Questions are the answer when selling. If you ask the right questions, your potential clients will sell themselves on your products or services. You will not have to sell at all. How great is that?

So why are questions the answer? Why will questions do the selling for you?

Questions will do the selling for you provided you have the “Question 3-legged stool” in place.

The 3 legs are:

1. You ask the “right” questions
2. You actively listen to the answers (obvious I know, but not always followed)
3. You have the intent to help your potential client get what they want.

Just suppose you ask the right questions but don’t listen to the answers? Do you think your potential client will want to buy from you? Just suppose you’re great at listening and you really want to help your potential client, but you ask the wrong questions. Do you think they will want to buy from you? I hope you get the picture. In order for the questions to do the selling for you, you need all 3 legs of the “Question 3-legged stool” in place. Let’s look more closely at the “right” questions leg.

Stay tuned for Part 2 on Wednesday.

It is your purpose, your moral obligation, to have as many sales conversations with people as you can so you can help as many people as possible. If you’re not having these types of sales conversations, you are holding back the gift you have to offer the world. You owe it to people to be there for them with your expertise and wisdom.

Next time you’re talking to a potential client, think about how you can help them, how you can serve them. Forget about trying to sell them something. If what you have to offer does solve their problems, and you facilitate the conversation using the strategies we are covering, people will sell themselves and will subsequently buy from you.

If you have a perspective on selling which is one of service and helping people, how do you think the people you’re talking to will feel? Think about this: people hate to be sold. The minute they feel they’re being sold, they often want to get away - fast. Don’t you? On the other hand, if they feel you are sincerely trying to help them solve their problems, they will relax and open up to you.

If you have a perspective on selling which is one of service and helping people, how do you think you will feel? Does energized, excited, relaxed, and natural come to mind?

This perspective is simple but powerful and very attract-tive to clients.

How do you define selling? A lot of people think of selling as persuading/convincing people to buy things they may or may not want or need. To some, selling is all about closing a deal. Thinking of selling like this is not very empowering to you. Frankly, if you have this perspective on selling, it’s no wonder if you hate it. I would too!

So what perspective can you take about selling that will make it enjoyable, exciting and something you look forward to? Sounds like a bit of a tall order doesn’t it? Read on.

Hopefully by now, you have made the list of all the problems that you can solve for your target market. You’re going to be surprised how long that list grows over time. So really, if you look at your list and you think about it, you are a master problem solver. What you’re really doing is helping people. Correct?

So try on this perspective about what selling is:
Selling is helping people.
Selling is serving.
Selling is a process of identifying and solving people’s problems.

See, feel and know that selling is serving. This will cause a big shift for you. With this perspective, you will really become passionate about wanting to help people. Find this passion and let it shine through.

Step One: Determine the unique value (results) of your service.

Get really clear on the results you achieve for your clients. Then look at those results as a potential client would. Don’t cut corners doing this exercise, it’s crucial. Dig deep to find the answers. If you’re not clear on your own value how can you expect your potential clients to be?

Once you’ve done that, figure out what it is you offer that no one else does. I would suggest asking some of your clients these questions. Their answers may surprise and enlighten you.

Step Two: Determine the unique value of you.

What unique skills and strengths do you bring to what you do? What is unique about your approach and your interaction with clients? Again, I would suggest asking some of your clients these questions.

Step Three: Communicate your unique value.

It’s imperative that you communicate your distinct value in all of your conversations and marketing materials. It’s not enough that you know your unique value; you have to be able to clearly convey it to potential clients. This is the key. Don’t leave it up to people to guess. If they have to, you’ve already lost them. The “how” of doing this is where most people struggle but it is a skill that can be learned as part of the sales conversation process.

If you follow these three steps, your unique value will be clear to potential clients. You will start having conversations with clients about the unique value you offer, and they will make a decision based on whether they want that value or not. Remember, if they want your unique value, they can’t shop around.
A funny thing will happen when you clearly articulate your unique value. You will find more and more people will be naturally attracted to you and they will be prepared to pay your price. You’ll also get a lot more referrals as your “unique value” message spreads. Chances are too that you can increase your price and potential clients will pay it.

If you go through the three steps and you still find yourself competing on price or getting price objections, then simply go back and repeat the process. It’s also a good idea to ask the person you’re talking with for their input as they could shine the light on your value gap.

Spend some quality time thinking about your unique value and how you can convey it. You will then start turning your sales conversations into more higher paying clients.

Do you find yourself competing on price? Do you often talk to a prospect, think you have made the sale and then they decide to shop around and buy based on price?

If this sounds familiar, then potential clients probably perceive you as a commodity. They think the service you’re offering is much the same as the service offered by LOTS of other people. So it makes sense for them to shop around and buy the cheapest. Wouldn’t you?

I know you think your service is unique, and potential clients should be able to understand that and should be able to see your value. But if you’re competing on price, this is a red flag that your potential clients don’t see your unique value. Instead, they perceive you as a commodity. In this case, you need to do something about it — and fast.

The question is what do you need to do so you are not perceived as commodity?

The solution “seems” obvious: make yourself unique. This will take “shopping for the cheapest” out of the equation and instead, potential buyers must make a decision based on the value of what you’re offering.

5. Your TM has a history of paying to have this problem solved. You want to focus on a target market where there is a proven track record of problems and people paying to solve them. A good sign is if your competitors are selling similar services to the target market.

6. There’s enough of your TM out there to sustain a business. How many people or businesses are in your target market? Realistically how many will become your clients and what will that be worth to you? Is that enough?

7. You enjoy working with your TM. Think about what types of people are in your target market and visualize being with them day in and day out. How does that feel? Will you feel energized or drained at the end of the day? Remember, you are also in business to enjoy yourself so make sure you will enjoy working with this target market.

8. You have a passion for helping and serving this TM. Passion is an essential ingredient for selling your services.

9. You have valuable expertise and experience you can offer. Your target market will want to buy from people who are experts in their field. Think about what specific expertise and experience you can offer your target market.

10. Your TM fits with your ultimate lifestyle package. What hours do you want to work? Where do you want to work? How do you want to work? Does this fit in with your target market? Ensure that working with your target market will enable you to live the kind of life you want to live.

Once you have found your target market, the next step is to refine it even further. Decide on the profile of your ideal client. What sort of person are they? Decide on their demographics and psychographics. Demographics are the basic facts like age, gender, income, location, etc. Psychographics are their characteristics, values etc. This will enable you to focus even more.

The clearer you are about who you want to do business with, the more you will attract exactly the clientele you’re looking for. You will then need your Sales Conversation skills to convert them to clients.

A specific group of people you will focus on selling your services to is your target market. This is not to be confused with the problem you will be solving for this group.

Why choose a target market?, You need to decide exactly who your audience is before you sell your services. Deciding on your target market lays a critical foundation for your business. When you get clear about who your target market is, you will:

· know where to focus your selling and marketing efforts.
· know where to focus your research efforts. You want to intimately understand your market: the problems they have and the language they speak. The greater your level of understanding the more magnetic you will become.

Your target market will determine your income and success. Choose the wrong one and you will waste a lot of time and money with very little results.

Whatever target market —TM— you choose, check to see that it meets the following 10 essential criteria:

1. Your TM has a big problem. They think about it all the time, it keeps them awake at night.

2. Your TM wants the problem solved. The impact and cost of the problem is big enough that they will act to solve it (some people have problems they are quite happy to live with!).

3. You can easily find your TM. Do they belong to associations? Are there conferences for this target market? Are there publications? Where do they hangout? If it’s not easy to find your target market, it will cost you a lot of money to find them.

4. Your TM has money to spend. No point having a terrific service if your target market hasn’t the money to pay for it. I know this sounds basic but it’s often overlooked.

5. Your TM has a history of paying to have this problem solved. You want to focus on a target market where there is a proven track record of problems and people paying to solve them. A good sign is if your competitors are selling similar services to the target market.

Stay tuned for part 2.

Even though I do not like stereotype car salesmen, this is a good example for matching, plus it is an example you can probably relate to.

Scenario One

The car salesman asks you what sort of car you’re looking for and what is important to you. You tell him. He then shows you a car and proceeds to tell you all about the features of the car that you frankly could not care less about. He just goes on and on telling you absolutely everything about the car. Sound familiar?

Scenario Two

The car salesman asks you what sort of car you are looking for and what is important to you. You tell him. He then shows you a car and describes exactly what features of the car will give you each of the things you said are important to you.

Who would you buy the car from? Would you buy from the car salesman in scenario one or scenario two? Who did matching?

What would you be thinking with the scenario-one car salesman?

You might be thinking:

- He didn’t listen to me.
- He doesn’t understand me.
- Why did he ask me what I wanted as he clearly wasn’t interested?
- I am not sure if it meets my needs. I am confused.
- I am bored and irritated.
- How can I get away from this person?

What would you be thinking with the scenario-two car salesman?

You might be thinking:

- He really listened to me.
- He understands me.
- I can clearly see how this meets my needs.
- I am interested.

When you present your solution, demonstrate that you have been listening and that you understand their problems. Only present the features/characteristics that solve the specific problems they have been telling you about. That is what they’re interested in and what they will care about. The key to presenting is in the matching!

The secret to presenting to a potential client is “matching.” Prior to presenting, you would have asked plenty of questions and uncovered the problems they want solved. The next step then is to present your solution and to do lots of matching.

What do I mean by matching? Matching is where you make the connection between the problems a potential client wants solved and the features/characteristics of your service that solves those problems.

Your solution has lots of features/characteristics and some are relevant to the potential client and some are not. You want to sort all your features and characteristics into two piles. Pile one consists of the features/characteristics they care about - as they solve the specific problems they have discussed with you. Pile two consists of the features/characteristics they will not care about - as they don’t solve any of the problems they have discussed with you. Note that you can only do this sorting if you’ve asked enough questions before you present.

To prepare for your presentation, look at all the features/characteristics your potential client cares about (pile one). The next step is to then “match” each of the problems they want solved to the feature/characteristic of your service that will solve it for them. When you present, you then show the connection between the problems they have agreed they want solved and the features/characteristics of your service that solves those problems.

If you do not do the matching for your potential client, they will be left trying to work out what aspect (features/characteristic) of your service can solve their problems. Also if you do not do the matching, your potential client will feel you haven’t listened to them, amongst other things.

The first step is to identify all your fears of selling. I’d encourage you to make a list right now before reading further.

Some of your fears arise because of your perspective on selling and some of your fears arise from simply not knowing how to sell - you don’t have a selling skill set. So your fears can be classified as either “perspective fears” or “skill set fears”.

With respect to each of your “perspective fears”, it is your perspective (or viewpoint) that is giving you these fears. Change your viewpoint, change your perspective, and you will reduce or even eliminate your fear. To overcome your “perspective fears”, the process is to simply change your perspective to one that empowers you rather than one that makes you fearful and holds you back.

For example, a lot of people fear getting a “no”. This arises from the perspective that a “no” is a bad thing. I’d like you to try on the perspective that a “no” can be a very good thing and that you are sometimes grateful when you get it. In fact, I would encourage you to be in active search of a valid “no”. The sooner you find a valid “no”, the better it is for both you and your potential client as you will save each other a lot of time. How does this perspective on a “no” make you feel?

Can you see how powerful it is if you change your perspective on a “no”? The same process can also be used for your other “perspective fears” around selling. Look at each “perspective fear” and ask yourself what perspective you can take so that you are empowered rather than fearful. Hint: try the direct opposite and explore what it would be like if you took on that perspective.

There will be some fears that will not be altered by changing your perspective and these are the selling “skill set fears”. These are the fears that arise because you do not know how to have a sales conversation as you have simply not learned and acquired the necessary sales skills. These “skill set fears” can be overcome by increasing your competence in selling and learning the skill of having a sales conversation.

Find and learn a simple process for having a sales conversation so you can become skilful at it. Be careful because you absolutely must find and learn a process for having a sales conversation that is in alignment with who you want to be. If you learn a process for having a sales conversation that is in alignment with who you want to be, you will enjoy having sales conversations and your fear of having these conversations will be reduced and even eliminated.

If you work on your “perspective fears” and your selling “skill set fears” as I have outlined above, you will find yourself not only having more sales conversations but you find yourself actually enjoying them too. I have a hunch that you will also start to get a lot more clients!