Ezine Archives

"THE PROFITABLE BUSINESS OWNER"
~ success strategies for service businesses ~

October 29, 2002

Do You Sell a Service or Results?
by Kimberly Stevens kim@askthebizcoach.com

* PUBLISHER’S NOTE

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~  PUBLISHER'S NOTE ~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

Dear Readers,

Today’s Feature Column is about selling results.  Far too many

of us think it sufficient to just “do a good job.”  It’s true that doing a good job is a critical part of our success.  However,

on its own, it may not result in a sustainable flow of cash while reducing the number of hours you work.

Referrals and repeat business are key to building a successful

service business -- one that involves less-and-less marketing and more-and-more money-making and life-enjoying.

If you’ve found yourself putting most of your effort into getting

new clients and very little into making sure your current and previous clients return and send you referrals, this issue is just for you!

Best of Success!

Kimberly Stevens
Business Coach

Do You Sell A Service or Results?

If you own a service business, you’re familiar with the concept

of selling air.  “Hello prospect, would you like to buy some air. It’s very good air.  How can you tell? Well, yes, I know you can’t

see it, hear it, smell it, taste it, or feel it, but believe me, it’s the best air available anywhere. Take my word for it.  You will love this air.”

Sounds pretty weird, doesn’t it?  Yet, that’s how most people

start off when they’re first learning to sell a service.  It seems like there’s nothing to grab onto, nothing to show, nothing

to hand to the prospect to take their attention off of you.

And there’s a reason for that -- when you sell a service,

you’re really selling yourself.  And better yet, you are selling results.  Your job is to convince the prospect that not only

do they need your service, but they need you to be the one to provide it.  And beyond that, if they hire you, they

will experience some desired result.

The question is – what is their desired result?  And once you

identify it, how do you convince them that you can deliver? And after you’ve delivered, how do you make sure that they

know it.  That’s where I began with Todd.

When Todd started his desktop publishing business, he had no

sales experience. He had been a self-described “cog in the wheel of Corporate America” – just one guy in one department

buried deep within the corporate structure.  Although he seemed

to have the right intentions – to treat people fairly and to deal honestly, he didn’t know how to go from “nice guy” to

“professional” when dealing with prospects.

Over the course of several months, we worked on sales basics –

qualifying prospects, identifying their needs, and offering

appropriate solutions.  He became pretty comfortable with

selling --- he even started to enjoy it.

Yet, while he was becoming proficient at getting new clients,

he was missing opportunities to build relationships with his current clients.  His sole focus on “making the sale” had kept

his attention away from retaining his clients, generating repeat business, and getting referrals – all key components to the success of any service business.

Our goal then was to figure out why his clients weren’t coming

back to him.  “What would make your clients come back to you the next time they needed desktop publishing services?”

“I don’t know.  I do a good job.  I would think that would be

a good enough reason to call me the next time they needed me.”

“What do you do to stay in touch with your clients?”

“Nothing, really.  I’m here if they need me though.  I make

sure I always get back to people within 24 hours if they call and leave a message.”

“Well, that’s great.  However, they aren’t really getting to

know you very well.  How much time would you say they spend interacting with you while you are working on a

project for them? 

“Probably 7 or 8 hours total between meetings and

telephone calls.”

“If you think about it, that’s not really a lot of time to

build a relationship.  So, if several months or a year have passed since you worked together and they meet some

other desktop publisher at a networking meeting, they might be just as apt to hire them the next time.”

“I bet they won’t be as happy with somebody else.  Most

people don’t take the time to really talk to the client to find out exactly what they want.  I know the right questions

to ask to save them money and get their job done faster.”

“That’s really great.  Do they know you’re saving them more

money and getting their job done faster than another desktop publisher would?”

“Probably not.  I don’t really want to go around talking bad

about my competitors, so I just make sure I do a good job.

I thought that would be a good enough reason for them to

Repeat business and referrals are integral to the success

of any service business.  In order to get them, your clients need to be convinced of the value you bring.  Many times

clients don’t recognize all of the things you do that set you apart from your competitors and provide additional value to the client.

Todd and I used the next two sessions to come up with ideas

for how he could strengthen his relationships with his current clients and affirm their decision to hire him by pointing out

the benefits of having done so.

Through our conversations, Todd began to understand that

I wasn’t asking him to talk bad about his competitors.  I was asking him to talk good about himself.  His job was to make

sure his prospects and clients understood why they should hire him.  Then, they could make an educated decision based on what he told them about himself and what they learned from

their own experiences with his competitors.

Over the next month or so, he implemented a number of ideas

to establish his value with his prospects and clients.  Here’s just a few of the ideas he used:

1. Put together an informational sheet entitled “10 Ways I

Can Save You Money on Your XYZ”.  Share it with prospects at the first meeting and mail it out to your clients

2. Keep in touch with your current clients every month or so

by calling them, sending a notecard, or mailing a newsletter 

3. Add a section to your invoice that highlights the difference

between the estimate you provided and the final cost (if the final bill is lower than your original estimate)

4. Send thank you notes at every opportunity – send to prospect

after your initial meeting, to new client after contract signing, to client after project completion, randomly to client just to

say you appreciate their business, to client after giving you a referral

5. Overestimate your timeline and when you finish before the client expects you to, contact them with the finished project and excitedly tell them that you are very pleased you were

able to complete it 3 days early for them

6. Personally visit your clients, if local, and drop off a small

gift.  Or stop by with your proposal, contract, or project instead of mailing or emailing it

Remember, your prospects and clients are like Todd’s.  They

don’t necessarily have the expertise to distinguish between the work you do and that of your competitors.  They will

most certainly know if you do a bad job, but, without your help, they may not recognize a good job.

By helping them to see the difference, you are establishing

your value, strengthening your relationships, and saving time

and money in reduced marketing efforts.

Best of Luck!

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~  NOW, IT’S YOUR TURN  ~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

                            Start Selling Results in Your Business

Many of us think that once we get the client, our sales job is done.  Now, all that’s left is performing the service.  Not so!

Repeat business and referrals are the two most effective means of building your business.  They are key because they don’t require as much time and expense as seeking out new clients every month.

Once you’re sourcing most of your work through current clients and referrals, you can begin to use the time you used to spend on marketing in more profitable ways – creating new profit centers in your business, enjoying some time off, or focusing on a new target market to expand your reach.  

The process of selling results is simple:

1. know your clients’ desired result
2. deliver it

However, you need a system for doing it.  Take each of

the steps above and flesh out how you can accomplish them in your business.

Perhaps you don’t yet know your clients’ desired results. In

that case, you should listen more carefully when prospects describe their needs, or you can talk to your clients about

why they hired you.

Delivering your clients’ desired results is industry-specific. If

you aren’t sure about how to accomplish this, start talking to your colleagues and competitors at networking functions,

on discussion boards and over breakfast.  Sort of like, “So Fred, how do you make sure your clients are happy with XYZ?”

The great thing about networking on Internet discussion boards

is that you are able to come into contact with many people who are not your competitors because they serve a different

geographic area.  People participating on discussion boards

are there to learn from each other.

The final critical step of the process is letting the client know

what you’ve done for them.  Did you finish the project early? Did you save them money?  Did you eliminate a stressor?

Make sure you let them know.  “Bob, I hope that hiring me to do

this project for you gave you some level of relief.  I know how much pressure you’re under in your job.”

Then, what is he going to say?  Very likely, “You’re right.  I am

under a lot of pressure.  It really did help to have at least one thing I didn’t have to worry about.”

Voila, not only have you told him what you did for him, you’ve

gotten him to say it himself!

You’ll know that your efforts are making a difference when

you start to experience repeat business and receive referrals.

The proof, as they say, is in the pudding.

Good Luck!

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~  TELL A FRIEND  ~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

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Thanks for your support!

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~  ASK THE COACH  ~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

 How do you sell results in your business?  Email me at:

                   mailto:kim@askthebizcoach.com

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~  CONFIDENTIALITY POLICY  ~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

The client names in the Feature Column have been changed

to preserve the Coach-Client Confidentiality Agreement.  In some cases, the scenario is not that of one client but is

representative of the experiences of the many business owners

with whom I have worked.

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