Enthusiastically sharing with potential clients an aging in place solution we believe in that we feel can help them
Making sales is fun. It is extremely satisfying, and it’s how we grow, sustain, and stay in business. Some people claim to dislike sales, but they may just need to adjust their perspective. The fact is that everyone sells something – all the time.
When we get up in the morning and decide what to wear for the day, we generally choose something that we think looks good on us to make us happy, or we choose something (whether it’s our personal favorite or not) because we have gotten compliments on it and know that other people seem to like the outfit or like seeing us in it. When we choose this second option, we are doing it (even if it’s subconscious) because we want to sell ourselves to others that we are going to see during the day.
When we have a position that we feel strongly about – such as where the group or our family should eat lunch or dinner or go for fun, we advance our position to the group and lobby hard for our candidate. Others try to convince the group for their choice, but we persist. We are selling. There’s no direct compensation involve d- we are not being paid for making a sale, but we are still selling. This is what selling is.
Selling is nothing more than conveying the reasons why someone should use what we are recommending or agree to what we are proposing – even if it’s just what to watch on TV or where to eat dinner – and persuading people to our point of view. Selling is persuading – in a good, friendly, conversational way.
One of the issues with selling is that people may feel inadequate to present their case convincingly enough for others to accept it and buy-in to their argument with their time or their money. They feel that they could not support themselves financially by selling. This is because they might be selling the wrong product or approaching it incorrectly.
If we believe in something strongly enough – a recipe we tried, a place we ate, a movie we saw, a book we read, a place we stayed, a car we looked at or bought, or any other experience – we can passionately convey to someone else why they do likewise and try it. This is classic selling although no financial compensation is at stake. Now if we find a product, a solution, a business idea, or an aging in place solution that we believe in strongly, we can tell people about this and actually get paid for it when they sense our commitment and it aligns with what they want to accomplish.
Sometimes, people buy from us because we believe in it so much and they sense this. This is not the same as selling someone something they don’t need but having such an interest in their well-being that we are sharing an idea or concept with them that we genuinely believe can help them and that we want them to have.
So, we have to have a story to share with the people we want to help, and it has to be narrowly defined so that we can get our mind around it and convey it to them in simple, passionate terms. If we offer remodeling services, design expertise, or home assessments, those don’t sound that exciting in themselves. We have to share it in a way that connects with people.
Telling someone that we are remodelers and that we can do everything from installing a door to enclosing a porch to adding on a room to completing a whole home makeover is just too much. We can’t expect the consumer to seriously believe that we are good at all of these ranging aspects or that they can identify with some part of what we are sharing with them. It’s hard for us to get excited about it as well, and it shows.
Try this. Instead, say that we enjoy working with people who have decided that they want to remain in their homes long-term and we help them evaluate and modify their kitchens to provide adequate and accessible storage and convenient usage for themselves and any guests or visitors that they might be entertaining and that a typical assignment is in the $25-30,000 range (or whatever it is). The age profile or location demographic can be added if desired to further narrow the story and make it more exciting and believable – to them and for us.
This is how to be successful selling the aging in place services that we offer – simply telling a story about what we do and what we believe in. There is no pressure to make a sale – just our enthusiasm in conveying how we can help them have a better lifestyle. Sales will happen because people will believe in us and want to work with us.