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Stop
Selling And Start Serving Contact
this person By C.J. Hayden "I don't like to sell." "Asking people for business
makes me uncomfortable." "Selling feels manipulative and
sleazy." "I'm good at what I do. Why
don't clients just come to me?" If any of these thoughts seem
familiar, you may be stuck in an outdated perspective about selling that is
holding back your success. Traditional sales models invoked
adversarial images, as if selling were a battle between you and your prospects:
"hook the client," "convince prospects to buy,"
"overcome their objections," and "get past their
resistance." This variety of selling is rarely
even taught any more, but the images persist, and unfortunately, so do some of
the manipulative sales practices they represent. But just because you see them
used doesn't mean they are effective. The reality is that being on the same
side as your clients works much better than opposing them. And it's a lot more
comfortable for you. In fact, some of the most successful
professionals in your field actually never "sell" at all. What they
do instead is simply be of service. A primary reason that people hire a professional services provider is to serve as an expert resource. Your clients count on you for guidance, advice, support, resources, contacts, expertise, specialized techniques, access to technology, and up-to-the minute information. Every one of these elements is something you can begin to provide your prospects before they ever become paying clients.
By freely offering information,
advice and resources to people who have not yet decided to hire you, the need
for any clash of wills between prospect and service provider disappears. Instead of creating sales resistance,
your generosity dissolves the barriers between you. Prospects begin to think of
you as a trusted resource instead of a vendor who wants their business. You
become the first person they think of in your field -- for their own needs and
referrals as well. Making the shift from selling to
serving requires changes in more than just how you ask for the business to
close the sale. Your service attitude must begin with
your first contact and pervade every aspect of your marketing. Here are some
examples of the many ways you can substitute a service attitude for a sales
approach in all of your interactions with prospective clients.
What you'll notice about these
examples is that they don't necessarily require you to do MORE about sales and
marketing. If you have a good marketing plan in place, you can keep right on
using it. The difference is that you begin to treat your prospects like clients
from the first moment you contact them. Instead of reserving your expertise
for only those who have paid your fee, you share it with everyone you can. Am I suggesting you give your
professional services away for free? Absolutely not. Writing ten tips for
saving taxes is not the same as preparing a tax return at no charge. Offering a
few minutes of free advice on the phone is quite different from entering into a
consulting engagement without being paid. What I am suggesting is that your
prospective clients deserve as much consideration as the close friends and
family for whom you probably provide this type of quick, easy help routinely.
After all, those people are unlikely to ever pay you for your time. Prospective clients, on the other
hand, will be eager to pay your fee once they get a taste of what you can do
for them. As a service professional, what you
excel at is serving, not selling. Doing what you do best allows you to shine.
You'll be more comfortable, your prospects will trust and respect you, and you
will naturally be in contact with them more often. As a result, more prospects
will become clients without either of you having to suffer through a sales
presentation.
Copyright
Lead masters USA Inc
2007
For more info please contact (678)
318 7515 Jan
Riley
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