Somebody’s Always Waiting

This was the week that I rediscovered my new favourite slogan approach to sales - some will, some won't- so what? somebody's waiting.

First, let me give you an example: If you're shopping for a new vacuum, it's easy to compare features to find one that meets your dust-busting needs. But what if you want a cleaning service to come to your house and do the job for you? You reach out to six providers, and they all tell you they can do it—and how.

This is the thing about offering a service. It's near impossible to demonstrate your value before the sale. All you can do is show them previous work and client testimonials, and even then, it's not always so transparent how your service is "definitely" going to benefit them. As a result of this, service providers (like yourself) often get a lot of enquiries, but struggle to actually convert those enquiries into money. However, it's important to not get hung up on people that won't go through with your offer, because as long as your offering is good, there will always be somebody who wants it.

With that being said, it's important to remind yourself of the basic of sales so that you can start monetising that juicy offer of yours:

Selling is all about relationships

It doesn't matter what you sell, the ability to win that sale will ultimately always result in your ability to build some form of relationship with the buyer. People buy from people and in a world full of competition it can often boil down to your ability to build a better relationship. This includes a mixture of building rapport, identifying needs, showing genuine interest, building trust and adding value. The question you always need to ask yourself is "Why should my prospect chose me over my competition?", with the answer not being about the service but about why they should buy from you personally.

The sale is not about your service, but their problem

To win in sales you need to make the whole thing about their problem or their reason for buying and not about your service. Their need should always come first with your service then answering the problem they have. The key to success in sales and a principle that will count for all forms of selling is the need to identify the pain behind the buying decision. Why do they want or need this service? What problem will it solve and how will it remove this potential pain from them? People will buy for emotional reasons which they then back up and justify with logic. The trick is to identify the problem and tap into the emotional part of the buying decision, then justify it with the value, features, benefits etc.

Price and value go hand in hand

You could be selling a service that throughout the competition the features rarely change, but the price does. What defines that price is the value that you create for the product and what it can offer the potential buyer. If your prospect thinks your service is expensive, it's because you haven't created enough value for it.

There is no sale unless you can close it

We all love to brag about the amazing opportunities that we're working on, the big customers we're targeting, the hard work we're putting in. Unfortunately one of the key principles of selling is the reality that there is NO sale unless you close it. It doesn't matter what you're selling, where you're selling or who you're selling too, your ability to succeed in sales will always come down to your ability to close deals and actually sell!

Those who listen win

It's only by listening that you identify real problems and buyer pains, it's only by listening that you can find buying signals and close the sale. The best sales people are those who are good listeners, who still control the conversation but who know how to ask the right questions and effectively listen to get the information they need to progress the sale.

Sales can be a tricky one to master, but with time you will get better. The important thing is your approach to rejection. You can't let rejection knock you down because it's a real blessing in disguise.

Listen here, the next time someone declines your service offering, disregards your pitch or just straight-up says "no", ask them why. Facilitate a dialogue with them, get feedback on how to make your offering better. It could be that you've targeted the wrong customer, it could be that your offering isn't clear enough or it could be that your price point is way off. That feedback alone has the potential to double, if not triple, your profits.