by: Catherine Trebble

You are a professional service provider – not a sales person – right? Truth is – no matter what business we are in, we are all sales people. You may disagree with me. You see yourself as the provider of a wonderful service.

Most people just don’t like the word “Sales”. In fact, they cringe when they hear it and they certainly wouldn’t describe themselves as a salesperson! But guess what? The truth is we are all in ‘sales’. Every interaction we have with someone is in one form or another, a sale.

Any time that you are trying to influence someone to agree with you, or get them interested in what you have to offer, you are in sales. My son was an excellent salesperson a few years ago when he ‘influenced’ his Mum and Dad to buy a new Cavalier King Charles puppy that we didn’t know we needed!

In order to provide a service (or range of services) that you have, you will need to let the marketplace know that you have it – and that’s Marketing.

I am, by nature, a holistic person and ‘hard selling’ is just not a match to my personality. Not to mention that most people absolutely detest a hard sell, don’t they? I know I do.

My friend Sue Woodall, a Peak Performance coach for Salon & Spa owners and their Teams, taught me an interesting lesson about ‘selling’, which Sue calls “providing the cure.” Sue says that each of us has a unique skill set, which we offer through our businesses. She asked me, “If you knew someone who was really sick, would you be shy or resistant to letting this person know you had the cure, that you could make them feel better again? Of course not, right? Then why are business owners reluctant to sell, when we have the cure that people need and want?” I have to say, she has a point.

The easiest way to sell is to let our marketing do the ‘heavy lifting’ for us. Imagine that – our marketing materials, whether it’s our website, brochure, business cards etc. are so good that people turn up already ‘sold’ on what we can do for them. All you have to do is answer their few remaining questions and book them in. It can be that easy.

Work on your marketing, and every sale becomes a ‘soft’ sale.
Catherine Trebble is devoted to teaching salon, spa, holistic, medispa and other related service providers how to inexpensively fill their appointment books to capacity with all the clients they need. Download your free ‘7 Step Guide to a Full Appointment Book’ at http://FullAppointmentBook.com

The author invites you to visit: http://careerchangeinheels.com