Many of us hear the word salesperson and think of a pushy car salesperson. We don’t like to be sold to and so we hold back from selling our services because we don’t know how to do it without feeling like we’re being another pushy car salesperson.

If you’re in business, you’re in sales. So let’s think about how we can sell our services the right way. Here are 3 things to consider:

1. Diagnose – How can you make a recommendation to your prospect about how your services are their solution when you haven’t yet diagnosed their problem? And how can you diagnose until you’ve come to thoroughly understand the prospect’s situation?

2. What do they want? – Just because you and your prospect agree on the problem does not mean you agree on the desired outcome. Find out what they want the desired outcome to be so you can then offer the solution that will result in that particular outcome.

3. How will you provide what they want? – Explain in as much detail as possible exactly how you will provide their desired outcome. Be specific in what they will get, how you will work with them, what will happen. The more they know, the more reassured they will be that you can provide the desirable outcome they want.

This requires communicating with prospects. Listen to them, understand their situation and needs and desired outcome. Explain clearly how your solution will benefit them. Give your prospects solid reasons to work with you. Then invite them to get started!

Article writing is a great way to begin to establish your expertise. It can also be great for generating traffic to your website. But many hold back because they are not sure how to get started or what to write about.

If you can write a letter to a friend, you can write an article. Everyone has to start somewhere. The more you write, the more comfortable you will become and the better you will be at article writing.

Two easy was to get started writing articles are:

1. Write the ‘how-to’ article. Provide specific, detailed steps on how to do something that you already are an expert at doing. An example could be ‘5 Steps to Grooming Your Dog’. (That works best if you happen to be a dog groomer; but you get the idea).

2. Write a list of tips on a topic your target market is interested in. For example, ‘6 Tips to Easy Article Writing’. It doesn’t need to be complicated.

How do you know if your article writing efforts are paying off? Is anyone reading them? Do they visit your website after reading an article? There are ways to track how many times your article is visited and if people are visiting your website after reading an article. Most of the article directories have tools that you can use to track these things.

Another great way to track your articles and where else they may be posted is to set up Google Alerts for the title of your article. You may be surprised to find just where else your article is found.

I have loved being a virtual assistant for several years now. My clients are all great! Since the release of our book last year, The Commonsense Virtual Assistant – Becoming an Entrepreneur, Not an Employee, Joel and I have enjoyed coaching virtual assistants to help them refine and grow their businesses.

We have found that most virtual assistants would like some sort of coaching and enjoy the camaraderie of being part of a group. We feel we could offer group coaching at a more affordable cost than individual coaching. We need your help in order to develop the best group coaching program possible.

Please take a few minutes to answer a few questions in our survey. If you would like to receive updates on the group coaching program when it becomes available, be sure to include your contact information at the end of the survey, or feel free to email Sue directly with your contact information.

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We will be gathering responses through March 19, 2010 and hope to have a free call before the end of the month so you can learn more about what is involved. I’m looking forward to your responses. Thank you!

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Sue Canfield

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