Jump to content

"Selling yourself"


93mk4
 Share

Recommended Posts

I joined this forum with intent to buy a gallardo in the past season and decided to hold off, invest more into myself/my business and keep my cash available for future investments. Long story short im 22 years old and started my company about 3 years ago (its a sort of property management for residential owners/commercial companies with 95% being residential) . Over that short period of time i was able to work my a** off and grow the company revenue x5. As i am happy with what has been accomplished, i have never at any point been content and know there is more out there. As of now we are confined to a small 50 mile service area due to our form of advertising and accesibility to resources with current funds. What i have been trying to wrap my head around for the last 3 years is how to correctly market myself and "Sell myself" as a business owner and a company at a whole which will enable me to get reoccuring contract with larger commercial accounts (gas stations, walmarts, grocery stores etc.) I feel being such a young entrepreneur and looking the part of a young adult hurts me in some cases as when i actually meet with these people they may not take me as seriously as someone who looks to be more seasoned and experienced. Im not sure if its the fact that my pitch is set up wrong OR i dont know how to make the right contacts. What ever it is i need help getting past it. I am always open to new ideas of marketing, learning new things and offering new services. I have tried contacting some of the district managers for certain companies through email/telephone etc. but ive come to realize maybe setting a meeting and actually getting in front of these people and pitching the company may be the right step to take and the way to make the connections, give them something to remember! I guess what i need is some advice from a seasoned entrepreneur on how to make these contacts, how to sell myself and the confidence to get there. Im not sure if this is allowed on these types of forums, but ive always believed if you surround yourself with motivated, successful people it will only help you become one. I know youre all extremely busy so i appreciate any advice you take the time to give. 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I don't have much to add as i'm not an entrepreneur, just a sales rep, but one thing I will say is you will almost ALWAYS make a better connection in person then over the phone or email.    The phone and email are just starting points.   The younger generation (myself included) tends to rely a little too heavily on the electronic mediums.   That can be quite off putting to the "more experienced" business people. 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

5 hours ago, Kevin2772 said:

I don't have much to add as i'm not an entrepreneur, just a sales rep, but one thing I will say is you will almost ALWAYS make a better connection in person then over the phone or email.    The phone and email are just starting points.   The younger generation (myself included) tends to rely a little too heavily on the electronic mediums.   That can be quite off putting to the "more experienced" business people. 

I totally agree. We have always had much better results when sitting down with our clients or meeting them in person. I always think of it as we are doing a residential estimate, when doing those we always try to get face to face with our customer unless they request other wise! 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

On 1/22/2019 at 1:43 PM, 93mk4 said:

I joined this forum with intent to buy a gallardo in the past season and decided to hold off, invest more into myself/my business and keep my cash available for future investments. Long story short im 22 years old and started my company about 3 years ago (its a sort of property management for residential owners/commercial companies with 95% being residential) . Over that short period of time i was able to work my a** off and grow the company revenue x5. As i am happy with what has been accomplished, i have never at any point been content and know there is more out there. As of now we are confined to a small 50 mile service area due to our form of advertising and accesibility to resources with current funds. What i have been trying to wrap my head around for the last 3 years is how to correctly market myself and "Sell myself" as a business owner and a company at a whole which will enable me to get reoccuring contract with larger commercial accounts (gas stations, walmarts, grocery stores etc.) I feel being such a young entrepreneur and looking the part of a young adult hurts me in some cases as when i actually meet with these people they may not take me as seriously as someone who looks to be more seasoned and experienced. Im not sure if its the fact that my pitch is set up wrong OR i dont know how to make the right contacts. What ever it is i need help getting past it. I am always open to new ideas of marketing, learning new things and offering new services. I have tried contacting some of the district managers for certain companies through email/telephone etc. but ive come to realize maybe setting a meeting and actually getting in front of these people and pitching the company may be the right step to take and the way to make the connections, give them something to remember! I guess what i need is some advice from a seasoned entrepreneur on how to make these contacts, how to sell myself and the confidence to get there. Im not sure if this is allowed on these types of forums, but ive always believed if you surround yourself with motivated, successful people it will only help you become one. I know youre all extremely busy so i appreciate any advice you take the time to give. 

There are so many successful members on LP, this thread should be slammed with good advice. Problem is, it's a personal question on what people do, how they built their business, how they made their fortune, most don't want to put this information out there.

You're off to a great start. Deferring material gratification is paramount in building wealth. Difficult to become successful by working for someone else, it's an "easier" path to wealth if you own your own business. Long hours and savage work ethic are also hallmarks in the beginning. 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

48 minutes ago, porter said:

There are so many successful members on LP, this thread should be slammed with good advice. Problem is, it's a personal question on what people do, how they built their business, how they made their fortune, most don't want to put this information out there.

You're off to a great start. Deferring material gratification is paramount in building wealth. Difficult to become successful by working for someone else, it's an "easier" path to wealth if you own your own business. Long hours and savage work ethic are also hallmarks in the beginning. 

I totally understand that and where they are coming from. I would never knock anybody for not wanting to share their secrets because i understand where theyre coming from, you always have to look out for yourself before others. I just figured i would throw it out there in case anybody felt the generosity and opted to do so. As a car guy, this has by far been one of the most inspirational forums ive found, ranking higher than most business forums to me. I will just keep pushing the way i have been for years and one day ill get there! I am going to look at a new (to me) work truck tomorrow to be able to put a guy in full time and have been meeting with multiple marketing companies the last few monthes during our slow time. We will be picking back up around the end of march so hopefully i can get everything squared away. Lets hope for another prosperous record breaking year! I still look forward to hearing the input from any of you guys that would like to share!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

Selling in person is fine and definitely has its place but over time you'll limit yourself to just trading hours for dollars.  Leverage is key - Specifically finding ways to leverage your time, harness technology, and duplicating effort. 

I'd recommend using an app such as Loom (It's completely free, and takes about 15 seconds to download). It's a Google Chrome extension that places an icon on your browser. Browse and identify prospects online, then when you've found one, click the Loom icon and it'll ask if you wish to shoot a video with your webcam, or do a screen-shot video, or both... 

Make your pick and bam - You're now recording. Use the prospects name, introduce yourself, and immediately give value. Focus less on pitching and telling, and more on adding value. Maybe even make a low-risk (To him/her) offer where you mitigate the risk, and give them an opportunity to experience your service instead of just going out on a limb. (When you're done recording the video, it spits out a shareable link you can insert into a email. Also allows you to clip and edit the video before sending) 

I got into my industry at 22 years old when the average age was late 40's. I was constantly being told "My god, I have grandchildren older than you" in the beginning. After I while I grew tired of that shit and went and studied my ass off to get really good at specific skills I knew my target market lacked, but needed. 

Back then, it was SEO. I knew they sucked at it, so before the meetings, I'd rank my name and site above theirs on Google, and when I ran my appointments and they made stupid comments about my age, I'd say: "Mind if I show you something real quick"?  Then I'd proceed to demonstrate (I'd ask them to look up their ideal keywords, then read off what they found) -  Back then SEO was a lot quicker than now-days of course. But point being it allowed me to respectfully assist them in shoving their big fat feet in their mouths as I showed them I was better at marketing my own site for keywords they desperately needed, even though I had no use for it. 

It completely shifted their attitudes from "my god you're young" to "OMG!! How'd you do that!?  We need to team up"!? 

The key is to: 

- Find a leveraged way to reach more people - Using Loom or Bomb Bomb (Video email) you can personalize your message, engage, and demonstrate you're not just blasting millions of people

- Mitigate risk (To them. Think of it as they have nothing to lose and everything to gain) 

- Less selling and more demonstrating. Show them something that is undeniably cool, or valuable to them

Side-note: There are smart ways to incorporate LinkedIn into a strategy like this

Side-note 2: If your audience is within a 50 - 100 mile radius, I'd also recommend targeting them via job-title with Facebook ads 

Side-note 3: Youtube ads are dirt cheap, and have powerful targeting. You can for example tell YT to show your ads only to individuals who have visited specific websites that exhibit a need, or buyer behavior. This is hands down one of the most powerful filters imaginable. If you can identify sites that only someone who is shopping for, or in need of your services would visit, then you're sitting on a gold-mine. 

Final thought: Back when I was still building, I made it a requirement to send out 25 contacts like this per week. Every week I had 1 to 1 phone appointment requests from sending out these video messages. People loved them. When I compared side-by-side with text only out-reach campaigns, I was getting 3 times the response. Personalization works! 

Hope this helps a little. Have any questions, let me know. I eat and breathe marketing and marketing tech 24/7 so happy to share some ideas. 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Can't help you with how to get in front of people.  But once you're there:

- Learn their "pain point"

- Get them to talk about their business.  LEARN where the opportunities are for you to fix their pain-points.

LISTEN more than you talk.

I dislike the term "pitch".  It implies you get in front of someone and TELL them about what you are offering.  Until you understand what they need - you can't fix their issue.  If you speak of things that are not relevant you'll waste their time (and yours) and very quickly turn them off.  If you take the time to ask good questions, LISTEN to their answers, ask more questions, and figure out if you have something to offer that helps them - you will have more success than simply "pitching" your service.  It's got to meet THEIR need and each client may have similar needs but perceive them in different ways.

LISTENING is key and most people talk too much and don't listen enough - especially when trying to "sell".  You are really trying to find a solution to whatever problem the client is experiencing.  Your approach should be tailored to each opportunity.

I'm quickly annoyed when someone dives into TELLING features/benefits when they know nothing of what I want.  Maybe 4 of 5 benefits don't interest me.  All I can think of is how they are wasting my time telling me of things I don't care about, and how they didn't take the time to ASK what I am looking for, or ASK what issue I'm trying to address. 

Good luck.  You are starting with a very positive attitude!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...