Do the people you need to know…know you?
Do they know all that you do? All that you can do? When they need the kind of interior design services and products that you sell, do they absolutely, automatically contact you?
If not, that means that they don’t "get" what you have. And if they don't get that, you don't get their business.
Chances are your key prospects don’t understand what makes you different, and special and unique. They don’t understand that because you haven’t adequately informed them.
But you can — and you will — once you identify and promote your YOU-nique Selling Proposition.
Your "YOU-SP" should spotlight your magic word: ONLY. That word differentiates you and makes you memorable like no other.
Are you the only local interior designer with contracts with five international hotel chains? Are you the area's only window fashion professional who offers installation, repair and cleaning of the blinds you sell? Are you the region's only home stager with a degree in landscape architecture?
Tell me what only you do, and I'll buy only from you.
Then, too, you need to spell out the specialness and benefits of what you offer.
Fact is, it's never been easier for prospects to buy elsewhere what you sell.
But there’s one thing they can’t get elsewhere. You.
Do you say that? Do you remind prospective clients that, if they go elsewhere, they'll miss the benefits of exactly what you offer?
They won’t get your…
- qualifications
- experience
- expertise
- education
- insights
- skills
- know-how
- team (contractors, etc.)
- vendors and suppliers
- other resources
- specialties
- product knowledge
- industry knowledge
- commitment to customer service
- availability
- flexibility
- guarantees
- passion
Sharing a powerful "lead story" is critical to making a good and lasting impression on your prospects. A good way to frame your lead story is to explain how you help clients overcome their biggest design challenges.
Discuss how you help individuals update their homes when their lifestyles change and their kids move away. Or how you help condo developers spiff up their common areas, so they can sell more units more quickly.
Awards and recognition make for cool lead stories. Have you won a kitchen and bath competition? Has your office furniture been featured in an industry publication?
A key recent accomplishment can be an impressive lead story. Point out how you just designed the interiors of a spacious villa.
Or, "lead off" with other new developments in your business — like your new design contract with a major restaurant chain.
Your lead story should be concise, captivating and compelling. Why? Because you have less than a minute to capture the attention of prospects. After that, you lose it, and them forever.
A convincing lead story can convert a "contact" into a contract.
Your YOU-nique Selling Proposition and lead story will help you close the most important sale you’ll ever make: the personal one. Before you can sell your services, you have to sell yourself.
Communicate with confidence, present yourself with polish, and remind others you're remarkable.
After all, if your prospects don’t understand your specialness and your YOU-SP, you lose in two ways:
- You don’t get their business
- A competitor does.
