Sales process is valuable, but its not as important based on my personal sales experience as your perception of how to sell, and the client's perception of you. I spent 18 (scary, intimidating, and largely unguided) months in sales, and here are a few important things I learned.
- I hate the concept of selling that I associated with selling. It was scary, intimidating, and I felt entirely unqualified to do it.
- It is a game of numbers. You get X leads, and you will sell Y of them. That number will increase based on your ability to find good leads (or have people refer clients to you, which is the bulk of my revenue). Focus on finding prospects. Ideally, you can find those through referrals. The vast majority of my work is referrals from designers, who trust me to get the job done with minimal pain and difficulty. Basically referrals are piggybacking on the trust others built up. If they recommend you (and you don't undermine that trust by mishandling your customers or the work you do for them), you're 95% of the way there.
- Stop calling it sales. Start calling it problem-solving. If you can find a way to alleviate something that is painful for them with your skill set, then you are valuable.
- Conversely, if you can't solve their problem, you'd better find out quickly and walk away. Do not underestimate the amount of time and money you can waste trying to make something work.
- For those who approach you, remember they need you more than you need them.
- Success is as much influenced by knowing who you shouldn't work with as it is finding the right people. Most individual clients, for example, those who are just single people out there futzing around, are the worst type of client you can get.
- Try to get a budget from them. No, people won't get offended if you ask. If they do, don't provide them service. This is a quick way to smoke out poor clients. Those who do will often respond with another question, like "well how much does a website cost?" In which case you will respond with "I can build you a $1000 website or a $100,000 website, your budget will help us figure out what is possible." Or something to that effect.
- Are you trustworthy? You won't have to "sell" yourself if they trust you. How do you gain trust? Start small. Want to get your foot in the door? Start with your toe. Just get your toe in the door. My biggest client (the company does over 30 mil per year) started with a $750 project from a cold email I sent to them. I do about 20-25k per year for them and I've never felt like I was selling anything. I'm a problem-solving resource to them, not a sales guy.
- Sales is not some mystical skill-set. We can all "sell", the question is whether you have something to sell, and if the client has a need. As long as you can solve a problem for someone, you can sell them the solution.
- Be easy to work with. If someone says "Can you do X" don't tell them no. That's painful for them. Remind them that all you try to do is solve problems, and if you don't have an immediate answer, you'll get one for them. There is value in that. It also helps you avoid feeling like your skill set is inadequate, in any situation. You will find the resources and skills needed to make something happen, if you can't do it yourself. Just always be the go-to person for them. You will absolutely retain them for longer, and if you're the go-to guy to "just take care of things" you're not selling, you're just a wonderful asset.
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