7 Ways to better your sales pitch as a virtual assistant and book clients today
This article provides practical tips to better your sales pitch for any business; but, especially if you provide services such as business support as a virtual assistant. Learn how to book clients right now.
So you want to know the secret to sales? Listen closely. That is it. No, that is the answer; listen to your client. What separates you and a rookie sales person is that from this point on, you will stop trying to persuade or convince your client to buy from you and you will listen to her pain points and offer a solution specific to her. That is it. That is the answer. Listen and pay attention. How do I know? I had to learn it the hard way as a rookie auto sales person. I made plenty of mistakes in the beginning and I continue to work on my pitch as I book clients as a virtual assistant; but now, I pass on my hard learned lessons to you so you can book your clients on the spot. Want to learn how to do that exactly? Good news, I can help you! The bad news? It will require a little bit of work. Nothing too hard, it only takes a little bit of practice and a little bit of patience.
Let’s improve your sales pitch in 7 easy steps. In the case you need help in just one area, feel free to skip ahead, if you are looking for a good summary of a great service call with a potential client, get comfortable, grab your favorite drink and enjoy!
1: Make a great first impression and build trust
You don’t get a second chance to make a first impression. Your initial presentation is key to establish a future relationship with your client. Remember, you want to help her run her business today but you also want her to tell her friends of your great service as a virtual assistant. How do we accomplish that? First, by helping her notice your professionalism and your friendly demeanor. Customers and clients will determine in the first minute if they want to stay on your page and do business with you. You want to gain her trust. If she trusts you only then may you continue to pitch to her; if not, she might listen to you but you will not be able to book or close the sale. Don’t believe me? Remember that awesome conversation you had with that promising business owner but then ghosted you? Did she ever contact you again? Exactly. The minute you hit send or start the zoom meeting, you have to give it your very best. Not fake. Just your best.
Every. Single. Time.
One of my most successful sales was to a lovely retired couple that smiled wide in return to my initial introduction. I had my hair blow-dried, I had my name tag on, and I’m 100% sure that if they did not surrender their trust to me in our first minute of meeting I would not never been able to close that $2,000 commission sale. Set the tone of your online business and make a great first impression to build trust. I still have a picture of them on my socials.
2: Ask the right questions
Ask, ask and ask again. Don’t be too repetitive but ask them the right questions. Listen to the actual worries of your clients. If she says “I’m not sure we have enough budget to bring someone else full time.” This by no means is a reflection on your rates (99% of the time) but rather she is wondering if you are worth the value of her investment. What do you bring to the table? Answer her by saying, “I understand moving forward with this partnership implies an additional cost to your business but I have helped others earn X more in X time because I specialize in this area and I have the knowledge and experience to do the same with you and your team.” Show her your past clients’ reviews or your portfolio. Listen to the real objections behind her excuses. Few business owners hop on a discovery call to hire a virtual assistant without reviewing the budget, the business’s needs and wants, and the rates of the assistant. She needs your services and she does want to hire you. The proof is that you are talking to her right now! However, before you monolog ahead, stop and converse.
Also ask yourself and her, what are her expectations for her new virtual assistant? When does she need this project? Why does she think it’s time to delegate some task? That’s right. You have to interview her before you decide you two will work well together. Is her business ready for a virtual assistant? How exactly will you help her? Listen to her needs and create a package unique to her. What makes you different from other rookie sales people? You don’t sell to your clients, you listen to them, really listen, and you make a friend.
3: Show a video or showcase your talent
You read right. Just because we are virtual assistants does not mean we can’t appeal to her senses. We are all visual learners, yes, some more than others but just because we are conversing over a video call, that does not mean we should forget about actually showing her what she is buying. After you (not her) have determined which option is best for your client, show her your stuff. If she needs someone to help her manage her social media accounts, show her samples relevant to her audience. If she needs some light support with bookkeeping and accounting, stay in that lane and show her work related to that specialty. Do not overwhelm your client. Don’t use jargon or language that she may not be familiar with. Use simple language and explain to her your process from start to finish. Explain the deadlines, the medium (Zoom? Slack?), the expectations, and how this will benefit her in more ways than one. This is your chance to wow her and help her imagine how simple her life will be after she hires you. If you get her to imagine working with you – you are in. Select powerful language, visual language, showcase your talent and reassure her that this investment is worthwhile. Keep it simple but try your best.
The goal here is to allow her to imagine her life with more time and less stress as you support her business. Get in there, even better if you have brought a sample related to her niche. If a client imagines you in her life you are that much likely to get booked on the spot.
4: Do address the competition
Depending how much time your client has and even if this is the first time you meet with her – do address the competition. At the very least, some possible objections. Even if the conversation has been going great, address some of the possible excuses that you heard at the beginning. Use a friendly tone and keep it light but this step will save you some time. Especially if you hear a couple common questions often. Address the questions you hear often to avoid explaining them again near the end. You know there are cheaper options online so explain to her why you are the right person for this project. Explain to her how you are better than your competition. For example “I am different from XYZ because I am available to work face to face on the days you need to and because I have 5 years of experience…” or ” my clients say I offer more value than several automatic systems because I add the personal touch in every email and I keep things better organized.”
The reason we want to acknowledge the competition is because she has already thought about it. The competition is on her mind and if you are able to eliminate the objections before they come up, you will have avoided a problem all together. The goal here is to cut the idea of the competition on her mind before it can be set. She will feel reassured, she is on track and you will have saved time.
5: Set work expectations for both parties
This step is crucial for you in the future of a work relationship, also crucial to clear any questions your prospect may have. Be clear with the services you offer, your pay rates and the value you are bringing to her team. Be specific what days you work if she cares about that and how you will deliver the service. How do you get paid? In what currency? At what date? All of this should be cleared before you move on because otherwise she will not book you or worse yet, she will, but you will be left with the short end of the stick. Even better if you have all of this already drafted out in documents ready to go and if you say it out loud for her to avoid misunderstanding.
Create a small tentative strategy plan for business right there on the page. That way she does not need to worry how she will implement this, you would have done this for her either on the spot or beforehand. Brief her, gently, on the process and make things easy for the transitions to come. This way she will know what she is buying and you will provide great results because you will receive what you asked for.
6: Handle objections efficiently
It’s all about taking down the objections presented to you. Listen, the objections are almost never personal, stop making this about you. The objections are excuses the client presents because she has unanswered questions. Also, because she is not the ultimate decision maker or she is afraid to move forward with the growth of her business and you need to guide her a little bit. Do I need to explain how much women can overthink and get stuck in worst case scenario loops without inching forward to real business success? I don’t think so. I have been there and done that.
Next time, listen to her and offer her options instead of trying to sell her cold. If she says “I need time to think this over” say “I understand important decisions require time, however, we have already discussed your business needs, and we have discussed how I would bring value to your team, I would like you to take advantage of this success plan sooner rather than later, what questions did I leave unanswered?” That way the discussion circles back to the area that she is still thinking about and didn’t bring up or was left unresolved. This is how the conversation continues, you address her pain points again and how you would offer a great solution and soon send her a contract to sign.
Also, you can send her a clause that the contract will take effect a week after she returns it sign so in the case her team does not approve, she will not leave hurt. Of course with the hope of her not needing that exit out option. If you did your homework, prepared and provided proof of your value and if you deliver when it comes time to work, there should be no problem and you would have booked another long term client!
7: Close the sale, and book the client
You did it! You made a great first impression, you built trust by staying coherent in your message, you visually presented your talent, and asked the right questions to handle all the objections! You are on your way to making more money! This is the step you have been working towards and now you know how to sign clients on the spot. Another option is to send her your contract or proposal, ask for a good time to hear back from her or a good time for you to follow up and get to work. The point of this is to avoid being ghosted by your potential clients and book them instead. You will get referrals because you showed up, exceeded her expectations and delivered great quality work.
Want someone to audit your site or process to ensure you have everything in place to deliver exceptional work? Want me to help you book more clients? Contact me for a $25 consultation call.
Be patient and follow up
Take it step by step, you may not get it perfect the first couple tries. That is fine, you are learning. Eventually it will come naturally to you especially if you continue to invest in your process and don’t give up. If the client did not book you, that is ok, follow up for a couple weeks or a couple months later and send her a new personalized pitch or package. Just make sure the opportunity is left open because she might remember you and refer you for future business.
I hope this post has given you some insight about the process of onboarding clients immediately. If you landed here you are on the right track, you just need to keep pushing forward and onwards!
Happy fishing!