I had a member of my community write in to tell me that his biggest frustration was that he feels that he is overwhelming his prospects a bit too early in the enrollment/sales process.
If you feel this way or you feel you're giving away your valuable advice for free, you might be trying too hard and too early to convert a prospect to a client. This happens frequently when you don't have your sales flow mapped out.
It's humbling to watch entrepreneurs make the same mistakes I used to when I got my business started. Asking someone to do business with you the very first time you meet them is like asking someone to marry you on the first date. Getting the "yes" answer to your proposal often requires more than just one touch point before someone decides to do business with you.
To get the "yes" answer, many consultants or coaches make the mistake of giving more information in their one-on-one meetings, often overwhelming their prospect. The problem isn't more information. The reason there is a lack of conversion is often attributed to:
• Prematurely setting up meetings with prospects
• Having no way to pre-educate your prospects, and
• Having no systematic way to keep in touch
One of my clients, who is a consultant, experienced the same problem. When she learned how to systematize her pre-qualification process, she immediately recognized a savings and converted more of her prospects to clients. Once we mapped out her sales flow, there were two important changes she implemented to her sales process:
First, she pre-qualified her prospects before scheduling a meeting with them. She discovered she wasn't using all of her marketing assets, including her website. Rather than waiting for a face-to-face meeting, she answered her prospects frequently asked questions on her website. She also offered her prospect a free downloadable eBook that gave her prospects the ability to assess their situation before meeting with her. When they scheduled their meeting with her, the information they worked through in the eBook would then be reviewed. Her prospects appreciated the framework to immediately sort through their main concerns and individual situation. Because she shifted the way she worked, she freed up her schedule so she could take on more clients.
Second, she automated her follow up process. With an automated follow up process, her prospects received messages that engaged them and continued to pre-educate them. If you're thinking that automation can't possibly nurture a relationship, think again. The magic happens in the way your messages are written. A carefully written message can make the best of automation, engage your prospect, and provide continuous value to your prospect when done right. Automation does the heavy lifting yet still provides the flexibility for you to respond directly with your prospect.
Not only did my client save approximately three hours per prospect by pre-educating them, she increased her conversions over 50% in just 30 days, and more than quadrupled her income in just one year just by making these adjustments.
If you feel like you're overwhelming your prospect, consider breaking apart the information you provide in smaller digestible pieces and giving value to your prospect over time. Remember to make their next step in doing business with you clear to them. A systematic approach might be just the ticket to simplify your sales process, making it super simple for your prospects to do business with you.
Lisa Mininni is the best-selling author of Me, Myself, and Why? The Secrets to Navigating Change and President of Excellerate Associates, home of the sought-after Entrepreneurial Edge System, which shows business owners how to automatically bring in pre-qualified prospects and turn them into invested clients 98% of the time. For her brand new eBook, Get More Clients Now! 3 Steps to More Clients, More Money, and A Business You Love, visit http://www.freebusinessplanformat.com
If you feel this way or you feel you're giving away your valuable advice for free, you might be trying too hard and too early to convert a prospect to a client. This happens frequently when you don't have your sales flow mapped out.
It's humbling to watch entrepreneurs make the same mistakes I used to when I got my business started. Asking someone to do business with you the very first time you meet them is like asking someone to marry you on the first date. Getting the "yes" answer to your proposal often requires more than just one touch point before someone decides to do business with you.
To get the "yes" answer, many consultants or coaches make the mistake of giving more information in their one-on-one meetings, often overwhelming their prospect. The problem isn't more information. The reason there is a lack of conversion is often attributed to:
• Prematurely setting up meetings with prospects
• Having no way to pre-educate your prospects, and
• Having no systematic way to keep in touch
One of my clients, who is a consultant, experienced the same problem. When she learned how to systematize her pre-qualification process, she immediately recognized a savings and converted more of her prospects to clients. Once we mapped out her sales flow, there were two important changes she implemented to her sales process:
First, she pre-qualified her prospects before scheduling a meeting with them. She discovered she wasn't using all of her marketing assets, including her website. Rather than waiting for a face-to-face meeting, she answered her prospects frequently asked questions on her website. She also offered her prospect a free downloadable eBook that gave her prospects the ability to assess their situation before meeting with her. When they scheduled their meeting with her, the information they worked through in the eBook would then be reviewed. Her prospects appreciated the framework to immediately sort through their main concerns and individual situation. Because she shifted the way she worked, she freed up her schedule so she could take on more clients.
Second, she automated her follow up process. With an automated follow up process, her prospects received messages that engaged them and continued to pre-educate them. If you're thinking that automation can't possibly nurture a relationship, think again. The magic happens in the way your messages are written. A carefully written message can make the best of automation, engage your prospect, and provide continuous value to your prospect when done right. Automation does the heavy lifting yet still provides the flexibility for you to respond directly with your prospect.
Not only did my client save approximately three hours per prospect by pre-educating them, she increased her conversions over 50% in just 30 days, and more than quadrupled her income in just one year just by making these adjustments.
If you feel like you're overwhelming your prospect, consider breaking apart the information you provide in smaller digestible pieces and giving value to your prospect over time. Remember to make their next step in doing business with you clear to them. A systematic approach might be just the ticket to simplify your sales process, making it super simple for your prospects to do business with you.
Lisa Mininni is the best-selling author of Me, Myself, and Why? The Secrets to Navigating Change and President of Excellerate Associates, home of the sought-after Entrepreneurial Edge System, which shows business owners how to automatically bring in pre-qualified prospects and turn them into invested clients 98% of the time. For her brand new eBook, Get More Clients Now! 3 Steps to More Clients, More Money, and A Business You Love, visit http://www.freebusinessplanformat.com
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