In my last email, I told my story how I didn't get hired by Olive Garden because the person interviewing me wasn't in the mindset to be sold to.
In my years selling as a content producer, the real key to winning the sale isn't whether or not you're in the budget. It really comes down to if they specifically need you to solve their problem.
Before I present you the questions I ask my prospects, let me explain with... a multi purpose cleaner vs single purpose cleaner.
One can clean most messes while one can clean one specific mess really well.
One may take more time by needing the cleaner to be applied for 10 minutes before wiping off while the other can do it in 8 minutes.
One smells like citrus while one smells like lavender.
When one bottle is $9.99 and the other is $10.49, does price really matter at this point?
Point is, both cleaners would work fine.
However, when someone buys something it's usually because of the following:
- Past experience
- How solution would solve current problem(s)
- How solution would solve the future problem(s)
- Validation by referrals and/or peers
But if you're really looking into a great multi purpose cleaner,
Bar Keepers Friend. Just saying :)
But let's jump into my qualifier sales questions.
Because I'm a photographer, I'm going to address validation first because majority of my clients are through referrals.
Validation by referrals and/or peers
This is an easy one.
If the prospect hasn't mentioned it already in her introduction email on how they found me, I ask how did she hear of me. Usually it's from a piece I produced for someone she knows and I provide more detail and background on that specific job, how it was approached and what problem(s) I solved.
She's already validated by being referred to me so me providing a summary of that job from beginning to end helps solidify why she's reaching out to me in the first place.
Past experience
It's important to know what led the prospect to begin a conversation with you to seek your solution.
This part of the sale is crucial to better understand her real pain points which gives you a chance to address it in your pitch/proposal.
The following questions are positioned from my point of view as a photographer but you can replace it with your service/product:
Present problem(s)
How soon do you need this to be done by?
Who else will help in making decisions for this project?
If we were able to look at the final product, can you describe it and/or the results/reaction you want?
Future problem(s)
I ask these sets of questions because:
Knowing first when the project needs to be done by is my priority question – it's red flag for me when there is no real time period meaning she's just inquiring for price
Understanding who's part of the decision process lets me know the gravitas of the project
- Her past experience helps me outline specifically what I won't be doing in my pitch
Her describing the final product makes it easier for me to pitch how to accomplish it
I get a chance to understand the value of this content produced if it's used over time or just once which would affect my pricing approach
From this set of answers I'm able to then present a project quote that addresses her specific problems making the quote highly tailored in solving her problem.
By making the project quote specific, it really makes you the specific person to provide what they needed.
You got this far so it'll be much appreciate for you to provide me some quick feedback!
