{"id":8066,"date":"2014-02-10T06:00:24","date_gmt":"2014-02-10T14:00:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.questionpro.com\/?p=8066"},"modified":"2014-02-10T06:00:24","modified_gmt":"2014-02-10T14:00:24","slug":"the-consultants-challenge-how-to-give-a-sample-of-your-service","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.questionpro.com\/blog\/the-consultants-challenge-how-to-give-a-sample-of-your-service\/","title":{"rendered":"The Consultant\u2019s Challenge: How to Give a Sample of Your Service"},"content":{"rendered":"

I had just gone into business for myself as a consultant. Business was slow and I was so frustrated that I decided to stop moping and get some grocery shopping done instead.\u00a0\"free<\/p>\n

I was walking through the Sam\u2019s Club and noticed the samplers stationed strategically around the frozen food section. A nice lady, that sort of looked like my grandmother, offered me a sample of marinated salmon with a smile . I plopped the contents of the plastic container into my mouth and thought \u201cYUM! That is so much better than I thought it would be.\u201d I went down the aisle and snapped up a $13 box of marinated salmon I would not have purchased otherwise. Good going, Sam\u2019s.<\/p>\n

How to Sample When You\u2019re a Service<\/strong><\/p>\n

As I got all my stuff in the car and saw that box of salmon, I realized that I had purchased something purely because of the sample that I received. I remember thinking \u201cGee, I wish I could sample my services!\u201d That way my prospects would get a \u201ctaste\u201d of what it was like to work with me and I would probably get sales I wouldn\u2019t normally had closed.<\/p>\n

Samples are nice. Samples increase sales. Samples and demos are a fabulous marketing tool. There\u2019s only one problem, it\u2019s hard to give someone a sample of an experience or a relationship. So I got to thinking about creative ways that consultants and freelancers can sample their potential customers:<\/p>\n