If you have a professional services business, you have surely found yourself at some point in the dilemma of… am I selling or hiring a seller? The reality is that when you start, not only do you not have much money to invest in a seller, but you also would not know how to give it the minimum structure it would need to perform. In addition, except that you are a company more like a corporation than a business of independent professionals, clients will prefer to talk to you a thousand times, that you are the owner not only of your company but also creator and responsible for the services they will receive (even when run another person). It is a personal matter, we people like personalized attention and dedication. And your client is no exception.
The belief that "selling is not for me…"
So selling becomes one of the activities that you usually can't stop considering and that's when your odyssey begins. Because most freelancers don't like the sale at all. It has many reasons. In some cases they simply believe that they lack the necessary skills, in others they think they lack technique or do not know how to do it, and in the worst cases, they simply think that selling is a bad word, a kind of deception that is figured out by the order to bring down a customer.
So if you are thinking that the sale is not for you for any of the first reasons, I will help you through these 5 secrets so that you learn to sell without so much pressure. But if you are one of those who think that selling requires a technique to cheat and sell your customers something they do not need just for your own benefit, you should first read the following:
Sales and seller profile
I know that it is usually associated with sales with someone who wants you to buy something "because you have neglected yourself." For example, the one that calls you at 8 in the morning on a Saturday trying to buy you a new cell phone that you do not need or to expand internet broadband at home. You have to know that this has nothing to do with the sale. In any case, the people or the objectives that certain companies put on their sales associates is what makes you end up detesting this action. But the sale is not this.
A sales process is one whose main objective is to solve the needs of your client. And do not sell the product X or Y in particular. With this in mind and reminding you that without sales you do not have a business, let me tell you 5 secrets so that you can begin to see sales activity as a process to serve your client and not to manipulate it.
5 Secrets for you to play and enjoy, while you sell…
Secret number 1 - You do not sell, it is your client who buys
Thinking this way (consciously or not) takes a lot of pressure off you. Whether your client decides to continue working with you, extend a contract, accept a higher level service or any other example you have in mind, does not depend solely on you. Your client's decision is essential. Of course you can improve your skills and there are techniques you can learn. But it's about improving communication and the way you serve your client. Not to convince him to do something that he does not want or is not good for him.
Secret number 2 - Sales are an opportunity to learn more about your client
The sale is an excellent opportunity to learn more about your client and how you could help him. That is why you should achieve an exploratory conversation much more focused on your client and not on your services. That is learning. If you manage to learn more about your client's need and this changes the approach with which you offer your services, it will have been worth that conversation even if your client did not buy from you.
Secret number 3 - Your goal is not to sell
Your objective in a sales conversation is to detect, discover and transmit the congruence between what your customer needs and the service (s) you offer. Detecting means finding a "win-win" point of contact. To discover is to delve into it (not in yourself, nor in your services yet). And transmitting is being able to share that finding with your client. That means selling. It is not that your client leaves with a product / service that he does not need simply because it is the one that you want to sell him. But to detect which is your best product / service considering their particularities and needs, and there to offer you options to access it. And, again, then the purchase decision remains in it.
Secret number 4 - Your client is not a fortune teller
It is very common to think that "as my products / services are excellent" customers will detect it without problems. Think that you are working with your services day after day, for weeks or maybe months, if not more. And in a conversation of maybe 20 or 30 minutes, you try to convey to your client how wonderful they are. Forget about this. It's not possible. You will end up overwhelming him with information that he will not be able to process, or leaving you with a feeling of complication when in reality the problem is not your services, but the way you talk about them. The trick here is to be able to talk about results, what your client is going to achieve. In this way, you are giving him something concrete on which to make a decision (beyond the peculiarities of your product).
Secret number 5 - "NO" is a regular part of your job
I know this sounds harsh and even incomprehensible. But it is that rejection is more frequent than you imagine and you must get used to it. A big mistake you can make is to take it personally. In reality, your client is not rejecting you or even your services. You are simply saying that right now it is NOT what you need, or you DO NOT think you need just this, or you CANNOT access it (or a myriad of other reasons that only your customer sometimes knows). And if we go back to secret number 1, you will remember that a more than fundamental part of the sales process depends on the decision of your client. This does not mean that you should not try to learn more about the reasons why your client decides not to contract one of your services. But don't stop turning NO.
This is one of the business topics that I'm most passionate about so I hope these 5 secrets have helped you. I am sure that if you came to this article feeling that sales are not your strong point or having a bad opinion of them, you will have discovered some reasons to rethink your opinion. Remember, there are always things you like more or less in your business, but you don't have to suffer with them. You must find a way to have fun while doing it. As you do? What will be the first of the secrets that you will put into practice when you feel that "sales are not for you"?
