Published:
05/28/2011 04:40pm
Use Success Stories to Sell Your Services
As a service professional, an important element of your marketing strategy is to highlight why you are THE premier solutions provider for your target market. When you showcase your expertise and how others' lives and business have improved because of working with you, your services and products will be more compelling. You'll increase your visibility and you'll easily convert more prospects to clients.
But when you're showcasing what you do, you have to be very careful about HOW you present your experience and your solutions. Far too many service professionals focus on the mechanics of what they do when they are trying to sell their services. You don't want to make this mistake, because, honestly, people aren't that interested in HOW you do what you do. All they are really concerned about is getting from problem (point A) to solution (point B) in the easiest, quickest and the most affordable way possible. So you want to talk about your services in a way that acknowledges that and clearly conveys your value.
Here are three ways to be sure that you're explaining your expertise and your services in a way that is compelling for your audience.
1. Focus on the benefits and results - not how you achieve them.
When you go to a restaurant and sit down for your favorite meal, do you enjoy the meal or do you grill the waiter about how your meal was prepared, what training the chef received and where he got his ingredients? Chances are, you're just there to enjoy the meal! Your clients are the same. They don't particularly care about the methodology that you use to deliver your results - they just want the results! Focus on the benefits when educating prospects about why they should work with you. This will speak to your clients' interests more than a list of your methods.
2. Turn these benefits into short, compelling messages that emphasize your value.
You can easily create this copy by reviewing comments made by current and past clients. Evaluate which specific problems have been eliminated in their work with you and what they've enjoyed about working with you. You can turn these into short, compelling messages that do three things for your business - they highlight: 1) who your ideal client is, 2) what problems you solve and 3) the benefits/results that clients can enjoy when they work with you.
3. Give examples to your potential clients.
Drawing attention to client success stories is an excellent way to show your potential clients how you can help them achieve their goals. Create results-focused case studies and examples for your clients to read. This will help your prospects see themselves working with you and imagine how they'll achieve the same results. It's very compelling!
For instance, if you are a professional organizer and a prospect lands on your website and reads a glowing testimonial about the impact that your organizing services made in an entrepreneur's sales and business, they are going to be highly motivated to buy from you. They want to see the same results! Success stories paint a picture that a list of qualifications just can't.
Focusing on the results of your solutions and not the methodology will ensure that you convey the value of your services in a compelling way. Your potential customers will be able to see exactly how working with you can help them, which will keep your pipeline full and your business profitable.
