106: Selling the Invisible: Five Steps To Sell What You Cannot See

Selling the Invisible: Five Steps To Sell What You Cannot See 

“The truth is if you sell a service, you’re solving a problem for someone.” — Ursula Mentjes (04:21-04:26)

Many entrepreneurs are struggling to sell their intangible services. Some are uncertain about what sales strategy they can use. But there's a simple process that makes sales conversations with clients more comfortable. In this week's episode, Ursula Mentjes talks about the five steps to sell your services. She has a sales mindset with real-world strategies to help you get to the next level in your business.

Part One of ‘Selling the Invisible: Four Keys to Selling Services’

Harry Beckwith wrote a book called Selling The Invisible in 1999. He called it in his tagline, "A Field Guide To Modern Marketing." It's about how you can take your service-based business and make it even better than you can imagine. He focused on the quality of the service and how to market that service. However, many business owners are struggling to take their business to the next level. Let go of limiting beliefs that are getting in your way. A business owner can have any number of limiting beliefs that are preventing you from scaling your profits.

Let's dig into what we work on at Sales Coach Now. One of the things I hear from many of our new clients is they're not sure if I can help them because they're different. What does that mean? What do you mean when you say you're different? And they'll say, "well, I sell a service." And so, it's intangible, and you may think it's different. The truth is 80%, or more of our clients sell services. We do have many clients who sell products, but many of the people we work with are selling services. I'm selling a service, so I understand what it's like to sell the intangible. To sell something that you cannot see. You can't see Sales Camp, which is our two-day course until you experience it. But when I'm talking about it, it's intangible.

“You’ve got to put yourself aside and come from a place of service.” — Ursula Mentjes (08:40-08:44)

In my early twenties, I grew an office from $0 to an annual run rate of $1,000,000.00 in the tech training arena. I sold technical training services. I built several different branches for the company. And by the time I was 27 years old, I was a president of a 20 million+ dollar company. I'm sharing it with you to show that I understand services. I know how to sell them, and there's much confusion about how to have a sales conversation.

One of my commitments to this industry is to shift the way people think about selling. The way people think about sales professionals because we've gotten a bad rap.

Well, first, we're sales professionals. If we can't sell our products or services, how can we train someone else to do it? If taking money from a prospect is terrible, then we have forgotten why we're in business and how we can help people. If you're selling a service, you are solving a problem for somebody. You're helping them make a change in their business and their life. Like something is going to get better if they buy your service. And when you believe that at a deep level, other people will feel that as well.

Part Two of ‘Selling the Invisible: Four Keys to Selling Services’

You know what? If people think I'm pushy. The truth is you've got to put yourself aside and come from a place of service. Say to yourself, "I'm here to solve a problem." If I can help this person or if I can help this business, that's great. If I can't, that's okay too. I can refer them instead. Make sure you have that conversation with yourself before you step in front of a prospect. And the next step on the calendar is to connect with them.

“Statistically, we are told you need to follow up more than 5x to close a sale.” —  Ursula Mentjes (11:34-11:40)

Companies will rise to the occasion because they believe in your product or service. So, I wanted to end on that note that you should not discount your services. Don't start to cave on pricing. If someone says you're the highest price, then say thank you. Tell them, thank you for letting me know, and I would love to solve your problem. Like, bring it back to them. You're there to serve. You can dig deeper to learn what services they are comparing. You can ask, "are you comparing me to or my company to some very similar services, or are you getting a lot less in the service?" It's essential to make sure you understand what services they are comparing. And you can help advise through that process as well.

How to Get Involved

Ursula Mentjes is the founder of Sales Coach Now, as well as a Sales Expert, Inspirational Speaker, Author and Certified Sales Coach who specializes in NLP to help her clients double and triple their sales. Sales Coach Now delivers a unique approach to sales training and coaching designed for ultimate retention and achievement. 

Discover how to transform limiting beliefs, make powerful shifts with intention, and authentically serve (sell) your clients with my free pdf, "6 Secrets to Doubling Your Sales! www.salescoachnow.com/gift 

Also, Ursula would love to partner with you at your next event, conference, or sales training session. If you're interested in coming to Sales Camp, that's her two-day live course then, you may find out more information here: https://www.salescoachnow.com/sales-camp/.