What Makes Your Service Sell Itself?
Frank Traditi
I reconnected with a colleague and great friend of mine while we were both walking in a popular area in downtown Denver. We just happened to bump into each other on the sidewalk.
We got the chance to talk about his job which he proudly says is the greatest job in the world. He's working for an organization that helps college students (of any age) get a graduate degree through well-known and highly respected universities in Australia and New Zealand. He travels around quite a bit to career fairs, and the like, promoting an excellent program to allow students to gain a degree abroad in a very cool place on the planet.
He was telling me that the reason his job is the best is that essentially the service sells itself. Now, I half agreed with him and interjected that he was, in fact, an excellent sales person to boot. In his modest fashion, he insisted that the product really did sell itself and it wasn't just his sales skills that got people excited about the service his company represented.
He explained to me that in at least 10 instances over the past few weeks he was in a position where just by telling someone or a group what he did and who he worked for, elicited immediate responses like:
"I need to ask you more questions about this."
"I've told all my colleagues about your service."
"I'm sick of what I'm studying now. I would love to go to Australia
and study."
Even at lunch one day, he gave his card to the waitress to enter into a free lunch raffle and she came back to his table 3 times to ask how she could find out more about how this program worked! By the way, he did win the free lunch raffle!
This led me to ponder the obvious question:
What makes a service sell itself?
Now, I don't completely subscribe to the entire notion that any product good enough can sell itself. You need to have a passionate delivery mechanism -- YOU -- to make the connection with any prospect interested in your service.
What can you do right now to generate the kind of responses my friend gets when he tells someone about what he does? Let's tee up a few things that could help your service sell itself.
A killer elevator speech or 30-second commercial
This is absolutely the most important facet to your new or established
business. When you're asked the question, "So, what do you do?”
it's got to come across with passion and excitement. It's simple enough
to understand. You create an immediate connection with someone who wants
to know more or can lead to someone who does.
Don't be afraid to tell anyone at anytime
Some of your best clients can come from chance meetings, brief
encounters and in places you thought were off limits. My friend got prospects
from talking with nurses that were giving flu shots in a grocery store!
Stop selling yourself short
You do have a great service to offer. People need what you have.
Don't be timid in telling someone how you changed their lives, fixed a big
problem or helped them realize their dreams.
Put an enticing message on your business card
If you can nail down a big benefit your clients get in one short
sentence or phrase, then you can get that on your business card. Someone
reading it will understand what you can do and want to know more.
Create excitement around what you offer
If you can't get someone just as excited as you are about your
services, then why would they buy from you? Don't think that the product
or service you provide may be a commodity or boring to talk about. Remember
what your customers feel like when you do a good job for them. Express that
in your message to potential clients and everyone you meet.
Does a product or service really sell itself? It can if you're serious and passionate about delivering the message. Now, you might not have the capacity to help people go to Australia -- but you can take them to a place they haven't been. A place where their problems are fixed, where they make more money, or live their life they always wanted.
Wouldn't it be great if your service sold itself?
Copyright © 2006, Frank Traditi
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