In our previous post, we focused on ways to successfully market yourself as an adviser to small business owners. In this article, we’re going to talk about how to sell to small business owners.
To clarify, and make sure we’re all on the same page, marketing and sales are two distinct functions of a business. The purpose of marketing is to generate leads, while the purpose of sales is to convert those leads into revenue.
In the context of this discussion, marketing your consulting services to small business owners is meant to raise awareness and create connections that are strong possibilities for future clients. As we enter the sales phase of the process, we’re transitioning to interacting with someone who is already aware of who you are and has some degree of interest in what you offer.
With a sales hat firmly in place, the following tips will help you to close the deal and generate revenue by bringing on a new client.
1. Understand what the business owner needs
The challenges of owning a business change as the business grows. If you are going to sell your services, you need to be able to stand in that owner’s shoes and understand those challenges. After all, you can’t offer viable solutions if you don’t first understand the challenges. If you haven’t had similar experience to what the business owner is going through, it can be an uphill battle to convince them that you can add value. A solid framework such as Organizational ReWilding can be a powerful way to understand, relate, and make sense of their situation.
A big advantage to using a framework based on the stages of business growth is that you know not only what the customer is experiencing today but also what challenges to expect tomorrow. You can speak to solutions that will get them past their current problems and provide strategies for avoiding, minimizing, or preparing for future challenges.
2. Prove that you have something of value to offer
Small business owners are notoriously self-reliant. They’re accustomed to tackling challenges using their own resources. Asking for help is not typically part of their process. If you’re going to make the sale, you need to give them proof, or at the very least confidence, that you have something to offer that benefits them.
There’s more than one way to accomplish this, but here are some suggestions.
Connect them with a past client; referrals are an excellent way to establish trust.
Provide them with data and stories of past experiences that show you understand their challenges and have helped others successfully navigate through them.
To the extent possible, give them a way to try for themselves without being locked into a long-term commitment
3. Be clear on the outcomes
Nobody wants to spend money without being clear on what they’re getting in exchange. When you make a proposal, be sure to delineate exactly what the client can expect in return. Don’t promise the moon unless that’s what you’re selling. Establish some metrics and talk about reasonable outcomes as well as timeframes. If you’re creating structure with your client that will take a few months to yield a measurable return, make that clear.
4. Help them understand the value
As a small business owner who is constantly being sold various products and services, it can be difficult to get past the numbers to the left of the dollar sign. To help make the point clear that your services will bring a return, break it down. What will it mean in terms of revenue if the owner can increase repeat business by 30%? How much will the owner save if employee retention improves? One question that can be effective is to ask how much they stand to lose if they don’t solve the problem. Status quo is the biggest obstacle to consultants but standing still—doing nothing—doesn’t mean there’s no movement. It usually means movement in the wrong direction, going backwards instead of forward.
The consulting services you have to offer can make the difference between a small business that succeeds and one that fails. With these tips in mind, we hope that you successfully earn the trust of that next client.
The ReWild Group Network is an active group of consultants who share tips and experiences to help build each other’s business. More collaborative than competitive, ReWilders believe in the value of going together in order to go further. Are you a consultant looking for a strong community and effective framework? We’d love to hear from you! Learn more here.