Episode 15: The Importance of Sales for Creatives

Show Notes for This Episode:

[1.00] Designers are often not natural sales people
[2.40] Tom feels he’s not a sales natural, in the traditional term
[3.45] We all sell things to others all the time (just not our own stuff)
[4.30] Why you should focus on the steak not the sizzle
[5.15] Looking at selling for designers
[6.30] Be honest, transparent and win trust – that’s effective selling
[8.00] Why sales doesn’t have to be sleazy
[8.30] Dustin pushes back – because sales tactics do work, and we all do them to some extent
[9.30] Tom went down the wrong path of putting marketing ahead of everything else
[10.30] You need a solid foundation, but sales absolutely do matter on top of this
[11.45] Don’t be arrogant in your marketing, but just tell people how what you’re selling will help them
[13.00] How Ian doesn’t feel like he can sell, but he is doing some things very right
[14.00] When selling is done really well, you almost don’t know it’s happening
[14.45] Dustin recommends building a list of potential clients
[15.15] He also recommends lowering the bar to getting the contact information of potential clients
[16.00] The importance of having a sales funnel (not as scary as it sounds!)
[17.40] You can start figuring out where you’re losing people in your sales process
[19.00] Dustin and Tom have a hypothetical sales call
[24.00] Pay an interest in the customer
[26.00] Don’t underestimate how bad many designers are with their potential clients, which gives you scope to stand out in a positive way
[27.00] How Tom sold Dustin on working with Design Cuts in the early days
[28.45] The importance of empathy
[29.00] Give each potential client a personalised experience, not a generic one
[30.30] Treat people right, as you never know where relationships will lead in the future
[32.00] How Ian could handle customer/client questions, whilst playing to his creative strengths
[34.00] The common question designers get ‘what’s your prices?’ – and the right way to respond
[36.00] Tools for making email responses easier
[37.00] An example of how a company justify their higher prices in a really creative way
[38.00] Get a loved one to play devil’s advocate with you to put you on the spot and get more used to selling yourself
[39.30] How to weed out unsuitable clients on your contact page
[41.00] Lisa’s mindset shift to help her to sell herself
[42.45] How to set up a trade of work with other designers in your space, to get them to help with selling your services
[44.45] How Lisa plans to grow her patterns business
[46.00] Tom’s advice for how Lisa could approach her dream clients
[47.30] Never SPAM
[48.30] Closing tips for selling yourself
[50.00] Ian asks: how do designers sell physical goods/prints?