Be comfortable in selling your design services!
One thing I know many creative people really don't like is selling themselves.
But I want you to learn that selling doesn't have to be sleezy or creepy or pushy - in fact if you really believe in your product or service then you should feel completely confident in what you are selling as you know it is something that your clients need and will help them solve a problem they have.
Getting good at sales is an essential skill if you want to grow a business and continue to do what you love. After all if you aren't making money, your business isn't going to survive!
With that in mind, today I want to share a couple of ideas from sales trainer, Bill Brooks, who said that there are two skills that the best sales people have that set them apart from other people:
the best sales people have the ability to build trust faster
the best sales people have the ability to qualify buyers better
The ability to build trust is critical as people purchase from those who they 'know, like and trust'. The faster you can build that trust the more sales you are going to get.
And the ability to qualify buyers better is critical as the more proficient you get at being able to tell the tyre kickers from the real buyers, the less time you are going to waste on those who aren't ultimately going to purchase from you (or who are going to be hard to work with).
As a designer, the best way you can build trust faster and qualify buyers better is with a paid initial design consultation.
When I was working as a designer I would turn almost 90% of my initial design consultations in to larger projects. And the way I did that was by using the initial design consultation to build trust with prospective clients and to pre-qualify them as great clients to work with on larger design projects.
The consultation was beneficial for two reasons. Firstly it helped my clients see that I knew what I was talking about and that I was someone who was worth working with. But I would also use the consultation as a way to qualify clients - were they going to be easy to work with, were they ready to move on to a larger design project or were they just wasting my time (and theirs!)?
The way you run the design consultation is extremely important though. I had a particular method I would use when I met with clients that helped me to build rapport quickly, help clients see that I was an expert worth working with and I also had a wrap up process at the end that meant I was able to move them towards the next stage of working together (if I decided they were a good client to work with of course!).
Do you have a good process for building trust quickly with potential clients and helping qualify them as clients you want to work with? If you don't then this is definitely something you need to think about and work on. When you get it right your initial design consultation will become a well oiled machine that turns a small up front payment in to a much larger piece of business.
Courses and Templates for Designers and Architects
DO YOU WANT TO….
Improve your professionalism?
Find more clients?
Bring in more revenue?
Create better systems and processes?
Then check out my business courses and templates for designers and architects.
These courses and templates leave you with work done - not just a long list of things you need to do next. We have a really strong focus on taking action and getting things created that improve your business.
Enjoy the rest of your day!
Clare x
Dr Clare Le Roy
