How To Sell More Services

If you’re a service business that is mandated to ‘do stuff’ for clients on an out-sourced basis and you get paid on an on-going retainer basis, you need to know the #1 reason people STOP buying from you or cancel their contracts…

Chances are it’s because you keep them in the dark – I’ve talked about this before when I posted “How you can stop losing sales in 5 minutes“.

But what I didn’t explain is that if you take this concept to the next ‘exponential’ level, you not only keep them informed, but you INVEST the time and EDUCATE them about what you’ve done.

For example:

• If you optimise Google Adwords, you can let them know the words that have become more profitable, that convert more and or produce more back-end sales. This helps the client create SEO optimised blog posts, sales page content and/or other more effective advertising.
• If you are a solicitor, lawyer or other legal professional and have come up with a solution to a problem that has been either overlooked or otherwise neglected by others, as part of your research or discovery process, when you explain it to your client, he/she will have a greater appreciation for your expertise and know-how and you will end up with a smarter client.

But most importantly, the EDUCATION is valued by the client and THAT is where the payoff is.

I was speaking with a colleague yesterday and she pointed to a pile of documents on her desk and said “I’ve wasted the past year taking care of refunds, claims and complaints… I hate that work, what a waste…” I then explained that what she LEARNT over the past 12 months was to do the triage of the cases that were worthy of attention and those that are not. By learning this craft, she can now use that in future roles with other clients she consults to – BUT it is a WASTE if she doesn’t use it and it is SUB-OPTIMISED if her clients don’t know she has this skill.

She could quickly and easily create a 1 to 2 page document that explains “How to quickly identify frivolous law suits” that she can then follow-up with “How to get rid of frivolous law suits quickly and effectively”.

So there you have it, a few ideas to think about…

Educate and inform your clients as much as you can and you will reap the rewards.

Whatever you do, don’t keep them in the dark.

If they are kept in the dark, you’ll be out of sight and out of mind PLUS if someone else comes around and turns the lights on, it’s ‘lights out’ for you!

I know some of this stuff is seemingly obvious, but in a recession, EVERYONE is keeping tabs on their expenses and SERVICES are the FIRST to be cut.

They are the first to be cut BECAUSE unless you QUANTIFY the value for your clients, they will never fully value what you are doing for them.