Today we're going to be talking about one of my all time favorite subjects… I have a really big smile on my face right now, because we're going to be talking about selling. You know I love my checklists, so to make this as actionable for you as possible, I’ve boiled my best selling advice into six keys. I don’t actually have six keys – I’ve got many, many more. But for now, let’s keep it simple and look at the six core keys to selling.
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Key 1: Make it easy
This is something that really grinds my gears. Often, when I ask someone for information because I want to work for them, people make it really difficult for you to buy something from them. So the first key is this: make buying from you easy!
What does that mean in practice? It means eliminate as many doors as possible for your customers. If you’re selling via social media, add a contact button or really simple instructions like ‘email me with your questions’, or ‘book your first consultation here’. Don’t make people go from link to link to link, because the more doors you put up, the more walls are up, and the easier it is to lose people.
Eliminate all of the doors you’re putting up, and make it so simple that even a two year old could book an appointment with you. Maybe we should call this the two year old test. Could my two year old nephew book an appointment with you? He knows how to navigate YouTube and search for car movies, so he should be able to navigate your profile or your website and find the button that puts him in contact with you.
Key 2: Be insanely enthusiastic
You can sell based on authority.
You can use principles for selling.
You can read every single sales book out there.
But none of the principles will make a difference if you don’t believe in your service or your product.
People need to feel your enthusiasm in order for them to be enthusiastic about buying from you, because don't be mistaken: spending money hurts. The human brain is wired to avoid pain, and spending money is something that hurts. We try to come up with as many reasons as possible to not buy. But if you are so enthusiastic about what you have to sell and what you're offering, other people will get really enthusiastic too.
You might be thinking, ‘well, Amy, easier said than done’. What if no one buys? Well, if that’s a thought that is constantly in your brain, no one will buy. If you are not enthusiastic about what you're selling, that's the thing we need to fix first. You need to be proud of what you're selling – you need to be 500% committed that this is the best possible solution you're offering to someone else. Change your offer if you're not enthusiastic – because the most important thing is to hype other people up so that they will buy from you.
Key 3: Focus on the benefits, not the tools
The third key is one that I have learned over and over again over the past years, and I still make mistakes, but it’s something that's insanely important. You need to focus on benefits instead of tools.
Let’s say you’re starting out selling a coaching program. You might say to people, “Hey, get into my happy belly program, and you'll get 10 coaching calls with me and five chickens a week and you will get 10 printed out PDFs.” Everyone will think, “I don't care whatsoever.” What people want to know is that you’ll feel fit when you wake up, you will go to sleep feeling zen, you will lose 10 kilos, your pants will look amazing on you, and your butt will look like it belongs to a fitness model. Those are benefits.
When you're selling, you need to focus on benefits first, tools later. You want to portray a really good picture of what people will achieve, and of the results they're going to get and the benefits your offer will bring to them. And only after, we talk about the tools!
Key 4: The Highlight Effect
Now, the highlight effect is something I made up myself – but the spotlight effect isn't. The spotlight effect is the idea that since I spend all day working in my own business, I assume everyone else knows what I do, too. But no one knows what I’m talking about if I never explain it to them!
I once launched a mastermind coaching program, and spent my time talking about mastermind this, mastermind that. I was so deep into the spotlight effect that I completely forgot to explain that the mastermind program was business coaching.
This is why I created the highlight effect: to reverse this concept. Here’s the truth – people need to hear something 8 to 10 times before they really know about it. So in order to defeat the spotlight effect, where we get kind of caught up into our own story because we hear it every day, we need to highlight what we do, just like you would use a highlighter. When you're studying, you highlight the most important things. All the time, you’ve got to highlight what you're doing, who your offer is for, which way it works, how people can contact you and how they can work with you – because otherwise, no one even knows!
Key 5: Show Your Face
Now, the fifth key is one I used to struggle with. It's a difficult one, because the fifth key to selling your service and attracting new clients online is show your face. You may think “but Amy, I'm not an egotistical maniac and I don't really want to show my face because I'm not an influencer”. You might think that you’re too introverted or blah, blah, blah.
I hear you.
Even better: I was you.
But you need to show your face. I work with many people like virtual assistants, photographers, stylists, freelancers, whoever… But I always want to know what they look and ‘feel' like before we work together. I want to know if we are compatible, if I would enjoy spending time with them, because time is limited, and so is energy.
When you show your face you increase trust. And in order to sell your service, you don't just need interest from people, you need trust.
Show your face, because your face is unfortunately linked to your service. If you feel uncomfortable doing this at first, just accept it's really important. Start today, and start small. Post a selfie and put some text on it. Put a photo of yourself up on your Instagram feed. The best thing to do is to talk on Stories and creating videos, because on video you can see your body language, your voice, and your facial expressions. It’s the very best way for people to get to know you and trust you, so that they will buy from you and work with you.
Key 6: Social Proof
Often, people hesitate to promote their offerings because they don’t have enough testimonials. Social proof is hugely important: you need to externalize your worth so people will trust you and they will also want to buy from you. In the beginning, if you don't have any testimonials yet, you can coach some people for free, or help some people for free and ask them for a review in return for a free coaching call.
Now, let's imagine you don't have reviews, and you're too shy to ask your customers (or you don't have any yet). How do you use social proof in your business? I’m talking to everyone who delivers a service right now. Photographers, coaches, trainers, graphic designers – like I don't even care about what you do and even if you’re working for free… The solution is: show off your clients or collaborations! Highlight as many people in relation to you as possible, because your authority will instantly soar. Make selfies when you collaborate or work with someone. Hell, even if you're explaining something to a friend: position this as an increase in your authority, too!
How do I do this? Every Thursday when I work with my clients in my mastermind coaching program, I post pictures of our calls. When I follow a coach and I see them boasting about their clients, I think that person must be legit, because other people seem to know, like, and trust them. Posting about your clients will increase your trust factor and it will become easier for people to buy from you. Even if you don't have testimonials yet, that’s a really great way to start using social proof today. It’s just like picking a restaurant to eat at – you walk into the restaurant filled with people, not the restaurant that was empty.
Although I've just explained important Keys to Selling, I have many more. If you want to get Amy's 10 Keys to Selling online, download the pdf here: https://fastforwardamy.com/sellingchecklist
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