Not all sales prospects are created equal.
There are actually several types of prospects, so it’s important to know how to market to each of them. The first type of prospect is the one who needs to be convinced that your products or services are needed.
The second type is the kind who has already decided not to hire you and needs to be talked out of the decision. There is also a third kind of prospect, but we’ll discuss that one later.
The first two kinds are actually the same, they just have different needs on the surface.
You can unconvince someone not to hire you a heck of a lot faster and with less effort than someone who needs to be convinced that your products and services are needed.
Someone who says they are not convinced about hiring you may feel you’re not qualified, may not believe the information you are giving them, or may be scared to make a decision.
Low self-esteem can cause this type of prospect to put off making decisions or ask sales people to convince them to buy. They actually think they are open to being talked into a sale.
The truth is, they are more likely to be unconvinced about making a business decision. This type of prospect will use one error on your Web site against you, even when your site contains dozens of pages with thousands of words.
This usually isn’t about you; it’s about internal pain related to the decision-making process. They may feel that they can’t afford to make a decision, or they may even fear success. Their internal pain may even be related to both issues.
Instead of talking to a therapist or doing something productive, these people will spam forums with nasty messages about what you’re doing in your business. You may even find yourself on the receiving end of nasty e-mails.
They do these things instead of doing something productive that could help them make more money or build a more successful business.
These people are not the prospects you should spend your time on.
Instead of buying from you, they will cause you all sorts of problems. If someone needs to be convinced, then they aren’t even convinced that they are ready to make a decision.
This doesn’t reflect on you at all. This particular problem is a problem with this type of person. The best thing to do is wish this type of person luck and move on to work with the third type of prospect.
The third type of prospect is actually attracted to your business. These people are already sold on your products or services.
They can afford them; they just need to know why they should buy from you instead of buying from another company.
- Is your product better?
- Do you provide a more complete service package?
- Why is your service more valuable than someone else’s?
If you can turn one of these prospects into a buyer, they will be loyal to your business.
They don’t need to be convinced that they need your products or services. They just need to be convinced that you’re the right person for the job, above all others.
Making the sale to this type of prospect is as easy as showing the value of your services or products and closing the deal.
This type of prospect has no issues getting in the way of the decision-making process and they’re not going to turn their personal problems into your problems.
This is exactly the way business should be, and illustrates the ‘perfect’ client in my book. Seriously, I love clients like that! 🙂
And if your potential clients are either of the first two types, I’d advise you to run in the other direction. Really.
It will save you a ton of hassle in the long run and allow you to focus your time and care on customers and clients that actually help to grow your business rather than hinder it.
Just sayin’.
