This month, I’m writing about the things I’ve learned over the last year. For this post, I am repurposing a newsletter article I wrote about learning to sell my skills. As a marketer, I understand how to craft a compelling message that speaks to a target audience and offers value that addresses their pain points. As a solopreneur, I struggle to articulate my unique value proposition and strengths. Here’s some of what I’ve learned over the last year. I still have a way to go on effectively selling myself but I’m getting there.
Overcoming Objections
I’ve just researched and written a blog about overcoming objections in the sales process for one of my clients. The focus of the content was to provide tips to salespeople that would help them anticipate and address the typical objections they hear from leads when nurturing them through the sales process. The CTA, of course, was to learn how the client’s product helps salespeople do that. It was an interesting and timely project for me, given that I’ve been struggling with my sales process. I learned a ton from the research I did, and brought a lot of my questions into focus.
Objections are Opportunities
First, I love the reminder that objections are not rejections. They are an opportunity, an open door. They are not a definite “no.” That is something I need to remember.
I admit that I don’t often get as far as addressing objections in the sales phase. I’m still figuring out how to start the conversation. However, I appreciated the tips on proactively addressing objections because that is a great place to start.
Typically, an objection in a sales conversation stems from something the buyer lacks; budget, time, need, or understanding. I address some of these possible barriers in my proposals, but I need to be more prescriptive. I should specifically call out anything I think they might be worried about and address it right there in the proposal. And then, I should make a plan to bring it up in the first conversation. Of course, it will depend on the client, and I should always listen to how they respond. But if I think ahead, I’ll be ready to answer.
Be Proactive
So far, most of the objections I’ve heard are around time or budget. So, I can plan on answering those for sure. But how do other freelancers and agencies address those concerns? In the past, I’ve said things like, “You will get a better product if we can push the deadline back.” or “I can make that deadline, but I will need to charge a rush fee.” Those are not satisfactory answers to the timeline objection, in my opinion. Is there a better way to come to a compromise on a project timeline without losing the client?
The Budget Objection
In terms of budget, I really struggle with that one. I don’t know how much wiggle room to give prospective clients without undermining my worth. I guess this is where asking open-ended questions would be beneficial. I asked clients what their budget is but they often don’t want to tell me. Perhaps I should ask them to prioritize the work we’ve discussed so I could give them a more itemized proposal. Of course, showing a potential client the possible ROI might be impactful, but placing an ROI on content is challenging because it’s customized to the customer. I could show ROI from other client projects. That might help. What do other freelancers do to overcome the budget objection?
Sales Objection Mad Lib
I’m a process-oriented person so I want to create a sales funnel for my proposal process that includes the messaging I will use to overcome potential objections. I envision it as a templated proposal document and then conversational sales script with already written messaging I drop in as needed. A sales Mad Lib, if you will. It will take time to get it right but I think it might be a good place to start.
Help me out freelancer community. Do you think my idea will work? What other objections have you had to overcome? What kind of sales process and messaging do you use?
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