What makes people buy is the ultimate question, isn’t it? You work hard at marketing to attract potential clients. Then you work even harder to get a chance to speak with them about what you have to offer. But how do you actually get them to hire you? The answers may not be what you think.
1. The Know-Like-and-Trust Factor – When making a buying decision about professional or creative services, the number one element clients consider is how much they know, like, and trust you. That’s more important than how much you charge or even how much they need you. Clients are asking themselves: How much contact have they had with you? Did they recognize your name beforehand? Are you credible as a competent professional? Were you referred by someone they know?
You can influence this factor by focusing your marketing efforts on attracting clients through networking, referrals, public speaking, or publishing. If you haven’t had prior contact with prospective clients and they weren’t referred, offer them links to any published work, recorded presentations, or media coverage you have, and provide them with client testimonials. Be prepared to stay in touch over a period of time so they can get to know you better before they decide to move forward.
2. Close match between your offer and their needs – If you pass the first test of seeming credible and trustworthy, potential clients next look at how closely what you offer matches what they are looking for. Do they have a pressing need for your services? Do they understand exactly what it is that you provide? Do they grasp the benefits of working with you?
You can address this issue best by asking plenty of questions. The more you can find out about what the client needs, the better you can explain specifically how you can help. The biggest mistake professionals and creatives make when selling themselves is to offer clients a solution when they don’t yet know the problem. Be sure to communicate the ultimate benefits from hiring you — not just what you do, but what the client gets as a result of what you do.
3. Justification for the purchase – An often neglected component of a client’s buying decision is whether they will be able to justify spending money on your services to their spouse, boss, board of directors, or even themselves. In business environments, this is critical. The purchaser must be able to support their decision to hire you with verifiable facts. When selling to consumers, keep in mind there may be a naysayer in the background who will need to be convinced of your value.
Give your prospective clients the evidence they need to justify your value to others. Provide statistics or examples of results achieved, money saved, or performance improved in your past projects. Share a case study, your client list, or a portfolio of your successes. Help clients find the language they need to reassure everyone involved that hiring you is the best solution available for the problem at hand.
4. Your price vs. their budget – The final element potential clients consider is your price. Yes, cost is always important, but if they trust you, your offer is a good match for what they need, and they can justify hiring you, the only significant issue about your price is whether they can find the money.
Suggest ways they can evaluate their investment in you, such as comparing it to the cost of doing nothing, measuring it against another more expensive solution, or weighing the drawbacks of doing it themselves. For corporate clients, help them look for unused funds in other budget categories or propose the project for the next budget cycle.
With consumers and small businesses, how much they can afford depends on where else they’re spending their money. If funds are tight, suggest other expenses that your services might replace or reduce, offer them a payment plan, or accept payment by credit card.
The next time you’re wondering why a sale isn’t going through, evaluate how you’re doing in each of these four areas. See if you can discover the missing ingredients that will convince the client to buy.
