What Are You Really Selling?2 min read

2019-10-19
Robert Middleton

If you’re a self-employed professional, you know what you’re selling, right?

Management development programs, executive coaching services, communication skills training, financial planning, etc.

Right?

No, wrong. Those are your services, but that is not what you are selling and not what your clients are buying.

Those services are what you do. They are all about your expertise and the process you’ve honed over years of working with clients.

That’s great and absolutely necessary. But when you think that’s what you’re selling, you are missing the point.

Then what you are really selling are certain benefits and advantages that your clients want. Right?

Well, only partially right. Benefits are certainly important. And your clients definitely want the benefits of your services – what your services can do for them.

But when you’re marketing and selling professional services, you have the opportunity to sell your clients something that’s much, much more important.

What you are ultimately selling is a POSITIVE FUTURE.

The truth is, everyone buys something for the positive future it will bring them.

I just bought a power generator (impending California blackouts) because I want to be able to still work online if or when the power goes out (again).

The thing to remember, no matter what you are selling, is that the positive future you are offering your clients must be something that is of great importance and priority to them.

A power generator is not of great importance to me. It’s a $500 hunk of bulky machinery that will be hard to store.

No, I want power all day long so I can get my work done and serve my clients (not to mention have food that doesn’t go bad).

What positive future do your clients want?

And are your marketing messages clearly communicating this?

When people come to me, they don’t want a 9-month group marketing program. Who the hell wants that? Sounds like a lot of work (and it is)!

No, they want to attract more their ideal clients. They want to be great client-attractors.

My group marketing program is simply a vehicle to help them get there (just like that damn generator).

The next time someone asks you what you do, think of the positive future that you can help them realize.

I promise you, it will shift the whole way you market your services.

Cheers, Robert