Did you know there is a way of BEING that literally makes or breaks your ability to attract clients in large numbers? The sad thing is, many self employed people don’t use it and, as a result, are literally letting prospective clients slip through their fingers, day in and day out, even if they’ve done a lot of marketing and networking, even if they have lots of prospects. It’s almost like they destroy their chances of winning, at the very end of the cycle.
To avoid letting prospects slip through your fingers, you need to have serious CONVICTION about what you offer. If you don’t, if there’s no certainty on your end, then a prospect is simply not going to be certain either that working with you is the answer to their problems. They’ll question whether you’re really good at what you do and then decide they’ll keep looking.
I’ll give you an example of what occurred to me recently, after going to the dentist.
For months, I’ve been meaning to get some light cosmetic dentistry done to improve my smile and during a recent routine dental checkup and cleaning, I asked my dentist (let’s call him Dr. Smith) if he performed cosmetic dentistry.
Now, before I tell you what happened, let me explain his typical behavior. He’s naturally very outgoing, charming, and does great work (as far as I can tell from the routine cleanings.) He tells jokes, is jovial and seems pretty confident all around. But something happened when I asked him if he did cosmetic dentistry.
Dr. Smith’s behavior changed, almost on a dime. He looked away, mumbled something about being in business for 20 years and of course he did cosmetic dentistry, and that he did it well. And then that was it. Nothing else. The strange thing was his words were no longer enthusiastic and confident. They turned empty and uninspiring, and I wasn’t sure how to read the whole thing.
Whatever had happened, my gut feeling told me not to work with him. Right then and there, in just one sentence, he lost tens of thousands of dollars worth of potential business. I knew by the WAY he spoke that I wasn’t going to be using my own dentist for cosmetic dentistry. He simply had not convinced me, not even close.
Here’s what I’ve discovered from that experience and countless other experiences I’ve had, just watching entrepreneurs talk about their abilities:
- Prospects want to work with people who are CERTAIN about their abilities.
- Prospects want to work and learn from an AUTHORITY on a subject.
- Prospects are looking for someone CONFIDENT about the results they offer.
- Prospects are silently begging to be LED!
Your Assignment:
From this moment forward, you cannot afford to be wishy-washy about what you offer. You’ve got to have total conviction about what you do. Not only that, you’ve got to express that conviction in a way that makes the prospect feel confident about your abilities.
You see, your job is not to sell. Your job is to convince prospects to get out of their own way to achieving success (or whatever it is that they want and could use your help with). The way you do that is by building trust, showing authority on your topic, and expressing your capability about the results they’ll get with you. And it’s all in your way of BEING.
Now, a caveat.
This doesn’t mean that you become OVER zealous. That’s just a ridiculous turnoff and will send them running in the other direction. Just be yourself, but speak with conviction and certainty.
One more thing. Don’t (ever) tell a prospect you can do something that you can’t, just to close the sale. Some sales “gurus” will tell you to do this, and then figure it out later, but I don’t agree. It’s out of integrity and we’re looking for authentic selling here. It’s better to turn away that prospect and move on to the next one.
So, be yourself, be a leader, and start speaking with conviction from this moment forward. It doesn’t take much, and yet I guarantee you’ll start attracting more clients than you are now. It works!
OK, so you’re now going to speak with conviction, but the problem is, you need to fill your pipeline more quickly. If that’s the case, get yourself the Client Attraction Home Study System™. It includes everything you need to know to create a marketing message that will appeal to the best clients for you. You’ll learn how to decipher what makes your business remarkable, how to create Raving Fans so you get clients to call YOU, and lots of crucial techniques to help you fill your practice quickly, including how to put together a simple marketing plan that gets you clients and then put it on autopilot so you can have fun again. (Why struggle when you can just attract clients easily?) Get more details at: http://www.theclientattractionsystem.com/
© 2011 Client Attraction LLC. All Rights Reserved.
When I was first starting out trying to close the sale as an solo-entrepreneur, I would offer only one rate and the offer was basically “This is what I charge, take it or leave it.” So people would either take it or leave it.
Then I realized that clients work in a different way. Many people like options (I do too). They don’t want to be “forced” into taking something that doesn’t suit them. They want the option of small, medium or large. (more…)
