Convincing A Client

Trying to sell something to someone that does not think they need it is difficult.

I have talked with several business owners (contractors) that say they don't need one because all of their work is by referral.

A perfect example of this is the plumber that did all of the plumbing in a house we just built. I could not remember his name. Called my dad to see if he remembered. He did. I searched and searched for this guy online. Could not find him. Had to call the general contractor to get his number.

Plumber shows up. I say "Hey, you really need a website. I could not find you online." He says "No, I get all my business by referrals." I then explain to him what I just went through to find him and tell him the only reason I did not give up was because I knew he would fix a problem we were having for free since the house was only about a month old and it was his mistake.

I then asked him if he thought his referrals would go through the same effort if they lost his number, forgot his name, or forgot the name of his business. He said "Probably not". To which I said "Do you see now why it would be a good idea to have a website." To which he replied he did not think it would be that big of a deal and was not really worried about it and had plenty of business.

To sum up, if they don't think they need a website and you can show them the reasons why it is a good idea and they still don't see the value you are not going to sell it.

Ironically most of my contractor clients are older, 50+. The 30 somethings and younger don't see the value. Go figure.

I chased my brother in law (a fence contractor) for over a year begging him to let me build him a site for "FREE". He was 28 at the time. Was solely in the yellow pages. Finally lets me build him a site. A year after building his site and he is dumping all of his yellow page ads. He sourced all of his incoming calls and they were all off the site with an exception of a few jobs.

The basic primary motivators are fear of loss, sense of urgency, greed, and to a lesser extent indifference (of the presenter).

A good presentation is designed to elicit these motivators in your prospect. The information and detail you share with your prospect should allure them to come to their own affirmative conclusion as
to:

+ What am I at risk of losing by not buying?
+ What will I gain by making a buying decision now, or what will I lose by delaying?
+ What valuable result will I achieve by buying that others would envy?
+ Is the presenter impartial, or skewing the presentation for his own selfish gain?

From experience I can tell you that people will want, and will buy just about anything if these motivators are properly stoked.


Posted from Warriorforum.com App for Android

Stop trying to sell What it 'IS' (a website)
and start talking to them about what it 'DOES' (make them lots more money)

In the parlance of the old days....'sell the sizzle NOT the sausage'

They will only commit if they are convinced (and only THEY can convince them.....NOT you) that it is of great benefit to them.

Good Luck

I have used this context and have helped several people with websites and that is not even my core business. Explain how they could get clients they would never get form their referrals or yellow pages ads because the majority of people nowadays Google whatever they need. If you don't have a listing, your business simply won't appear.

Referrals can easily dry up. Current work can also dry up. If you have online marketing happening as well, you have another huge potential avenue for business.

The website is like a huge online business card.

If you use these ideas, you'll have more luck but nothing will work 100% of the time.

I will be mass-cold-calling! An idea i had was to possibly mention a free, ebook/guide they can download, that explains the benefits of having a website. I know, that lots of business owners are truly missing out by not having a website....

Any other ideas, on how to motivate business owners to get their own websites?

Instead of trying to convince, use your energy and time effectively and SORT with your prospecting calls. Separate as fast as you can those who aren't interested and don't see the value in a website from those who are and do. Spent your time on those who do see the value already.