Lessons for service providers from both sides of the sales process

Over the past couple of months I’ve been looking to hire a copywriter for my own website and the experience (with a few exceptions) has been quite underwhelming. As a service provider myself, I have been on both sides of the sale and I have learned some lessons about sales processes that hopefully will be enlightening and valuable for ALL service providers.

But of course, if you do something I’m criticizing here (or recognize our encounter) and your process works for you? You do you! This is not meant to call anyone out. These insights are based on my own experiences, emotions, preferences and perspectives, but if I feel that way other customers will likely do too.

No 01/06

A good contact form will serve you + the customer

It was also a lot easier for me to reach out when people asked specific questions in their contact form vs. the standard “name”, “email”, “what’s your message?” fields or even worse, just “email us”. People reaching out to you don’t really know what and how much information you need upfront. Make it easier for them by asking specific questions. It’s much easier for me (and probably others too) to fill out a 10-question questionnaire than staring at that blank email or “what’s your message” field, wondering what you even want to know from me at this point. It might seem backward because 10 questions seem like a lot more work, but the questions are helpful prompts. They guide your potential client.

It also shows your expertise, because you know what you require upfront, and you increase your chances of actually getting the information you need to make a pre-call decision about whether someone’s a good fit or not. Win-win! If you need inspiration about what to ask, check out my contact form here.

No 02/06

Confusion leads to frustration

It’s funny because you’d think copywriters in particular knew the importance of having clear communication. But way too often l felt confused and in some cases even (unintentionally?) mislead. I’ve looked at so many websites and IG profiles during my search and there were so many offerings that were unclear and confusing. Too often I wasn’t sure what they were offering and who their target audience was.

In one case it was so unclear that I only realized this copywriter was out of budget for me after receiving the proposal, although their pricing was on their website and we had a call prior. But it was so intransparent that I wasted both their and my time. I’m sure they are a great copywriter, but I found it very disappointing that their own offering was so misleading. It eroded my trust and just left me feeling frustrated. Of course, it totally could’ve been my fault for misunderstanding, so before sharing my complaint with the copywriter in question, I asked a few of my biz friends and they all misunderstood it too.

So moral of the story, try and be as clear and straightforward as possible to save yourself time and your potential customers frustration.

No 03/06

Set expectations and anticipate questions

Set expectations upfront and try to anticipate what people need to hear at every step in the sales process. Let me give you a couple of examples here:

Tell your potential customers when they can expect to hear back from you after their inquiry. As long as it’s clearly communicated, it doesn’t really matter if it’s within 24 hours or 24 days (okay, I don’t recommend 24 days, but you get my drift). I haven’t heard back anything from a shocking amount of copywriters after my inquiry (and yes, I check my spam folder regularly).

Your proposal is the perfect opportunity to answer questions, not to pose new ones. The customer should never be met with completely new numbers in the proposal. That’s what the sales call is for. Explain how payments work. Do you have a payment plan? Which payment methods do you accept? How does the booking work? Will there be a contract? A deposit payment? What can they expect as a next step?

Try to set expectations and anticipate questions at every step. Don’t make potential clients ask a thousand questions. No one expects you to be a mind reader, but try to put yourself in your potential customer’s shoes and try to eliminate some of the guesswork for them.

No 04/06

Transparent pricing removes a big hurdle before reaching out

This is an unpopular opinion and look, I know custom and value-based pricing are all the rage right now and I get their benefits. I didn’t have my prices on my website for a long time either. But from a customer point of view, knowing a starting at price or general ranges removes a lot of stress before reaching out. I was so much more ready and eager to reach out when I knew some sort of price indication upfront, and a lot more hesitant when there was no pricing at all. Overall, I reached out to a lot more copywriters that did have transparent pricing.

Logically, I get why people don’t have their prices displayed publicly. There are many good reasons not to. But emotionally, it made me feel very insecure and nervous. I don’t want to waste anyone’s time and hop on a call with them only to learn later they are way out of my budget. The whole process of getting in touch, booking a call and having the call is time- and energy-consuming for everyone involved. And let’s be real, it’s also very uncomfortable and quite embarrassing to have to tell someone you don’t have the money to pay them. I never even thought of it as embarrassing as a service provider, when I was being told my services were too expensive, but being on the other side? I totally did feel that way, despite knowing that I never judged someone for not having the money to afford to work with me. As a service provider I know that’s just how things are and there’s nothing wrong with not having the budget to work with someone. But as a potential customer it’s just not a great feeling. It feels somewhat humiliating and just plain uncomfortable.

No 05/06

Offer (timely) sales calls

While most of the copywriters I reached out to did offer a sales call, not all of them did and not all of them did so in a timely manner. If you offer any type of 1:1 service that’s over $500, offer a sales call. Even if it’s for a quick turnaround VIP day. The customer needs to get a feel for you just as much as you need to get a feel for them. Not offering a quick sales call (not all of them have to be 30 minutes or more by the way) is a missed opportunity to establish trust and to set up the project for success. Think about how many fake companies and scammers there are out there. Customers want to make sure you’re a real human being that’s invested in their project too. And in the long run, it will save you time because a long email back and forth is rarely as productive as a quick call. Because potential customers have questions. And you’ll likely have some questions too.

The other experience I had was being offered a date for a sales call two months out. But think about it, no potential customer can afford to wait that long to make a preliminary decision. Most likely you’re not the only service provider they're looking at and they can’t hold off on making a decision because you can’t make time for them. If you can’t make the time for a sales call within 1–2 weeks of an inquiry, open a waitlist instead.

No 06/06

Honesty goes a long way

One of the copywriters I reached out to emailed me that they were all booked up. No problem, good for them! But a few hours later they promoted on their IG stories that they still had a couple of spots open for that period. Not cool. If someone’s not a good fit, just tell them! You don’t have to justify it or give reasons. Just say “after reviewing your answers, I don’t think I’m the best fit for you at this time” instead of pretending to be booked up if you’re not.

Even if you don’t want someone as your customer, they still deserve your integrity and honesty. That whole thing left a bad taste in my mouth. I have no problem being a bad fit for someone, but I do have a problem when I feel I’m being lied to. Of course I don’t know what’s going on behind the scenes of that business, and maybe it wasn’t a lie, but let’s be real it’s a pretty common thing to say you’re booked up when you’re not.

Conclusion

And honestly, that kinda sums it up: Just try to sell with integrity, honesty and a bit of empathy. Try and put yourself in the shoes of your potential customers and try to make the experience as comfortable and positive as possible for them. That doesn’t mean you have to be perfect—you won’t be able to make everyone happy anyway. Again, a lot of these things come down to personal preferences. But nonetheless, it’s worth trying to make the experience a positive one. Last but not least, I want to mention that I’ve also encountered copywriters with great sales processes where I felt taken care of every step of the way.

I hope these insights are useful for reflecting on your own sales process. I definitely learned a lot for my own sales process from that experience.