How to get better at selling your design services
Do you hate the idea of selling?? Or dread conversations with clients about money?
If so you’re not alone, most designers I meet do!
But believe it or not sales can be pretty fun when you learn how to do it properly, completely believe in what you are selling and have a solid sales funnel in place.
In this post I’m sharing some tips to help you get over your fear of sales or that feeling that sales has to be gross.
In particular we are going to cover:
how to shift your mindset about sales
where designers go wrong with sales
how to do it better
putting it together
How to shift your mindset about sales
Lots of people get an icky reaction when they think about sales.
But this isn't a helpful mindset to have when it comes to generating new projects (and revenue!) for your business.
A much better way to think about it is that there are people out there with a problem and you might have a solution to that problem. And in that scenario it is totally reasonable to expect that you will be paid for solving that problem.
Most clients understand that this is a commercial transaction and they expect to pay something, but yet we still get worried about asking for the sale!
The way to get over this is to shift your mindset about sales. Instead of dreading it or thinking it is icky think about it this way:
your potential client has a problem and they can’t solve that problem on their own (or they would have done it by now)
you have knowledge, skill and experience that they don’t have
because of this experience you are able to help them solve the problem they have
but doing that takes you time and effort and you aren’t a charity
this is a commercial transaction and your time needs to be paid for
And at the heart of it that's all that sales is:
People have problems that need to be solved and if you can position yourself the best person to help them solve that problem then you will get the sale.
There are two important factors that will help you increase your confidence in sales.
The first is that you must be confident in what you’re selling. If you feel like you don’t know what you’re doing or you lack confidence in your knowledge, skills or experience then clients will suss this out. If you don’t have confidence you need to gain this via additional upskilling/training or by getting experience working with clients for free.
The second important factor that will increase your confidence in your sales is to have a sales process or system that you consistently follow with potential clients.
Every new client should come through exactly the same sales funnel that you know inside out. That way when you talk about sales it all feels natural as you’ve done it exactly the same (proven!) way so many times before.
The benefit of a formal sales system is that it is designed to be repeatable, which means that the more you do it - the better you will get at implementing it.
Perhaps more important is that over time you will understand where the process falls down or could be improved, which allows you to adjust, test and improve the process all the time.
Eventually the whole client journey will become second nature to you, and as a result, will be a much more seamless (and professional) process for your prospective client as well.
Having a formalised sales system set up in your business is what will ultimately bring you the most confidence and help you get better at sales.
OK with all that in mind let's now look at some of the ways that designers go wrong when tackling sales and some improvements you can start to make today.
Sales conversations happen at lots of different stages - so what I’m talking about here are any discussion where you are trying to sell your services - for example:
during initial discovery calls
during initial design consultations
when you’re changing or increasing project scope
Where people go wrong with sales
Here are some of the ways that designers go wrong with sales:
They talk too much and don’t listen enough to the client and the way the client expresses their problems
They interrogate the client and ask too many questions - instead let the client tell you their story in their own words
They seem desperate for the sale - in sales the least desperate person generally wins
Try and sell the full process all at once rather than simply the next step in their sales funnel - e.g. on an initial discovery call the aim is only to sell the client on booking an initial design consultation - not to try and sell them on working with you on their full renovation or remodel project
No leadership - they let the client lead the conversation rather than taking ownership of the process and walking them through the meeting
No sales process - running blind, no tracking of leads or conversions and without this it’s impossible to improve your sales as you never know where things are going wrong
Over complicating things - making the process too complicated, which is overwhelming for clients
Providing too many options - this makes clients have to think too hard and many won’t make a decision as it all becomes too hard
Not having a clear path/next steps - always sell the next step and tell people what you want them to do next
How to do sales better
Here’s some tips for how to have better sales conversations:
Come from a place of service first, money second - never hold back advice or knowledge because you feel you haven’t yet been ‘paid’ for it or you feel they might steal your ideas and run with them on their own. Holding back knowledge just makes you look like you don’t have good ideas or you’re hiding something. Be as generous as possible.
Lead the client - have a structure and process for your sales meetings (e.g. your initial design consultations). Make sure you know what the aim of the meeting is, what you need to find out and what you need your potential client to know by the end. A repeatable system will give you confidence and help you win more work.
Listen more - don’t talk too much or think you know best. Listen to the language your potential client is using to explain the problems they have and then repeat those words back in the solutions you present. They will feel you have really listened and understand them.
Only sell the next step in the process - don’t sell the entire design journey in the first conversation. Just sell the next step in the process
Have a repeatable sales process/system - this will build confidence in what you’re doing
Sell the transformation
don’t sell features of what you (e.g. I will help you design your kitchen)
instead sell the transformation (e.g. I have worked with so many families like yours with young children and what I find is that the kitchens that work best have X, Y, Z features that will make it so much easier for you day to day).
Not pushy - I am always prepared to walk away from a sale if it’s not the right fit or the right time for a client or if the client tells me they don’t have the budget. I never try and convince people to work with me and I never lower prices to try and win a client.
Simple, easy to understand options - don’t overcomplicated the options you have. They may make sense to you but too many choices make it hard work for people and they are more likely to go with someone who has made it easier for them to decide.
Be genuine and relatable - think about how you act, speak, dress and everything else about how you appear to a potential client. If they are intimidated by you or feel you are unrelateable you won’t build a connection and they will be unlikely to choose you as the person they want to work with.
Putting it together
I am not a "salesy" person at all but I love to sell my products and programs.
Why?
Because:
😄 I come from a place of service first and sales second.
😄 The more I can serve my community with free, valuable advice, the more people see that I know what I'm talking about. This, in turn, results in more sales from people who want to learn more or go faster.
😄 I completely believe in the quality of what I create and the value of what I'm selling.
😄 I know my programs work so I'm completely confident in talking about them and talking about the transformation I can get for my clients
😄 I know that my programs aren't for everyone and that's completely fine with me. I have no interest in trying to 'convince' people to buy things from me
😄 I have a repeatable sales funnel that I know helps me get clients every single day. I spend time refining and improving that sales funnel so it's always getting better
😄 I love what I do and talk passionately about it in a genuine way that helps other people get results.
This is what sales is about for me and makes business fun and enjoyable - not gross.
If you find sales difficult then you owe it to yourself to build better skills in this area.
If you are a fantastic designer but a terrible sales person you are unlikely to do as well as an average designer with excellent sales skills.
So do yourself a favour and get a proper sales system set up in your business as this will give you more confidence in sales.
Courses and Templates for Designers and Architects
DO YOU WANT TO….
Improve your professionalism?
Find more clients?
Bring in more revenue?
Create better systems and processes?
Then check out my business courses and templates for designers and architects.
These courses and templates leave you with work done - not just a long list of things you need to do next. We have a really strong focus on taking action and getting things created that improve your business.
Enjoy the rest of your day!
Clare x
Dr Clare Le Roy
