How do you sell the invisible?

Let’s start with a question. What are you selling? A physical product? A digital product? Or a service?

This class is not suited for your product-based business. If that’s you, check out my handbooks .

Now if you sell a service, you sell the invisible. How do you convince your customers to buy what they cannot see? Well, they need to have faith, “trust me. I no fit lie for you ??”.

Let’s take it further.

Selling services can be tough because you don’t have an actual product that the customer can see. You can’t really show them how it works.

This means that you need to be able to paint a picture that can get the prospect to see how your service will benefit them. That’s not easy. It’s like trying to describe what love is to someone who’s never been in love. You might be explaining it the right way, but you can’t be sure that the other person knows what you’re talking about. I digress, let’s come back to sales ??.

The key to selling services is to focus on showing

• that you understand your prospect’s problems.
• that you know how to solve them.

How do you sell your Service-Based Business?

1. Be the Product

If you’re running a service-based business, YOU are the product. That means you need to sell yourself just as much as you’re selling your service. You have your own features and benefits, don’t you? I mean you are the total package, the spectacular spectacle, and all power belongs to you, my lord ??

If you want prospects to become clients, you have to get them to view you as someone who is reliable and trustworthy. You need to get them to like you.

You probably already know this, but people buy from those they know, like, and trust. It’s important that you work hard to build a strong connection with your prospects.

Before trying to sell, you should develop a relationship first. Build some rapport. Let them get to know you. The better you are at building rapport, the more you will increase your chances of closing more deals.

2. Understand your Prospect’s Needs

Because you are the product, you have to know how to position yourself the right way. This means getting your customer to see you as their resource. You need them to see that you’re the one who can solve their problems. You are their savior, their messiah, so preach this gospel ??

If you’re going to solve their problems, you have to demonstrate that you understand what their problems are.

You have to ask effective questions that allow you to get to know them as well as you can. The awesome thing about asking great questions is that it doesn’t just allow you to get to know your prospect, it also helps you form a better connection. As your prospect tells you about herself, she will start to trust you more. It’s because you’re taking a genuine interest in her needs and wants.

3. Focus on the Outcomes

In the end, your prospect doesn’t care about the service you offer. They care about how it’s going to help them. They care about what’s going to happen after they hire you. You need to focus on outcomes.

Convincing your prospect to become a client means showing what life will be like after they start using your services. You have to get them to see how much easier things will be when you’re working for them.

That’s what your prospects need to know.

4. Focus on Feelings

Feelings are important. Why? Because emotion is what fuels most of our decision-making. It’s true. No matter how much of a “hard guy” you are, you tend to make decisions based on you feel.

According to sales expert Jeffery Gitomer, “The head is attached to the price, the heart is attached to the wallet. If you jerk on the heartstrings, the wallet comes popping out of the back pocket.”

If you can appeal to the emotions of your prospect, you will win the sale. In order to get people to take action, you have to get them to feel something. Amen? ??

Of course, in order to appeal to their emotions, you need to know what they want to feel. You need to know what they are passionate about. And you need to bring it up in the conversation.

You also need to know how to make your prospect feel comfortable, They want to feel safe with the idea of doing business with you. When they feel a sense of security, it will make them feel better about becoming your client.

Of course, this doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t appeal to logic. You still need to give logical reasons why your service is right for your prospect. But establish an emotional connection. That’s what sells.

5. Use Social Proof

Since you’re selling something that can’t be seen or touched, you need to find other ways to get your prospect to see the value in your offering. You must prove to them that you are worth the investment.

You need social proof.

People are more likely to take a particular action if they know that a lot of other people have taken it as well. It is the bandwagon effect.

There are a couple of ways you can do this.

• Storytelling is highly effective in this regard. You should always have a few stories at your disposal. These should be stories about how you were able to help other customers who are similar to your prospect.
• Testimonials are also helpful. What better way to sell your services than to have your previous customers sell them for you?

6. Build a Brand that Differentiates your Company

Building a strong brand is crucial to the success of any company, but it’s especially important to service-based companies. Again, since your prospect can’t actually see your offering, they need something to connect to on a deeper level. That’s what a strong brand can do for your business.

Your brand is what will distinguish you from your competition. It gives your prospects a reason to choose you over the other companies in your industry.

Branding is about defining who your company is, and what it stands for. It’s massively important that you understand this. If you don’t define yourself, others will label you, and this won’t always work in your favor.

So what is a brand?

Jeff Bezos gives the best definition: “Your brand is what people say about you when you’re not in the room.”

Successful branding is about perspective. It’s your unique brand perspective (or USP) that is going to make you stand out from the crowd. Find out what your unique brand perspective is, and work hard to communicate it to your audience.

Conclusion

Selling intangible products doesn’t have to be too difficult. As you can see, most of it is about selling who you are. The great thing about this is that you’re already unique. There’s nobody else who is exactly like you.

So, in order to sell the invisible;

• Be the Product
• Understand your Prospect’s Needs
• Focus on the Outcomes
• Focus on Feelings
• Use Social Proof
• Build a Brand that differentiates your Company

If you thought this was a good read, you can get the summary slides here for keeps ??