Is Your Sales Pitch Making Potential Clients Ill?

(Or why you really need to know the difference between Marketing and Sales)

I KNOW this has happened to you…

You are networking somewhere. Someone, let’s call him Stan, is introduced to you. You politely ask, “So, what do you do?” And then you are really sorry you asked.

For the next 10 minutes, Stan starts to “verbally vomit” at you about his business, without giving you a moment to contribute to the “conversation”. He then continues to talk about stuff you don’t care about. Or that doesn’t apply to you. Or you don’t even understand the terminology. But he doesn’t seem to know or care.

You listen politely, feeling like you want to gag, while secretly planning your escape.

All the while, you are really hoping that somebody will be interested in what you are trying to offer. But they aren’t.

This REALLY wants to make you put on your game face and go out networking huh? Not!

Here is what is going wrong

Stan doesn’t understand the difference between Marketing and Sales.

So many solopreneurs start selling way too soon, like right away. In most cases, it feels awful for them! They don’t enjoy spewing all that information at you. And it feels even worse for their potential clients. So nobody wins. What a waste of valuable client attraction time!

Are solopreneurs greedy and insensitive?

I used to wonder if solopreneurs were just greedy, pushy salespeople. After years of coaching entrepreneurs I am happy to report this isn’t what is going on at all (what a relief). They are simply hard-working entrepreneurs who don’t know a better way to get business. They haven’t got the right tools to attract attention in a helpful way.

The Important Difference Between Marketing and Selling

When trying to attract new clients, it is a very important that you understand the difference between Marketing and Selling.

Marketing: – Attracting attention and interest. Generating leads. This comes FIRST.

This is followed by a period of bonding and nurturing so that your future clients can get to know you, like you and trust you. Hint: This cannot be done in 3 minutes at a networking meeting.

Sales: – This is where money changes hands. It happens AFTER you have earned their trust and confidence and had time to demonstrate the value of your offerings.

In our networking example above, the person is trying to jump to the Sales phase without having passed through the Marketing phase.

Unfortunately it makes potential clients feel like running home to take a shower, instead of doing business with you.

Getting that steady stream of clients

Hopefully you can see that marketing – having powerful ways to attract attention and new leads to your business without selling – should be your primary focus. It will create a steady stream of clients coming in reliably.

How to do effective client-attractive marketing – BEFORE you sell

You get the most attention by delivering valuable, information based content during the marketing phase, provided that it addresses real problems that your market is experiencing right now.

This is called Information Based Marketing and it works because it serves and helps your market, rather than selling to them.

If you don’t know how to produce information based marketing, don’t feel bad, it is the most prevalent solopreneur mistake we see. But you need to learn this technique. We can help you.

Take action now

Here is something you can do today that will help you immediately increase your marketing and client attractiveness.

1. Stop Starting with Selling
2. Get crystal clear on exactly who your target market is
3. Ask meaningful questions and really listen to their answers
4. Focus on the top 3 problems they are experiencing
5. Take the time to get to know them, and help them get to know you
6. Create valuable content around their problems, that help to fix them
7. Don’t be afraid to shine, don’t withhold your good advice
8. Be clear on the results you can get for your market

For specialized help

What do YOU think?

I would love to hear your opinion! Just add your comment to the blog. If this is helpful for you – feel free to share the article too.