When you don’t invest you time and energy on winning your dream clients, you end up spending your time on prospects that are something less than dream clients. When you get desperate, you look for easy answers that would help you make your number.

I promise you that there are no easy answers. But one answer that is especially provocative and alluring is the idea that you can call on people and companies that don’t already buy what you sell—but that you believe should buy what you sell.

2 Many 2B Made

Unless you have a new product or solution with absolutely no market acceptance, trying to sell to people who aren’t already buying what you sell is a bad idea: it takes too long, and it comes with all kinds of post sale problems.

You have to make too many sales.

The first sale that you have to make is the conceptual sale. You have to sell your prospective client on the value of using your goods or services. If your prospect has lived without you and made money, you have to sell them that what you do will work and that they will benefit; they haven’t yet bought the idea.

Once they have bought the concept, you have to sell them on the investment that it will require. If they believe what you sell may help them produce better results, then they have to be convinced to part with money that they aren’t already spending. This isn’t about the difference between selling price and selling cost; this is the difference between spending what your goods and services cost and spending nothing!

Then you have to sell them on not evaluating other options and instead giving you an opportunity. If they buy the concept, if they accept that they will spend money, then you have to keep them from shopping for a lower price. Unless you sell price, you can easily lose this sale.

You can sometimes make the conceptual sale and the investment sale only to have your prospect buy from a lower priced competitor.

Post Sale Disappointment

When you sell to people who don’t already buy what you sell, they are often disappointed by the results. They are disappointed by the normal challenges that come with using your product or service.

Before, your prospect didn’t have to do the work that comes with your solution and, even if you did a good job describing what would be necessary, they can be easily frustrated.

You sold it; you own it. You are going to receive the post sale calls and complaints. Even if you tried to manage your prospect’s expectations.

Dream Clients

Your dream clients already spend money in your category.

Your dream clients buy the products or services that you sell. They don’t need to be sold on the concept. They don’t need to be sold on making the investment. They have already evaluated their options in the past and they know about what they are going to have to spend to produce the results that they need.

Winning your dream client isn’t always easy. But it is always easier than calling on, selling, and trying to win prospects that really aren’t even prospects.

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