Is there anything more annoying than when you find yourself stuck in that zone of clients just not investing?
You’ll recognise this phase I’m sure.
You’re getting enquiries from great sounding clients
Maybe you chat with the client and everything feels great
But they don’t reply to your email
Literally silence
Or maybe they come back and tell you that they found ‘something cheaper’
Urgh.
It’s so frustrating – you pour everything into each opportunity – and then people just ‘go for something cheaper’.
You’re not alone.
This happens all the time to business owners just like you – in fact in happened to me as well. That was until I fully understood why, and indeed HOW to get around this.
And for me there are 3 key areas for this:
1) Setting expectations
This is one I’ve brought along from my corporate sales days… and it’s so important. In the moment of trying to encourage someone to buy from you, it’s easy to let the potential client do ALL of the talking. But it’s so important for you to manage their expectations. Do you find yourself agreeing to do things or to change how you work to fit in with their requirements? Yes being flexible is key BUT bending over backwards and re-working your business model is not sustainable. Be very clear with your clients on how you work, set those expectations – if they don’t suit your potential client then maybe they are not right for you?
2) Pricing
Do you find yourself agreeing to ‘discounts’ or ‘matching other supplier prices’? It’s so important you have a thorough understanding of what you are charging what you charge. There needs to be more of a strategy behind your pricing – rather than simply plucking a number out of the air. As soon as you have a relationship with WHY you charge what you charge you’ll have so much more confidence about sticking to your prices.
3) Ask questions
Qualifying your clients is hugely important because it can save you so much time. If a client isn’t going to be right for you, or is going to turnaround when you’re really far down the road and try to negotiate, you should know this before. It will save you the negative energy you feel when clients have ‘wasted your time’. Asking questions is a hugely important part of qualifying your clients and setting the expectations of what is to come.
So perhaps the next stage is for you to start thinking about how you can set your clients expectations from the get go? How are you positioning your proposition on your website? How do you manage your clients expectations throughout your enquiry process? And which questions are you asking your clients before you engage in any dialogue?