Convincing Customers to Choose You: A Lesson In Sales

It can be a challenge convincing customers to use your business for their event. You try explaining that it’s not that they can’t plan an event for themselves, it’s about who they turn to when something goes wrong the day-of. But, what if that’s not enough to convince them to buy your services?

Before I was an event planner, I wore a hat and worked in a food concession trailer. I worked hard to get the customers to buy the combo deal of a turkey leg and a large lemonade for $15. But, I was never successful until I learned the secrets of selling. From then on, I could convince any customer that walked up to buy the $15 combo. Want to know how I did it? Keep reading!

Be Yourself

Sales doesn’t have to be a dirty word. Nor does it have to be an impersonal business tactic. Being successful in selling your services and talents actually requires some personality and personalization.

Let’s begin with the opening conversation between you and the client. Think of the general opener that you say: “Hi! How are you?” Pretty standard and simple phrases, right? But, what do you say after that? Is it “I’m good, thanks?” Don’t limit your conversation to just accommodation and politeness; get personable with it.

Engage in a meaningful conversation, and get to know your client more with a personal follow-up question or statement. Trust me, it will show them that you take an interest and are eager to learn more about them.

Here are some examples to get you past the monotony of the standard greeting:

• I’m so excited to meet with you, and to learn more about the event and story.  
• It’s Friday, and I am looking forward to the weekend. What about you? Do you have any big plans or are you chalking this one up as a relaxing weekend?
• Oh, you’re from (insert place here). I’ve never been there and would love to go sometime. Any must see places or stops?

Use the Force, Luke!

OK, maybe don’t use the force with a lightsaber in hand, but reinforce the importance of your services. Your potential clients want to know the answer to the “what’s in it for me” (WIIFM) question. Answering this question will seal the deal every single time.

Going back to my original example of the turkey leg and lemonade, I could sell this outrageously priced combo because I provided customers the answer to the WIIFM question. If they bought a turkey leg, it had enough protein and was large enough to keep them full for the rest of the day, nixing the need for them to spend any more money on food. And, if they included the lemonade, they could get a refill the entire rest of the fair week for a smaller, more cost-effective fee. So in the end, I convinced my customers to buy the combo because it would save them money.

Let your customers know that you are on their side and are willing to help them as much as possible to secure the sale.

Ask for It

You’ll never know unless you ask, right? Well, you can apply that same principle to selling your services to your clients. You can say all the right things, but if you fail to ask for the sale, you are never going to close on the deal. Here are a few suggestions:

• “Let’s move forward and start planning.”
• “Ready to get started?”
• “How about we meet again real soon and I can show you some plans I’ve put together for your event.”

Asking for the sale shouldn’t make you nervous. The best case scenario, you get a new customer. The worst, a customer could say no and gives their reasonings, which isn’t bad. If anything, you gained valuable information about what your potential clients are searching for, and you are better prepared to captivate them next time.

Selling your services and promoting your business doesn’t have to be complicated. Remember that your customers are people too , and they want to know that you have their best interest in mind. Partnering with Inspherio, the all-in-one event planning and business management program can help you convince your clients to use your services every single time.

It’s time to get going. Try our free 30-day trial today!

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Losing Clients: How To Turn Negatives Into Positives

Losing clients is always a bummer. For starters, you’ve lost a customer’s business, which is bad enough in and of itself. But then there must have been some reason for their leaving. Some will tell you straightforwardly the reason or reasons they no longer wish to do business with you; others will simply disappear without a trace. The latter is perhaps the worse situation, as not knowing the reason why they left can be painful.

However, not all is lost. There are positives yet to wring out of this bad situation!

The following are some typical reasons clients give for changing services. In each situation, I've outlined how you can turn the loss into a win!

Cost

If you’re losing clients due to price, it may be time to figure out why they believe your services are not worth the price. Balance the time and effort you are putting into your services and re-evaluate whether or not you are asking for too much.

Of course, you may be charging a perfectly fair price, and the customer has simply fallen on difficult financial times. People budget, but people don’t always budget well. Your client may have realized your services are pricier than they can afford, or perhaps something happened that tightened their budget elsewhere. It’s rarely a straightforward scenario. It’s always best to revisit your prices every so often and adjust as needed.

Sub-par Service

This hits where it hurts. You’ll want to try to understand exactly what it was about your service that made it so terrible. Perhaps it is something you didn’t notice as being off-putting or rude; perhaps you realize that you or your employees are too curt in your correspondence -- it could be any number of things. But accept it, let the client know you’re going to do better in the future, and then follow through with it.

Ask yourself if you're making too many promises that you or your team aren't able to follow through with due to money, time, team size, etc. Have a meeting with your team (or, if you work solo, yourself via mirror) and remind everyone that any business relies on customer satisfaction to succeed.

If you follow through on promises to improve, lost clients might be so impressed with your willingness to address grievances that they return. Don’t give the lost client reason to spread ill will against you to their friends and acquaintances. If you deal with the loss professionally and courteously, the client may still recommend you to others -- thereby turning a loss into a potential gain.

Timing

Sometimes it’s simply just not the right time for your client. Your job is to convince them otherwise. However, if the customer is adamant, don’t keep pushing. The client might be dealing with some hard times, and pressing her into a corner is not going to make her feel any better about your business.

Know when to change gears. Make sure you use this as an opportunity to hold on to their business later on. Be sure to establish that you’re still available down the line, and that you are always ready to pick up where you left off.

Not the Right Fit

Sometimes you and the client just don’t fit well together. You have irreconcilable styles and perspectives. This is nothing to take offense over! Use this opportunity to ask what it was that didn’t gel right (if you don’t already know). If it’s something you can easily fix, offer a solution and try to bridge the gap between yourself and the client. But if they resist, let it go and politely part ways. 

In all of the above scenarios, the event professional is able to make positives out of negatives primarily through simple tact and professionalism. Sure, it’s never good to lose a client, but it’s foolish to make it worse than it needs to be. 

Developing a skill for lasering in on what good can be had in any given scenario -- that is perhaps the most valuable skill an event professional -- any professional -- can have. Always ask yourself, “How can I turn this failure into an opportunity?” and you’ll surely find success.

Retaining clients is a lot easier with Inspherio, the all-in-one event planning and business management program. For starters, you won't be a disorganized mess, jumping from application to application to application, which means you'll drastically cut down on slip-ups that could cost you your clients. Everything you need to succeed in the event industry is located in the cloud-based Inspherio. Every minute you waste jumping from program to program is a minute taken away from your clients, existing and potential.

It's time to get going. Try our free 30-day trial today!

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