7 ways to make more sales now

In the current economic climate, it might feel really challenging to be making sales.

In this episode, I share 7 strategies to help you attract your dream clients right now and convert them to paying customers.

In this Episode:
05.15: Why you need to take the pressure off the sale
07.06: How to show up in a positive way in the current climate
08.19: Be sure to keep creating great content
09.04: Connecting and building relationships with people
10.15: The importance of growing your list
10.45: How to get visible and get pitching
11.06: Nailing your sales process

Links:

MONEY & MARKETING MAKERS: THE MEMBERSHIP >
CLARE WOOD SERVICES >
CLARE WOOD INSTAGRAM >

Transcript

You might be finding it hard on the sales front right now, or maybe you are not. Either way I wanted to share with you some super practical ways to help you make more sales both right now and in the future.

 

You’re listening to the Clare Wood podcast, where we talk all things business, finance, marketing, and mindset for entrepreneurs, sharing practical tips, and actionable advice to help you take your business to the next level. Introducing your host: me! I’m Clare Wood, I’m a numbers geek, a travel lover, and a reality tv addict, and I’m here to empower you to create an extraordinary business and an amazing life, because I believe you don’t have to choose between the two. Now let’s dive right in to today’s episode.

 

Before we get into today’s episode, I am SO excited to share with you that I have a new way to help you guys to create more profit in your business.

 

You might remember that I recently launched my online program Money and Marketing Makers?   I asked for some feedback around it, and lots of people said they could definitely see the value and how it could help them grow their business, but they weren’t quite ready.

 

Well, I have bundled up the Makers and made it even bigger and better… instead of being just a 12 week program, this will be an ongoing membership, so that every fortnight you have me supporting you as your coach and cheerleader, answering any business questions that you have PLUS you have an epic and supportive community around you to connect with and make learning and growth in your business FUN!

 

This membership is for you if you are sick of the feast and famine of business ownership and you are wanting to attract cashflow and high paying clients.  PLUS we learn how to manage your money, because there is no point earning more money if, well it goes missing.  This is one of the biggest issues I’ve noticed with businesses that as they GROW, their expenses grow and even though they are earning more and more, they feel like they still have no cash in the bank account.  As you guys know, I’m a qualified accountant, a CPA so numbers are my jam and in the Makers we learn the exact tools for how to manage your money so you know exactly what is coming in… and when!

 

I want to help you make money work for you, you actually get to KEEP those payments you bring in. No longer will you wonder, “Where is all my money going?” You’re tracking it. You have systems for it. And your wealth continues to grow. 

 

This is for smart and sophisticated business owners in service-based businesses like you who are very good at what they do, have big goals and need a plan to get there.

 

Inside the membership you will get:

 

  • MONEY AND MARKETING WORKBOOKS – Each month, you’ll receive practical, actionable, step-by-step instruction you can use to earn more per month while scaling back your workload.
  • LIVE FORTNIGHTLY COACHING CALLS – Because I want you to have all the on-the-spot support you need to spring into action, you’ll receive a live group coaching call for an hour each fortnight. We’ll dive deeper into the lessons, and you’ll have every chance you need to ask me your questions and get real-time answers.
  • PRIVATE FACEBOOK GROUP – If you love connecting and collaborating with other service providers, then this is your new favourite place online. It’s exclusively for members of the Money and Marketing Makers community.
  • FREE TEMPLATES – These are the exact same frameworks I use with premium coaching clients who pay me over $20,000 to access them.

 

And the best part?  It’s at a super accessible price point- some of the best value business coaching around.

 

Let’s check out what some of the previous makers have said:

 

Amy from MOMO Copywriting said “I raised my fees by 20 percent. And yes, I’m still winning plenty of work. I’m just getting paid a lot more for it.”

 

Milina from June and June Photography said “Focusing on the financial side of business has been a huge revelation. I now have a much clearer picture of how my business is doing financially and where I need to be focusing to make my business profitable.”

 

Brianna from Bamby Media said “My profit has grown every single month. I’m set to make $12K profit in February”

 

The doors to the Makers Membership are open NOW for a limited time only so click on the link in the show notes and come join the Makers family.

 

Ok, let’s chat about 7 ways to be making sales in your business right now.

 

Take the pressure off the sale

 

First of all, do a bit of reflection where the process is currently going wrong in your business- it’s either in ATTRACTING clients, i.e. you’re not getting leads coming to your business at all or you are still getting the leads, but you are struggling to close the sales in the current climate.  I’ll be talking about ways to FIX both parts of this process.

 

So first, let’s focus on the lead generating side.

 

The very first thing that I would say, that feels almost counterintuitive is to take the pressure off getting sales right now.

 

See here’s the thing, when you are desperate for sales, you aren’t vibing at your highest version of you.  Think about it like when you are dating… if someone was responding to every text message from you within seconds of it arriving and constantly texting you, they might be coming across a little strong, right?  And it’s the same with business… if you are pushing for a sale, it can be really off-putting for some potential clients.

 

The times I have attracted the most clients in my business where the times when I was snowed or concentrating on something else.

 

You might think, but how does that work? I really NEED the sale right now. But that state of NEED might actually be turning clients away. 

 

It’s about scarcity vs abundance. If you carry on in your business as if you don’t need clients, clients will come to you.  I remember that I said to one of my early mentors Pru Chapman but I NEED the money right now.  And she said but you have to let go of that.  And I was getting frustrated because I was thinking but I do need the money.  And now I totally understand exactly what she means. 

 

Don’t try and PUSH for sales rather seek to PULL or ATTRACT clients.  You might be thinking this is a bit wishy washy or woo-woo and don’t worry I am going to get into some practical ways that you CAN attract new clients, even in the current climate, but the first and most important thing that I would stress is to let go of the outcomes and focus on the process.

 

If you aren’t sure what that looks like, think of a way that you can create space in your business to not financially NEED the sale right now.

 

So let’s talk about some ways that you can attract new clients.

 

Show up in a positive way

 

It can be really tempting when there is something big going on in the economy to step back and hide.  But actually now (more than ever) is a great time to be showing up on social media and to your email list.  And doing it in a really positive way. If you don’t want to attract drama clients, then don’t create drama or negativity in your messaging.  Create positivity and spread joy and you will attract like-minded clients!  Sometimes it’s easy to think “I don’t have enough followers” or “I don’t have enough people on my email list” but if you don’t show up for those that you do have, you will never attract more.  And you also don’t know who is watching.  My very first client I ever signed read one of my first 3 blog articles.  Which in hindsight was a terrible blog, but all it took was one person to read it and to connect with something in it to then become a paying client!  So don’t let your marketing slip during this period. In fact, I would look to ramp it up!

 

Which leads me to the second client attraction strategy

 

Create great content

 

What are you putting out there?  If business is slow, a great way to connect with potential clients is to create more EPIC content that shows your audience what you are all about.  Some ideas:

  • Write a blog
  • Record YouTube videos
  • Start a podcast or record some bonus podcast episodes
  • Record some TikTok videos
  • Share some of your old content onto other platforms, repurpose some old content
  • Spend some time planning your social media ahead and get really clever with your posts. If you are used to creating something on the fly, now might be a great time to really step up the quality of your content

 

Connect and build relationships with people

 

Now is a fantastic time to be reaching out and building relationships.  I focus on connection and building a relationships with a range of people rather than trying to be strategic or get a sale. So how do you do this?  Social media is a fantastic way to build a relationship.  Like and comment on other’s posts and reach out them via DM.  This might feel time consuming but relationships are so powerful.  Both with potential clients and with referral partners.

 

I’ll tell you something, people so often reach out to me and say can you recommend a ____ and if I don’t have someone that I have worked with personally, I’ll say, look I haven’t worked with these people and can’t recommend, but in my network I’m connected with _____ so give them a try.  I have sent work to people that probably don’t even know it came from me and that I’ve never even met!

 

So spend some time working ON your relationships, and if you are doing it from a genuine place, I know you will get work from this… if not straight away, over time!

 

Grow your list

 

How long has it been since you’ve been actively promoting your freebies?  At the time of recording Facebook Ads, due to a decrease in competition, are really cheap so I’m putting money into growing my list at this point in time.  The more people that you have on your email list or social media, the more eyeballs you have on your business which means the more potential clients.

 

Get visible and get pitching

 

Get visible! Again if you do have some space in your calendar or demand, get out and get pitching.  Reach out to magazines, online blogs that you’d like to appear in and pitch an ideas or an article to them… Getting published is  great way to get more people to find your business.

 

So we’ve spoken a lot about how to attract clients, but what if you are getting the enquiries, but just not converting them to sales?

 

Nail your sales process

 

Again this will be another WHOLE podcast episode I’ll record for you guys, but I’ll give you a few of my BEST tips for closing sales:

 

  1. Get people onto the phone. If you are copywriter or a graphic designer and you email off a quote, you are just at the mercy of their inbox and you will have no idea what they think when they get it. Sometimes I get quotes and think oh my gosh, I can never afford that, but when you talk to someone you might get context around it.  Sometimes when someone properly explains the value of the investment it makes a lot more sense.  Working with a coach might seem like a significant investment, but when you realise the potential it has to transform your business and make it more profitable, it might make a lot more sense.
  2. Really map out what your sales process looks like. My biggest hint here would be to ask them lots of questions.  Don’t make it about you, make it about your client.  For example, and I’m using me here again if I got on and just ranted at potential customers about how I could help them grow their profit, I might be missing what they really want help with.  Sometimes clients come to be because they are burned out and just want some strategies to work less while maintaining their income.  Sometimes people want to pivot and need help.  But regardless, asking them what they want is the first step.  And similarly for you whatever industry you are in, ask lots of questions.  If someone says “I want you to write a blog for me” you can dig a little deeper. You might realise that actually they want to improve their SEO or their ability to get found on google so there might be a much bigger opportunity that you could sell than just one blog article.

 

I will do a whole other podcast episode soon about how to close a sale, so make sure that you are subscribed to the podcast so you don’t miss that when it lands.  If you don’t know how to subscribe or leave a review, jump onto my Insta highlights and you’ll see I have a little button there showing you what to do.

 

There are so many opportunities to grow businesses, the biggest challenge is to keep your mindset strong and keep looking for those opportunities.

 

To recap today’s episode:

  • Make sure that you aren’t coming at sales from a place of desperation and if necessary, create some space in your financial situation to give you that space so that you can show up in an abundant way.
  • Work out where the issue is in your sales funnel. Is it in getting the leads or is it in converting them to sales?
  • Keep showing up in a positive way
  • Focus on creating some epic content
  • Build relationships and connections with potential clients and referral partners
  • Grow your list
  • Get visible and look for ways to get more eyeballs on your business
  • And last but not least, look for ways to improve your sales process

 

Don’t forget that the doors to Money and Marketing Makers the Membership are now OPEN and this is an incredible opportunity to be connected in a community of highly motivated entrepreneurs PLUS have me sharing practical strategies ever month to help you uplevel and support you and answer your questions in fortnightly calls..

 

I would love to welcome you into the membership so please click on the link in the shownotes for today’s episode to learn more.

 

From the bottom of my heart, thank you for listening and if you love this episode and think it can help YOUR audience, please share it and tag me at @clare_wood_coach

 

Have a wonderful week and I’ll chat to you soon!

 

Thank you so much for joining me today, if you enjoyed this episode, please make sure you subscribe to receive future episodes, and I’d be so grateful for a review on apple podcast! If you’d like a copy of the show notes or any of the links mentioned today, please jump over to clarewood.com.au/podcast and remember that Clare is spelled CLARE, have a wonderful week and look forward to chatting to you again soon!

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