Be smarter, not harder.
Do you enjoy the sound of this? If yes, then it’s time to be savvier regarding your communications with potential customers in every situation.
Why?
If you don’t, you’re leaving cash on the counter.
Let me offer you an example of why this could be happening to you, as it’s happening to the majority of solopreneurs I have met. It’s true – I’ve just changed the name of my company.
Sally is an expert in stress management and is offering a free presentation at the local hospital to thirty employees. She hands them an informational sheet with her web address and contact information on it. She was rewarded with applause round at the end of her talk, and there was a long line of people wanting to talk to her and thank her for her assistance. She believes she did well and then waits for the phone to be answered. The phone does not.
What could have gone wrong?
The woman didn’t give them an offer with specific wording or provide them with a clear call to take action. It’s like giving samples of free products at the grocery store and not offering the product for them to purchase. This is just absurd.
If she had provided ten breakthrough sessions for free for the first ten people who signed up afterwards, she would have been able to connect potential clients. It’s the next step natural to take for anyone who benefited from the session.
If you’re not giving your prospective clients an apparent demand for action every time you interact with them, then you’re not taking advantage of the golden opportunities to build relationships and attract customers.
This is the reason the use of a good business model is beneficial since you’ll be able to move them through the process without effort and will know what the next steps are for them.
In the context of marketing, it’s what’s known as up-selling.
Here are a few ideas for how to increase sales from a talk you gave for free.
Free breakthrough session – make sure to make it urgent by limiting the number of participants and/or the deadline. No urgency means no action.
Free gift – a free giveaway on your blog/website which addresses their biggest issue or needs. They decide to join and become an active member on your list of subscribers, and you maintain a relationship with them via your newsletter and additional calls to take action.
Free teleseminar, in-person classes or Meetup groups
Class fees paid for
Paid for the program
A paid product that you can sell in the future, e.g. books, CDs or a home-study kit
The kind of up-sell you can choose depends greatly on the circumstances.
Here’s a suggestion: make sure you don’t have more than two choices. One is ideal since a confused mind constantly will say no.
Consider all the possibilities you can up-sell to your customers – your newsletter or blog and teleclasses. Meeting groups, the Meetups you have, your programs and your e-book book, your product and your free workshops and so on.
Don’t miss another chance to sell more, do it more efficiently and not work harder.
Sheela Masand was co-founder and working partner in a multi-million Euro company for more than 12 years. After enduring the challenge of finding clients and generating income for her own company, She is now focused on helping other professionals in the field of service in achieving this goal in an authentic, non-sales-y style.
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