Many professionals and IT consultants say they should get their head examined for going into this business. Some do. A few of them wound up at the office of Dr. ArLyne Diamond of Santa Clara, Calif.
A trained clinical psychologist, Diamond once helped her patients with personal problems, but soon started helping them with business problems as well. Today she is strictly a management consultant who helps small businesses and professional practices with business development and marketing.
While she is no longer a practicing therapist, understanding human psychology doesn't hurt.
"A service, unlike a product, is an intangible," says Diamond. "Understanding the importance of this fact is the key to determining which of many styles of selling is appropriate for the ethical and competent consultant."
Diamond often makes her point with this story:
Suppose you are a tourist walking down the street, when a kid, with a glib and sleazy style, starts following you, imploring you to look at his goods for sale. Because he's young and cute, you stop and let him open his baskets for inspection.
Among his wares are some inexpensive trinkets, postcards, cheap watches of unknown origin, and computers that cannot be tested without electricity.
What would you be comfortable buying -- even after he used all his best "close" techniques? If you were a high-risk taker and didn't mind the potential loss of money, you might just buy one of his watches. But you'd never take the risk of giving a stranger thousands of dollars for a computer whose quality and capacity you had no way of testing. You'd buy the trinkets or postcards, of course.
Now suppose this young man tried to persuade you that his aunt was a consultant who could jump-start your fledgling company into the big time and all you had to do was plunk down an initial $75,000 and watch her do her magic.
"If you are making cold calls, or having someone do cold calling for you, aren't you akin to that consultant?" asks Diamond. "What if your telemarketing techniques sound slick, manipulative or bullying -- as many books and sales trainers advise? Do you think these techniques will get you the first appointment you so desperately need to prove your potential worth to this prospect?"
Diamond says to imagine instead that while having lunch with colleagues you know and respect, this same woman's name was brought into the conversation. You were told she was a highly credentialed and experienced expert who had worked with them helping them achieve unusually successful results.
"We'd jump at the chance of meeting her, wouldn't we?" says Diamond. "That's word-of-mouth marketing. In my opinion, it's the very best tool the consultant has for marketing his or her services."
Your reputation and the willingness of others to provide testimonials are what enable you to begin to bridge the gap of risk for the potential client.
The risk of buying the trinket was only the potential loss of a dollar or two, whereas the risk of hiring an unknown consultant was not only the $75,000 she would cost, but all the potential damage she could do, including the loss of money, reputation and even the business. That's called a bet-the-company decision.
So, what are some steps you can do to mitigate the risk for your prospects? Here are Diamond's top 10 tactics for selling intangibles:
1. Get references and leads from people who have experienced your best work.
2. Ask satisfied customers if they will write you a letter of reference to use in part in your brochure to give to prospects.
3. Be visible -- give speeches, write articles, attend functions.
4. Volunteer. There is no better way to establish a relationship with someone than through doing work together. Get involved and get known for being a competent, pleasant and intelligent worker.
5. If you get a foot in the door and prove yourself, offer one or two hours of your services for free.
6. Offer a "pilot project" which will enable your customer to determine how well you work and how much he needs what you have to offer.
7. Help smaller clients share expenses by suggesting a consortium to use your services. This is an especially good technique if you are offering information and/or training services for nonproprietary information.
8. If you are developing a new product for a client, offer generous support services.
9. Network with others and become part of their "virtual" organizations. Include them in yours as well. Remember, you have to give to get.
10. Above all else, be ethical, careful, competent, helpful, pleasant and fun to do business with. Being fun to do business with will result in doing more business.
DeVries is a marketing coach and writer specializing in lead generation for professional service firms and technology service companies. A UCSD Extension instructor since 1984, he is the author of "Self Marketing Secrets." Visit www.henrydevries.com or e-mail questions to henry.devries@sddt.com.
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