The Internet is full of techniques and strategies to learn how to sell your products and, to a lesser extent, your services. But most of the time, even when you learn these techniques to the letter, the problem is that "you don't believe the story" (a phrase that is used a lot in Chile but seems to me to be perfect in any country), like this that it costs a lot for you to achieve results: that is, more customers and more sales. Does it happen to you?
So how do you solve it? Simple. What you need is to work FIRST on your personal sale and then work on the sale of your services.
Most of the time this "sell-you" is difficult to do for a very simple question: you find it hard to talk about yourself. Humility, shyness, false modesty, introversion, you can put the name (and the excuse) you want, the point is that you think that talking about yourself is bragging, and in reality you are missing the important thing here:
When you "sell yourself" you are helping your client understand what he can achieve with you. Why work with you and not with another professional around the corner? What makes you different, from your experience, your talent, your history? In short, what am I going to achieve if I work with you? . These are just some of the questions that your potential clients, consciously or not, ask themselves when they want to know more about you.
So, it is not about summarizing your professional career, showing all your credentials and certifications, including on your website the 180 clients that have hired you or even your resume / curriculum vitae. It's about telling them what they need to know in order to make the decision to hire you (or not). And this is based on what they can achieve with you.
So today I am going to offer you 3 strategies that seem simple but that will take a little reflection and practice to implement and that they look and feel true and real to you. I will share with you:
3 strategies to sell yourself and thus get more and better customers
Strategy # 1 - The famous and well-known arch Elevator Pitch
Surely you already know that it is about saying in approximately 40 seconds what you do, who you can offer it to and what it will achieve with it. The 40 seconds is an estimated time in which your interlocutor listens to you and pays attention to you, before falling asleep and thinking about how he is getting bored with what you say.
Then you know, if that person is interested, there will be more time to expand, but the first few seconds are vital to understand or not if you can help him.
Where to use it?
The most typical: at any meeting or networking event. That's nothing new.
However, sometimes it escapes the less usual and it can also help you to promote yourself correctly. Here are some examples: in the profile of your social networks, in the author footer of the articles you write or the publications you make, in the signature of your emails, etc.
Don't underestimate -> personal contacts. Sometimes one goes into “business” mode and only uses the pitch when he seems to be in front of someone who might be interested in our services. And of course, on a Saturday afternoon at a gathering of friends when someone asks you "what do you do?" you go back to the typical "I am a coach, I am a consultant, I am a therapist, I am an engineer, etc etc". Because total if they do not understand what matters. Error! You never know who might be interested (today or in the future) in the help you can provide. It is not about going through life with a "for sale" sign, it is just a matter of incorporating "what you do professionally" as something natural.
Strategy # 2 - Service Speech
It is a variant of the elevator pitch but this time it does not apply to you, but to your services. Also the idea is that it is brief (I designed the structure that I use for myself and that I teach my clients to communicate in 60 seconds or less) and very effective.
Where to use it?
Well this is easy. With your potential clients. The key here is for it to be a short speech used at the right time (when your client is ready to hear how you can help them) and not after "hello" or at a networking event where you just met.
Strategy # 3 - Your story as a connector and differential
Many times… the majority, in fact, of the times I start working with a new client, I discover that he has behind him a history of transformation and radical change in his life and / or profession. And yet many times they don't show it.
Your story, how you got here, why you are now the person you are, is a connector and a differential. Because of course, it is very difficult if not impossible for someone to have your same story. But it is very possible that someone feels identified. And if that happens, it will connect with you immediately.
This is a point in your favor when that person who connects with you decides that they are ready to ask for help. She will choose you, do not hesitate.
Don't you think I tell you about my own experience: when I decided to start my business and wanted to find a mentor (I was hyper determined not to waste time or money, so I preferred to have help from the beginning and know exactly what to do step by step) I was already following 3 or 4 that I really liked (and were actually connected). But I decided on the one that had a similar story to mine: I had a career that I had chosen, a successful and recognized job, and still wanted to change course. I felt that she was going to understand more my dilemmas, my internal conflicts and my desire to do this or that, given that she had been in that same place a short time ago. And I was not mistaken.
Now it's up to you, connect and let your potential clients choose you also for your story.
Where to use it?
The typical: on your website, in a special section where you tell about yourself.
But where you should not stop doing it is at the beginning of your talks or seminars (face-to-face or online) and you can also share it eventually in your social media posts. Remember, what you have achieved may be what someone else is longing to achieve and you do not know if it is possible or not. You will be a sign that it is, and that will create an immediate connection.
And here you have, 3 simple but very powerful strategies so that you can connect with your potential customers, sell yourself with height and naturalness, and thus get more and better customers (because you already know that it is not a matter of quantity but of quality, and quality is measure many times online).
Now I would love for you to tell me… do you use these three strategies in your business? Which of them has worked best for you? Do you have any specific experience to share? And if you did not know or applied them until now, which one will you start with to have better customers in your business?
