Selling BMW’s is relatively easy. Just get someone to take it for a test drive, fall in love with the LED dashboard lights and smell of the leather…
Selling pet care services is much, much harder.
For a new sale to “close,” a client must give you a key to their home and trust that you’ll take great care of their pets. This is a leap of faith that can’t be underestimated. There aren’t any test drives or polished chrome to help make them feel good about the decision first. Your services are invisible, nothing more than a promise to do something in the future.
That’s why it’s so critical to understand that everything you do and say is being judged by your prospective clients. Your words, mannerisms, marketing materials, punctuality. All of these are clues. Clients are making snap judgments about you based on everything from how you dress to the quality of your business cards.
It doesn’t matter if you are the most reliable, competent and trustworthy person on the planet. If your business cards, web site and sales process are amateurish and slapped together, then that will be the expectation others have of the quality of your services. If you don’t return phone calls and emails quickly, or show up late for appointments, you send a clear message: I’m not taking this that seriously.
So be smart with your time and money by spending them in the right places. Premium, well designed business cards cost a bit more, sure. But they look much better than the alternative. Learning how to create a great WordPress site takes time, but that effort will more than pay off in new business. Consultative selling may feel unnatural at first, but it will distinguish you as a professional.
Don’t make clients guess at the quality of your work. Make it obvious in the things they can easily see.
