Selling your services with an Aurora win becomes easier.
"As you’ve noticed, people don’t want to be sold. What people do want is news and information about the things they care about," indicates Larry Weber, CEO of Racepoint Global. When your prospective customer feels as if they are being sold to they typically shy away and begin to ignore you. Your focus and interest should be your customer – you need to be learning about what they are all about. And remember, your service is worthless without their problem. You need to help them understand the value of your services (not just the price). Here are steps to create a new customer.
- Ask them loads of questions to discover if there is a fit for what you do and what they may need. (Don’t tell them about you or your services just yet.) Listen intently. After enough questions they may open up about their weaknesses when they are feeling confident in their strengths. (If not a fit, encourage their future growth and thank them for their time.)
- Ask them where they are now and what are their current needs for filmmaking. What is their problem to be solved? (Find out where they want to be and when, why they aren’t already there yet and what is holding them back, and why is that important. Clarify dates and dollars.)
- Don’t present the solution until customer has agreed you know their need and they have requested a solution.
- Share with them your resources and filmmaking talents. Indicating to them that you’ve been an Aurora Awards winner tells them you’ve already been reviewed by a professional organization. This takes away many steps they would otherwise need to take to validate your abilities. Let them discover the value on their own.
- Based on your conversation in steps 1 and 2, match up why your solution is the best for them. The question is not whether your solution will work. Provide that proof (your Aurora recognition, your team experience, etcetera). Tell them you work with (name others) who wanted (name their solution). Then quantify your work.
- Ask them if they’d like to explore how it could work for them. You will discover a plan, process, and priority. The question is how committed your prospective client is to change and make the job happen from their position and pain.
- Talk about exchanging funds or services with them. Your Aurora Award helps to validate reasons why you can ask for more than the other guy. If possible, show them your Aurora Award or meet in a room displaying your awards for best results. Come to an agreement and ask them to commit. NOTE: An important part of this is letting them know the difference between creating a quick, low cost and mediocre job versus creating a job (which your talent is utilized) that is well done, reasonably priced and excellent. And how the creation of such work is leveraged for additional marketing of their company – when it wins an Aurora Award and creates more marketing opportunities beyond the original purpose for which it was intended. Thus the life of your work for them will live longer.
- Talk about timing and then get to know needs more specifically. Enjoy creating.