You Don’t Like to Be Sold To, So Why Hard Sell Your Own Clients?

23

Jan

Posted by Robert Bylett at 2:19 PM in Business Owner, Client Relationships, Client Satisfaction, Happiness, Happy Business, Marketing, Profitable, Small Business, Values

Death_of_a_salesman Selling has changed a lot since the days of Willy Loman.  Consumers are much more knowledgeable and sophisticated and they can see a sales pitch coming from a mile away.  And consumers aren’t only the prospects and clients you’re trying to sell to, they’re you too!  You’re a consumer, so you should ask yourself, “How would I feel if someone was making this sales pitch to me?” 

What exactly is the difference between traditional sales and attraction marketing? 

Traditional Sales

  • You’re in control.  You decide who you approach, who you pitch, and what you offer.  However, the prospects usually aren’t interested at first so you have to start the sale by building interest before you can try to sell.
  • ABC – Always Be Closing.  The goal is to make the sale; get the prospect to say, “Yes.”  Then move on the next sale. 
  • You’ll get a lot of “no’s.”  However, numbers are always on your side.  As long as you keep finding prospects – no matter how ideal – and keep asking, you’ll get enough “yes’s” to be successful. You just have to be strong enough to withstand it.

Attraction Marketing

  • You can only control the message and materials you send out.  For the most part, prospects will self select themselves and come to you.  The great part is that you know they’re interested before you start.
  • Establish yourself as an expert.  When you are seen as the expert in your field, prospects close themselves because they want to work with the best. 
  • Relationships are everything and good client service is crucial.  The worst thing that can happen is that clients and prospects openly speak negatively about you.  The damage to your credibility as the expert can be enormous and you may not recover. 

The biggest difference is that one is positive and the other negative.  The approach you choose to take affects how you feel as a person and a business. 

With traditional selling, you deal with “no” every day and you spend your time convincing people to buy something in which they may have not been interested or even needed.  The result is that you’ll get customers with buyer’s remorse who aren’t happy and want refunds.  Will you be happy spending your time in this manner?  At the end of the day, can you easily recover from being beaten down and rejected?

With attraction marketing, you’re working with people who want to work with you.  You’re also improving prospects lives – even if they don’t become clients – by educating them on important topics and issues that can help them.

It’s easier and quicker and you’re much more likely to make money right away using traditional selling techniques.  The question is which is more important to you – making money or being happy?  There’s no right or wrong, and if you’re getting started you may have to utilize some traditional selling to get money coming in.  Just be careful that you don’t damage the long term goal of establishing yourself as that expert.

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