From CTA to Closing Sales

Welcome back - if you read last week's issue, I promised to walk through my method of gathering market info, but as often happens in business - I need to pivot.

One of my readers asked me to address the topic of CTA to Sales - that is, how do you get potential clients to actually buy something. This seems to be an ongoing topic, particularly for new entrepreneurs. There are a lot of different things I could talk about as this is a pretty big topic, but for today I want to start with the root of the issue.

What is the root of the issue? Entrepreneurs, particularly new ones, often struggle with creating a process that moves people from prospect to client. I think the social media culture has created the idea that there is a 'perfect' process out there - if only we could discover what it is.

But rather than focusing on processes or technology or 'putting yourself out there' take a moment to think about the why. Why would anyone want to buy from you?

I don't think the answer has changed in the last 200 years. We buy from people we trust.

Think about something you buy regularly where you always get a particular brand. Why do you do that? Because you trust that specific item will always provide the quality and experience you expect.

McDonalds is a perfect example of a company that built a reputation for producing the same product, no matter where you are making the purchase. We trust that a hamburger in Minneapolis will taste like a hamburger in Orlando or Washington or even in another country.

With that understanding the question becomes, "How do we build trust?"

Today's social media marketers would have us believe that if we post enough, or post the right things on the right platforms, magic will happen, and we will make sales.

I don't want to crush anyone's dreams, but if we don't understand what our ideal client really wants and needs it doesn't matter how much we engage in a FB group - we aren't going to make any sales.

Building trust takes time. It takes effort and it takes a plan.

Let's use my latest book as an example, Success Guaranteed 9 Lies Online Entrepreneurs Need to Know. (FYI - you can download it for free from Amazon until Friday Jan 14.)

I spent a lot of time building a FB group specifically to market my book. (Because someone I trust told me it was a great idea.) I had a very engaged group (at least for awhile.) Many of the people in the group were new entrepreneurs who could benefit from my book - but I still can't draw a straight line from that group to more than a handful of sales. I spent a year growing that group to nearly 1000 members, but to be honest - if you asked me to name specific individuals in the group, I could only come up with 2 or 3.

I wasn't building trust or real relationships. I was just creating content and hoping it would bring sales.

Compare that to LinkedIn where I use the messaging function daily. I send messages to specific individuals about specific things. It feels much more personal. (plus as an introvert I am way more comfortable only interacting with one person at a time.) I can draw a straight line from these LinkedIn messages to several hundred book sales.

I have a process of building my LinkedIn connections and reaching out to individuals to ask what I can do for them first. Then when my book is available for free download, I let them know. Not everyone I message downloads my book, but far more do than ever have from my FB efforts.

This process hasn't gotten me on the best seller list, but it has given me a small, fairly steady stream of book sales.

That doesn't mean FB groups don't work, just that they don't work for me.

There is no short cut for getting from CTA to sales. Each entrepreneur needs to take time to understand their ideal client. Figure out what they think they need - not what you think they need. Understand the words they use to describe their concerns so you can also use them.

When they think you are inside their head because you describe their problem so accurately you will see more sales.

Figuring out the process that works for you takes time, trial and error and refining. When I interviewed the 20+ entrepreneurs for my book I was surprised to find that all of them said it took about 1 year to really figure out all the pieces to the puzzle and create a steady income stream.

So, if you are just starting out, don't give up. Keep learning and trying new things. If you have been at it awhile and are struggling, again, don't give up. Take a look at what you are doing and be honest about what is working and what isn't. Stop doing what isn't working for you, even if someone you trust told you to do it.

Determine what works for you.

I hope you enjoyed this issue. Please let me know if there is a topic you would like to see addressed in the newsletter - don't forget to share with anyone who might be interested!