So this week I wanted to share with you some insights on the art of giving away your best stuff without overwhelming your potential clients.
My philosophy is that you should give away your best stuff because your client will then be happy to come back and pay for the extra 20%, 30%, 40%, 70%.
I thought it would be helpful to give you an example to illustrate what I mean so that you don’t end up putting off your potential clients and losing out on sales by giving too much away.
Because, if you give too much at once it can sometimes be overwhelming for your intended client and often they can think they already have the answer and don’t need to work with you further – so it is a fine balance.
Ahhhh chocolates
Imagine you are a gourmet chocolatier and you create the most exquisite chocolates.
You want to play with the ‘big boys’ and see your main competitors being Godiva and Charbonnel et Walker (shhhh these two are my faves).
But you are just starting out, you don’t have the type of marketing budget they have or the raving fan base.
However, you have managed to negotiate a great rate for a stand just outside the designer lounge area at Westfield, the big shopping centre in West London.
All you have to do is wait for the money to start rolling in.
But guess what?
Your chocolates are not selling and after a few weeks you’ve only sold a fraction of your forecasted sales.
So you decide that you need to do more to engage people. A pretty, well laid out stand isn’t pulling in the punters, so you start offering passers-by a free chocolate.
Would you like to try?
You walk up to them with a beautifully laid out tray of milk, white and dark chocolates and say:
‘Would you like to try one?’
You see the delight as the passer-by scans the tray deciding which is the best one to choose.
She bites into the chocolate and her face releases a grin of sheer ecstasy as the salted caramel mixture oozes out of the thick milk chocolate casing. Heaven.
‘How much are they?’ she asks after she’s swallowed the last morsel.
Simple – isn’t it? The chocolatier didn’t approach the woman and say:
‘Would you like to try a piece of this regular milk chocolate and if you like that come and buy my fabulous chocolates.’ The chocolatier simply offered the passer-by her best chocolates and waited.
Now, she didn’t invite the passer-by to eat the whole tray of chocolates, or take several for later – she just invited her to take one.
This is what giving your best stuff away is all about.
You are not giving a second rate version of what you offer, you are giving your best.
The idea is that you give away enough to let the person experience the great product, service or insights you are providing, but you’re not giving so much away that it overwhelms or confuses your potential client so they think they don’t need to buy anything from you. The key is to make sure that your clients realise that you still have a lot more to share.
The art of giving and getting high end clients
I’ve worked with a lot of coaches, consultants and heart centred business owners who want to attract high-end or VIP clients. There is a very simple and clear approach to achieving this and one of the way is give away some of your great stuff.
But sometimes business owners are very scared to do this. They feel that their clients won’t buy from them if they give them their best stuff. You have so much more to your offer than a 20-minute conversation, a 1,000-word blog, an e-book, video series or check list.
I would suggest that very few people after speaking to you for 20 minutes or reading your article or lead magnet can completely change their life or business as a result.
What they can do is to implement what you have suggested and see one small simple change happen. Their whole life will not change as a result of your FREEBIE.
That will only happen when they work with you.
But what will happen is your credibility and value in their eyes will increase. They will see you as someone who delivers amazing insights and content. They are then far more likely to sign-up to your webinar, attend your event, read your weekly email, connect on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and other social media platforms. All because you gave them something that can help them and in doing so demonstrates your value.
So why not give it a try?
Over the next week think about what you could give that would serve those potential clients that are waiting to work with you. Give them something that will create within them that desire to pick up the phone or send an email to say they are interested in finding out more about you.
Getting it right can lead directly to new clients and lots of people being interested in what you have to offer.
I would love to hear what you have given to your tribe and community to help them connect with their ideal clients and target market. Let me know how it has or maybe has not helped your business.
And if you feel inspired by the post, please share it with your friends and contacts on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and Google+
