“Stop selling your professional services, you are killing your sales.”  That was the message from Jim Horan (known for The One Page Business Plan) in a teleseminar of the same name.

Why Selling Hurts Sales

It’s not selling in and of itself that’s bad, it’s the mindset that people get into when trying to close a sale that can sabotage the process.  Here are some signs that your “selling mindset” has undermined your sales process.

• You spend more time discussing your product than you do discussing your potential client’s needs.

As a professional, I have no doubt that you have some process to discover what your client’s needs are, and then act in your client’s best interests.  Whether they realize it or not, a potential client will be looking to see what your process you use.

If you spend the whole of the sales interview telling your lead about the services you offer without soliciting their needs, they will assume that your professional practice will function in the same way.  If you instead challenge your client to explain how they see your services fitting their needs, you’ll learn a lot more about what they actually require, and can guide them towards those services or packages that will actually serve them best.

• You compromise your standards or avoid tough questions because you are afraid you might lose a new client.

Quiet desperation isn’t really that quiet.  Unless you’re really prepared to go along with whatever your client requests (which could have some nasty consequences for your bottom line), you need to give yourself a voice from the get-go.  Problem clients will love you for agreeing to build them the moon, but someone who is looking for a balanced and professional approach will balk if your need to close the sale gags your professional voice.

• You find sales a burden and would rather get to work.

Let’s face it, if you seem gloomy or stressed when interacting with a lead, they’re going to be less inclined to work with you (unless they’re green, furry, and live in the garbage can half-way down Sesame Street).  If you sell from such a position you may give the process short shrift, which can result in problem clients and scope creep.

How To Sell Without the “Selling Mindset”

If you do not like selling, you need to build a system where you potential clients can sell themselves.  In other words, you need to market yourself and your services.

Selling is really a very small part of the sales cycle.  It begins when a potential client sits down across from you, and ends when they sign a contract or walk away.  If the lead is already interested in what you can offer them before they ever sit down, selling will require far less work.

By contrast, marketing encompasses everything you do to draw people towards you.  This includes how and where you talk about what you do.  And in today’s market, if you have not included the internet as a venue, you are doing yourself a disservice.

Something motivated you towards your current career, and that passion can drive your online presence.

Consider what you want to say and whom you wish to say it to, and bring that information with you when you meet with your web developer.  They can suggest tools that will let you present this information to your desired audience and include it on your website simultaneously.

Once you’ve found a community where you are the expert, business will come to you, no “selling” necessary.