The way you sell your services can affect your success and make or break you as an entrepreneur. Most freelancers charge for their time, whether it’s per hour or per project, but what about charging by the minute? Paid chat might not be right for everyone, but there are some enormous benefits to using this new model when selling your services in 2022. Here are some tips to help you set up paid chat sessions with new prospects and turn them into paying clients.
The importance of charging appropriately
In any sales scenario, it’s important to charge appropriately for your services. When you undercharge, you risk looking like a hobbyist and losing out on more lucrative contracts. But when you overcharge, you run into problems, too.
For example, if I don’t believe that my work is worth $200 an hour (and I don’t), then what am I going to do when a prospect asks me how much I charge? If I say $200 an hour, then they may think that my hourly rate is high—but if I say anything less than $200 an hour, then they may think that my hourly rate is low.
The best way to avoid these pitfalls is to charge at least 10-20% less than your competitors. That way, clients know they’re getting a bargain but won’t feel like they’re being ripped off if (or when) you come up with an idea for them that costs far less than you usually charge.
How to keep the sales going without becoming pushy
The trick to avoid being pushy when selling your services is to ask your clients if they want to keep going without making it sound like a question. For example, when you call your clients after an introduction email, don’t say something like is now a good time? Or shall we continue?. Instead, say something like this is John from yesterday’s appointment… just following up with you on that fun minor project we were talking about. That sort of language clarifies that there is more work to be done but in a non-threatening way.
You still want to offer the client some flexibility. You can do that by being careful about when you make your pitch and when you ask for payment. Give them a few days after an introduction call before asking them if they’d like to continue working together. If they don’t respond right away (and it’s okay if they don’t), then try sending another email or making another call after three days or so and asking again.
When it comes time to charge, be sure not to bring up money until there is something solid that you can point at as proof of progress. A good example of this would be to charge clients right after the first session to provide them with the evidence they need of your work.
Getting clients on board
Foremost, you need to make sure you can convert your prospects. Make sure that you have a good conversion rate before making any major investments in paid chat/pay per minute services. Paid chat is also great because it allows you to sell during off-hours when you may not get clients on the phone. This is especially helpful if your clients work during normal business hours. You can still reach them outside of those times by offering paid chat. The downside of paid chat is that you do pay for every minute spent with each client, so keep track of how long calls are lasting so you don’t end up paying more than necessary.
Besides selling during off-hours, paid chat/pay per minute services are also great for selling large ticket items. It allows you to connect with your client and build trust. Then, you can follow up on calls by sending them emails or adding them to your newsletter list so that you can keep building your relationship with them long after they hang up.
Planning your days
Sometimes things get hectic and if you plan on working from home, you understand that your schedule will be irregular. One day you might work from 8 am until 2 am and another from 10 pm until 6 am. Make your schedule fit your life – not your life fit your schedule.
Working from home offers you more flexibility. However, it can also lead to less structure, which can interfere with productivity. While your day-to-day schedule will be irregular if you stay organized and plan your days properly, you’ll be able to get everything done. Using time blocking is one way to create your daily schedule and be efficient.
This can get done by scheduling your tasks and then fitting them into blocks of time. It’s a simple concept, but it’s extremely effective. When you know what you need to do and when you need to do it, there’s no reason you can’t be as productive working from home as you would be if you were in an office. You just have to plan your days accordingly.
How PaidConnections Helps Sales
PaidConnections streamlines and supercharges your paid chat efforts, giving you one powerful place to manage all of your paid chat accounts. The integrable, customizable Call Me widget gives prospects access to call you from any website. If they are interested in learning more about what you do or have questions about what they saw in your profile, they can simply click Call Me. This widget also reports your availability to prospects so they know when to call.
PaidConnections helps you create a profile that will convert prospects into clients, too. The more time you spend on your paid chat profile to share information about what makes your service unique, the more trust gets built with prospects. This is extremely important with selling services online because many of them are already skeptical about paying for something they can’t see or touch.
With the reports menu, you can track metrics like calls, earnings, and chat sessions monthly or daily. You can also see customer feedback, your customer notes, and your availability. With PaidConnections, you can collect more leads, more sales, and better customer service. These features allow you to take your consultancy to new heights!