I've talked a lot about being proactive concerning your architectural clients' objections. Today, I’m going to show you yet another way to be proactive in anticipation of the objections of clients or prospective clients.
Be Proactive … But How?
By now, you know that your first job is to be a marketer of architectural services. Being proactive will help you increase business and your success rate in getting projects because most architects aren't even doing this yet.
Usually, the same objections come up again and again; they can cause a project to be stalled or lost if you even got the project in the first place. You usually know in advance what those objections are. Plus, you know that, even if they aren’t spoken, they will be thought.
The solution is to crush the objection while it’s still small – before it becomes a monster in your client's head.
How do you do it?
Create Frequently Asked Questions
You create a document that is called ‘Frequently Asked Questions.’ Now, just because it’s called FAQ doesn’t mean that you only need to have questions in it. The following topics are those you should cover on your FAQ page.
- OBJECTIONS – Write a list of all the common architectural client objections. Include your super-savvy answers to them and the prospect won't even have an opportunity to ‘think them' into something bigger.
Example: ‘You are charging 10% while another architect is offering to do the job for 9%. Detail why that 1% makes all the difference in service and value.'
- SHOULD ASK QUESTIONS – SAQs are the questions you want the client to ask.
Example: ‘What makes you better than your competition?'
- FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS – FAQs are the commonly asked questions you get at every consultation (hopefully these are paid consultations)
Example: ‘What is your project process?'
Add to your Shock and Awe Box
Your Frequently Asked Questions document does a lot of the heavy lifting in shaping buyer criteria and crushing objections even before you meet with the client. This is one document I would definitely have in my Shock and Awe Box (pre-meeting indoctrination package).
The Shock and Awe Box is a collection of educational material designed to be a ‘salesman in-a-box.’ Send this impressive package by courier before your first meeting and you’ll be eliminating client objections before clients can even consider them. You can crush architectural client objections by adding this information to an FAQ page on your website, too!
For more help on architectural client objection-busting, visit my post on overcoming client objections. This post on understanding client motivation can help you to better understand your client psyche.
Happy Marketing!