Category: Convert Prospects into Clients (Sales)

Phone calls with prospects should always be mutually qualifying – so therefore there’s a delicate balance between your learning about them and them learning about you.

When you talk about what you do to prospects, you want to make it as relevant to them as possible.

The more engagement you can create before your first call and the more you can learn about your prospect, the more relevant, compelling, and effective you’ll be.

Irrelevance is a deadly poison to be avoided at all cost!

When you’re on the phone with a prospective client – do you wing it? Do you play it by ear? Or do you have a specific process you know usually works if you follow it?

The 4 bases you want to touch to help you score more high-level clients are:

1. Create Engagement with the Prospect
2. Discover & Quantify Their Gap
3. Provide Value Quickly
4. Tell Your Prospect You Think You’re a Great Fit and Why

Make sure you click the link to this blog post where I go deeper with each of these strategies.

Your prospects think you are there to sell them something.

Even if you are 100 percent committed to doing what’s in their best interest – which could mean you not winning the business – they still think your motive is to get them to do business with you.

So how do you shift this dynamic?

I have two totally different approaches for you to consider. Both can work. And, yes, it’s possible to blend the two. (I’ll show you how.)

And check out the video associated with this blog for some concrete ways professionals put these strategies into action.

During a coaching session, Daniel and I were talking sales strategies and he asked me, “Bill, when it comes to looking for new clients, are you hunter or a farmer? Do you constantly hunt (prospect) for new business or do you just farm the clients you currently have?”

I thought about this for a minute and replied, “Actually, I’m more of a trapper. I like to apply the principles of value-centered marketing so people see me as a resource and come to me to me for further assistance.”

So which strategy is best for you? Perhaps some combination of all three?

(+ Bonus Video Included)

You’ve heard of Zombie Apocalypse? How about Prospect Apocalypse? This is when you have an interested prospect that becomes increasingly unresponsive. You’re not sure what to do next and eventually you feel like you’re trying to resurrect the dead.

You’ve heard the expression, “Timing is everything!” Sometimes that’s true. And without some basic processes and tools in place, your process will slowly lose momentum and way too many great prospects to fall slip through your fingers. [Or ‘fall through the cracks’ or some other zombie reference without over doing it.]

So assuming your incredibly relevant and compelling value proposition didn’t create an instant desire to work with you, this article contains a list of 10 powerful ideas you can employ to increase your chances of being in the right place at the right time and turning an interested prospect into a new client.

Dealing effectively with objections or concerns can be hazardous to your sales efforts. Stay with me for a minute…   How do YOU usually react when you state an opinion about something and someone immediately…

In last weeks’ blog, I announced that I’m writing a new book. (Gulp!) One of the working titles is The Ultimate Value Proposition. While this may not end up being the final title of the book, it certainly will be the main thrust.

Being different or unique can help you grab the attention of some prospects. But “what makes you different” is NOT what makes you compelling – moving a prospect to take action. Being unique or different is NOT what will win you a new client.

Expanding on what I started last week, below are the 5 elements of a value proposition designed to win new business. This is by no means an exhaustive list, I think you’ll see that these elements are all interrelated and important.

Tell me if you’ve ever experienced this…

You’ve connected with your new prospect. You believe you can bring real value to -them. They seem to agree. But then… crickets. They keep putting you off. Or worse, they stop returning your emails or phone calls without a word of explanation. You don’t want to be a pest, but “What the heck?”

What went wrong? Why didn’t your prospect follow your recommendations?

Could it be that your prospect didn’t have a sense of urgency to act? And you didn’t help them?

You got connected with a prospect. Yay! You even had a phone call or in-person meeting with them. Double Yay! Then what? Crickets! They stop returning your phone calls. What happened?

You probably didn’t create a compelling reason to take action now.

Have you ever asked a prospective client, “What is the cost (or risk) of not addressing this issue?”

If your prospects are not returning your messages or your referrals seem to go nowhere, then perhaps you are not providing them with a compelling reason why they should respond.

On May 23rd I’ll be hosting a complimentary webinar designed to help you develop and communicate a compelling value proposition. While there are many things to consider in developing a compelling message, today I’d like to address 6 critical elements that should be present whenever you talk about your value.