[Exceptional Influence] Sales Solve Everything
Sales solve everything - Here’s how to sell yourself as a consultant.
Most of the challenges in your consulting business can be solved simply by selling. In consulting, sales solves everything!
As with any business, when it comes to running a consulting practice, we can face many different challenges. These issues may sometimes feel overwhelming. And we may wonder how to solve them – particularly if we’re facing a lot of different issues at the same time.
But there is one answer to this situation – and that is sales. So here’s how to sell yourself as a consultant.
In consulting, sales solve everything
Henry Ford famously said, ‘It has been my observation that most people get ahead during the time that others waste.’ When we are focusing on small, minor issues, we tend to be missing the point.
In fact, the real issue in almost every situation is that you haven’t got any sales coming in. And it’s not just that you haven’t had any sales, but that there are also no sales in your pipeline. When you have no sales then the little issues feel bigger. But in reality, they’re just like little spiders crawling all over you. They might feel all deadly, but they’re really just tickly.
And in the time that you spend worrying about the little things, you could have been solving your problems by making more sales.
Go and sell something!
When you find yourself feeling overwhelmed by the tickly spider issues in your business, it’s time to go and sell something. You need to spend time figuring out how to sell yourself as a consultant. Keith Abraham suggests that you should be making between five and seven sales calls per day. And I’ve set out a system for achieving three types of sales meetings each week.
These practices keep you moving forward in your consulting sales. And when you stop focusing on your sales, any other issues in your business begin to grow in size and importance within your own business.
How to sell yourself as a consultant — the action steps
If you find yourself bogged down by the little things in your consulting business, take a step back and look at your sales. Have you sold anything recently? Have you signed any new clients or booked any speaking gigs? Have you sold your signature workshop or program? Have you had a previous client come back to you for more work?
If you haven’t had any of these things happen recently, it’s highly likely that you need to focus on sales as your solution. Here’s how to sell yourself as a consultant.
Step 1: Write a list
Your first step is to write a list. Who is in your sales funnel that you can contact today? Who’s on your list? Who did you meet or speak to at your last speaking gig?
If there’s no one new, have you checked in on the clients that have bought from you in the past? Have you followed up and checked in? Have you kept in touch? If not, add them to the list.
Step 2: Pick up the phone
Once you have a list of sales opportunities, it’s time to pick up the phone. Call your clients, call your new contacts. Find out what’s going on in their business and see if there’s way that you can help.
As with any sales, the most helpful approach is to be helpful. Rather than pushing your latest program, ask questions, care and be interested. Rather than telling them about what you have to offer, listen first. Then you’ll know what services you can provide that will really deliver value.
Step 3: Follow up
As with any sales, the most important part is the follow up. Don’t let a lot of time pass before you check in with your clients and potential clients again. Keep them in your funnel by simply letting them know that you care.
Step up sales and scale down worry
Once you’ve stepped up your sales you’ll find that those small niggling worries just don’t seem to matter as much. That’s because you’ve taken that time – the time you would have otherwise spent worrying – and done something productive with it. Made sales!
Have you found that consulting sales solved other challenges in your business? I’d love to hear your thoughts…