Learning how to sell services more effectively is also a lesson in how to develop trusting relationships.
This short video talks you through it:
TRANSCRIPT
To begin with, you need to understand that there is a big difference in the psychology of people who buy services and buy products.
First of all, it's very difficult to sell services online, or the best you can do is to attract people to you and start conversations. Whereas if you're selling products, whether that's desks, shoes, clothes, it's easier to sell them online through an ecommerce website from a distance because they're just tangible products.
And one of the key things is that with services, it's very difficult to gauge the effectiveness of whether a service is going to be very good from a distance.
And that's the biggest challenge with selling a service your customer is buying a relationship.
And it's often a relationship with the person who dealt with them which could well be a salesperson, an account manager, the owner of a business who is selling their services, etc. For.
But the mentality is different because with a service, you're buying something intangible, you're buying something which is going to do something in some way, shape or form to help you and/or your business.
Now, it doesn't really matter whether you're buying selling consultancy services or whether you're a hairdresser or something in between. You're still providing a service and people still will buy based on relationships.
But let's start with something like a hairdresser. Typically, someone goes to a hairdresser because they know somebody who already goes there who raves about them. Most of the time, people stay with the hairdresser because they do a fairly good job, but also a relationship with that particular hairdresser. And it's a big deal.
A big key to selling services
Now there's an old Maxim that goes something like this.
If you're going to open a shop, you need to learn to smile.
Now when you're selling a service, you are opening a shop. You're not selling from a distance. You're often selling one to one, particularly if you're a consultant or part of a small team.
But you are still selling the relationship.
Now, there's two aspects with this relationship that you really need to master.
First of all, you need to be personable. You need to be able to develop a relationship.
If people can't develop a relationship with you, they won't learn to trust you.
And if they don't trust you, they won't buy from you.
And it all boils back down to the relationship. When somebody has a good relationship with you, they're more inclined to trust you. And when they begin to trust you based on your relationship, they will buy from you.
The crux of how to sell services:
You see, if you buy a pair of shoes from a website, for example, and they don't fit you, usually you can send them back for a size that might fit. If you go to a local garage and get car tires and one of them blows up a couple of days later, you can go back and you can get it sorted out.
But with a service, it's not that simple.
You're taking a risk when you buy a service, and this is where the importance of the relationship really comes into play.
So I would urge you, if you sell services, focus on relationships. Focus on getting along with people. Focus on that smile.
I don't know how many times I've been to a restaurant and the waiting staff looked like their grandmother had just died. And it made the experience a lot worse than it could have been had they been personable, chatty and smiley.
Here's the interesting thing. If you're a waiter or a waitress, you are providing a service.
But if you're chatty and smiley and get along with people, you're more likely to get tipped. You're more likely to get a generous tip as well. Because people feel like they've got a great relationship with you and that can even make up for a bit of bad service.
Now, I'm not saying that's the end of the story. And if you do own a restaurant, I don't condone mediocre or slow service and not mediocre food.
But the key thing is to start with relationships, and it works exactly the same way with consultancy.
I run a service business. I help small businesses and the self employed build marketing systems. Part of that is done one on one. Some of it is done remotely and increasingly a lot more of it will be done through the website.
But it's all about the relationship. People buy into the trust that they have in me that I can do what I say I'm going to do.
If they didn't like me and they didn't trust me, they wouldn't put their hand in the pocket. And that's an absolute fact.
So my message today work on relationships. If you want to learn how to sell services, it always boils down to relationship.
And sadly, these days, customer service is often very poor.
But the great news is if you get good at this, you can stand out in the crowd. And what's good about standing out in the crowd with a service is that people talk. They talk whether it's really bad, but they also talk it's really good too. And they're more likely to send friends to you if you provide a great service.
But that service always starts with the relationship and engendering that trust through the relationship.
Want more on improving sales? Check out:
Everyone is in sales, whether you realise it or not (article)