Are you really making the most of every sales opportunity you are having in your Virtual Assistant business?
If you’re reading this then there is a good chance you are already familiar with sales funnels…..But perhaps not in your Virtual Assistant business?
But for those of you who aren’t – a brief summary in my own words.
I liken the sales funnel as a clients journey. It’s the process of bringing someone into your world and converting them into a high paying client.
People can enter your world (aka your database) by:
– opting in on your website
– downloading a free gift you share in an online business group (such as an eBook)
– attending one of your webinars
– watching and reading your content
or any other client generating strategy that you put out there.
We then want to take them from that free stage of existing in your database or social network into a paid client. The best way is to have a sales call with them.
I call sales calls LCC’s. Low Cost Conversations. That is because I generally charge a nominal fee to have the sales call but its a very valuable experience for the prospect.
Why do I charge for the sales call?
Simply put, I need the prospect to get into the habit of realising that they must invest in my knowledge, time and expertise – that I don’t just give everything out willy nilly. They can get plenty of free stuff in the form of my blogs, videos and other free resources available online – but one-on-one time with me 95% of the time involves some kind of monetary transaction.
Some one-on-one time where you can show them how fantastic you are and sell your services (which I hope by now are some pretty cool packages, and no hourly rates or retainers).
BUT Virtual Assistants are notoriously nervous about sales calls. Or they go about them the wrong way.
I cannot tell you how many times I have seen some generic templated information spouting huge lists of services that the VA offers and the same standard 5 benefits of using a VA (that EVERY OTHER VIRTUAL ASSISTANT is advertising) being sent out to a prospect.
Hint: When you all offer the same services and you all have the same benefits the only way a client can make a decision is based on price. For what other variable can they base their decision on? This is the last thing we want them to do. For when they buy on price they will ALWAYS (even subconsciously) be looking for a cheaper option over time. Read on to find out how we can change this.
If they do get the chance to speak to someone over the phone or face to face, Virtual Assistants often take the passive approach and let the client dominate the conversation and just ask simple questions like “how many hours” or “what is your budget” – none of which SHOWS the prospect your amazing skills!
How can we not only encourage more sales conversations but also convert more into clients?
Now if you have worked with me at all then you know and I am a BIG lover of reverse engineering things. I love starting with the end goal in mind and then working backwards and designing the process or steps to achieve said goal.
The same goes with my approach to sales funnels in Virtual Assistant businesses.
If you know what Package or service you want to sell then we can design a sales conversation that actually brings results to both YOU and the PROSPECT.
How can this be?
How can we bring results to the client in a sales call?
By simply ensuring your LCC or sales call is super value driven.
Given that 99% of sales calls are no longer than an hour, I simply ask this question to my mentors all the time.
“What is something that you can solve for your client in one hour that brings MASSIVE results and wow factor BUT it’s very little effort or resources for you to deliver AND is related to the end package you want to sell?”
Okay so lets break this question up.
The first part – solving a problem for a client that is big impact for them, but easy peasy for you.
This approach means that you get to WOW your client, take away an initial pain, show them your magic, take very little effort for you to deliver (maximum result, minimum effort) which is a win-win situation.
Even if the client doesn’t buy anything off you they walk away feeling like they have received TONS of value and will happily refer others to you.
This part of the sales call is important as it gets you to display your skills far more than an email or flyer can AND you can begin to build rapport with the prospect
The second part is where it becomes more trickier for some.
I have no doubt there are hundreds of things you can do for your clients that will knock their socks off but they have no place when you’re trying to sell x package or service.
For example, if you are trying to get your client to buy a newsletter package there is no point in doing some bank reconciliation in your sales call. What do the two have in common? Nothing! So don’t do it.
Similarly don’t offer a logo design if you’re planning on answering their calls.
I am sure you get what I am trying to say here .
So what can you do?
WELL you do something that directly relates to the end package.
Something that enables you to plant the seed where you can nurture it lovingly and generously.
Let’s revisit these two examples…..
If you want a client to sign up to your newsletter package then why not use your sales call to help plan out the next 3 months pieces of content?
Or perhaps design a plan to grow their database to x numbers so they have more people to send the newsletter to 😉
If reception is your game – why not spend the sales call showing them how to use a soft phone??
You see when you show people how much you know in the area of their businesses they are currently focusing on – then you get the wonderful opportunity of offering to help in a more in depth fashion right when they are already focused in that area.
This will enable you to convert many many more clients AND they will be ones that are into the services and packages that you wanted to sell anyway!
I guess I should mention (if you haven’t yet realised) you REALLY need to know what the end product or service is going to be for this to work.
To be honest, the LCC is only one step (the middle one) between getting your prospects attention and selling them a package, but its a really powerful one I wanted to teach you about today.
If you would love help designing the whole funnel for your business, I am uncharactistily offering to do some for free! It’s my gift for thanking you for reading until the end of the post 🙂