Basically, when you’re selling a product that the prospective client doesn’t know they need. In my field this is something that I need to do all the time. Not only do I have to sell my service, but I have to sell the need to the client first. Not many people realise there are any problems with their website, let alone what it should be doing for their business.

In fact, most people don’t even look at the website statistics they’re generating. Occasionally they get sent a nice shiny report from a web design company trying to make their maintenance fee look worthwhile. But the business person generally doesn’t even understand the information they’ve been sent.

My business is really one of coaching and education as well. There’s no point improving a website and giving a client a bunch of numbers to prove it if they don’t understand what I’m showing them. Some numbers are easy, like sales or profit. Others may seem obvious too, like unique visitors and site visit duration, but in most cases they’re not explained to the client.

So ask yourself, does my client realise what I’m actually doing for them? How can I show them measurable results that they understand and prove that they should stick with me? Do I have to show clients they have a need for my service before I actually sell to them?

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 3rd, 2007 at 11:09 am and is filed under Customers, Selling. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.