How To Sell Your Services To Federal Government

When you first started selling consulting services, yous probably had high expectations. After all, y'all already had industry cognition, professional skills, and valuable contacts.

And, since the consulting market place amounted to almost $70 billion in the US in 2019, getting a little piece of that lucrative pie should be easy, right?

But at that place was i variable you didn't count on: Actually selling yourself every bit a consultant.

Sales doesn't come naturally to virtually people, and information technology being a 'salesperson' for your consulting business organisation may have been an unexpected addition to your job description.

Plus, as the consulting manufacture continues to grow, the contest is getting vehement: In one survey past Deltek, 55% of consulting firms listed 'addressing the increasing contest' as a major business priority.

Y'all might be wondering: How tin I sell myself as a consultant? How tin can I stand out when there is so much contest?

Thankfully, many pro sales methods play into the skills you lot've already developed as a consultant. On summit of that, new methods for the digital historic period can take you lot one step ahead of your competitors.

Let's dive into 12 expert methods you can start using today to boost your consulting sales:

1. Use the skills you already accept to sell consulting services

With your feel as a consultant, you already accept valuable skills that can be applied to selling.

For example, you've learned how to enquire the correct questions to reveal their business needs.

Request questions is a valuable skill that volition help yous sell professional services. Selling whatsoever kind of service is based on having a clear agreement of what your prospects demand, and y'all can employ questions to reach that.

In fact, a study by Gong found that salespeople who inquire between 11 and xiv questions during a call with prospects take an average 74% success rate.

The same study establish that the type of questions is as well important: Peak sellers focus on questions related to the prospect's business concern bug, goals, challenges, and concerns.

Here are some examples of questions you could ask when selling consulting services:

What are the top challenges your visitor is currently facing?
What bug would you like to solve, and what exercise you lot retrieve acquired these problems?
What results are y'all looking to reach, and why?
When do you want to achieve those results?
What motivated you to look for a solution now?
What volition happen if yous don't accost these bug now?
Who else is involved in the determination-making process?

Pro tip: Want to ask amend questions? Download our free resources, 42 B2B Sales Questions, and learn the tiptop questions you should be asking your prospects.

Also, use open-ended questions to go your prospects to explain their electric current situation better. For example, starting time your questions with phrases like:

Tin can you lot help me empathize…
Tin can you walk me through…
Talk to me about…

Questions similar these encourage your prospect to respond thoroughly, giving yous a meliorate idea of what'south actually going on.

Some other skill you've learned as a consultant is to keep the client'south best interests in mind. Past focusing on helping, not selling, y'all'll naturally avoid sleazy or pushy sales tactics while selling your consulting services.

This helps build a improve reputation for your consulting business and builds trust in your clients.

2. Ready upwardly a clear sales process

Whether you're a solo business consultant or part of a consulting firm, y'all need to take a conspicuously divers sales process.

This is the process y'all use to sell your consulting services and should lead yous pace-by-step from the moment you lot discover new prospects to the moment y'all go paid and evangelize your services.

It's like shooting fish in a barrel to get caught up in conveying out the services you've been hired to practise, but having a clear sales process in identify will remind you to go along selling.

To succeed as a consultant, as much time must be devoted to acquiring new concern every bit performing assigned tasks. I've constitute that the boilerplate time from initial contact to engagement can sit betwixt six to 36 weeks, and shut rates hover between 10 percent and 20 pct. Whatever downtime should be reinvested into concern evolution.

— Scott Steinberg, CEO of Techsavvy Global

So, how can you lot fix up a sales process for your consulting business?

Offset, start by writing downwardly everything yous do to get a auction. For instance, where do you observe new prospects? How do people get enlightened of your consulting business? What steps practice y'all take from the first touch to getting a sale? How many meetings or calls does it take to shut a bargain on average?

Once y'all empathize your current process, look for places to improve your sales metrics. Can you cut down the number of meetings it takes to close the deal? Tin you overcome mutual objections before in the process? Can yous simplify the negotiation stage?

Finally, optimize your sales procedure past defining your targets and goals. Start with your acquirement goal per calendar month, and work backward: How many sales do you need to meet that goal? How many prospects do y'all need to make that many sales?

By organizing the numbers ahead of fourth dimension, you'll be able to prepare specific goals for your sales tasks per week or month. By prioritizing those tasks, yous'll work smarter to reach your revenue goals.

iii. Prioritize leads that fit the right profile

An essential function of whatever sales procedure is knowing who you're selling to.

And then, who are you lot trying to sell your consulting services to?

To define your ideal client contour, start past looking at your nearly successful customers. Accept the pinnacle 10 clients you've worked with successfully, and try to sympathise what they all have in common.

Ask questions similar:

Are they all in a specific industry?
Did y'all solve 1 common trouble for all of them?
Are they all similarly-sized businesses?
What convinced them to work with you lot?
Do they share a mutual goal?
Did they all go through similar events or changes to their businesses, such as restructuring, taking on new hires, or acquiring another business concern?

Your ideal client profile will also depend on the type of consulting services you offering. For example, if you specialize in leadership coaching for newly appointed directors, your ideal customer may exist a immature visitor with leaders who lack experience and need preparation to succeed.

Once you have a clear view of who your ideal clients are, you tin can ready upwardly pb scoring. This assigns a specific value to each new pb based on how well they fit the profile y'all've created. Lead scoring helps you prioritize your efforts by focusing on the leads that best fit your consultancy.

four. Exist prepared to refuse piece of work that doesn't fit

Information technology'southward heady when people come to yous looking for help. But sometimes, while you lot're talking to a prospect, you realize that they're not a good fit for your business organisation. Maybe they're not your ideal client, perhaps they're showing signs of being a bad customer, or perhaps they're merely non ready to buy right now.

Don't waste your valuable time trying to sell to a prospect that won't purchase or doesn't fit what you offer.

Here's what sales behaviorist and business coach Liston Witherill says:

For instance, I do sales training and coaching for consultants and i of the problems people come to me with that I could solve just it's not cadre to my business is atomic number 82 generation and marketing. For those cases, I have people I can refer my clients to. The same goes for other areas because there are many other people who could work with my clients that solve problems that I don't solve and those are the blazon of referral partners that I want. If they have a problem that yous don't solve, just refer them to someone else.

By having a few referral partners established, you tin refer these leads to the people that can actually solve their problems. This is another way to focus on helping your clients: Fifty-fifty though it won't get you any revenue right now, your helpful attitude could win a sale down the road.

In fact, at Close, when we talk with a prospect and notice that our CRM is not the right solution for their needs, nosotros recommend them alternative solutions—nosotros're basically sending business to our competitors. This might seem foolish, but in the long run information technology'southward the right thing to do. We aim to help anybody who nosotros appoint with, even if they're not a good fit right now. Many times, this leaves such an impression on people that they later refer others to u.s. who are a good fit, or they might get a good fit a few years later and then become a happy, successful customer of Close.

five. Acquire how to find the decision-maker

When y'all find a lead that's a perfect fit for your business concern, it'south not plenty to contact 'someone' at the company: You need to know how to find the person who makes the decisions.

Start by looking at the buying procedure of your current clients. Who was the person who championed your services within the visitor? Who else had to sign off on the purchase? Who benefited virtually from your services?

Past looking historically at the decision-makers you lot've dealt with previously, you'll take a better view of who the determination-maker is at your new atomic number 82's company.

For example, does the determination-maker commonly hold a specific office in the company? Are they the manager of a sure team?

When yous know who you lot're looking for, yous can exercise more constructive prospecting. For example, you tin can use LinkedIn in your sales procedure to search for people with a specific job title in a particular industry, and add those people to your atomic number 82 list.

vi. Add a digital touch to your sales path

Even if you sell your consulting services locally, adding a digital affect can boost your sales process and make it even easier for clients to contact or purchase your consulting services.

Just as someone selling a product over the web needs to make a seamless transition betwixt their sales copy and their club form, you need to make a seamless transition between your sales copy and the bespeak of contact.

— Derek Gehl, Entrepreneur

For example, you tin can use a tool like Calendly to arrive easier for people to fix a meeting with you. Add your Calendly link to your website, or even include it in your cold emails to prospects:

Then, instead of back-and-forth emails to schedule an appointment, your new leads can simply select the time in your schedule that works best for them.

You tin can even integrate Calendly with your CRM so new leads can be added to your CRM when someone schedules a meeting.

Another way to add a digital affect to your sales path is past using video sales calls. This can open up you upwards to new opportunities during this time of crisis but also broadens your horizons across the clients virtually your physical location.

Pro tip: Did yous know Close CRM integrates natively with Zoom? This means y'all can run your video meetings directly from your CRM, and salve those video recordings right to the atomic number 82. Try your free fourteen-mean solar day trial of Close to see how this dynamic integration tin boost your sales process.

Why limit yourself to your immediate surface area? With the right solution, you tin can concur online conferences and pitches to broaden your consumer base of operations across the country. Video tools enable contiguous and personal touch without the expense of driving out to see prospects and customers. You can even allow your customers and prospects know, this is a way to reduce the cost of services.

— Tim Myers, Product Managing director

Want to principal video sales calls? Download our free resource and get our all-time tips for selling via video.

DOWNLOAD THE EXPERT GUIDE Gratis →

7. Base of operations your pricing on the value they'll receive

Your consulting services volition cost your clients some serious greenbacks. If they're non convinced of the value of your consulting services before you talk price, y'all'll be at a serious disadvantage when information technology comes to closing the deal.

And then, as yous discuss the problems they're having and the challenges they want to solve, help them see the value of working with you lot. For example, ask questions like:

What would be the consequences of not dealing with these bug?
How much would it toll you NOT to ready these problems?

When you understand the project at hand, what kind of consulting services you'll be providing, and how much existent ROI your prospects will get from working with y'all, you can then base your price on value rather than pricing past the hour.

Cost past the hour and y'all'll exist viewed every bit a commodity. Instead, go on clients light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation-focused on the lasting value you create, and beak based on the scope of work and end results. Never talk over whether your house will be used, just rather how, and provide a range of possible cost scenarios and value-adds, starting with your baseline requirements.

— Scott Steinberg, CEO of Techsavvy Global

If you're not billing by the hour, consider value-based pricing—where yous're deciding your overall rate including what you call back your services are worth and how it competes with others. Many consultants provide three ranges of prices to enable more than client command over what works for them. Also, it's skillful marketing—a low, medium, and higher-priced option enables choice.

— Tim Myers, Product Manager

viii. Use cold e-mail templates to maximize the fourth dimension you spend selling consulting services

If y'all're reaching out to new leads with common cold emails, information technology can take a lot of time and free energy to write out each private e-mail.

If you want to boost productivity, try using common cold electronic mail templates that you lot can personalize and send to each pb you observe.

In Close, it's like shooting fish in a barrel to set up up new templates and add personalization features that automatically introduce details such as the lead'southward name, company, industry, and more.

As y'all use your common cold email templates, make certain to run through each ane and add some details that show yous've done your homework. Explain why you think they'd be a practiced fit for your consulting services and briefly describe how you could benefit them.

Want even more tips on constructive cold emails? Download our free resource, Cold Email Hacks 2.0.

DOWNLOAD Common cold Electronic mail HACKS ii.0 →

Selling consulting services is based on trust. There's nothing tangible to show your prospects, so how can they trust that you'll deliver on what you promise?

Two words: Social proof.

When prospects can hear from or read virtually other companies who take seen success with your consulting services, they'll be more willing to trust y'all.

How can y'all get this social proof for your consulting business?

For case, if y'all're a solo consultant, you can ask happy customers to add a recommendation to your LinkedIn contour. These recommendations add weight to your claims and heave your professional contour.

For both solo consultants and consulting agencies, case studies are a great way to add social proof to your website. This brings the power of storytelling to your sales process and lets yous dig deeper into the results your clients have seen.

Reviews and testimonials are another powerful tool for your consultancy. For example, why not ask happy customers to add together a review to your Google My Business profile? Or, ask for a quick testimonial from your happy customers and add together these to your website, include them in cold emails, and mention them in your sales conversations.

Since we don't sell actual products, we have to work hard to put our customers at ease. On our website, nosotros have testimonials from previous customers who have used our services. This shows our prospects that nosotros tin can evangelize on our promises.

— Tony Pour, founder of SellMax

10. Have a smashing sales script

If y'all have a powerful sales script that sparks interest in your prospects, you can hit the phones and showtime closing deals correct away.

I know this works considering I've washed it before.

Before launching Close, nosotros started ElasticSales, an on-demand sales visitor. Nosotros hit the phones before we even had a brand or a reputation and started cold-calling startups in the area.

With an effective cold call script, nosotros landed seven paying customers in just 14 days.

How can you implement this for your consultancy?

Include these essential elements of a sales telephone call script:

Raise curiosity: Tell them who yous are, who you lot help, and give them a reason to care with your opening lines.
Give context: Add a ane-judgement elevator pitch that is clear and cursory.
Ask for permission to continue: Giving your prospect the power to say no can actually assist keep them engaged and open up the mode to go along the chat.
Qualify: Ask questions to learn about their needs and define if they're a fit for your consultancy.
Examination shut: Observe their decision timeline, full general purchase process, and any price sensitivity.
Schedule adjacent steps: Know beforehand how you'll continue the procedure, and prepare a specific time to follow up before y'all end the call.

Also, brand sure your sales script includes ways to handle common objections on your sales calls.

With a powerful script, you lot'll be able to cold-call potential clients with confidence and shut more deals.

Want to become a head start on creating your own script? Download your complimentary sales script template.

11. Build relationships at present to sell consulting services subsequently

While it'due south of import to prioritize sales tasks that volition get you new consulting clients now, don't forget to build the foundation for future sales.

Since consulting is such a trust-based concern, the relationships you develop now will exist essential to your success in the future. Especially for a new consulting business organization, it'south important to network with businesses that could become clients in the time to come, fifty-fifty if they're not ready to buy right now.

For case, you can keep your consultancy top of mind by attending meetups and networking events (whether in-person or virtually), and sharing your expertise with the people you meet.

By purposely non selling, you'll be building a more stable network of potential clients who will no longer be cold leads when y'all achieve out to them in the future.

If you intend to be a consultant forever, the merely implication that makes sense is to play a long-term game knowing that even if someone doesn't buy from you now, they might practice it in the future.

— Liston Witherill, Sales Behaviorist

12. Always, e'er ask for referrals

Leads that come up to you on the recommendation of a trusted friend will exist much more valuable to you lot than cold leads y'all've plant yourself.

Why?

For two reasons:

Referrals already start off with a higher level of trust in you, since someone they trust recommended you
Referrals will be more likely to fit your ideal customer profile, since the person who recommended them knows both their state of affairs and what you lot offer

Only to get referral sales, you showtime need to be ready to ask for referrals.

Afterward all, your happy customers are probably willing to refer new customers to you, but they're unlikely to practise then unless you lot ask them.

So, whenever you shut a bargain, brand sure to ask for a referral.

Here's how to ask:

"I'yard and then happy that nosotros've been able to attain XYZ together. Tin yous think of anyone else y'all know that's facing [problem] and could do good from working with our consultancy?"

Try to push for at least ane name from every customer, and you lot'll see a meaning boost to your consulting sales.

Keep selling consulting services using these proven methods

While it may be a bit harder to get a slice of the pie than you originally thought, that doesn't hateful information technology'south impossible.

In the end, to keep selling your consulting services successfully, you'll need to put sales tasks in their proper place.

The methods we've discussed above take been proven to work for consultants just like you. More than that, sharpening your sales skills tin can assistance ready you lot apart from the growing competition.

So, keep selling. Build a process that works, and continue to fine-tune it until your consultancy is a selling car.

Got a tip or question almost selling consulting services? Let me know on LinkedIn, I'd beloved to hear from you!

Need assistance keeping your sales efforts organized? Desire to get i step ahead of the competition? Start your complimentary 14-day trial of Close today and see how a CRM can simplify your procedure, relieve you lot time, and maximize your consulting sales.

Changing our CRM to Close is one of the best decisions we made. The platform receives new updates all the time and really shines compared to every other CRM.

— Mike Corradini, CEO & Cofounder of IdeaPros