Why don’t they buy if I sell exactly what they need?
That’s one of the questions I get the most from people who want to grow their business based on their expertise. They put their hearts and best efforts in their services, programs from a place of service… and they feel that the people they could help the most don’t buy.
Sometimes things get a “little” bit worse… because they find out that those people have chosen an inferior solution.
These are my favorite keys that I share with my clients about creating programs and services that the right people will LOVE and BUY.
KEY #1 – Desire cannot be created
Their desire is already there or it isn’t. People buy what they want and not what they need.
The conversation gets tough here because they usually hear me repeat this:
“Nobody gets up in the morning saying to themselves “Today I want to hire a ____________________ (insert your expertise”. Nobody wants coaching, consulting, training, a program, a modality.”
MISTAKE TO AVOID – We love so much what we do (and we keep investing considerable efforts in getting great at it) that we may be tempted to lead with education.
The logic looks solid: “If I educate about X, they’ll see how valuable it is and they’ll buy.”
You’ve probably seen enough websites where the expert just educates people on their modality.
Education is wonderful but in most cases it’s not the first step.
So what can we lead with?
What people want. Their desires.
For example, a career coach could stop talking about the process of coaching and start the conversation with the pains, fears, frustrations, challenges and desires of someone who needs a career coach.
KEY #2 – Levels of awareness
Eugene Schwartz wrote a wonderful book “Breakthrough Advertising” based on his lifelong experience writing successful ads in the days when there was no Internet. (Imagine that! They had to invest in advertising on newspapers and magazines and made them profitable).
One key concept is the level of awareness of the person you’re talking to about your services and programs. That will determine how to start the conversation.
This is my adaptation of his concepts:
1.
Fans and people who know you and what you do
In that case you can lead with the new program or service directly.
2.
The motivated seekers
They’re actively looking for a solution. They just don’t know that you have one. You can lead the conversation with their needs and wants.
3.
The unaware
They’re not actively seeking a solution. They still have that dormant desire (more about waking it up later). You can lead the conversation with the pains they KNOW they have.
WARNING – A conversation about sales can – and for many it usually does – get into the terrain of “tactics, tricks, etc.” This is NOT where this is going. I’m inviting you to get curious as a human being about why other fellow human beings buy or don’t buy from a place of empathy.
KEY #3 – Market sophistication
How many “solutions”, “promises” has your market already seen and experienced?
MISTAKE TO AVOID – It’s not about turning up the level of hype. If your audience has tried it all, you need to show them why your solution is going to work for them this time.
KEY #4 - Hope
Desires don’t go away. They’re sleeping inside each one of us.
Let me give you a personal example. I’ve struggled with my weight all my life. So is it suddenly that I decide that I don’t have the desire to lose weight anymore?
No.
It’s that I’ve lost hope.
And hope can also awaken the desire again if I truly believe that a solution can finally work for me.
We don’t sell services or programs, we sell “believability and achievability”.
If I don’t believe I can do it, I won’t buy.
KEY # 5 – Leading Authority Positioning (tm)
Now that I have hope that it might work for me, I need something else: I need to trust that you can get me to the finish line.
Authority is one of those words that produce strong reactions. (We’re not talking about bragging or calling oneself the “internationally renowned expert”.
What we mean is that they know that you know your stuff.
And here’s the thing… they know when you know.
Till next time, remember… Your awesomeness is portable. You can take it with you anywhere.
With love,
Ana
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