laneimageconsultingSelling For Personal Stylists
I used to tell myself all the time that I was rubbish at sales and couldn’t sell.
It was ridiculous, really, because I had all the skills I needed to sell well, but my approach was all wrong. I was telling myself that I should be doing the hard sell, you know, like a sleazy salesman who tries to convince you to buy something you don’t really want?
Once I realised that it’s not about selling but SERVING, my problems went away.
By focusing on serving or helping people, you’re leading with kindness in your heart. You’re your genuine self, and you don’t have to rely on any of those pushy tactics that make you feel awful. You don’t need any slick conversation formulas or clever closing lines. Your sales will happen naturally because your clients won’t feel like you’re forcing them into it.
Before we get stuck into how you sell with heart, we need first to clear up a couple of fundamentals. You will not make sales without two things:
offering something that people want to buy; and
continually telling people about your offer on social media, or in newsletters, etc.
OK? 😊
So, where does the heart bit come in? How do you sell with heart?
1) Share your passion and vision
Think about this: why are people watching you or following you on social media?
Most people aren’t initially looking to buy. They’re looking for inspiration and things to make them feel good, to distract them from everyday life. They’re drawn to people who are passionate about what they do and want to find out more.
Many of my image consultant clients are passionate about colour. Literally mad about it! Every time they talk about how it transforms the lives of their own clients, they light up. 😍 They speak from the heart with feeling without thinking too much about what they’re saying.
When you talk about your passion (or your zone of genius, which I cover in my Ideal Client Challenge), people pick up on your good energy and how you feel about the services you offer. If you’re not really feeling it, you’re not really in love with what you’ve created; you’re not going to give off that enthusiastic energy that gets people paying attention.
Take me, for example. In the early days of my image consultancy career, I offered men’s styling services because I’d come from a corporate background and worked with many men I believed I could help. They were an ambitious bunch who needed to look the part to get that promotion or flashy company car.
I’d identified a need for my service. I’d identified what I thought was my ideal client. Great! You’re thinking. All systems go!
Except they weren’t.
I’d created my service only with potential clients in mind and hadn’t considered that I don’t really like styling men at all.
I had no passion for it, so I had no enthusiasm to post about it on social media, and so I had no sales either. 😥
These days my ideal client is very different, and crucially I have buckets of passion and enthusiasm for what I do, and I can’t stop talking about it! My vision is for image consultants all over the world to be savvy business owners as well as incredible image consultants.
You’ve spent so much time and money on your technical training, and many of you just don’t get the returns you deserve. That’s why I offer business coaching services to you!
I could talk about it for days and in so many different ways because I truly believe in what I’m doing.
I hope you can see the difference just from the way I write about the two!
2) Tell stories
Another way to sell with heart is to tell stories. Storytelling is so powerful because people can identify themselves in stories, and it piques their curiosity. They then want to know more about you and where you’re coming from.
Tell stories about your journey into image consulting, about your client transformations and your personal life.
Talking about your own journey helps establish relationships; people will likely see some of themselves in the words you choose. At times we’ve all been unhappy in our work, but few of us actually take steps to create something new of our own. Stories about your business journey, discovering the power of colour or how you found your passion will be inspiring to them.
Talking about your client transformations will help people to see the benefits of working with you and demonstrate that you know how they feel about themselves right now. It also gives them a glimpse of how they could feel after your work together. You’re showing them a better life, and if that’s not inspiring, I don’t know what is!
Talking about your personal life helps people get to know you, the person with the heart behind the glossy brand. Now I’m not saying you should talk about the state of your marriage or talk about the argument you had with your best friend or anything else like that. I’m talking about giving people a glimpse of who you are outside of work. What do you like to do for fun? How do you keep fit? What’s the latest treat you bought yourself when you were out shopping?
I understand that telling stories is a bit difficult at first, but I promise you, it does get easier over time. Focus on how powerful it is in showcasing who you are, how you think, where you’ve come from and how you help people.
3) Deliver massive free value
My Friday live session over in the Savvy Stylists Online Network and these weekly newsletters are free to you all. So are all the tips I share on social media and my free challenges and training downloads. I use them to showcase my experience and what it’s like to work with me and show that I’m willing to give tips and advice to help others.
In what ways can you serve your audience with free value? Could you send out a regular newsletter? Could you design a freebie to help them with a problem? Could you write regular blog posts giving tips and advice?
When your audience members come to the point that they want to work with an image consultant, they’ll more than likely choose the one that’s given them massive value already!
Note that I don’t advocate giving away free colour and style consultations but rather giving away some of your knowledge to help people and showcase what you do.
4) Share social proof
Get into the habit of asking everyone you work with to give you a testimonial and get permission to share their words on your social media profiles. You can talk about how wonderful you are until the cows come home, but if someone else is saying it too, that’s a massive vote of confidence they’ve put in you, which others will take notice of.
Testimonials are so powerful because they’re authentic. Real clients are speaking from their hearts about their experience of working with you. There’s got to be nothing better than that!
5) Show behind the scenes
We’re all a little bit nosey (go on, admit it!) and like to know what’s going on with people. Giving people a peep behind the scenes of your business is another excellent way to connect with your audience. It’s another natural, non-sleazy way that people can get to know you.
In the past, I’ve shown off my new office setup that my husband surprised me with after I’d been away. I’ve talked about selling my drapes to a lady in Canada, my office’s beautiful blue wall, and how my video background changes when I go home to Ireland.
Sharing occasional bits and pieces like this is a bit like showing a TV series in a way. It keeps people interested in you and what you do. These types of posts don’t have to be business-y at all but can be lighter and more fun to show off a different side of your personality.
6) Pinpoint your client’s problem and show how you solve it
Talk often about the typical problem your client has and how you solve it. Stick a testimonial at the end showing what your clients feel about the solution you gave. You don’t have to sell your solution; if you talk about it regularly in your posts, people can see what it is and decide for themselves if they want it!
So there you have it! My 6 ways to sell with heart. Do all of these, and you won’t have to do the hard sell. You will draw people to you naturally.
What do you think about heart-led selling? Do you have any questions for me? Email and let me know. I’d love to help you. 😊