Entrepreneurs: Are you giving people the opportunity to buy?

Are you sharing your offers frequently enough? I’ve heard business owners say they don’t want to be pushy and often hesitate to tell people about their work.

My friend Allison recently shared a perfect metaphor with me on this topic. She said if someone sneezes you wouldn’t hesitate to offer them a tissue. And what happens after that is up to them. Maybe they will decline because they already have a tissue. Or they might gladly accept and say thank you. Perhaps they will say they don’t need one right now but might need one later. The thing is, you don’t know.

You see the situation and you think that it might be helpful. And you’re not sure, that’s why you ask. A yes is fine and a no is fine. Because when your intention is to get to the truth of the matter, you know both answers are possible and welcome.

You wouldn’t dream of taking it personally if they said no to your tissue. So, why are we so afraid to offer our services to someone when we see they might need them? Why do we take it personally if they let us know that they don’t need them?

Have you read Permission Marketing by Seth Godin? He wrote it way back in 1999 and it’s more relevant today than ever. This is how Seth defines it: “Permission marketing is the privilege (not the right) of delivering anticipated, personal and relevant messages to people who actually want to get them.”

“Approach each customer with the idea of helping him or her to solve a problem or achieve a goal, not of selling a product or service.” ~ Brian Tracy

Share your offers in conversations

This concept of permission can also be applied to your offers. You can ask for permission before you share them to be sure the information is desired. If you’re having a conversation with someone or exchanging messages, and you can tell from what the person is saying that you might be able to help, you can ask if the person would like to hear your thoughts. You could say something like, “I have ideas about how you could address this issue, would you like me to share them with you?”

In addition to sharing your offers, you can also share additional resources from other people like books or podcasts. And if you have a valuable free giveaway, you could start by offering that before you share your paid services, if you feel more comfortable with that.

Share your offers with people you know

You know how your mother doesn’t really know what you do? Don’t fall into the trap of thinking people in your network aren’t just like your mother. It’s easy to believe that since you see Susan at least five times a year at different networking events around town that she knows what you offer. She may have a vague or general idea but can’t articulate it well.

Often it is the people who are close to us who aren’t clear about who we work with. And keep in mind, things change. Maybe since the last time you talked about your work, you’ve added a new service or way of working with people. Remember, you want to share your offers not only with the people who can make direct use of them but also with the people who can tell other people about them. An awesome little thing called referrals.

Share your offers online

In addition to conversations, you are also being helpful if you share your offers on social media. Share a link that goes to the page on your website where your offers are clearly laid out, preferably along with your pricing. Your offers shouldn’t be the only thing you share on social media. You want to post valuable and relevant information more often than your offers.

Will there be a time that one person might be bothered by your offer? It’s possible. But do you want to avoid sharing your offer with the hundreds of people who do need it in order to possibly avoid annoying one person? The person who is annoyed by your offer may be the kind of person who is annoyed by many things.

Remember, try not to take these things personally. How someone feels about you, whether they adore you or abhor you, is about them. And if you’re sharing your offers with loads of people who are interested but not many of them are saying yes, you may want to take another look at your offers.

The next time you come across someone who might need what you have, ask if they would like to hear about it. And don’t forget to keep the people who know you well up to date on what you have to offer. Start sharing offers because people can’t buy what they don’t know exists.