Resume Writers and Career Coaches: No, that title isn’t a typo! You’ve got to stop selling what your clients ask for if you want them to be successful!
The biggest mistake you can make is to sell exactly what your clients ask you for!
Let’s face it, 90% of them aren’t in touch with the tools they need to tap the hidden job market, the importance of LinkedIn, the leverage of a follow up letter, or the huge value of interview preparation.
So, if you think they read your website and rely on them to tell you what they need…
And they assume you will sell them what they need…
There can be a BIG disconnect in success and satisfaction for them, and profits for you.
We want to shift thinking and create win-wins for everyone!
This video tip on how to stop selling what your clients ask for and get them into solutions they need is just four minutes long!
Watch the Video Tip
Read the Transcript
Hey resume writers and career coaches, this is Laura DeCarlo, your CDI President and audacious entrepreneur architect. I help career professionals like you build six-figure-plus businesses.
Today I’m here to talk to you about why you should stop selling clients what they ask for.
I know, that sounds kind of counterintuitive, doesn’t it?
Really, you are going to sell them what they ask for, but what’s important to understand is they don’t know what they need.
Even in this day and age, job seekers are going to come to you, you’re going to assume they’ve read your website, that they understand what you have to offer, but the truth is that at this point, 80-90% of them are just shopping around so you can make no assumptions.
More importantly, or just as important, job seekers don’t know what they need to be successful. They’re aware of the resume, they know they need a resume because that’s all over the place, but they have no idea about the complications of the online job market, social media networking, LinkedIn and having a profile, and all of the things that go along with finding those hidden jobs. Then they also don’t know how to interview. Those are the big deals, but most job seekers will go to an interview without a reference page if they’re not coached to have one. They’ll not write a thank-you letter or not understand its value as a follow-up sales tool to save their butt from a mistake they made or to re-entrench that they’re the right person for the job.
So they come to you and they ask you for help on their resume.
If you’re just selling them the resume, then you’re just selling them a band-aid. You’re not helping them to reach their fullest potential to be successful.
Unfortunately, that also opens you up to risk because if a client only thinks they need a resume, then that’s all they’ll use, or a resume, a cover letter, maybe… That’s what they think will be the magic bullet. And if you haven’t educated them otherwise, then they’re potentially going to struggle more.
Yes, I know there are some kick-ass resume writers out there and we can have high success rates without all the pieces. But if you want to set your clients up for success, the majority of them need a more well-rounded solution. And, further, it’s much more profitable for you to be selling solutions.
The idea here is to get your mind on packaging services or at the very least, educating your clients on the wealth of what you have to offer, the specific things that they’ll need.
I’m typically clocking those things off as resume, cover letter, LinkedIn profile, follow-up thank-you letter, sometimes save-the-day, save-the-ass letter, reference page, LinkedIn profile – I may be repeating myself now – job search strategies and interview strategies.
Note that you don’t have to be a coach to provide these things. There are done-for-you programs out there. CDI membership offers resources. Heck, we have scripts for walking you through a consultation that explains to people the need for packages and the fact that if they’re just getting a resume, that it’s more like somebody put a beautiful Mercedes in your driveway and you got all excited, and then you realize it didn’t have an engine. The engine is the strategy pieces, and they need that.
So, you can help them be more successful if you stop selling the band-aid of what they ask for and you realize they just don’t know and they need you to help them be successful.
Sell packages, sell complete solutions, and, remember, where you put your focus and your passion is what will be easier to sell.
I’ll definitely do a follow-up lesson on that topic.
So, for now, let’s fly higher, let’s stop selling band-aids, and start selling packages.
If you’re not a CDI member, you can learn more on our “Why Join” tab at CareerDirectors.com. If you’re already a member and want more one-on-one with me, check out our Fly Higher Tribe. Otherwise, watch for more videos and check out all the great done-for-you and step-by-step lessons in CDI’s member section. I look forward to seeing you next time.
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Additional Resources
If you are a CDI member, you can get instant access to the lessons that relate to the video topic.
6-Figure Blueprint for Consulting, Sales, Packaging & Closing >>
This big resource includes the following individual core lessons and video/audio master classes:
Done-For-You Consultation Script & Sales Strategy for Resume Writing & Career Services
And resources such as:
Handling Prospect Inquiries: “How Much Does it Cost?” (Core Lesson)
Pricing Strategies for Resume Writing, Career Coaching, and Service Packages (Best Practice Tip)
Get Targeted Testimonials to Easily Close Sales & Boost Your Business (Core Lesson + Template)
10 Commandments of Profitable Entrepreneurialism (Core Lesson)
Steal My Done-for-You Resume Critique and Quote (Core Lesson)
Resume Pricing, Selling, and What Your Market Will Bear (Core Lesson)
Selling Success: The Magic of Yes or Yes vs. Yes or No (Video Lesson)
Sales Consultation Perception: Size DOES Matter (Core Lesson)
Stop Killing Sales: Use This 5-Step Framework (Core Lesson)
Why You’re Not Closing More Sales and How to Fix It (Core Lesson)
Profiting with Client Rush Services and Special Requests (Core Lesson)
Overcoming Money Hang-Ups (Audio)
Freebie Add-Ons to Increase Sales and Package Value (Best Practice Tip)
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