11 December 2016
The 5 Reasons People Don't Buy Your Professional Services
There are only 5 reasons people will not want to buy from you. Let's go through each one and you can check out whether there's something you need to do to plug any holes in your new client procurement strategy. First, let’s remember: NEED, GREED, CROWD, PROUD. These are the 4 reasons people go shopping. They NEED the item they are looking for, or they have no need of it but just like the idea of owning the item, also known as GREED. On the other hand, they may feel that by owning something, other people will be jealous as they might stand out from the CROWD. Finally, they could want to feel personally PROUD that they own something, and this perhaps also strokes their ego. This explains a fair amount, but in buying professional services these four buying motivations can be expanded in a slightly different way. The most important point to make first, however, is that in order to get a client to say ‘yes’, it’s not about a single reason; it’s much more about a combination of reasons. Here then is an alternative list of considerations.
REASON #1: No Desire
If someone doesn’t want to buy from you, you’ve yet to kindle their desire. Create that spark of wanting and suddenly the client’s mind is in a totally different buying space. For example, if you were selling your home, it would take an assault on the prospective buyer’s senses to start creating desire. So, walking the potential buyer through it room by room would probably kick things off. It’s the same with a car or new clothes; getting the prospective purchaser to sample the goods in some way will make a big difference in the final decision. So a way to do this is the use of the right words and phrases that can have a big impact. Of course, there are professional service ‘products’ which aren’t immediately tangible, insurance being one of them. So the creation of desirable images will be needed with selected words. Have you ever sat down and thought about the words you use when presenting your firm, products and services? If it’s not working sufficiently well at present, perhaps it’s time to consider some changes in what you say, and the words you select to create the desire.
ACTION TO TAKE:
Better thought-through presentations, improved word choice, higher quality visuals. Videos that are short and sharp, but create desire in the mind of the viewer. An open shoe box showing a pair of shoes inside is unlikely to create desire until those same shoes are under a spotlight with a contrasting background, and perhaps then tried on and worn for a few minutes.
REASON #2: No Need
It’s a common idea in the world of selling that you have to create ‘a need’ to sell something effectively. Actually, people rarely buy needs all on their own. A client could be convinced of the need to send you a birth certificate, however, this fact alone doesn’t mean they will do anything about it. Your home or car could probably do with an upgrade and you may agree whole heartedly that you need to replace one or both, but that doesn’t mean you will act upon it. However, finding a ‘need’ is useful as an opening position to build on because where there is no need, even having a strong desire for something may not be enough to stimulate the act of buying from you.
ACTION TO TAKE:
Ask more questions during client interactions and highlight gaps which are potentially problems. Without distorting facts, discuss what these problems could lead to so the client is more aware of what they need to consider more carefully. What’s the worst case scenario that needs discussion? Creating a need is a highly professional thing to do as a professional advisor, provided the need is real of course. If anything, could not highlighting possible needs be considered slapdash and highly unprofessional, maybe bordering on negligent?
REASON #3: No Money
Here is a good reason why someone says ‘no thank you’. They simply haven’t got the funds. Either this fact puts you off such clients, or you seek ways in which you can still help the client. Alternatively, from a fees perspective you may need to offer staged payments interest free, but perhaps this would be a commercial decision for your firm. To assume people always have money can be a distorted generalisation.
ACTION TO TAKE:
Brainstorm as a business how you could help those with money issues to still do business with you. Also, if other firms are not helping in this way, could this differentiate your business?
REASON #4: No Hurry
The reality of business is that the product or service that’s available today may not necessarily be readily available tomorrow. The tired and cheesy call to action, ‘order while stocks last’ we all know is usually a ploy to get people to buy, and this is a good point to consider. Why create a ploy when reality is a much stronger motivation? (It’s often more relevant and has greater integrity).
For example, the 30-year old who needs your help but is prevaricating. There are many serious and significant reasons why such a client needs to act rather than procrastinate, but it needs some provocative thinking around the reasons not to delay brought to the client’s attention.
ACTION TO TAKE:
Think about a deadline or reasons not to delay that would be appropriate to mention, then ensure the client is fully aware of the significance of delaying.
REASON #5: No Trust
As a provider of professional services, when you’re dealing with an existing client, trust should already be established. If, however, you are meeting someone new, getting to know them is of paramount importance with the establishing of a relationship quickly, based on trust. This must start with creating rapport. Only after you feel there is a connection can you seriously start talking business, otherwise any time spent is likely to be a waste of time.
ACTION TO TAKE:
Have some testimonials on offer in different forms such as written, spoken, (maybe an existing client they could speak to?) Ideally, this should happen before the first meeting takes place for new prospects.
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