When you get onto discovery calls with prospects and keep hearing, “I can’t afford to work with you” it can be totally disheartening and demoralising.
However, like with everything in business, there is a way to overcome this.
In this blog, I am going to share with you 5 proactive steps you can take to stop hearing, “I can’t afford to work with you” and start getting more YES’S!
Step 1 – Consider whether you are attracting the right clients
You need to consider if you are attracting the wrong clients. Perhaps the problem is that the people you are targeting really can’t afford to work with you and therefore are the wrong audience for you.
A lot of business owners come to me with exactly this problem as they have been marketing their businesses on Facebook and Instagram and finding that the prospects they attract simply can’t afford to work with them.
Linkedin can help you overcome this problem because it gives you the ability to directly connect with more high-calibre clients.
Step 2 – Make sure you aren’t projecting onto your prospects
Check in with yourself to make sure you aren’t unconsciously projecting onto your prospects that they can’t afford to work with you. Because guess what, if you are, that is exactly what will happen.
Perhaps you’ve recently increased your prices and you are subconsciously thinking, “there is no way your prospects will pay my new fees”.
Or maybe you don’t believe that you are worth the fee you want to charge.
If any of these limiting beliefs are going on for you..then spend time journaling on the value you bring to your work.
Even add up how much financially spent on courses, mentors, time, and effort to be able to do the work you are doing. All of this will help you feel a lot more comfortable with what you are charging.
Step 3 – Check that you are clearly communicating the benefits
One of the things I’ve learned from selling almost $2 million of my programs is that when people say “I can’t afford it” that often isn’t true.
What they are really saying is that they don’t yet understand the value of what you are offering.
So, if you are hearing, “I can’t afford it” a lot from prospects I would take a little time to review what you are saying when you make your offer to your prospects.
Are you clearly communicating the benefits and value of working with you to the person you are speaking with?
Are you clearly communicating how working with you will help your prospect overcome their problems they are struggling with and achieve the outcome they desire?
If you find you are not explaining the benefits and value of your services clearly to your ideal clients, then I recommend that you write down at least 5 benefits of working with you on a piece of paper.
Make sure you have that piece of paper next to you when you are doing your strategy sessions so you can remind yourself of them when you make your offer.
Step 4 – Don’t buy into their story
I’ve had people on benefits get loans to be able to pay for my programs in the past.
You know what happened with these clients…they all, without exception, put in the work and got great results growing their businesses. As a result, they are now not on benefits, and instead they have thriving businesses.
The lesson here is not to buy into the story that the prospect is telling you about their not being able to afford working with you.
People afford what they really want to afford and what they value.
We see this all the time. Just think about examples you’ve seen of this lately – I am sure you can come up with quite a few.
So, when you hear, “I can’t afford to work with you”, this is when your real work begins.
First check that the prospect really does want to work with you and isn’t using the “I can’t afford it” as an excuse when they really mean “no”.
You can do this by asking them, “If money were not a factor would you want to work with me?”
If they say “Yes” then go ahead and say, “How about we explore your situation together and see how we can come up with a solution that will allow us to work together and help you achieve x,y,z goals you have?”
Allow yourself permission to suggest some different ways they could potentially find the investment to work with you e.g. offering a payment plan, taking out a loan or borrowing money from a family member etc..
Step 5 – Challenge your prospect
In many cases when prospects say, “I can’t afford to work with you” they are hesitating to commit out of fear.
In that moment they can see that they now have the opportunity to change the situation that they are pained by and of course that can be scary and can bring up a lot of fear.
Their fear is what has been holding them back possibly for years with overcoming their biggest challenges and achieving their desired outcomes.
If you know you can help the person you are speaking to, then be prepared to challenge them a little, so they can see that it is their fear that is holding them back.
For instance you can say,
“Where do you think you will be in 6 months or a years’ time if you don’t get support with…x,y,z”
“How will you feel in 6 months’ time if nothing has changed and you are still experiencing what you are going through right now?”
If you are not attracting the right clients to your business then book a call with us and my Coaches will help you explore how you can overcome this: book a call
To book a call, please go to https://www.clientnectar.com/clarity-call/
With love,
Shelley xx
