Skip the Pitch: Getting Smart About Crafting a High-Value Sales Approach

In every business relationship that involves an exchange of money for services, there’s that charged moment when you seal the deal.

For most solo or boutique consultancies, that handshake–virtual or face-to-face–represents a complex brew of excitement and apprehension. You’re thrilled to have landed a great client willing to compensate you for your skills, and you don’t want to blow it.

If you’re using the high-value lead acquisition and lead nurture method, you already know how great it feels to give up chasing leads–and have them naturally move closer to your inner circle of high-paying clients.

When you emphasize value throughout the sales and delivery process, making a sale is also a lot more relaxed. Instead of cranking up a fancy presentation to win hearts and wallets, you build a relationship of trust with your clients over time, and one day, they decide to hire you.

But there’s still work to do. Here’s how to switch from a high-pressure sales pitch to a high-value sales approach.

From Pitch to Diagnosis

The key to remember as you help your client take the final step toward hiring you is that this is a process.

Because your focus is on developing relationships by providing value to prospects and leads, there is no one single moment where you win or lose. There’s no home run or strikeout. Each interaction is just another opportunity to build trust, demonstrate value, and–when the time is right–submit a proposal.

Diving In: Bad Habits Die Hard

However, no matter how practiced you are at getting a client to commit, there’s usually that instinct to slam together a star-spangled proposal immediately after you sense an opportunity, before your client gets cold feet.

You want that document to leave your prospect drooling, so you put together an adrenaline-fueled masterpiece of promises, plans, and fulfilled dreams that makes your clients beg to start work now!

No pressure there.

Instead, take a step back. In order for you to create a proposal that clearly reflects the scope and outcomes that your work will provide, you need to run some diagnostics.

While it’s tempting to skip this step to look like a hero–or collect a deposit–charging ahead will not save time or increase your perceived value. In fact, it will make you seem like less of an expert in your clients’ eyes.

Take Your Time, Make A Solid Diagnosis

When you rush ahead and base a proposal on what you think the client wants instead of real answers and analysis, you’ve put yourself in the position of taking orders instead of offering sage advice.

Think of it this way: When you make a doctor’s appointment because of abdominal pain that needs attention, is the doctor expecting you march in, tell her it’s appendicitis, and demand immediate surgery?

No. You need her expertise.

You are paying for her knowledge base and experience to help you pinpoint the problem and advise you on the safest, most effective course of action so you can get rid of this painful problem.

Your clients expect the same from you before they sign a contract.

Play Doctor

Making the time for a diagnostic phase before the proposal pulls you out of reactive mode and puts you at the helm of the project.

If you let the client dictate what’s going to happen, when it’s going to happen, and the value it has for his business, then you’re headed for layers of trouble.

• Micromanagement, anyone? If the client thinks he’s in the driver’s seat, he’ll be checking up on details, second-guessing every decision, and generally feeling anxious the whole time.
• Snags and snafus Without the time to correctly identify the real problems, you won’t be able to offer the best solutions, which means lots of expensive, time-wasting changes along the way.
• Zero credit If you’re not seen as the expert, the client will take all of the credit for any success. While you definitely want him to share in the success, your status as the central problem-solver (the brain)–not the hands that merely did the work–is essential.
• Bottom dollar You can’t justify premium rates if the client thinks she’s the brains of the operation. On the other hand, a well-respected specialist is always in demand, even if the price is is steep.

The Proper Diagnosis: Asking the Right Questions

The dividends are huge when you invest in a solid diagnosis process.

This review session can be an hour-long phone call, a half-day meeting, or maybe a month-long visionquest for a truly complex issue.

Do you charge for this diagnostic service? Of course! If doctors get paid for an office visit and a diagnosis, then you can charge for your time, too.

Please, don’t gloss over this investment in your workload and your position as an expert.

Question 1: Why This?

If you’re going to completely understand your client’s problem and how you provide real solutions, don’t be afraid to ask lots of basic questions.

If the the client wants a new website, find out why. Has traffic dropped recently? Did a new competitor just launch a new website? Or does the client hate the color green, which is featured prominently in the current website?

Drop all assumptions and find out precisely what your client considers to be the main problem. If you sell the diagnostic first, you can also sell the cure–if that cure is in your wheelhouse.

Question 2: Why Now?

It’s essential that you find out why they need a solution to their problem right now.

If the problem is truly urgent, it will be easy to get a yes to the proposal, a yes to the fees you command, and have their full attention to the project as it moves along.

Now is the time to find out if you’re dealing with a back-burner issue. Sniff that out right away, or you’ll be stuck with a headache–low fees, late payments, and little to no interest from your client.

Step 3: Why Me?

It’s always a good idea to find out why the client came to you for a solution to their problem–you know immediately where you stand.

If you were just the first name in the phone book, then you’ll have a harder time justifying your top rates. A strong referral or an ongoing relationship sustained by your lead nurture program will pave the way for higher fees.

Step 4: What Does Success Look Like?

Make sure there are no surprises about what kind of return that your client expects for their investment.

Answers to questions like “What do you hope to accomplish?” or “What are you trying to create?” will give you a clear sense of whether your outcomes should be measured in numbers of subscribers or improved morale for their team.

When everyone is on the same page with objectives and outcomes, you’ll have less sticker shock when the proposal appears.Your client will already be sold on the value of your work.

What if the Client Wants the Proposal Now?

It’s tempting to respond to an eager client with general answers and a dotted line for their signature.

Do not skimp on this process.

Using your best bedside manner, offer the client an answer like, “I can’t give you my best answer now, but I’ll have one soon after we walk through this process.” Another particularly effective approach is to remind an eager client that it would be malpractice for you to start prescribing solutions before you’ve looked deeper into the problem.

In other words, you want to lower their anxiety and offer encouragement without giving them false hope.

In the end, what you and the client really want is your delivery of the right solution at the right time for the right price.

You can leave that up to educated guesswork–or you can do yourself a huge favor by putting the diagnostic process in the high-value sales approach to work for you.