Small Business Sales Advice | Booked Solid University

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Super Simple Selling (the Book Yourself Solid Way)

Successful Selling Needs The Right Amount of Trust At Just The Right Time

It’s no accident that I introduce sales in Book Yourself Solid in Chapter 9—after I’ve taught you how to set your foundation and build trust and credibility. One of the reasons that so many sales conversations are unsuccessful is because they’re had at the wrong time—usually too soon—before you’ve earned the proportionate amount of trust needed for the offer being made. Plus, your clients’ buy when it’s right for them—when something occurs in their life or business that compels them to hire you. If these two factors, trust and timing, come together at just the right moment, you’ll have a successful sales conversation and book the business. But this only works if you’ve built a solid foundation, demonstrating that you:

Have a red velvet rope policy so you work only with ideal clients.
Understand why people buy what you’re selling so you know exactly to whom you are selling and what they want to invest in.
Have developed a personal brand identity so you decide how you’re known in the world.
Are able to talk about what you do without sounding confusing or bland, or like everybody else, and without ever using an elevator speech.

If you’ve set this foundation, a potential client will give you the opportunity to earn their trust. But you’ll only earn their trust if you:

Use the standard credibility builders and have a high degree of likeability.
Have designed a sales cycle that starts with no-barrier-to-entry offers including your always-have-something-to-invite-people-to offer.
Have simple lead generating information products that enhance your credibility and speed up your sales cycle.

Then, and realy only then, are you ready to have sales conversations—that work.

The Secret to the Book Yourself Solid System

This simple 4-step process is the secret to the Book Yourself Solid system.

You execute a few of the 7 Core Self-Promotion strategies, which create awareness for what you have to offer.
When a potential client becomes aware of your services they’ll take a look at your foundation. If it looks secure, if they feel comfortable stepping onto it, they’ll give you the opportunity to earn their trust—but only the opportunity. They’re not necessarily going to hire you right then and there. They need some time before they will actually trust you.
That’s when your plan to build trust and credibility comes into play. As a potential client moves through your sales cycle, they will come to like you, trust you and find you credible.
When their circumstances dictate that they need the kind of help you provide, they’ll raise their hand and ask you to have a sales conversation (I’ll teach you this in a minute). You have a sales conversation the Book Yourself Solid way and book the business.

The process is simple. The process is sound. It can turn your business life around. And, most importantly, the process is a complete, repetitive, and self-perpetuating system.

The Super Simple Selling System

Now, let’s talk about how to have the sales conversation. I’ve created, the 4-Part Sales Formula for super simple selling—so simple the formula practically works on its own. Why? Because, once trust is assured and a need is met, using this 4 part formula during your sales conversations will book the business. But, please remember, this is meant to be an open and free-flowing conversation not a sales script.

Book Yourself Solid 4-Part Sales Formula

When a potential client expresses interest in working with you, open with a simple question…

Part 1: What are you working on? Or, what is your goal? Or, what are you trying to achieve?

Once you feel certain you know what they want to accomplish and by when, simply ask…

Part 2: How will you know when you have achieved it? What results will you see? What feedback will you hear? What feelings will you have?

Once you feel like the potential client has clearly articulated these benefits, make sure they are fully in the hiring frame of mind, ask…

Part 3: Would you like someone to help you with that (achieve your goal, etc.)?

If they say, “no,” wish them the best of luck and keep-in-touch with them. If they say, “yes,” then offer…

Part 4: Would you like that person to be me? Because, you know, you are my ideal client. (To which they’ll say, “what do you mean?” Because no one has ever said that to them before.) Well, you are someone with whom I do my best work. (They’ll ask “why?” and you’ll tell them…) Because you are… (Here is where you list the qualities that make them who they are and allow you to do your best work.) As, you’re listing these qualities you’ll see their face brighten as they sit up strait and say, “Wow. That is so me! Thank you for noticing.” You’ll say, so shall we look at our calendars to plan a time to get started? And, the answer will be…drumroll please… “Absolutely, yes!”

Don’t use the phrases above verbatim. Instead just use the Book Yourself Solid 4-Part Sales Formula as a framework for a superduper simple (successful) sales conversation.

Written Exercise: Practice without pressure. Try this process with a good friend or colleague and see what happens. Ask them to call you at random a few times over the course of a week and say, “Hi, I’ve been getting your newsletter for a while and I think you may be able to help me, can we talk about your services?” And, instead of doing that thing that everyone does—talk about themselves and their business for 20 minutes—ask them what they’re working on or what they’re trying to achieve or what problem they’re trying to overcome, and you’ll be into Part 1 of the Book Yourself Solid 4-Part Sales Formula. Super simple.

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Michael Port’s Book Yourself Solid Wisdom

By Michael Port

Long after people forget what you said or did, they will remember how you made them feel. – Carl W. Buechner
When you’re fully self-expressed, fully demonstrating your values and your views, you’ll naturally attract and draw to yourself those you’re best suited to work with, and you’ll push away those you’re not meant to work with.
Marketing and sales isn’t about trying to convince, coerce, or manipulate people into buying your services. It’s about putting yourself out in front of, and offering your services to, those whom you are meant to serve — people who already need and are looking for your services.
You must offer what your potential clients want to buy, not what you want to sell or think they should want to buy. You must be able to look at your services from your client’s perspective—their urgent needs and compelling desires.
The greatest strategy for personal and business development on the planet is bold self-expression.
If you don’t want to make a difference, consider making y our living as something other than a service professional. The operative word is service.
We hear the question, “What do you do for a living?” all the time. Your professional category alone is the wrong answer.
When you’re passionate and excited about what you do and you let it show, it’s incredibly attractive. Real passion can’t be faked and there’s nothing more appealing and convincing than knowing someone is speaking from the heart.
Begin to think of and refer to yourself as a category authority—an expert in your field.
You are in the business of serving other people as you stand in the service of your destiny and express yourself through your work.
If you’ve been feeling like you can’t, or shouldn’t, be paid to do what you love, you must let that limiting belief go if you’re to be booked solid.
A connection with another human being means that you’re in sync with, and relevant to each other. Let that be our definition of networking.
If you feel called to share a message, it’s because there are people in the world who are waiting to hear it.
There are certain people you’re meant to serve and others you’re not. If you can help other professionals attract business through you, you’re creating more abundance for everyone involved.

5 Comments »

The Simple Way to Network and Get Referrals

By Michael Port

As a business owner, you’ll need to proactively reach out to potential clients to make offers and to marketing partners and other decision makers to create business opportunities.

The most important direct outreach you do might well be to other service professionals, businesses, and professional associations to network, cross-promote, and build referral relationships.

But so many of us struggle with this. The idea of reaching out to someone that we don’t know…Yikes! You might be getting queasy just thinking about it. How do you do it (without nausea)?

With the BYS List of 20, of course. Don’t have one? Really? Ok, let’s make one…

The Book Yourself Solid List of 20

Make a List of 20 people within your industry with whom you’d like to develop professional relationships.

These are people whom you do not yet know — influencers within your target market who can help you get booked solid. This is your BYS List of 20.

The list never leaves your side. It sits on your desk. Lives on your computer. And, travels with you when you’re on the road.

Why twenty and why must you keep it with you at all times?

Since your success is, in large part, determined by the people within your industry who are willing to refer to you or to put you in front of your ideal clients or endorse you, you need to keep these people top of mind. Keeping this list by your side will ensure that you’re thinking of them and, if you do, you’ll begin to notice opportunities to connect with them and get to know them.
And, twenty, because it’s a large enough number to keep your focus expansive but narrow enough that you won’t be overwhelmed.

Written Exercise: Identify a minimum of three, and a maximum of twenty, people you’d like to reach out to directly and personally. (These may be prospective clients, decision makers at an organization or association, or the press.) At this moment, you might not think you can fill out your List of 20, but now that you know what you need to do, you’ll start to take notice of the people you should add to this list.

Here’s what you do with your list:

Each day, reach out to the person at the top of the list.
After you’ve reached out to this person, place this person at the bottom of the list.
Now that this person has been moved to the end of the list, the person who was number 2 on the list becomes number 1 and each other person moves up one spot. This way your List of 20 always stays at twenty.

You’ll reach out to each person approximately every twenty business days which is about once per month.

This direct outreach activity occurs every day. This is critical. Dedicated, disciplined and determined action is key to your direct outreach success.

Remember, the BYS List of 20 is your wish list. You’re list of 20 people that could have a significant impact on your business through their referrals, introductions and advice. Do this daily and you’ll be booked solid in no time flat.

Booked Solid Action Step: Reach out to the first person on your list of 20 by sending a card or email of appreciation. Or maybe congratulate them on an accomplishment. Simple.

Using the Book Yourself Solid Direct Outreach Strategy is all about making personal connections. Reach out to others from the heart, in a way that is genuine and authentic for you.

Take it one step at a time and you’ll do fine.

9 Comments »

Why People Buy – Anything and Everything

By Michael Port

People want to express their values. Plain and simple. And they do so through the products and services they buy. If you saw a fat casino tab, Smirnoff delivery charges and a Hummer lease payment on my Amex statement, you’d know what I value. However, if my charges included yoga sessions, continuing education in MIT’s Birthing of Giants program and the compost for a backyard vegetable garden, you’d get a different sense of values.

11 Comments »

Full-Day BYS Seminar Open to Public

By Michael Port

Looking forward to teaching full-day OPEN TO THE PUBLIC Book Yourself Solid workshop Wednesday, May 19, 2010 in Ivyland, PA. It’s something like $129. Can’t beat that!

4 Comments »