How to Have Successful Sales Conversations

Sales conversations can be a daunting part of running a business, but often necessary for helping clients make the decision to choose to work with you.

What are sales conversations? They are discussions with prospective clients to share what you have to offer them with the ultimate objective to convert a prospective lead to a paying client. Sales conversations are your chance as the practitioner to personally invite clients to join in on your services, packages, and programs.

We want to help shift the narrative about what these conversations need to look like in order to convert leads to paying clients and emphasize that you don’t need to compromise your integrity or even feel uncomfortable while having a sales conversation. These discussions can feel good for both you and your client!

We’re sharing 5 ideas to help you have successful sales conversations:

1. Let Go of Any Preconceived Ideas or Stereotypes You Have About Sales

What stereotypes or ideas about sales are you holding onto? It can be easy to let preconceived ideas unintentionally influence the way you sell in your business. Our hesitancy toward sales can be a direct result of our desire to not be a part of these stereotypes, but rest assured you can sell in a way that is authentic to you without compromising values. Clients tend to pick up on your energy. If you are feeling doubt or resistance against engaging in sales conversations, it’s likely your prospective clients will pick up on this energy. This can influence buying decisions as the energy clients pick on may misconstrue the way you come across and your true genuine intent of providing a solution that will benefit them. Your mindset and how you perceive sales will play a role in your delivery.

2. Successful Sales Start With Your Marketing

The lines between sales and marketing can overlap, as marketing efforts can be effective sales tools. Your marketing is often the first touchpoint or impression a new prospect will encounter. Marketing has the ability to gently guide new leads to make a decision that is right for them. By focusing on advertising your business in a way that is educational and clear, you are helping inform and guide the client so they know what their options are and what could be the best fit for them.

Weaving in personal narratives to your marketing efforts will help establish trust, build rapport and give your community an example of the type of transformation they can anticipate if they choose to work with you. Effective marketing may lead to more efficient sales conversations as the audience is already aware of who you are, what you offer, and what could be the best fit for them. The way you market your business can be intentional to provide a foundation of base-level knowledge that allows clients to vet whether your services are the right fit for them before a sales conversation even takes place.

3. Get to Know Your Clients

Take the time to build a relationship with your community. Clients will want to know and feel that you have their best interests in mind. You’ve likely already specialized your focus and narrowed it in on an ideal client. Taking the time to get to know your clients will allow you insights into what the driving factors are behind their decision to choose to invest in your services. You will be able to anticipate current struggles and pain points and better understand the type of outcomes you can communicate to your ideal client to help guide them toward a buying decision.

By taking the time to understand and listen to their pain points, you’ll understand if you have the resources and knowledge to support their pain points and if you’re the right practitioner for them. When having a sales conversation with a prospective client, validate their experience and recognize the issues they may be currently facing. Follow up by sharing the way you can lead them to a positive outcome and solution. Highlight the benefits they’ll experience through transformation, as this can give clients the motivation to make a buying decision to begin working with you.

4. Educate and Guide the Client

Empower your clients to arrive at a decision that aligns with what they truly need. You can do so by including guiding questions that help clarify needs, provide further information and help clients make a decision in their own best interest. Being transparent will allow clients to make a choice they know is the best fit for them as they have all the information they need to make an informed decision. You can provide thorough descriptions when creating services in Practice Better to help inform clients when they view your booking page.

Be sure to take the time to educate as you sell, keeping in mind that prospective clients most likely don’t have the same base level of knowledge you do in your field of expertise. Some may feel overwhelmed at the prospect of making a decision if they feel unclear about details or don’t entirely know what to expect when working with you. Your journey together will be much smoother because they’ll truly be the right client for you and they’ll be personally ready for the transformation you can deliver.

5. Change Happens on Their Timeline

Most clients investing in your services are ultimately looking to change some facet of their health and lives. Change can be daunting, and often takes a fierce amount of commitment and dedication from the client. You’ll have more success as a practitioner if clients that book with you are in a place where they are ready to commit to their journey and know you are the right practitioner to guide them along the way. If during a sales conversation you’re having to push someone into a buying decision, they will likely have resistance against making and maintaining the necessary commitments in achieving their health transformations. Honor where they are at in their journey, even if that means they are not ready to commit to working with you in a full capacity yet. Willingness to change comes from an internal place that can’t be sold. During the sales conversation, ask qualifying questions to confirm a client is mentally ready, willing, and able to commit to change to ensure the best outcome. Consider introducing an application form into your business to include these qualifying questions.

Throughout your sales conversation, honor your client’s decision-making process by taking the time to understand who they are, where they are at in their health journey, and what’s driving their decision to consider working with you. Taking the time to understand your clients and effectively communicate and market your business will lead to more efficient and effective sales calls that are a good experience for both you and the prospect. You’ll be able to sell and convert leads to paying clients in a way that feels aligned and authentic to you.

Implement in Practice Better

As we mentioned, using a client application form is a great way to qualify your leads in advance and set yourself up for a successful sales conversation.

In Practice Better, you can create your own custom form using our Form Builder.

First, you’ll need to determine what qualities and pain points you are looking to support with your clients. Think about your niche and specialization. What questions can you ask to make sure your client is a good fit for your services? Additionally, you can come up with questions to ensure a client is ready to invest, commit and implement change.

Your client application form can be embedded onto your website or shared via Public Form Link. Once you review the form and determine if the prospective client is the right fit, you can follow up with a link to your Booking Page as the next step.

Each month, our Business Success Coaches, host an interactive BBC YouTube Live, bridging together expert advice and Practice Better technology. Take a moment to watch the session below where they discuss ‘How to Have Successful Sales Conversations’!

Subscribe to our YouTube channel to be notified about our next YouTube Live event!

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Practice Better is the complete practice management platform for nutritionists, dietitians, and wellness professionals. Streamline your practice and begin your 14-day free trial today.