3 Buying Triggers Every Service Professional Should Know

This month I’m sharing my ideas and comments from Harry Beckwith’s Selling the Invisible . . . services.

Services are in fact invisible – you are selling a promise to your client that you will help them get or achieve something in their business.  They are buying into you, your expertise, and your promise. But do you know their decision triggers?

We like to think those triggers are a logical process of research, comparison, and rational decision making. But because we’re people, it doesn’t always work out that way, does it?

There are 3 triggers Beckwith describes that you have to remember when creating visibility for yourself and marketing to potential clients:

Familiarity. Do you ever notice that some service professionals or companies are everywhere? They’re on social media, at networking events, being written up in the local paper, and making client calls. This isn’t magic – it’s about a marketing plan that creates familiarity with your potential and current clients. Potential clients, because they get to know you as a credible resource. Current clients, because it validates they made the right decision in hiring you, and will refer you to others.

Ask yourself, how familiar are you to those in your market? And how familiar are you with alliance partners that can refer business to you?

Recent Exposure. This is all about follow-up. How many times have you engaged with a potential client and then there was no regular exposure, or follow-up? It’s OK to be honest here, we’ve all done it. The very successful create a follow-up plan and work it consistently. First, get clear on how you want potential clients to engage with you. Is it via your website, a free consultation, a monthly education session?

For example, in my coaching practice – I like for people to engage with me via my website. There they can get to know me through my blog and other free resources I provide. They can opt-in to my community and receive regular communications from me. Remember to keep it simple – but create and follow through on your follow-up plan.

Good Enough. This one was eye-opening for me. Beckwith explains that “people do not look to make a superior choice; they want to avoid making a bad choice.” In other words, they are looking for a service that is good enough to meet their needs at the time. I always figured that people want to make the superior choice – but when I analyzed my own buying patterns, I realized that often times I made choices with the best information I had in front of me at the time – the good decision to get me where I wanted to go next. Your clients are doing the same thing. Instead, we need to be looking at the fears holding our clients back from making a buying decision, and address those.

For example, on the training development side of my business – one common fear is that because I’m an outside firm, I may not understand the nuances of their business in creating their training course ware. So it’s my job to eliminate that fear – with business results I’ve achieved in similar situations, describing the process I undergo with each new client, my ability to create a partnership with their company.

Get to know these triggers, because more often than not, it’s exactly how your clients are making their decisions.