I have a successful business because I know what to do and I do it. I make a good income, I work with clients I enjoy, I get to be creative and I get to do all of that in a way that serves my family and my life.
So when I attended a small intensive led by Laura West, my intention was not to get more strategies or techniques, but to truly shift the way I envision my business as I reinvent it in these shifting current entrepreneurial waters. And that’s exactly what I got – here are just four of those shifts:
1. Money comes from working within your creative power centers
Laura’s created this powerful body of work around the ‘creative power centers’ that crystallized where I needed to spend my time and energy on to evolve my business in the way that honors my life and my own strong boundaries around that life.
For me that means really listening and following my intuition more, taking care of my personal energy more, increasing a team member’s responsibilities, and adding a whole lot more ‘Alicia flavor’ to the mix.
2. Always come back to what I want
When the thoughts get muddled and the confusion sets in with all the choices of what to do in my business (and my life), I will keep coming back to this single question:
What do I want?
And I’ll keep asking it until what I want is crystal clear. Then I’ll know exactly what to do.
3. Systems and structure equals more freedom
I’m great with systems – we have one for pretty much everything in my business – but structure is lacking a bit, and that’s because I can operate well on the fly. However, just thinking about how a little bit more structure would benefit me and my team and how that would lead to more freedom for me got me excited about actually putting that structure in place right away.
4. My non-negotiables are my success
I’ve been looking more closely at this and with the focused time at the intensive, I realized that a big attraction piece for my audience are my non-negotiables (family first, summers off, etc.). From that place, I was able to draft the new design of my business and I couldn’t be more excited about what’s to come.
After you’ve worked hard to put your product or program together, and spent the time and effort to write a compelling sales page for it, you don’t want to lose your potential customer or client right at the moment they are sitting there with credit card in hand – at the order link or order form.
Here’s a checklist of 6 ways to make sure that doesn’t happen:
__1. Reaffirm the decision
At the top of your order form, add a box that gives a synopsis of all the benefits your buyer gets for their purchase. List the features, the bonuses, and the guarantee. And tell them again that they’ve made the right decision.
There’s another benefit to adding this ‘here’s what you get in a nutshell’ box at the top of your order form. If your buyer is like me, they may skip through a sales page and go right to the order link to see the price. If the price isn’t right there, they will likely click on the order link to be taken to your order form to find out how much your offering is.
Now, most of us don’t buy solely based on price, so in order to increase your chances of making the sale to someone like me, giving me the snapshot version helps me make the choice to indeed buy. (Your current clients and customers will thank you for this, too, since they already know they want to buy, and they just want the digest version of what they’re getting.)
__2. Add a short testimonial
Give your buyer one more head-nod that they are making the right decision by adding a brief testimonial on the order form. Even just one sentence from a happy customer can make a difference in whether or not your reader enters their payment information.
__3. Give alternative payment options
Some people still don’t like to give their credit card information online, so be sure to give them other ways to order. For example, allow them to order by phone or fax, and give that information right on the order form.
__4. Make it Confidential and 100% secure
Be sure to explain that your ordering and payment system is safe for them to make a purchase. And of course, make sure it is!
__5. Follow-up with a confirmation email
Assure your buyer that their order was successfully placed and that it’s not lost in cyberspace. Congratulate them again for their investment and tell them exactly what to expect next.
__6. Respond promptly to questions or issues
No matter how easy you’ve made the buying process, some people will still have questions or get stuck due to technical glitches. Add an email address and/or phone number where they can reach you right away for help.
As much as you can, make the process of buying from you as easy and painless as possible. Take your prospect by the hand and walk them through each step, reassuring them along the way, and I guarantee you’ll make more sales AND create a deeper level of customer trust and loyalty.
I’d love to know your thoughts on this – please leave your comments below.
Recent Comments