Selling Your Services: Proven Strategies for Getting Clients to Hire You [or Your Firm]

by Robert W. Bly

If you sell any kind of service, whether professional, personal, or technical, this book will give you the information you need to bring in large numbers of sales at the fees you want.

Genres: Business

349 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1991

About the author

Bob Bly is a freelance copywriter with 4 decades of experience in direct response and business-to-business marketing. He is the author of 100 published book on topics ranging from science, sex, satire, and science fiction -- to small business, writing, advertising, and online marketing. McGraw-Hill calls Bob Bly “America’s top copywriter.”

Reviews

[Daniel Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

On Thursday this week, I have a big sales presentation. To prepare, I've focused on Part III: "The Initial Client Meeting: How to Use It to Achieve Your Goal." I'll update this review after my presentation.

But Bob Bly's how-to information is always practical and useful.

[Cara · Rating 3 out of 5]

I felt like I lacked basic knowledge of how to sell services, as opposed to products, so I picked up this book. It's kind of old-school (1991--he talks a lot about direct mail, phone calls and trying to get past the secretary, and the importance of owning a fax machine), but it gave me a great sense of the basics and a lot of really useful details. Very good book.

Notes:
p. 39 Advertising: small classified and display ads most effective for him. See Standard Rate and Data Service (SRDS), 3004 Glenview Rd., Wilmette, IL 60091 for comprehensive directories of periodicals and rates.

p. 50 self-promotional articles--write for local newspapers, penny savers, trade pubs for your own profession or your clients', local business magazines, local consumer magazines, national mags. Use the reprints in your "keeping in touch" efforts.

p. 55 article marketing: submit each article with a resource box containing brief but complete description of your service plus contact info. If editor won't allow, ask for free ad instead of payment for article.

p. 67 press releases: send press release for free pubs. Outline: announce publication and availability of booklet, summarize contents, excerpt some of the helpful advice in it, close with how readers can get it. (examples in book)

p. 89 sales pitch kit: have ring-bound notebook you take to sales meetings, containing samples, letters from satisfied clients, photos of finished jobs, licenses/certifications/awards, description of service, benefits of service, copy of guarantee, client roster, copies of ads, brochures, articles. Rearrange to customize presentation to client.

p. 91 tracking leads: get date, source, name, contact info, type of business, type of projects, immediate/later/project with specific date, what stuff you sent when.

p. 105 follow up--call 1-2 weeks after mail package.
Did you receive my package?
Did you have a chance to look it over? (if not, may I cal back in a week or two?)
Do you use this type of service from time to time? (if not, not a prospect)
Do you have a project coming up that I can help you with?
- if not, may I call you back in a month or two to check up on your needs at that time?
- if so, what type of assignment? Scope? Any outline or plan for what you have in mind? Can you send me some background material? When do you need it?
Do you have any questions I can answer?
Is there any other information or samples I can send you?
(Don't be pushy.)


p. 114 prequalifying prospect: has immediate or future need for your service, can afford to hire you, can authorize the purchase of your services, is someone you can work with, would benefit from your services.

p. 123 getting prospects to take action: tell them very specifically what the next step is, make an action commitment (I'll prepare an estimate and send it to you"--then do it) rather than waiting for them to call you back, get them partially involved--sending background material, talking to you about needs, etc. so they feel like they've already invested time/effort with you

p. 175 at sales meeting, ask questions to find out what their real needs are. that's your main focus. Ex. Why did you want to get together today? How can I help you? Tell me a little about your current situation. What specifically do you need me to do for you? What are you looking to accomplish with this project? That's interesting--tell me more!

p. 250 7 proven closing techniques
- get prospects to invest time and effort in your relationship (not wasting time, things like asking them to mail you background info on their company so you can understand them better when it's time for the project)
- incremental close: get prospects to say yes to a number of miniproposals you say orally. Then it would make no sense to say no to the whole thing.
- act as if you already have the job--confident, in partnership mode, not in audition mode
- avoid time-limited, high-pressure face-to-face closing
- remove the risk (small sample project, guarantee, changes at no charge, etc.) Don't offer money back, but offer to keep working until it's right.
- ask for the order--present contract ready to sign or whatever
- act fast. When they indicate they're ready to buy, jump on it immediately.

p. 302 cancellation clause--add to all contracts
"XYZ Company will hav the right to terminate this agreement at any time upon notice to me. In such an event, you will compensate me for the hours actually worked on the project through the date and time of cancellation, plus any out-of-pocket expenses incurred up to that time."

p. 324 reactivating dormant clients
Call, say hello, ask how they're doing, nice chat. No need to ask for work directly. Close with "Well, it's been good talking with you. Keep in touch, and if there's anything I can ever help you with, don't hesitate to call." Or, send them an article with "thought you'd find this interesting" sticky note or whatever.

[Jay French · Rating 2 out of 5]

I work for a large computer solutions company to sell products and services and I thought "Selling Your Services" would provide pointers in this area. In my case, I was mostly wrong. The first issue with the book is that it predates not only the social media environment, it predates email. In fact, the one time electronic media is mentioned it is radio that is being discussed. Since a lot of the book is about writing brochures and letters, the advice is not current and could be quite different in the realm of email, websites, and tweets. The book also provides advice in many areas, but the focus is on one-man shows and don't relate to multi-person companies. Also, much of the advice is aimed at true beginners. I won't soon forget his advice to not tell your customer that he's cheating you when you don't get paid promptly. I don't think I know any person that hasn't already figured that one out, and there are dozens of additional common-sense tips included. There are still some valuable tips here, but they are mostly on copywriting, building your credibility, and basic sales process, which are covered in more current books. Valid audiences for this book might also be people that sell locally, where face-to-face interactions are still very common. However, I feel that overall the book is of limited value. I will be asking the library to consider weeding this book.

[Read Around · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent, as are most things written by Mr Bly. The book is from 1991, so some of the specific advice is outdated (must have a fax, overnight your contracts), but that's unimportant. The principles and experience shared are invaluable.