Getting your services used

Every day I talk to professional service providers who do great work, have a valuable service that really helps people…and fight to get their services used as much as they’d like.

They get a lukewarm response after an initial conversation while networking, referrals come through but don’t convert into actual business as often as they’d like, and they can’t seem to get prospects to see them much better than others. professionals offering similar services.

Or they may get the attention of prospects as a result of an ad, published article or speech… but then the initial attention fades to a phone tag and in the end it’s not an actual customer.

So what is the problem? In most cases, they’re not getting far enough with the prospect to reveal the quality of their work…so it’s not their professional work. And some pros DO have decent rankings and credibility-building things like customer testimonials and case studies on their websites (although the latter, done effectively, is rare, unfortunately).

There are many things that can go wrong in the marketing and sales process. But in most cases, the key I see missing is a decent approach to packaging your professional services. Part of successfully packaging your services means putting what you offer in a variety of formats and “packages” that your customers need, at prices they’ll pay.

Networking and asking for referrals is a waste of time (or much more difficult) if you don’t have something prospects can easily buy… an easy “yes” option in the form of carefully packaged versions of your services. .

Real life examples that work

Here are some examples to illustrate what I mean. These are simple ways to repackage what is normally only offered as consulting services (whatever your specialty). Each format offers your clients a different level of commitment, time and money… increasing the chances that you will find the right one for your needs:

* Weekly training to get and stay on track: good for prospects who are hesitant to make the first move or just need a little encouragement to start small. Ideal for people who need the structure and discipline of a regular meeting (phone or in person) to keep up.

* Multi-hour strategy session – particularly useful if you are selling to other companies. A fast and affordable way for potential customers to get specific feedback and new ideas about your current approach to what you offer.

* 1 Day Startup Retreat – A more detailed version of the idea above. Especially useful if you assemble a management team.

* Multi-day or monthly workshop or clinic – a different way to impart your expertise and help your clients “teach themselves to fish”.

* Quick Audit: A finite and affordable commitment to allow a prospect to get a small taste of your approach. It can often turn into a longer engagement.

* Strategy + Action Planning: A surefire way for prospects to get real value, without buying the whole nine yards. Again, this is a finite commitment that produces a model for future work.

* Implementation Services – This is often the primary service offered by professional services firms. To make this more “buyable,” break it down into smaller incremental phases and commits.

* The Roundtable – Collaborate with trusted colleagues to provide a multifaceted approach to helping your clients.

How do I know these approaches motivate prospects to become customers? Because I use them all in my practice and they all get results. My business model represents a mix of revenue streams, none of which are fully tied to a traditional consulting model.

For more tips on how to get your services used by offering options through creative packs, keep reading…

Give your prospects options and you’ll increase the chances they’ll convert to paying customers faster. That’s how:

1. Package your services to offer clients a variety of ways they can work with you. Think small, then gradually add steps in larger sizes. Before you know it, you’ll have a variety of ways to help your customers.

2. Give each service a catchy title that talks about how your customer will benefit. For example, I offer the program “More Clients Than You Ever Thought Possible!” Website audit and marketing clinic “Maximize your online strategy”. Make the headline about your customers, not about you.

3. “Productify” your services to generate passive income. Record your public talks and sell them as tapes on your website. Combine sets of items and sell them as mini-books. These are pretty easy and cheap things to do.

4. Return current and past customers with your new range of services and/or product-based solutions. Just because they’ve bought a type of service from you in the past doesn’t mean they’re not interested in new ways you can help them.

5. Make sure your pricing structure offers prospects a variety of options. Make it easy for them to take the first step by offering them something small and relatively inexpensive. Much can be said about pricing, which I will cover in a future issue of this newsletter.

6. Don’t be afraid to detail your range of services in your marketing materials and on your website. Demystify what you do by offering a lot of information, including details of what your customers can expect in terms of deliverables, timelines, specific outcomes, and what they need to do to ensure success.

7. The bottom line is to use customer-centric descriptions and language. Although it is about their services, it is not. It is about how your customers will succeed and what problems they will solve by choosing a particular service. I just can’t stress this enough!

Experiment with various packages and see what works and what doesn’t. Play with the variables: title, size, price, description, deliverables, etc. You have nothing to lose except future customers.

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