When my third client this week complained about the fear of a prospect taking their entire recommendation and going to a competitor to better the price by using the same solution, I decided to write this article. It is a very real thing and a deal killer to give away too much during the sales process.

Value Gets You In The Door

“But Chala, you always say to give away education and value for free to get the prospects’ attention and now you say I’m giving too much away!” Well, my clients are right that I’m always about giving value and educating prospects in my marketing. My clients and I use keynotes, blogs, podcasts, interviews and Executive Roundtables to give away our knowledge. The trick is to know when you’re giving away too much while you’re doing that. Remember, you’re trying to avoid giving away so much of your game book that the prospect can now say ‘thank you very much’ and walk over to the cheaper guy to execute your vision or worse try to do it themselves.

Give Away the What Not the How

Leaving a prospect wanting while still delivering value is all about being deliberate. I’m all about giving away free advice as long as I’m showcasing what the end result of the prospect’s vision is. For example, today I got one of the best examples of what I call ‘tease-marketing’ that I’ve seen in a long time. I read almost all through the darned email to get to what the 1 secret was that would eliminate my 50-year-old menopause belly fat. Then I found out that I had to buy the secret. That’s exactly what your sales and marketing process is supposed to do. Leave them wanting to BUY the solution. If they gave me the 1 secret, why would I even hit that ‘buy’ button?

So if you’ve been giving away your secrets and wondering why you can never close a deal, take heart that you’re not alone. Then change your strategy and change the conversation to entice the appetite rather than deliver the full meal.

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