Last Friday night, I went for a long run with my friend Michelle. Before we even reached it, we could smell it. The smell of garlic wafted out of a little pizzeria and it filled our senses.
We both smiled at the time and breathed in that wonderfully, welcome smell. As we ran past, (it was around 9.30 at that time), we heard the click of wine glasses, corks popping, general laughter and chatter and still the smell of Italian food stayed with us for a while.
It was delicious.
Even now, I can hear our foot-steps hitting the pavement, smelling the garlic, seeing the restaurant guests enjoying themselves while waiters poured wine into glasses.
Can you see it?
Can you smell it?
Chances are you can…which is why I’m sending this to you around lunchtime and not first thing in the morning!
If only the same could be said for professional services.
The problem with selling services is that you can’t recreate the above scene. Running past this little Italian restaurant reminded me that selling service businesses is so different to selling non-service businesses. You can’t describe the smell of paper printed freshly with up to date accounts or a house contract that has just been signed by both parties.
If you’re familiar with my work, you’ll know that I say that us service professionals, sell the invisible. This is what I mean that as a service professional, you are selling the invisible.
You need to find ways to sell and market your services so that people will buy them. Over and over again. What you want is clients for life – so the purpose of the first sale is always the second sale and third sale. I work a business mentor and he says that the first sale is only a sale. What you want is a client.
So how are you selling the invisible? How are you marketing the invisible?
Here’s a quick tip – you must use emotion in your sales or marketing content. That’s how people connect. And no, your business isn’t different. In a saturated market like yours, people make all kinds of assumptions as to why you and not anyone else and emotion is there as a buying criteria. It may be in the sub conscious but it is there. Connect with emotion.
You can describe the feeling of sheer joy at getting the house keys. Describe how a client felt when you told them that heir tax bill isn’t as high as they thought. It’s the biggest smile in the world. Describe how a client lost 10lbs by using your services. There is uptmeen descriptions to use – just include emotional words.
Another quick tip – stories. People relate to stories. Use stories like the one that I used above. It hooks people and encourages them to read on.
If you need help with selling the invisible, get in contact. We can have a chat – it’s on me so no obligation. There are lots of ways to market yourself that your competitor doesn’t even know about ..yet. It’s up to you to Finish the Year Strong.
