Archive for April, 2011

Are you a provider of a service?  Do you have desperate hungry prospects looking for exactly the service that you offer– knocking on your door, calling you up, emailing and just waiting to get YOU and you only to do that job for them? Are your prospects motivated to buy from you?

Or does it seem more like your prospects are a bit slow or reluctant sluggishness. Okay, the recession is still with us despite what the economists saying it’s over. For many it isn’t. But don’t let that become an excuse in your mindset.

I’ve heard it said that tradesmen, freelancers and self-employed professionals get something like a 1  in 5 return on their prospecting. That means for every five people who prospects only 1 will become a paying customer. Now you may sometimes get more and sometimes get less but maybe that is an average over a typical year.

But just by using a few simple sales techniques you can offer your service in a way that could double or even triple that statistic.

If your prospects are not eagerly jumping at your offer, maybe it’s time to do some serious “tweaking” to your current marketing and selling efforts.

Okay, I know what a lot of you are thinking – “but I’m not a salesman”. Anyone who serves the public whether employed or self-employed for money and for a living IS a salesman or woman.

This site is about helping consumers get the very best services from the best providers and also about helping those providers offer their prospects a great service. So here are 3 tips on How to Sell Services Better:

1: How to sell services better means giving your prospects a better reason to hire you

Here’s a question: Are you motivating your potential buyers customers enough, or in the right way so that they really want to buy your service?

If they are not biting your hand off then maybe you’re not giving them sufficiently compelling reasons. If you think this is the case then ask yourself some questions like:

•    “Can I offer my service in a different way?”

• “If I offer 10% off if they take action within 24 hours – would that work”? We all love a a ‘money off’ deal!

•    “What questions could I ask my prospect to help them choose me above my competitors’ quotes?”

•    “Could I communicate the benefits of hiring me better than I do already”?

•    “AM I brave enough to ask my previous customers for testimonials and references to reassure new prospects

In summary: “What should I do differently that could get me from 1 in 5 to 2 in 5 success rate?”

2: How to sell services better means communicating the end reward for your prospect

For the benefit of yourself and your customer to be, it can be very effective to help them paint a mental picture of the end reward.  That is what the eventual benefit of your service will be for them.

Often, prospects find it difficult to be motivated to buy a service if they are unable to get a clear picture of what the end result is going to be.

Most of us like to have a solid grasp of how things will look, feel, sound, and be different once a service has been bought. So keep the end result in mind when talking to your prospect about the work.

3:  How to sell services better means facing down the negative, then believing and communicating the positive

It is normal for us that when we face an obstacle, or barriers, we  can easily fall into an internal dialogue in our minds that sounds like, “It’s too hard,” “It’s not going to work”, “What’s the point?”

It is common, particularly in the current recession, to hear professionals, tradesmen and businesses saying: “No one’s buying anything at the moment” or “Nobody takes us seriously, or  ”People are just wasting time” “I don’t know why I bother”, and so on. While some of this may be for understandable reasons it can also, badly affect your mindset and when that happens you run the risk of being pulled into that negative way of thinking. This kind of mindset can easily communicate itself to your prospects (even when you don’t realize it!) whereby they lose confidence and motivation to buy from you.

This has been described as the “conspiracy of mediocrity,” After all, what better way for your competition to steal success from you than to convince you that your own hopes of winning a new customer are doomed? So don’t get dragged into that way of negative thinking. Ignore the conspiracy, take yourself away from that negativity and reinforce your thinking with a more positive mindset by practicing the benefits of your service.

If you really want to motivate your prospects to buy and give them total confidence in hiring your service, then it is imperative that you take away from them from the burden of a negative mindset.  Change the way you talk about your service even invent a new type of approach.  Take the time to really listen to what they’re asking for, answer their needs, and they’ll soon be desperate for you to help them.

Be strong and confident in your approach be convinced that not only are your services the best but that the benefits of hiring you by far outweigh the costs for any prospect.

You can start here by quoting someone looking for your services inside CLICK HERE

You know the dilemma – should I do the job myself or get someone who is quicker and more accomplished to do it for me…?

The benefits of DFY (done for you) over DIY can be substantial. In a cash-strained economy it would be easy to assume that doing something yourself whether in business or at home rather than getting it done for you would be an obvious choice. Don’t necessarily assume this until you’ve thought about it carefully. DIY can turn out more expensive in every way than DFY.

Either DFY or DIY can offer cost savings, either can provide other gains but to help you make the decision, consider the following questions:

• Will outsourcing or a ‘done for you’ service free up your business or your home time to focus on your other priorities? This might benefit your business or home life by allowing your family or staff to concentrate on their other tasks or activities that are more important or valuable to you.

• Is it likely to improve your efficiency in your work or business or your enjoyment at home?

• Is your business likely to gain a competitive advantage or your home be less inconvenienced? A ‘done for you’ service can bring flexibility to both work and home, turning fixed costs into variable costs and freeing up capital in business or freeing up your time at home.

Some questions

It may be tempting to rush into DIY, but take the time to think through what you need, be clear about your terms and find the right service provider. Consider the following:

• Is the job among your core strengths? Can you do the job in hand quickly, easily and efficiently without it affecting other parts of your work or life too much? If it does affect other parts of your work or life – how much? And is that inconvenience worth it?

• How long will it take you to do the job yourself – how many hours?

• How much is your time worth to you – per hour? (£10, £20, £60 more?) and multiply the number of hours by what you time is worth to you

• Now what are the costs of doing it in-house? Include hidden costs such as office space and staff costs.

• Check your return on investment (ROI) – then query potential service providers for help, as some use an ROI calculator.

• Will your business suffer because you didn’t invest in the expertise or the facilities, or the time-saving that an outside expert can provide?

Simply put – in business which will profit and cost you most DFY or DIY? in the home if you love doing things yourself and get an enjoyment from the activity then consider this alongside the reasons you’d use not to DIY it.

If you are looking for a service provider… you’ll find one in our service pages here

Hanging a door is a real skill which is why we would always recommend that you get a professional to do it for you. You may think you can save money or time by doing it yourself but it can be a false economy to believe this.

1. Contact some professionals. Even if you get a builder or carpenter to hang your door, there is still a lot you can do and a lot you can learn. For example, if you contacted a professional about hanging a door they would probably want some information before they quoted you and if you can give them that information without them coming to your home you are likely to get it done more cheaply. For example, you can tell them whether it’s inside or outside, large or small, what quality you want etc.

2. Informing the professional who you’d like to do the job for you can help them determine exactly what you want fairly quickly. One of the most fundamental things is telling them whether it’s an external or internal door you want. The regulations and requirements of these are very different as too are the prices. But this simple piece of information is the most fundamental they’ll need to start resolving your need.

3. Dimensions and positions – hanging a door involves knowing the weight and size of it and whereabouts you want it fitted. Passing this information to a professional can also help. You may not be able to be absolutely detailed or perfectly precise in all your information but at least they will be able to get an idea of what you want. Bear in mind that both internal and external doors come in all shapes and sizes, some are standard and some bespoke. Bespoke or customized ones are likely to be much more expensive.

4. Security – apart from separating one room from another, doors are security devices. Their function is to ‘secure’ a room either for privacy or safety. This is more critical for outside doors that inside ones but both serve this purpose so be sure of the level of security you want to achieve for your door. For example, an internal office door or bathroom door will need to be more secure than a kitchen door.

5. Fire regulations usually dictate that doors need to meet stipulated rules for fire resistance etc. Make sure you ask your fitter that these are met.  Also, many countries now ban the use of asbestos a fire resistant material which was formerly used in doors precisely to make them more fire resistant. This is a dangerous material though and is now banned. So make sure the door you buy does not have any of this, but that the person knows how the meets fire regulations.

6. Locks and handles – if you are fitting the door yourself you need to be very careful about fitting the lock. Putting this in the wrong place and obviously completely mess up your door. This is where a professional will be much more efficient and skillful. Also make sure you choose the best locks and handles that you can afford as these will get a lot of use and will last far longer if they are better quality.

7. Hinges and screws - make sure the hinges and screws being used are sufficient for the job. Obviously, these carry the full weight of the door so need to be very strong. External doors are almost invariably much heavier than internal ones so their hinges need to be very heavy duty and be able to carry the weight of the door for many years to come. If the person hanging a door for you gives you a choice of hinges always try to choose the best quality ones you can afford.

8. Make sure its straight – it goes without saying that the door needs to hang straight. A professional can achieve this much more quickly than an amateur. You can test the straightness both before and after hanging a door. A spirit level will tell you if your door is straight before you screw it to the doorframe. Also, after you hang it the door should open easily without swinging or veering when you let go of it.

9. Post hanging check – after hanging a door it should be checked a week or so later to make sure it hasn’t moved or slipped in any way. This is important as what can look okay when it’s first completed can, over a short time, pull out the hinges under its own weight. Visually check the hinges and swing the door a few times to make sure it’s still ok.

10. It usually takes more than one person to hang a door. So if your professional turns up alone ask them how they will manage this. Bear in mind the heavier a door is the more likely they will need help and the more people it is likely to involve. A heavy external oak door or a double glazed front door can take 3 people to hang.

So, we hope you can see that hanging a door involves a lot of preparation, checking and skill and should not be undertaken by an amateur with no experience. If you have a door that needs hanging go to our services page and seek out someone there who can help – click here!