Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

Greetings all,

I have been working on trying to develop a better sales strategy for myself. I do website design, graphic design & content management focused on mid-level businesses... i.e., they don`t need to hire a team to develop a proprietary web app, but they also want something more professional than a GoDaddy template. Most of the sites I produce clock in between $1000 - $3000.

I`ve hardly ever had to do any real selling because my clients nearly always hook me up with my next gig -- a very cool place to be for a freelancer. But I`m a bona-fide design firm now and I have larger business goals than just covering my own expenses. I want to outgrow my home studio and assemble a real staff of diverse talent.

The problem is, I have no idea how to sell. Even worse, I find the prospect of actually picking up the phone [gasp!] to try to make sales absolutely terrifying. But, I`ve got to overcome this hurdle and I`m sure I will eventually, but in the meantime I don`t have a lot of room to make mistakes -- specifically, I do not want to alienate my potential clients and give my business a bad reputation here in my area, which is kind of small, before I even get started.

I`m working on crafting a more specific marketing message & image, which is the easy part... the tough part for me is selling. So, I am wondering, for those of you who are in B2B service businesses, what is your sales strategy? How do you go about prospecting, contacting potential new clients for the first time, and closing the deal? Is your strategy meeting your sales goals? Exceeding them?

It kills me to see the local competition wrapping up sweet deals with businesses in my own neighborhood when I know I can do a better job... but I know its because they`ve got sales skills that I don`t yet have. I want those clients! How do I get them? How do you get yours?

All insights and experiences are much appreciated. Thanks!
-Paula

Paula,

First of all, I think you probably know more about selling than you think you do - you have excellent communications skills and a great presence about you.

As there are several other forum members that have experience in marketing the same services that you do, I will leave the specific marketing advice up to them. However, believe it or not, the way you have been getting your work so far (through referrals) is one of the best ways you can obtain business. 

Instead of just waiting for your clients to give you referrals, actively seek them out. Ask everyone who you have every done work for if they know of anyone who needs the type of services that you offer. Network with other providers of B2B services and be sure that they know what you do. If available in your community, join local business associations and networking groups. Watch the newspapers for new businesses that may be opening in your area. Consider doing a limited amount of "pro bono" work for local charitable organizations as a means of gaining greater exposure.

Although counter-intuitive, contact your local competitors and let them know what you are doing. Many times, a competitor will come across an opportunity that they are too busy to handle, is too small or too big, or is outside of their niche.

When you are contacting prospective clients, don`t think of it as selling. You are just having a friendly conversation with another person and telling them about your company. There is no pressure involved; you are simply making them aware of the services that you have to offer, and as long as you are polite, you shouldn`t alienate anyone.

Making calls is something that get progressively easier over time. The more calls you make, the easier it gets. After a couple of hundred calls it actually starts to get enjoyable.   

Keep in mind that selling is largely a numbers game; the more active you are, the better you will do. Also, don`t expect instant results - it may take a month or two for your efforts to start to show results.

Good luck!

 

 

 

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Michael A. Silva
Silva Consultants

www.silvaconsultants.com

Paula,

Michael has some keen insights. 

Find a charity and build them a hign value web site.   

Approach an established business -say a  regional or local financial institution and offer to conduct a webinar for their customers on what a web site can do to improve business.

  Language the proposal to highlight  the value add to both the business and the customer. 

Research the web sites of local business`s and develop proposals for improving/rebuilding the sites.  Emphasize increased customer rentention, repeat business and return on investment.

Try a strategic alliance with a provider you might consider a competitior - you might not be competitors after all.  They may need a contractor who can operate independently and execute jobs saving them the cost of employees.

Hold a class at the park & rec dept.  Find some local clubs or community groups that need a web site.  They`ll have budgets -small but you can barter for advertising on the sites. 

If you can`t sell try linking up to a contract sales person. Find a cold caller in the nickel want ads.  Everybody has a talent, build a team.  As a business owner take a hard look at what skills you don`t have and define a strategy to compensate. Play to your strengths and find the who`s that bring the how`s.

Look on monster or sales force.com for professional commission based sales types.  

Build a site for a business willing to share a portion of sales.  Find a gig on guru.com or one of the many programmer for hire sites.

At some level you have to be willing to ask for the business. (and the money) 

It`s not always a sell. Try making it a tell.  Slow play it.  Form the relationship.  People buy from people they know and trust.   

 

Best!

-------------------------

www.bizbuddypro.com
Find out how we make investors WANT to do business with YOU
Get a free business consult - discover how to make more money today.

www.bizbuddypro.com

Hey thanks you guys, I really appreciate your comments. I guess I didn`t realize it but the things I`ve been doing really are along the lines of what you`ve both said, I`ve just been doing them in a fairly limited fashion. Usually at any given time I have a few potentially interested people I`m speaking with that may or may not congeal into a transaction... I`ve been thinking that I`m doing something wrong because I can`t seem to get these folks to commit to a project, but it sounds like this state of affairs is pretty normal, and that the key is not getting them to commit so much as it is enlarging the pool of potentials to increase my chances of closing deals. That is quite do-able. Maybe even a good excuse to get up from my computer! Heh.

-Paula

To increased my exposure to new people and idea`s I too need to get up from the computer.  Treat yourself to a few networking breakfasts or lunches.  Hit the Chamber of Commerce mixers.

Offer to assist someone at least as often as you ask for leads. 

If there is a potential client you want try being direct.  Ask them why they aren`t giving you the business.  The answer will likely surprise you. 

Try offering a discounted one time today only price.  Find some emotional triggers and pull them. 

Keep us posted on how you are doing.

 

bizbuddy

-------------------------

www.bizbuddypro.com
Find out how we make investors WANT to do business with YOU
Get a free business consult - discover how to make more money today.

www.bizbuddypro.com

I would completely agree with this. I don`t work with mid-size businesses. I just don`t have the manpower or the willingness to sit in on meetings. So I would happily toss my more corporate clients to someone else in exchange for their microbusinesses and entrepreneurs.

I wanted to speak to this ...

It is my firm belief that internet companies in the future will remain viable by staying lean and mean. That is, less a company with a physical office and more a company with a network of employees across the country.

THAT BEING SAID, if your target is medium to large businesses, I think more and more of them are contracting out for services to keep their own businesses streamlined. If you would like a great example of that, you can check out my friends over at Traction. Their client list includes some rather large names, including Bank of America, Microsoft and Sun Microsystems. I think that is the kind of company that can survive as a larger office ... you have to know what the market can handle and how much income you can extract from it in order to make this work, though.

I thought I would provide this information for you to consider when you start planning out your expansion ... in terms of the kinds of clients you will need to handle this sort of employee load.

ALSO ... in terms of marketing yourself ... I`d highly recommend becoming best buddies with some marketing coordinators at local large companies. I worked with one woman at a startup years ago, and now she manages to send me work from whatever company she happens to be working for at the time. Marketing people have other marketing people friends, and they network a lot ... so if you get in with one or two, word will spread and you will be the go-to person anytime someone needs some work done. (You would be surprised to see what large percentage of companies here in the bay area don`t have in-house graphic design people.) I can`t even handle the work she sends me, so then my friends benefit from the work I send them!

$1-3K sounds low to me for a typical marketing contract in this niche btw. These prices sound like they are more for small business owners, not mid- to large-size companies. This may just be your area though ... I would do some research into rates both locally and nationally. Check salary.com if you need some help, but remember to add more on the top because you are a contractor and not a W-2.

Some of my strongest networking contacts in the mid- to large-size businesses are all through my alumni group. Do you have one you can participate in? If not, perhaps other local networking groups? It is important to visit a few before joining ... make sure you are not in a group with many small businesses instead of the kinds of working professionals that you are seeking. I would look less at networking for business owners and more at networking for working professionals.

Hey Nikole, thanks for the lengthy response! Just a quick clarification... I`m not doing mid-sized to large corporate sites, my clients are mostly small-to-medium sized businesses who target people with considerable disposable income. So, they care a bit more about how their site looks to prospective customers than some other small businesses might but they don`t need a big agency. Thus, "mid level." Sorry, I should have been more clear about that.

Also its true that the cost of everything where I live is considerably less expensive than other places, which is part of why I live here.

I work for a small market telephone company that sells internet and cable TV. I do business contracts, and we have just filled that niche. However, that would be a good place to start. Before we hired a web-designer, we would contact a freelance, they would work with the client, and we agreed on a finders fee, 10% is a good number. If you had 10 internet providers that used you as a designer for their customers, they will do the selling for you and you will be doing the thing you are so talented at.


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Julie Knutson,
Sales Consultant, Trainer and Motivator