Grow Your Business, Avoid Losing Sales, and Save Time
A Common Story
Growing up I had this friend, let’s call him Joe. Joe was a smart kid but he didn’t really care about school. Sure, learning about things like history was interesting, but was it really practical for what he wanted to do? He himself wasn’t even sure of that yet. Joe soon realized that he just wasn’t an academic, he didn’t want to work in an office, he wanted and enjoyed being outside and working with his hands. So, he started working as a landscaper and then a home detailer for a local franchise.
In his first year doing the job he was learning the ropes. How do you use the equipment, how does billing work, what do we look for when we’re on the job, but the biggest question of all that stumped him, was how do we get new business? How do we sell?
Joe stayed there for another 4 years and became known as the go-to guy in that local franchise. If new people were hired, he’d be the one to train them. Joe soon became confident that he was equipped with the skills he needed to start his own home service business. Why should he make close to minimum wage when he knew the ins and outs of the business well enough to run his own? The problem? Joe may be a service expert, but he doesn’t feel he knows how to sell and market his services well enough to start his own business and still have a steady income, and because of that, Joe decided to stay working at his current company, at least for now.
Joe’s not alone.
The Solution
Here at NiceJob we’ve seen countless examples of service experts who do their specific service really well, but when it comes to marketing and sales they often fall short. The fact of the matter is that sales is hard, and their ability to find new customers is often the thing that holds people back. It's so heartbreaking to see in most cases because it's the one thing that is holding them back.
But why, if you’re an expert at some service, whether it’s plumbing, legal services, physiotherapy, auto-repair, or any number of different specialties, trades or occupations, do you also need to be an expert at digital marketing and sales to be able to run your own practice or be a provider? What if you didn’t have to be?
I started working at NiceJob for exactly this reason, to help make it easier for people just like you to be able to do what you do best without having to worry about being an expert at marketing. Our mission is to help people get the reputation you deserve, because if you do great work, you shouldn’t have to find customers, it should be easy for them to find you. That’s why we develop software that automatically gets you more reviews for your business, showcases them on your website, or even run your website for you with guaranteed conversion rates so it’s impossible to lose money. All that’s great for taking care of your marketing, but even if you generate new leads using something like NiceJob, what do you do next?
Unfortunately, NiceJob doesn’t currently provide sales software, so we talked to our Relationship Manager Dillon Crouch about what simple sales methods small businesses could use to close deals once they’ve gotten a new lead from their website using a service like NiceJob, SEO, or any ads they may run.
Here it is!
A simple sales process for closing leads from your websites:
- Explore the issue with them and look for opportunities to upsell. Do this through asking probing questions.
- Recommend solutions you can provide to their problems/goals. You can use this opportunity to now upsell.
- Confirm again they want the service, then ask if they have questions about your pricing works (ideally you should have this be clear on your website to avoid awkward conversation). Use a tool like Responsibid or others to offer easy dynamic quoting online.
- If they’re cagey when you bring up price, ask and talk about past solutions or providers they’ve tried. If they were satisfied with them they wouldn’t be talking to you. Use your reviews (get more of these using NiceJob), to establish trust and explain why you’re better.
- Close the deal!
Beyond this simple sales process for you to use, Dillon also had some excellent tips on the three biggest things you can do to be successful in sales. If you follow these, even if you’re not a sales or marketing expert, you’ll be just fine.
Show up in service.
Sales isn’t about you trying to get something from them, rather it should be the nicest thing you can do for that person in the moment. If you’re never going to talk to this person again otherwise, and you know your service can help them, then change your mentality to doing the nicest thing you possibly can for this person in the moment, which if you believe you provide value, is to sell to them.
Build trust.
Sales isn’t about pushing product, it’s about building genuine and mutually beneficial relationships, and the foundation of those is trust. Trust is the establishment that you can provide the value you say you can, and if you use services like NiceJob to get more reviews, you can use those reviews to do that.
Ask for the close.
If the customer wants the service, you know you can help them, then close the deal. Ask for their business and permission to come and serve them as soon as possible. A lot of people are great at conveying value but feel awkward asking for money. Don’t. If you provide value, there is nothing wrong with telling the person it’s worth paying for!
Here's some other expert tips on how to close a sale, with examples from service industry professionals.
In Summary
Armed with software tools like NiceJob, you should be well on your way to being your own boss, achieving financial independence, and getting the reputation in your community you truly deserve.
Are you a service expert like Joe who’s struggled with sales? Do you have any tips for other service providers to help them grow their businesses like a pro? Leave us a comment on our Facebook livestream (see below), our Instagram, or Twitter!
https://www.facebook.com/nicejobapp/videos/1816461505101208/
Want to try NiceJob for yourself? Sign up for our 14-day free trial here. We can’t wait to hear from you!
