Ask Ron: Do I Have a Sales Problem?

A business coach asks:

My practice is doing ok, but I don’t have enough ideal clients.  I have a few clients who are great, although they aren’t paying me what I’m worth.  I have several clients who are total energy drains and not worth it.   Obviously I’ve been successfully in signing up these clients, so I don’t think I have a sales problem.   What should I do?

First, recognize that Yes, you do have a sales problem.  Want more clients?  You need sales.  Want different clients?  You need sales.  Want higher paying clients?  You need sales.    Want ideal clients consistently?  You need a good sales process.

When you are first starting out, you often don’t know exactly who your ideal client is.  As you work with various clients, you learn, you grow, and you figure out where to focus your best work.   So it is completely normal to find yourself in this position. In fact, as long as you continue to grow, you will continue to evolve your understanding of your ideal client.

What does a good sales process look like?  A good sales process is one that matches up your ideal client with your business.  A good process brings in the ideal prospective clients who really do want what you offer.  Also, if the prospect is not your ideal customer, you both want to figure it out quickly.  It is much better to disqualify a client early in the sales process than waste either of your time.

Coaches/consultants struggle with finding ideal clients because often the definition of ideal depends on how the client behaves during the engagement itself.  When I mentor coaches/consultants and ask them to describe the ideal client, they use words like “committed”, “inspiring”, “passionate”, “willing to grow.”  Yet often times these qualities are not revealed during a sales conversation.  We only find out after the fact once the work begins and we realized that they are not, in fact, a good match.

So to really create a practice with ideal clients, I need to design my sales process to attract the right clients AND filter out the wrong clients.

• If I want a client who is committed, then I can ask them to do some work during the sales process.  If they aren’t willing to do even a small amount of work, will they really be willing to do big work once they are a client?

• If you really want a client who is inspiring, then design a two-call process instead of a one-call process.  In a one-call process, you talk to the prospective client and then have to decide on the spot whether they are a good fit.  But if you have a two-call process by design, you not only can add more value to the client during the process, but you have time in between the two calls to consider if this client really is a good fit – and inspiring to you.  If not, you can graciously bow out on the second call.

• You may also design your actual work in stages.  Instead of long-term engagements, start small.  That way you can figure out in stages if the client really does fit the ideal profile.

There is no single formula – only thoughtfulness on your part to design the right process.  The right process serves your clients as well by ensuring the right fit and great outcomes.

The other part of the sales problem relates to raising your fees.  As soon as you have the desire to raise fees or the feeling that you are undercharging, you have a sales problem.  Most of the time it is an internal mindset problem, (see Pay to the Order of Fear), often accompanied by a sales skill problem.

The skill gap lies in your ability to diagnose the client’s needs such that they, not you, see the value.  If you want to double your fees, are you confident in your ability to conduct a conversation with a client so that they see the value at that level?  (Stay tuned for more teaching on how to conduct a good diagnosis.)

The key to overcoming this fear and/or skill gap is rehearsal.  You must operationalize exactly what you will say and become comfortable stating your new fee just like you are reciting your phone number.  If you are hesitant, clients will pick up on it.  I actually had a client even tell me once about noticing my hesitation.  He said “You are so confident when discussing my business, yet hesitant when discussing your fee.  Why is that?”  I thanked him for the feedback.  Very few people will actually tell you this – even though they definitely notice it, at least subconsciously.

Want more ideal clients?  Design a good process and practice it.

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What is your biggest sales challenge?  Leave your answer in the comments section below – or submit your question by clicking here: Ask Ron.