Closing a sale is always a challenge, and everywhere you look, you can see several strategies playing out. A prevalent strategy these days is cutting to the chase on social media – trying to sell products, services, or courses within first meeting.
“No one says ‘I Do’ as soon as they swipe right on a dating app and no one’s going to buy your program or services as soon as you slip into their DM’s on Instagram,” explains artist and business coach Miriam Schulman who has built a six-figure business teaching creatives how to earn what they deserve for their work. “You have to nurture the relationship by surprising and delighting your potential customers.” By using Schulman’s clever techniques, her clients have been able to go from making $300 a year to earning thousands of dollars per month.
Whether you’re selling calligraphy or group coaching, your first step is to use social media to find potential clients. “Social media is great for reaching a significant number of people,” says Schulman. “But once you’re ready to move someone closer to a sale, make your outreach as high-touch as possible.” Use one (or more) of the following methods to personalize your message all the way to a profit.
1. Send Engaging Emails
“Landing in someone’s inbox is much more personal than anything you post on social media. Email is free and compared with social media, it’s the most reliable way to get your messages through,” notes Schulman. Currently the average open rate for emails hovers around 18%, compared with approximately 1% organic reach on social media. “That’s why email remains the king of the internet for nurturing relationships. In addition, most people check their email daily while they may take breaks from social media.”
2. Use Persuasive Phone And Zoom Calls
“People are starving for connection and our phones are the most powerful tools we have for that,” says Schulman. She encourages her clients to schedule phone and video calls to close sales for selling art whenever possible. One of her clients followed her advice to move a prospect from the dm’s to the phone and immediately sold a $575 painting and entered a contract for a $2,700 commission. “When in-person is just not possible, getting as close to that experience as possible is the fastest way to build trust.”
3. Deliver Video Messages
“When they see your face, it can make all the difference,” says Schulman, who regularly closes $7,000 coaching packages thanks to Loom videos that she sends. Schulman has found that using the screen plus camera feature of Loom allows her prospects to see her face while she visits their website while she explains how she can help them.
4. Send Physical Mail
There’s one place that has no spam filter and that’s the mailbox right outside your front door. When you’ve identified your hottest leads for a product or service, traditional mail is by far the most effective way to put a message in front of your potential prospect. People love the sensory experience of holding something physical in their hands and usually they will spend more time looking at a message in printed form than the fly by scroll experience of the internet.
Schulman has effectively used physical sales letters to close thousands of dollars in art classes. For years, she relied on humble postcards for years to invite collectors to her art shows. Once she started teaching art online, she turned to the postcard as “save the date” reminders to increase her webinar show up rate. Although it’s slightly more expensive, your printed postcard will get more attention if you put it in an envelope. This also allows you to use both sides of the postcard for your message and graphics.
Another trick is to send a multi-page booklet. The traditional long form sales letter was the backbone of the direct response mail business for decades. “When you’ve spent time investing in a beautiful sales page for a high end service, why not repurpose that content into printed form? The only design change you’ll need to make is omitting ‘buttons’ and making sure your sales URL is clearly printed on the bottom of each page,” explains Schulman. You can produce a multi-page booklet for just a few dollars each. As it turns out, what’s old isn’t just new again, it’s also incredibly effective again.