If you’re in business, then you might have asked yourself how to convince clients and customers to take you up on your products and services.
You’ve likely heard the term “money blocks” before, but I want to address the many different ways that we as business owners might be stopping people from giving us money.
I was going to say “giving us money for our products and services” but sometimes the problem starts even before we have any offerings, really.
So that’s where I bring in my “money is like water” analogy.
How To Convince Clients & How Money Is Like Water
Many times, when we’re starting out in business we make things harder than they have to be. It’s like if we’re standing at the top of the mountain, and all the rainwater is flowing down away from us…
Like money flowing through our fingers in the form of investing in our education and our business, or just taking care of regular living expenses and not seeing much return. Yet.
Now imagine that instead of being at the top of the mountain where everything is flowing away, you were standing at the edge of a river, lake, or even the ocean… where all the water from the higher ground flows to.
In our businesses, the products and service offerings we create act like pathways for the money to flow towards us.
You need to build the pathways toward your business, so that everything flows toward you instead of petering out as it approaches.
Think of it as building rivers and streams that allow the water to flow toward your business. These pathways are your offerings, and the more clear, strong, and easy they are… the easier it is for people and money to flow through them and into your company’s bank account.
If you have too many blocks, dams, or obstacles in the way, then nothing is going to flow toward you… people (and their money) will find somewhere else to go.
Along the same lines: the bigger the pathway, the less leaky you can make it, the more money or water it can transport. For your business that might mean increasing your prices, or increasing conversions.
Let’s Talk About Funnels
Many of us have heard of the marketing funnel before, where people enter at the top and some people buy on the other end. That’s close to what I’m describing here… except that you can have many different pathways and “funnels.”
And these pathways don’t have to feel like a high pressure sales machine, they are simply guiding people along to the right and natural destination for them. That water can take any path, but if it takes yours then you want to make sure that it doesn’t get blocked along the way.
Now let’s talk in more concrete and actionable terms, so you can see how to apply this open pathway concept to your business.
The biggest block I see in people is not having a clear product or service offering with a price, a scope, and a simple way to buy it.
This might be the case in your business if you have a program that you open and close just once or twice a year, and no other offerings. If someone finds you and falls in love with your business but there’s nothing for them to buy from you, then you’ve lost an opportunity.
Or, you might be fully booked with clients with no other way to help people and turning down clients. (Hint: it might be time to launch a digital product!)
Other times, service providers might have too wide of a range of skills, and no easy way for a client to decide if they should work together or not.
Even if you have a simple 3 step process to provide someone with a basic package or customizable quote, that’s better than a big wide canvas without a clear outline of what’s involved. If it looks like you know what you’re even doing before you start working with someone, it’s a good sign!
Another stream might be other people’s products. Let’s say that there are products or services that your customers could really benefit from, and that you already recommend on a regular basis. You might start to use an affiliate link to earn a small referral fee, and soon you’ll notice a trickle of money coming in from a new source.
It all adds up
I started doing this early on through my Real Foods Witch site when I was talking about a blender or a good brand of chocolate powder. Now this stream has grown over the years, and the money just flows into my business.
Let’s take a look at another concept that’s often discussed when it comes to funnels. If you have a free offer, like an opt-in gift… having a simple product that someone can buy right after they get your free gift is a great idea.
From there, you can offer the next program or package, and keep selling more… as they keep getting more value and their needs change.
So Now You See It’s Not All About How To Convince Clients…
Take a moment today to look at the different ways that you currently allow money to flow into your business. What other streams could you add? Are you doing a good job of letting it flow in, or do you have roadblocks, and “closed for business” signs all over?
Also, I want to film more videos about funnels, so leave your funnel questions below!
