What are the buying barriers in your business?  What is keeping prospective clients from saying yes?  Take some time and really think about this.

If you don’t know, tell people about your business and ask them the main reason they would hesitate buying.

You can also ask clients who have already hired you what doubts or questions they had before they hired you.

Some common buying barriers are:     

- Fear (fear of taking action, of making the wrong decision)

- Investment (price)

- Uncertainty (about what they’ll get)

Removing buying barriers is not, I stress not, about discounting your fees.  Because the value is either there or it isn’t.  It’s about making it easier for prospective clients to say yes.

So how do you address buying barriers?  Here are some solutions:

FEAR BARRIER: Create a way for prospective clients to sample your business to be sure it’s the right solution for them (more on this here).  You can also offer a guarantee.

INVESTMENT BARRIER: Offer a payment plan and/or reduce the time commitment.  Cleary communicate the value they will receive.

UNCERTAINTY BARRIER: Identify and communicate all of the details about what clients will get, how it will work, and the results they will experience. You can put this on your website and create a FAQ section.

One barrier I recently removed from my business is the request to work together for at least six months (now clients can hire me for one month at a time).  Yes, I know that if you want to attract more clients and transform your business it is reasonable that it can take six months.

And often times, clients want to work together for even longer than that.  But some prospective clients only need help with one specific area and don’t require lengthy support.  So by offering coaching for one month a time, they have an offer that fits their needs and allows them to get exactly what they want.

If it is important to the success of your offering to have a required time frame, by all means keep it and explain why it is relevant.  You don’t want to reduce the effectiveness of your offerings in order to make a sale.

An option to remove a buying barrier in this case is to offer a payment plan where you spread the investment out over a few weeks or months.

You can also choose to offer both fixed packages and cafeteria style offerings (selling individual parts of a bigger offering).

This is what’s so thrilling about owning your own business.  It’s your business, which gives you the power to decide how to create, package, and offer your offerings.

To remove the buying barriers in your business: start by identifying what they are, take action to eliminate them, and then communicate your newly structured offer with prospective clients.

© Stephanie Ward, 2009

WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR NEWSLETTER OR WEB SITE? You can, as long as you include this information with it: Stephanie Ward is the Marketing Coach for Entrepreneurs who want to set their profits on fire!  Grab your FREE copy of the special report ’7 Steps to Attract More Clients in Less Time’ plus business building tips, at: http://www.fireflycoaching.com.

It’s one of the first things parents teach their children to say.  You were probably taught this as well, I know I was.  So why do we, as adults, forget to do it so often in business?  Simply saying these two words: thank you. 

You may be thinking that as a business owner you have so many other important things to do that saying thank isn’t a top priority.

Possible reasons you don’t say thank you often enough:

- You’re too busy

- You believe it isn’t necessary

- You don’t think to do it (or you forget)

- You think saying thank you is only for the big things

- People rarely thank you, so why should you bother

There is actually no down side to saying thank you.  Think about it, can you remember a time when someone thanked you for something and you didn’t like it?  We humans crave acknowledgment and feel validated when we receive it.

Benefits of saying thank you:

> People feel appreciated, respected, and valued

> People get to share in the success they helped you achieve

> People feel acknowledged for what they do for you

> People may help again knowing that it is appreciated

> People remember who thanks them (and who doesn’t)

One tip, please don’t say thank you as a ploy or strategy to gain something, only do it if you really mean it.  Sincerity is an integral part of being thankful and if your thank you isn’t sincere, it will show.

Say thank you because you want to and don’t hope, or expect, to be thanked in return.  It’s not about keeping score.

Here are some ideas about who you can thank:

* Clients

* Prospects

* Colleagues

* Partners

* Anyone who helps you with your business

So what is a good reason to say thank you?  This is up to you and varies for each person.  You can thank someone who:

- Buys something from your business

- Gives you an interesting introduction

- Refers you to a client

- Gives you new ideas

- Shares valuable information with you (articles, websites, books)

Saying thank you doesn’t have to cost a thing and it’s easy to do.  If you want to, you can spend a little money and give a small present. 

Ways to say thank you:

* Simply say the words, thank you, on the phone or in person

* Send an e-mail

* Send an ecard

* Send a text/sms message

* Send a brief note by post

* Give (or send) a small gift

The most important thing is that you do it so don’t let the method get in the way.

Of course it is always nice to thank people in a timely way and it is never too late.  Do you know the expression, “better late than never”?  If you are thinking about someone who helped you with your business and you wish you would have thanked them for it, do it now. 

When you thank people you are showing your gratitude.  This is an indirect bonus for you because feeling grateful feels good.  Saying thank you acknowledges the person you thank, benefits your business, and is rewarding for you personally.

It may be difficult to measure exactly how saying thank you affects your business and I promise you, it does make a difference.  The results may not be immediate and remember don’t expect anything.  Just trust that ‘what comes around goes around’ and what you give out comes back to you in some way.    

Saying thank you is a habit and simply requires you to notice, and then acknowledge, the nice things people do for you and your business.  Who can you thank today? 

© Stephanie Ward

WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR NEWSLETTER OR WEB SITE? You can, as long as you include this information with it: Stephanie Ward is the Marketing Coach for Entrepreneurs who want to set their profits on fire!  Grab your FREE copy of the special report ’7 Steps to Attract More Clients in Less Time’ plus business building tips, at: http://www.fireflycoaching.com.