You might be wondering why you’re struggling to book enough consultations for your business. Perhaps, you might be booking in the initial calls, but wondering why no one is buying your services. If this is true, then you must change the way you think about sales.
Firstly, sales isn’t what you do TO someone. It’s something that you do FOR someone. Sales often gets a bad rap, but selling is actually helping. So remember this, and recognize that sales is a consummation of a relationship. Someone wants to exchange something that they value, which is money, in exchange for something that they want, which is your expertise.
Selling is good for you and your clients. When you sell your services, they get what they want which is helping them to achieve their dreams and you get what you want which is money, and both parties are excited.
These 7 key issues standing in the way of your sales success come up time and time again, and they’re responsible for business owners getting seriously stuck:
1. You are judging your potential clients before they even speak to you
You’re speaking to them, but secretly you’re saying to yourself that they can’t afford your services, which is disrespectful to your potential clients. You’re judging them based on your own thinking.
You simply can’t just look at someone’s appearance, how they speak, their nationality, their sex, where they live, or anything else, and make an assumption about whether they can afford you or not. If you go into the conversation being judgemental, you’ll consistently find it hard to close the sale.
2. You assume that no one will buy from you straightaway
You tell yourself that they need time to think about it, or that they might need to speak to their partner about it. Because you are thinking this, you won’t even ask for the sale. You have told yourself that they are not going to buy today. You’re projecting your thoughts onto your clients which is sabotaging your sales success and how much money that you’ll bring into your business.
“The best way to sell yourself to others is first to sell the others to yourself.” – Napoleon Hill
3. You think they aren’t going to get results when they work with you
You worry that nothing will change for them, and that they’ll end up being disappointed with you and what you offer. As a service based business owner, you must know and trust 100% that when people choose to work with you, they will get the results that they desire.
4. You don’t have a signature system
You simply jump on the phone with your clients each session and answer their questions, or let them leave the conversation. As a coach or consultant or service provider, it’s your job to lead your prospect through the process that they need to follow. Being reactive isn’t an option.
5. You have negative beliefs about money
You attach a meaning to money, such as believing that money is bad, that people who have money are wasteful, or that people who have money don’t care about the environment.
“If you are not taking care of your customer, your competitor will.” – Bob Hooey
6. You haggle
When you’re buying services for yourself, you never want to pay the full price, even if you’re hiring contractors for your business. If you’re doing this, how on earth can you expect someone to pay your fees? You will also attract hagglers who constantly want you to drop your rates.
7. You don’t believe that someone will pay your asking price
If you don’t believe in your own pricing structure and the value that your offer can bring, then no one else is going to either. You have to know, recognise, and fully believe that you have something of value, and that your clients will invest in themselves with your services.
These are all limiting beliefs that need to be smashed if you want to achieve sales success. Sales isn’t something that always comes natural to entrepreneurs, because you often can’t see your own value and worry about losing clients and not getting enough money coming into your business. This is a mindset block, and it often stems from thinking that you’re not enough, but the reality is you ARE enough.
You need to understand this, and recognise that you will get enough clients and they will be able to pay your premium rates for your service. It’s time to get over your mindset issues that are sabotaging your results, and it’s time to achieve sales success in your business.
Which one of these are you struggling with the most in your business? Leave your thoughts below!
Image courtesy of Twenty20.com
Awesome article Petra! The battle is really in the mind. Thanks for sharing
Thanks for a thought provoking article Petra! It is so easy to self-sabotage our own business, I’m guilty of it too. An approach I have found useful is to ask the questions:
– What inside of you is telling you those false beliefs? Why is it doing that and does it have a good intent for you?
– How can that same voice help you know that you ARE enough?
Wow! The things we know but we don’t confess are here. Prejudging and being doubtful about our own service/product quality. Biggest enemies I had were these two. You opened my eyes.
Thanks a lot, Petra