Service Sales - Are You Closing Your Prospects Regularly?
To Close the Sale...Walk the Walk....Prove You Can Do It
Marketing and selling services is one tough task.
If your job is to market services to sophisticated buyers like professionals, doctors, lawyers, architects, designers, financial planners, accountants, tax experts, and those types, then you must get their attention by being able to declare that your services will actually produce a measurable, valuable, tangible, relevant result. Otherwise you are fooling yourself and barking at the moon.
You have to reach, inform and motivate this prospective buyer with a clear statement that is not ambiguous. It must clearly show that you have a service that will deliver XY and Q important benefits to the prospective client.
For instance, if you were a financial planner, you must be able to say something like: “this service will positively impact your financial life in the following way…” Then you provide your list of specific ‘ways’ of accomplishing this result.
When the rubber hits the road, every service marketer must provide an answer to some kind of problem, issue, challenge or predicament that a client is facing and is worrying about. Most people are plagued by either an intense “hurt” or “pain” they need cured; or a “problem” solved.
Your service not only has to address these issues, you need to boldly declare that you can provide that healing, ease that pain, or solve that problem (and then prove it).
When you hear the prospect say something like: “…you know, I’ve got a problem…”, or perhaps she says: “…here’s my problem….” You should know now that you have crossed the bridge of partial acceptance, and you are almost there. It’s time to think about closing the sale. Here is how you might do this:
1. Be Detailed, Specific - Tell exactly the kind of results your clients can expect to receive if they utilize your services. To persuade them, outline plenty of believable, relevant, understandable advantages.
2. No Vagueness: Be Crystal Clear - Generate attention and interest with every word of your message. Watch out for clichés and generalities. "We help our clients increase productivity" just doesn’t cut it, compared to, "Our program guarantees our clients or families or customers will meet their key financial goals and targets every time." (Note the italics on the word: every).
3. Cite Proof with Bone Fide Studies - Prove that your expertise works. Use third party (endorsement) studies. Your credibility multiplies if your approach is the same as that cited in the studies, (conducted by others, not you).
4. Quote Relevant, Defensible Statistics - Strengthen your position by giving specific numbers (don’t forget to disguise any client names). Measure actual client results and report on those. How much more did they earn or save using your firm’s services? These build your credibility and add to your reputation.
5. People Love Stories - well-crafted case studies that explain the original client situation, what you did for them and the results you produced, are very persuasive. People enjoy ‘visualizing’ stories.
6. Honest Testimonials - You'll increase credibility and establish trust by using the actual words of a happy client. Make sure the client tells about the specific results s/he received.
7. Be Confident, but don’t overdo it - Confidence comes when you have produced real results and you know you can produce them again. Don't undersell yourself; let your prospective clients know they can expect the same results if they work with you.
Always under promise, then over-deliver. There is a thin line between bragging and being confident. Don’t come across as a braggart, but make sure the client understands that you really can pull the freight.
The most important marketing activity you can implement is proving conclusively that you can produce the outcomes your clients/customers desire.
©Copyright, Roy W. MacNaughton, 2006
Roy MacNaughton is a niche marketing coach and business writer. He’s a seasoned marketer, with more than 30 years of international marketing experience, including nine years online. His new e-book, (Marketing Yours), teaches solo practitioners, entrepreneurs and professionals how to market their most important product.
Learn more at his blog: http://www.UmarketingU.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Roy_MacNaughton
Marketing and selling services is one tough task.
If your job is to market services to sophisticated buyers like professionals, doctors, lawyers, architects, designers, financial planners, accountants, tax experts, and those types, then you must get their attention by being able to declare that your services will actually produce a measurable, valuable, tangible, relevant result. Otherwise you are fooling yourself and barking at the moon.
You have to reach, inform and motivate this prospective buyer with a clear statement that is not ambiguous. It must clearly show that you have a service that will deliver XY and Q important benefits to the prospective client.
For instance, if you were a financial planner, you must be able to say something like: “this service will positively impact your financial life in the following way…” Then you provide your list of specific ‘ways’ of accomplishing this result.
When the rubber hits the road, every service marketer must provide an answer to some kind of problem, issue, challenge or predicament that a client is facing and is worrying about. Most people are plagued by either an intense “hurt” or “pain” they need cured; or a “problem” solved.
Your service not only has to address these issues, you need to boldly declare that you can provide that healing, ease that pain, or solve that problem (and then prove it).
When you hear the prospect say something like: “…you know, I’ve got a problem…”, or perhaps she says: “…here’s my problem….” You should know now that you have crossed the bridge of partial acceptance, and you are almost there. It’s time to think about closing the sale. Here is how you might do this:
1. Be Detailed, Specific - Tell exactly the kind of results your clients can expect to receive if they utilize your services. To persuade them, outline plenty of believable, relevant, understandable advantages.
2. No Vagueness: Be Crystal Clear - Generate attention and interest with every word of your message. Watch out for clichés and generalities. "We help our clients increase productivity" just doesn’t cut it, compared to, "Our program guarantees our clients or families or customers will meet their key financial goals and targets every time." (Note the italics on the word: every).
3. Cite Proof with Bone Fide Studies - Prove that your expertise works. Use third party (endorsement) studies. Your credibility multiplies if your approach is the same as that cited in the studies, (conducted by others, not you).
4. Quote Relevant, Defensible Statistics - Strengthen your position by giving specific numbers (don’t forget to disguise any client names). Measure actual client results and report on those. How much more did they earn or save using your firm’s services? These build your credibility and add to your reputation.
5. People Love Stories - well-crafted case studies that explain the original client situation, what you did for them and the results you produced, are very persuasive. People enjoy ‘visualizing’ stories.
6. Honest Testimonials - You'll increase credibility and establish trust by using the actual words of a happy client. Make sure the client tells about the specific results s/he received.
7. Be Confident, but don’t overdo it - Confidence comes when you have produced real results and you know you can produce them again. Don't undersell yourself; let your prospective clients know they can expect the same results if they work with you.
Always under promise, then over-deliver. There is a thin line between bragging and being confident. Don’t come across as a braggart, but make sure the client understands that you really can pull the freight.
The most important marketing activity you can implement is proving conclusively that you can produce the outcomes your clients/customers desire.
©Copyright, Roy W. MacNaughton, 2006
Roy MacNaughton is a niche marketing coach and business writer. He’s a seasoned marketer, with more than 30 years of international marketing experience, including nine years online. His new e-book, (Marketing Yours), teaches solo practitioners, entrepreneurs and professionals how to market their most important product.
Learn more at his blog: http://www.UmarketingU.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Roy_MacNaughton
Labels: sales
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