We buy things and later regret it.  That same fear or behaviour can prevent a prospect from buying your service/product.  So, here are two (really good) suggestions for overcoming this reluctance.

My chair has been with me for about 10 years, but I've been seeing warning signals for a couple of years.  It squeaks, the arm rests are torn up and pinch me, every now and then the height control fails & I sink down to eye level with the desk.  (We'll get to the point soon, just stay with me).

I've worked out something's not right (I'm good, not quick).  I'll have to get a new one, so I Googled.  I don't like what's available so I'll go to a supplier and have a test drive (or, sit) of the ones I don't like the least.

I begrudge the time because everything's the same, I can't really tell what it will be like until after I buy it, and that's not a test but ownership.  What if I hate it?

This is just like choosing a service provider, which has the same limitation:  how can you know before the engagement begins what the relationship will be like after?

That's not good news for professional service providers, or really anything where there is no tangibility.

Prospective clients and customers are slow to decide, and the tools we rely on to build trust and gain attention have their limits.  Tools like testimonials, bios, service descriptions, case studies, and web site layout are only symptoms of what it's like to work with you, not like a sample of you.

How do you get past this limitation and let people who might hire you check you out in a meaningful way?  Remember I said there would be two really good suggestion ?

(Spoiler alert – here come two really good suggestions!)

1. Let them actually sample you.

Supermarkets let you try things, like canned crocodile with crushed capers, before asking you to buy a case.  So, you can do that too!  (Not crocodile!).  Offer an assessment of their strategy, or a trend review, or a needs analysis, or a few options.

It doesn't matter what it is, people get to 'sit on you' (not literally) for a long enough engagement that they can see first hand what it would be like to work with you.  That makes their buying decision easier (and frankly, also gives you an out in case you'd rather not continue).

2. Create and share lots of original content

This is not as good as actually working with you but it's not a bad guide to who you are and how you think.  However, what you say has to have enough content that there is a sense of the real thing.  This becomes part of your overall marketing mix.

Here's the bottom line.   Hiring a professional/service provider is risky because people put money down on an experience before they actually experience it.  That requires quite a leap of faith.

Your job in selling, whatever the actual product is, is to make that leap as small as possible.   (Even if the person telling you is sinking below the level of the desk).