Let’s cut to the chase – what makes these sales tips I’m about to share with you work SO well?!

They are potential client-focused versus YOU-focused. 

I see people miss the mark on this with their sales process all of the time. When you make it all about you, your services, your prices, what you can offer, you’ve completely forgotten that selling needs to be about the CLIENT.

And when you’re client-focused, sales are sooo much easier!

People want to know what’s in it for THEM. If you talk about yourself too much, they’ll turn their ears off – but so many business owners don’t even realize they’re doing it!

When you want the sale so badly, you often forget to focus on the potential client. Turn that around and they’ll be much more likely to listen to what you have to say and eventually buy!

So let’s talk about three sales tips that you can start doing now that are client-focused instead:

Tip #1: Make a connection that has NOTHING to do with business

Most people exist in their workday doing only business. Tasks are business-related, thoughts are business-related, conversations are business-related.

So, if you come in with a personal connection point, you disrupt that pattern and give yourself more of a chance of being remembered, simply because you got them out of their business brain and into their personal brain.

When I say personal connection, I mean things you have in common:

• Kids

• Animals

• Where you live

• Exercise

• Clothes/style

• Beliefs or religion

• Favorite foods

• Literally ANYTHING that isn’t business-related

It’s really hard to build a solid relationship when you’re ONLY talking about business. So don’t. Make personal connections with your potential clients. The personal connections are where deeper relationships are formed!

Make this your new #1 step before you ever pitch someone or even get on a discovery call with a potential client!

Tip #2: Give before you receive

Before you even think of pitching your services to a potential client, give them something for FREE! Does it take time? Yup! But it also works because MOST people won’t take five extra minutes to do this for someone else!

Here are a few examples of what this could look like:

1. If they have a podcast, go listen to a couple episodes and leave them a review on iTunes! Then, tell them you loved their episodes and that you left them a review.

2. If they have a Facebook business page, go watch a Live that they’ve done and leave them a comment!

3. Leave them a tip or a resource that can help them! Maybe you’ve noticed that the spacing is off in their IG captions – send them a resource that can help them fix it.

4. Google something related to their business or how you could help them and find a blog post or article around it and say, “Hey, I was just reading this and thought of you/thought you might find this interesting!”

The reason this works is twofold. One, if you nurture the relationship and provide a potential client with free, customized value BEFORE you pitch, then guess what? The potential client is more likely to listen to the pitch and consider it!

And two, you’ve added in the energy exchange piece. You already gave to them, so now they’re more likely to give back (a.k.a. BUY!)

Tip #3: Make the next steps clear and easy

After you’ve pitched to someone and they’re ready to move forward, you HAVE to be clear about what the next step is – don’t assume they know!

And you HAVE to make it easy for them to take the next steps. Don’t just tell people to go to the link in your bio or to your website.

If you’ve pitched someone for your Virtual Assistant or Online Business Manager services, do this:

• Tell them what the best next step is (discovery call, application, free call, etc.)

• Give them the direct link to it!

This is really important for 2 reasons:

1. What seems clear and logical in your mind often isn’t in your potential client’s mind. You’re thinking, “Of course this person knows they need to book a discovery call. Of course this person knows the link is in my bio.”

   But they don’t! People are busy. If they’re hiring you, they’re probably overwhelmed/overworked/don’t have time/have a skills gap. So spell it out and make it easy on them.

2. When you make the sales process easy and clear, you’re giving your potential client a peek into what it’s like to work with you.

   If you’re making it easy on them BEFORE they start working with you, they will want to work with you even more because EASY is what they need!

Most people won’t take the time to implement these quick tips and that works to your benefit because when you do them, you’ll stand out from your competitors in a BIG way.