What do you do when hearing “no” seems to be the new norm? Here’s what you DON’T do: drop your prices. And, for the love, please don’t take it out on your self-confidence. If you’re getting fewer yeses, it most likely has nothing to do with price—or your ability to deliver for your clients.
Ok, so you know what the problem isn’t. Here are four things to consider to determine what it IS, and what you can do about it.
1. Target market profile.
Are you in the wrong space or serving the wrong people? Are you too focused on demographics and not enough on psychographics? What people will say yes to (a.k.a., what you can charge) has everything to do with behavior, not the target.
Here are things you need to find out during the discovery to know whether you have the right fit:
- Does your target have the money, time, and talent to throw at their problem? If they’re missing one of those, they have to pay the price to fill the gap. That’s a “yes” waiting to happen.
- How much time, money, and talent have they spent trying to solve this problem? If the answer is none, move on. They haven’t felt the pain—real pain—enough to be willing to pay a premium to make it go away.
- If they have invested in a solution, what went wrong? What went right? What do THEY think needs to change? Spoiler alert: about 90% of the time, they have it wrong, but knowing where they think they need to be will help you offer a solution that gets them to where they actually need to be.
Speaking of behavior, tracking how your target behaves throughout the year will help you predict cyclical dips in transactions that have nothing to do with you. During those times, you can either find a different target to supplement or spend that time working on your business.
2. Purchasing funnel.
Studying the purchasing funnel can reveal three obstacles to getting a “yes.” First, are you sure the juice is worth the squeeze? In other words, are you working too hard to close a prospect that’s not a good fit FOR YOU (which, by the way, is how you should always evaluate a potential client). If you’re marketing correctly, 50% of prospects, plus or minus 10%, won’t be a fit. Let those go. It’s not a “yes” you want.
Second, have you convinced THEM that the juice is worth the squeeze. Perceived value is everything. Price is no object when it feels worth it. If the perceived cost-to-value ratio is off, it’s a no-go.
Third, did you go too big, too fast, making the offering feel too risky or too disruptive? Would you ask someone on a first date to marry you? Of course not. They’d run screaming. A phased approach gives the client a small, safe taste of what you can do. It also gives you their timeline, budget, etc., so you know how much you can push.
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3. The offering.
Is it bad? Maybe it’s wrong for the price tag. Maybe there’s some misalignment. What worked for one client may not work for another. And what worked during one time period might not work during another. This is where those psychographics come in again. You need to understand the target’s behavior to anticipate how to pivot.
4. Your sales process.
Is there something off on the path from “hello” to “yes”? First and foremost, ALWAYS pitch live. The second you send a proposal via email, you lose all visibility into what needs to be done to seal the deal.
When you do pitch live, but don’t get a “yes” at the end of it, book a follow-up session before closing the meeting. That gives them time to discuss it with all the stakeholders and come back with questions or objections that you’ll be prepared to address. The time between the pitch and the follow-up could be a few days or a week or more, depending on those psychographics.
Ready to prevail in your quest for the “yes”?
If you’ve done the homework—nailed your target, polished your offer, and tightened your funnel—but something still feels off, it’s time to call in reinforcements. A laser session with Nikkie isn’t just a review; it’s your secret weapon to spot those sneaky leaks and seal the deal like a boss. Why settle for “almost” when you could be racking up wins? Let’s fix what’s holding you back and get you back to owning your sales game. Book your session now and let’s make magic happen.
