Do you want to know Why Nobody Buys Your Products or Services?
Then read on
It will be one of these very simple reasons:
There’s simply too much choice.
There are ten times the number of businesses than there were 25 years ago.
Which means that it’s ten times harder for someone to find your business and even when they do there are ten times the number of competing businesses to choose from.
I delivered a talk to over a hundred people recently.
During the talk I demonstrated a “simple customer journey” and talked people step-by-step how to buy my book and the “winners” would get a free business coaching session with yours truly.
Of the 100:
Of the remaining 45, and despite the fact I’d been placed in front of that audience, was known to them, I had their trust.
Only 2 actually bought the Kindle and showed me their receipt. Well, In fact it was only one, and when the other overheard me say you’d won a coaching session, another borrowed her friend’s phone and bought the Kindle.
So, we have the technology at our fingertips but the reality is only 2 people out of 100 will ACTUALLY TAKE ACTION.
But for more than half of the 100, technology let them down.
Which leads me on to...
There are just so many experts to choose from, all charging £500/mth+ and most small business owners don’t have the resources to commit to multiple solutions.
But apathy has set in because we have become totally desensitised to all of the goo-roos out there.
So, why is this an issue.
Apathy is the removal of emotions.
And the one thing that human beings base their buying decisions on...
...emotions.
If you’re not able to elicit an emotional response from your marketing and sales consultations then you don’t stand a hope in hell of selling your products or services.
I’ve noticed that people just don’t take action, any action, and sink back into doing what they’ve always done.
DESPITE THE FACT ITS NOT WORKING FOR THEM!!!
Then blame sets in and despite your prospects saying, “No!” and choosing not to work with you, they BLAME YOU anyway!
The most common sales objective is, “It’s too expensive!” or “I can’t afford it!”
The truth is you:
a) haven’t demonstrated enough value in your product or service offering
and
b) not delved into your prospects pain points enough. More to the point you haven’t made a point of making your prospect aware of how deep their pain really is.
How much longer are they willing to carry on as they are? Struggling? Feeling unhappy? Not achieving the success they had set out to? Feeling fat? Feeling burnt out? Feeling inadequate? Not making enough money? Not converting leads? Not getting enough leads in the first place?
It’s your responsibility to help your prospects feel like change is a REAL possibility for them.
In fact price also operates in reverse.
If you’re too cheap it will repel prospects because they subconsciously think, “It’s too good to be true!”
And if you’re competing on price then you and I probably need to have a little chat.
Pricing is a MINDSET issue, not a practical issue linked to the price tag you attach to your products or services.
Basically you’re not showing your prospects how it will work for them, within what time frames and with ABSOLUTE CERTAINTY.
I can guarantee two things are happening when someone is looking at buying your products or services:
a) they are sat across the table thinking, “What’s in it for me?”
And
b) they’ll also be thinking, “Will this work for me?”
I find the latter is the harder to prove but this is why you need to have an armoury of:
- Case Studies
- Reviews
- and Testimonials
Written by your clients across multiple different media, and if you can then get your existing clients to put it into a video.
Actually there is a c) here as well...
c) You’ve got to believe in your own products and in your own ability to deliver what you promise.
I’ve seen great business owners fail because their self-belief gets left at the front door every time they leave the house for work.
I’m known for my Saltrock Tees, it’s a part of my brand but even still I get judged for it.
One lady once commented, at the start of a consultation, that she was surprised I didn’t wear a “smart” shirt for the consultation.
Little did she know it’s a part of the selection process.
...but, I’ll admit, it rattled me a bit. Mostly that someone was closed minded enough to think I couldn’t do my job properly in a t-shirt.
More importantly thought, first impressions do count immensely.
The things you say, your actions and yes, they way you dress.
I’ve met people with terrible personal hygiene, who stink to high heaven during a sales meeting and walked away from the meeting put off by it.
Or the person at a networking meeting who was keen to sell me some advertising space...but, about five minutes previously, had berated the networking organiser for asking people to make donations to their chosen charity.
She was the ONLY person in the room who didn’t donate a penny.
It was a ducking children’s charity for fucks sake!!
Why would I want to work with that person let alone give them my money?
So, at every stage of your customer journey, from first meeting right through to delivery and beyond be:
- humble
- honest
- helpful
- deliver remarkable value
and
- have a wash from time to time!
Firstly, get used to hearing, “No!”
For every 70 conversations you have, 10 will result in a meeting but only 2 will end up with a sale.
Yep.
That’s 68 no’s for every yes.
You’ve got to be a tenacious little terrier to book the meetings and close the sales.
And don’t just take no for an answer either.
If you know, and I mean genuinely know, your product or service could hugely help your prospect.
Then get after them.
Chase them down.
Follow up.
Get 5 x No! from each prospect.
Don’t just give up after the first one.
Also, STACK SUCCESS.
I do all of my sales calls in one sitting, because when I do 5 sales calls in an afternoon, I know I’ll sell something. Even if it’s just a book!
At the very least I’m super helpful so that prospects leave me feeling like they’ve got something they can act on straightaway.
And if I ask for a referral, I’ll always get it.
Plus a Google Review and a 5-Star review on Amazon.
IF YOU DON’T ASK YOU DON’T GET.
Good luck.
Be Fearless
Robin