5 Person-First Selling Tips for Sales to Feel Good for Photographers & Creative Solopreneurs | Business Coach Steph Zakas
5 Person-First Selling Tips for Sales to Feel Good for Photographers & Creative Solopreneurs | Business Coach Steph Zakas
You’ve wanted to be better at sales and make more money but in a way that feels more natural.
‘I’m not good at selling.’
’I just want to create and not have to sell.’
’Selling feels gross.’
’I hate being sold to’.
Have you said any of those out loud or to yourself, but, you wish you could feel good about selling your services? You know that you have something AMAZING to offer to people that will help them or make their lives better, but the act of selling it just doesn't feel right yet?
I personally love selling and coaching my clients on their sales confidence because to me- selling is service.
And, being able to sell your services helps people so the better you are at selling your services the more people you can help. Learning how to sell your services based on ways that feel NATURAL to you and your potential clients is key. How do you do it? By knowing how the human brain is wired and being in alignment with how your potential clients want to be sold to. And, how your brain likes to sell.
My selling philosophy is what i call person-first. person-first selling and marketing means you take into account the human who you are talking to in the process and the person selling their services. it means no sleazy tactics, no using human psychology for manipulation, and no aggressive bro bullshit.
How many of us have been sold to in the DMs without our consent to be sold to? It feels gross, right? That’s not person-first selling.
So, as a photographer or creative solopreneur, how can you sell your services, feel good about it, empower your clients to buy from you, and still be able to create your art in the world? It can be tough - selling can feel unaligned, gross, and like you're being manipulative. But what if there was a way to make the sales process feel more authentic and in line with your values? What if you could use neuroscience-based selling to increase your chances of successfully feeling EMPOWERED and GOOD about sales? In this blog post, we will discuss 5 person-first selling tips for photographers and creative solopreneurs can use to sell their services in a way that doesn’t feel icky to them or their potential clients because these tips are based on how human brains are wired.
1. Selling Tips for Photographers & Creative Solopreneurs: Prospect Theory
Prospect theory is the idea that people make decisions based on perceived gains and losses, rather than absolute value. This means that when you are selling your services, it's important to focus on what the prospect will gain in value to their desires and dreams by working with you, rather than just what they will lose. When we focus on only what they will lose, this could trigger some fear & safety responses in your potential client’s nervous system leaving them feeling defensive or put off without knowing why. As you’ll see in the next tip why this could be too heavy for some people.
For example, let's say you're a web designer who specializes in creating beautiful and user-friendly websites. When you meet with a potential client, don't just talk about how your services can save them time and money. Instead, focus on how working with you will help them achieve their goals and create a website that they love.
What are some other ways you can reframe the value of your services in terms of gains?
2. Selling Tips for Photographers & Creative Solopreneurs: Loss Aversion
Our brains are wired to weigh potential losses more extreme than what it would weigh an equal gain. In fact, our brains weigh a loss TWO TIMES more painful than what an equal gain would be. A simple example is that you would be more upset to lose $20 than you would to gain $20. This seems like it’s in direct conflict with the above tip, however, when done non-aggressively and focusing on the potential loss in terms of what YOU offer and that being something they will lose out on - versus using loss aversion in a way that says their life will crumble if they don’t buy from you- it has a different energy and emotional response. And, is truthful.
This means that when you are selling your services, it's important to focus on what the prospect will lose if they don't work with you but keeping it non-manipulative and letting them know at end of the day it is still their choice.
What are some other ways you can reframe the value of your services in terms of losses from not working with you?
3. Selling Tips for Photographers & Creative Solopreneurs: The Endowment Effect
The endowment effect is the idea that people value something more if they own it. This means that when you are selling your services, it's important to help the prospect feel and envision having your services. Helping them really see what it’s like as if they were working with you.
For example, let's say you're a copywriter who helps businesses create compelling and effective marketing materials. When you meet with a potential client, don't just talk about how your services can help them create better content. Instead, focus on how your services will help them get the most out of their future content creation plans with having you on their team.
What are some other ways you can reframe the value of your services in terms of helping your potential clients really see as if they bought your services?
4. Selling Tips for Photographers & Creative Solopreneurs: Anchoring Your Value
Anchoring and adjustment is the idea that people tend to base their decisions on an initial reference point, or anchor. This means that when you are selling your services, it's important to set the right anchor. Our brains must have some anchor, or reference point, in order to figure out its perceived value. We can not make sense of something if we don’t have an anchor point to compare something to.
For example, let's say you're a web developer who helps businesses build custom websites. When you meet with a potential client, don't just talk about how much your services cost. Instead, focus on how much value your services will add to their business. You can even give them a specific number, such as "my services will increase your website's conversion rate by at least X%". Then, they can truly understand how to compare what this value would be in their lives.
What are some other ways you can reframe the value of your services in terms of benefits?
5. Selling Tips for Photographers & Creative Solopreneurs: Social proof
Social proof is the idea that people are more likely to do something if they see other people doing it. It’s directly related to our brains being wired for community, also called ‘herd mentality’. This means that when you are selling your services, it's important to show prospects that other people have used your services and what their experience was like. Think of it this way, if you were going to buy something off of an online store, do you almost always go to the reviews before buying? That’s your brain looking for the social proof.
Social proof is used with your testimonials and reviews, with comments people make on your content platforms, and even where you have been featured and published before. It helps build trust in the potential client AND also helps with both loss aversion fears and prospect theory.
What are some other ways you can use social proof to sell your services?
Selling can be a difficult process, but it's important to remember that there are ways to make it easier when you are creating your sales process for both how your brain works and how your potential clients’ brians are wired. By leveraging the power of neuroscience, you can tap into how your customers think and drive more sales with less effort. These five tips will help you get started. Which one of these are you going to add into your own sales process, today?
xoxo Steph
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