity.
Also, each time you turn away a client, you make room for a better one to come to you. That may sound counter-intuitive, but I see it happen in my business all the time.
Over time, you’ll notice that certain people will incorrectly think you’re the right fit for what they need. Watch for those trends, then update your website to more accurately describe your ideal client. This will save you time from consulting with the wrong people. Best of all, it keeps you focused on serving your favorite clients and doing your best work.
Remember, when a prospect asks to work with you, you don’t need to sell her on your services. All you need to do is tell her exactly who you help and how you help them.
In the comments below, I want to hear from you. Tell me…
1. One thing you’ve found to be helpful in selling your services.
2. One selling mistake you’ve made in the past and what you’ve learned from it.
Hi Jenny – I feel like you are speaking directly to me in your blog posts. I attended your free telecourse last week and it has really helped me to get focused and notice where my website has been bit blurry about who I really work with. I’m also getting more clear on who my people are and am editing my materials to speak directly to those people.
I’m so so happy that this information has been helping you, Gail! That is truly my intent!
I’m glad to hear you’re able to see where you can get even more clear. I KNOW that you have important work to share with the world and it makes me smile big that you’re able to use this info to get that work to more people. Yipee!
Hey Jenny
thanks for this post! its very helpful. I am a BodyTalk practitioner and health mentor. The BodyTalk system is amazing but not many people know about it. I’ve always felt like that ads an extra challenge. Its holistic healthcare and it helps us totally rethink how our body heals.
but just like you are saying I have found that my most rewarding and successful conversations with people in my life, whether potential business prospects or not, have been when I am genuinely interested in them not lost in my fear of if I am going to convince them into believing what I do.
I find that the results of my conversations are a mirror of how I am feeling inside of them. When I feel confident and interested the other person is willing to share more and be interested in my responses.
definitely counterintuitive but so helpful!
thanks again 🙂
Emily
I’m glad that helped, Emily! If you haven’t already, check out this blog post where I wrote about how to talk about what you do.
https://jennyshih.com/2012/02/the-easiest-answer-to-the-toughest-question/
1. I find it’s really helpful when make pop culture references and swear here and there in my copy, because it’s how I am in real life, and it filters out the one’s I connect with and help.
2. I, like many here, have been a heavy user of ‘coach-jargon’ in the past. What I learned: Speak their language. I’m focused on the solution, they’re focused on the problem, and they talk about symptoms.
I just rebooted my entire company/brand on New Years, and since then I’ve had fantastic response, and I’m still tweaking my offer, conversions, landing page, copy, etc. – this will help. 🙂
I agree with you on both points, Jason!
I, too, intentionally throw an occasional swear word into a blog post or email because that’s how I talk. I don’t swear like a sailor, but it does come out from time to time. I have had a few people unsubscribe from my list and tell me it was because I swore in the email. I’m happy when it happens because if they hired me, they’d be upset if a swear word came out–and I don’t want to have to talk other than how I talk!
Fantastic viewpoint and attitude, Jenny. I’d imagine you teach people stuff like this in your coaching 🙂
I launched my business about six months ago, and I have turned away more potential clients than I have signed ideal clients. I follow my gut which is never wrong, and I don’t have any regrets. Yet, I still felt “funny” about it; it’s difficult to explain. When I read the following two passages, it made me feel better:
“Every time you turn away a client, you’re building your reputation as someone who is honest, is genuinely helpful, and has high integrity.
Also, each time you turn away a client, you make room for a better one to come to you. That may sound counter-intuitive, but I see it happen in my business all the time.”
I rewrote my FAQ page this month to add the questions I received from the potential clients, and the answers I gave them. And I added more detail about what I do and how my service works.
I have also reached out to people with whom I can help promote their businesses and vice versa. Opportunities that I have been presented with such as interviews and articles appearing in popular ezines would not have happened if I didn’t establish a connection with them first.
So continuing to get out of my comfort zone, staying true to my business model and not selling myself short are what will bring more ideal clients to my business.
Karen – you’re right on!
“Continuing to get out of my comfort zone, staying true to my business model and not selling myself short are what will bring more ideal clients to my business.”
That’s certainly how it’s done!
The greatest gift a salesperson can give is allowing a customer to experience the future cost of current decisions. We teach to allow the customer to see themselves in painful reality of what is, help them to take ownership of this and then to see themselves in light of possibility. The sales person and client co create a map of no more than 5 steps needed to cross the gap of reality to possibility.
If your services are the BEST fit for one of the steps make the sale, If not this is great place for affiliate offers. Worse case scenario every single client leaves with a written plan and hope.
Imagine if every sales conversation actually created life changing value….
Thanks for commenting here, Todd. Interesting insights on sales. That’s certainly not my area of expertise (in the traditional sense of sales), so thanks for commenting here.
I consider the goal of my consults (which someone may call sales but it doesn’t feel salesy to me) to provide clarity. Can I help with what that prospect needs? If not, who can? If I turn a prospect away because they’re not the right fit, I always find that they’re more clear on what they do need. I think that fits into your idea of “creating life changing value.”
Great article Jenny! As I always tell my clients, you’re not selling your services, you’re selling your solutions.
As you said in your article “Selling your services is all about being completely transparent about what you do and who you help.”
And that means being very clear about WHO you help, WHAT solution you provide and WHY people should work with you. It’s what I call solving your Niche Puzzle.
Thanks for what YOU do!
warm wishes,
Cindy
Nicely put, Cindy!
“who – what – why” sounds like a simple short cut for those just getting comfortable with the idea of selling their services.
Thanks for being here.
Well, I haven’t been selling my services properly for that long, so I don’t have an answer for the first question, as for the secind, I’d say accepting clienst I shoulnt’. That kind that comes back time after time expecting free advice, even if you’ve clearly stated only the first one was free.
First off, as a service & product provider I thought this was great and it can be applied to both venues in different ways. (Eg. Make the best quality product and display it properly and in the right way to bring in the right person versus convincing everyone they need that specific product – I can see how that might sound a little wonky but you don’t want someone buying just because and wishing they hadn’t later)…
The # 1 thing that has helped me is something I learned from Marie Forleo, Laura Roeder, and other similar peeps – Give to get. In sharing some great tidbits you show people you know what you’re talking about and give them a taste of how wonderful it would be to work with you.
Something I’ve learned not to do is to try and serve “everyone”. When you spread yourself out so thin you can’t truly deliver on every point effectively all the time. The cracks in the veneer show so to speak and usually in an unflattering fashion which can lose you clients you would have gained/kept by just being authentic.
You’ve mastered your craft Jenny. When I first started tuning into you about a year ago, I thought your advice was good. But now, your posts, teleconferences, and videos truly address people’s needs and are so right on. Now I don’t just want to listen to you, I want to BE you! You are authentic, knowledgable and caring Thank you for your sound advice and authoritative voice. I continue to be an avid fan.