For many coaches, consultants and service professionals, we have been told time and again to raise our fees, or to design “packages” instead of trading hours for dollars.
Sounds good in theory and we may have even taken courses and trainings to learn the “how.”
Now, be honest – how much are your clients actually paying you?
Maybe you have a premium package sitting on your website somewhere, but you have never get paid a “premium” fee; or you revert back to selling the “old” lower-cost packages or charge by the hours when the rubber meets the road, i.e. during your sales conversation, because fears and doubts creep in and you chicken out.
Where does the disconnect happen – if you (intellectually) know selling a premium package is better for your business, and you also have the knowledge to create the package?
YOU, hold the answer. It’s all in your head.
Everything can sound good on paper, until it comes time to ask for the money.
There are a lot of fears, pre/misconceptions and judgments around “selling”, self-worth and value. Until you bust through those crap, you will never feel completely comfortable during a sales conversation. Your comfort level in asking to get paid is proportional to how much you ultimately get paid.
Your preconception may be the culprit…
Nobody likes being pushed into buying, and we may perceive people selling to be “bad” because some salesperson gave us bad experience. If you had bad experience with sales people, it is easy to equate selling as “dishonest” and who wants to be perceived as such? Of course you don’t want to, so you hold back from selling.
Plus, there are many unfavorable images we have with people doing selling – e.g. the used car salesman, the late-night infomercial dude, even that pushy MLM friend who won’t let you off the hook until you reluctantly sign up for stuff you don’t want.
What if selling can be a form of service? What if you can serve your people while you sell them your services? Educational marketing is a great example. You give your audience/readers information and provide value to raise awareness about a problem. When they understand the problem they have actually has a solution and you, standing right there, provides that service – they will want to seek you out without you pushing your wares.
I sign a lot more clients after I changed my approach from constantly worrying about “what can I say or ask to get them to buy my stuff?” to “what questions can I ask to help this person see a solution to her challenges?” This change in attitude can give the energy behind sales conversations a major overhaul.
How can you be of highest service? It is not selling a lower-cost package if your client needs more extensive support from you.
How can you lead your potential clients into exploring working with you by serving them?
About Ling
Ling is an Intuitive Brainiac. Through her unique blend of Business + Marketing coaching with a Mindset + Psychic Twist, Ling Wong helps Maverick Entrepreneurs nail their message, claim their superpowers and muster up the GUTS to monetize their Truth.
Ling helps her clients translate their vision, purpose and superpowers into practical strategies, compelling offerings and effective communication that sell, through her intuitive yet rigorous iterative process born out of her Harvard Design School training and 10 years of experience in the online marketing industry.
Find Ling and download her free “Monetize Your Truth” Mindset + Marketing training bundle here.
