Marketing Your Consulting Services.pdf - epiheirimatikotita.gr

about his kids, his wife, his headaches, his sailing, his dream to become a college
professor, and many other things I would be able to follow up with later. But he
didn’t tell me about the project we were supposed to discuss. After an hour, he said
thanks for coming in and that I would hear from him. I flew back home feeling
dejected. I always knew I wasn’t that good at closing a sale, but now I couldn’t even
open the discussion! I was sure it was a lost opportunity. A couple days later an acquaintance
from inside the company called and said, “I don’t know what you did to
Bill, but he said it was the best darned sales call he’d ever had and that we would
be doing lots of work with you!” What did I do? I listened. Although I do not recommend
that you never open the discussion, I do want to point out how important
listening is to building a relationship.
The real display of your professionalism will occur when you demonstrate a
genuine interest in the client. You will begin by determining your client’s communication
style, that is, whether the client is more task-oriented or people-oriented
and whether the client is more take-charge or easygoing. Knowing these dimensions
of your client’s style will help you to get into your client’s comfort zone. You
will learn the specifics about communication style in the next chapter.
Add Value Early
Show that you can add value early in the relationship. Ask the questions from the
list you brought with you. Allow your potential client to answer them completely.
As your client speaks, take notes—lots of them. If you are asked to write a proposal
following this meeting, you have just been given the words to use. It’s almost like
being given the right answers before the test! In addition, you will impress your
clients with the importance you are putting on their words.
Learn as much as you can about your client’s business and its problems. Your
earlier research should have given you some information to start with. And now
you can talk intelligently about the situation. What are your client’s goals and how
can you link your services to those goals? Again, you started this process with the
letter you wrote.
During your conversation you can begin to build a partnership with the client
by offering suggestions based on your experience or something you’ve read. You
could recommend a book or article, or even reference a contact who has had a similar
experience. Be sure to ask questions for clarity and to acknowledge the person
Selling Services: How Do You Sell You? 171