When people talk about running a business, they tend to talk about selling products. Sure, this is a huge element of commerce, with companies out there selling everything from raw ingredients to clothing, beauty products, cars, bedding, kitchen appliances and anything else you can think of. But if you’re selling services, you may be feeling a little short on information tailored to your business model. The good news is that we’re here to help! Here are some top tips that will help you to sell your services as best possible.
Know Your Audience
First, you need to make sure that you have a good idea of your audience. Knowing who you’re selling to will help you to reach out through means and platforms that they actually engage with. It will also let you know how to promote your services. The best way to go about this is market research. Market research allows you to get to know your target demographic, how to reach them, what tone of voice works well with them and more key information that can help you to plan your website, advertisements and more. Generally, small businesses and start ups outsource market research to agencies, as this tends to be more cost effective and less time consuming.
Have an Answering Service
If you are a small business, chances are, you don’t have the funds to hire a permanent receptionist to answer calls and emails as and when they come through. You may find that customers call while you’re busy with another job. For this, it’s highly advisable that you have a contractor answering service. This is a service that ensures that your customers always receive the information they require when they get in touch, even if you’re unable to answer yourself. This can reduce cases where customers can’t get through and reach out to a competitor instead.
Advertising and Marketing
Advertising and marketing are key to securing customers. You can have the best services in your local area, but if your customer base don’t know you’re available or how good you are, they’re no more likely to book you than a competitor. This is where advertising and marketing can help. Different approaches suit different businesses. Take some time to figure out which will best suit yours. This could be having a website and focusing on local SEO to help your page rank highly in search engine results. It could be printing leaflets and flyers and leaving them in local stores or cafes. It could be social media advertising if you have a younger target audience. Again, market research can help you to find the best options to suit your business and your brand.
Performing
It’s all good and well getting bookings, but you need to make sure that your services deliver. Performing well can help you to build a good portfolio, get positive reviews and gain additional clients through word of mouth.
Hopefully, some of these top tips can help you to sell your services successfully. Each tip can go a long way, so bear each in mind!