We talk quite a bit in sales and marketing about, well, talking. We examine how to get our message across, what to say to potential clients, how to present our businesses, etc. But sometimes, listening can be considerably more productive than talking. Here are five ways you just might be able to get more clients by listening.
1. Listen for what prospects want. This is the most obvious kind of useful listening, but it's often the most overlooked. Consider the life coach who tries to sell fulfillment to a prospect who is seeking security, the graphic designer who insists on selling an identity package to a prospect whose budget only extends to business cards, or the real estate agent who keeps showing single-family homes to a prospect who wants a condo.
Of course you should ask prospects about their needs, then propose the best solution for their problems. But this must be the best solution for THEM, not just the best for YOU. Once you land a new client, there can be many opportunities to sell them additional products and services. By then they will trust you and be more open to your suggestions. But when you are first trying to close the sale, you'll have much more success if you sell them what they are already looking for.
2. Listen to how prospects respond to your marketing messages. Learning how your communications are perceived by the recipient is crucial to making them more effective. Your prospects are often quite different people than you are yourself. So a message that appeals to you may not have the same impact on your desired clients.
Think about the writer who introduces herself as a "communications consultant" because that's the label she and her colleagues prefer. If listeners respond by asking for help with their public speaking, she needs a new label that prospects will better understand. Or the chiropractor who says he delivers "optimal health," but discovers that prospects with back pain don't grasp that this includes pain relief. He needs to use language his prospects can connect with.
3. Listen for buying signals. When you're focused on presenting your business, it's easy to miss cues that prospects have already heard you and are considering your offer. Questions like "how much will that add up to," "have you done this for other clients like me," or "how long will this take" are all signals that your prospect is seriously considering working with you.
Don't make the mistake of thinking these expressions of interest are objections to moving forward. If you treat them as objections and keep trying to convince your prospect why you're the best, you could lose the sale. Instead, answer the question factually, then check in with your prospect on his reaction. For example, "The total would be £2,500. Is that in your budget?" Or, "I could have this completed by 15th June . Would that date work for you?"
4. Listen for leads to new business. Stop tuning out comments by prospects, clients, and networking contacts that don't seem to apply to you, and listen carefully instead. There could be gold in those offhand remarks.
When a prospect says she doesn't have time to meet with you, find out what else she's working on that you might offer help with. If a client complains that an upcoming conference is delaying the project you're working on, ask if you could be one of the speakers. A networking contact's gossipy story about office politics could transform from boring to fascinating when you recognize the changes he is describing at his company might mean business for you.
5. Listen to sales and marketing success stories. When you're finding marketing to be somewhat of a struggle, it's often easier to engage with others' complaints than with their successes. But success stories can often do more to help you than commiserating about failures.
The next time friends or colleagues tell you that business is going well, listen carefully to what they've been doing. Get curious about what led to their success. What marketing approaches have they been using? How do they talk about their business? Where have they been networking? What helps them close their sales? You'll hear many valuable clues for how you might build your own business.
So don't think sales and marketing is all about talking. If you start lending an ear to what your prospects, clients, and colleagues have to say, you may discover all sorts of ways that it pays better to listen.
"I don't have enough clients," one of my students told me. "I'd love to put more effort into marketing, but I'm so busy, I don't have the time."
This independent professional's dilemma might seem humorous, but it's no joke. I've heard this complaint repeatedly from professionals and small business owners. You'd think the solution would be easy - just drop whatever else you're doing and spend more time on getting clients. But making that adjustment is often not so simple.
Here are five too-busy-to-get-clients situations that you may encounter, and what you can do about them:
1. You're too busy serving existing clients.
This is probably the most common reason named by independent professionals for not spending time marketing. On the surface, it seems like a good excuse. If you're busy with paying work, why should you take time away to market? But the work eventually comes to an end, and there you are with no new clients lined up. Now you have time to market, but it always takes a while to land something new. Meanwhile, there's no money coming in.
The only way to break this feast-or-famine cycle is to go shopping before the cupboard is bare. Even when you have plenty of work, set aside time on a weekly basis to focus on marketing for new clients. When agreeing on project or appointment schedules with an existing client, factor in this set-aside time, just as you would if it was another client you were serving simultaneously. Your business deserves the same kind of care and attention you give to your clients' businesses.
2. You're too busy working for peanuts, or even for free.
One reason you might have trouble finding enough time to market is that you're working too much for too little. Perhaps your fees are too low, you are giving away too many free consultations or sample sessions, or you are doing too much work "on spec." Or perhaps you are spending a great deal of time volunteering for a professional association or nonprofit.
Try keeping a work diary for two weeks, where you record every hour you spend working for someone else and what you got paid for it. If you don't like what you see, start making some changes. Place a ceiling on the amount of time you give away for free. Set your rates based on the true cost of doing business, which includes unpaid time spent on marketing and management. Don't let under-earning rob you of the time you need to market your business.
3. You're too busy networking.
Not all networking "counts" as marketing. Attending meetings and workshops, having coffee or lunch, and spending time on Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn can have a worthwhile business purpose... or be an enormous waste of your precious marketing time. Be honest with yourself - when are you networking with important business contacts and when are you just socializing? Limit your networking to people who are either in your target market, or who come in frequent contact with your target market. Sure, anyone might refer you a client, but the point is to spend the majority of your time with those who are MOST likely to either become prospects or refer them. And limit the time you invest in networking to an amount on which you might reasonably expect to see a profitable return.
4. You're too busy marketing unproductively.
Networking isn't the only type of marketing that can consume more time than it's worth. Another common misuse of marketing time is putting all your effort into filling the pipeline with new prospects, but rarely following up with them after the initial contact. Or concentrating on making cold approaches by phone, mail, or email to people who have never heard of you, instead of using your network to ask for introductions and referrals.
If you feel like you're spending a lot of time on marketing already, but still don't have all the clients you need, you probably need to revisit your approach. What do you think are the three most effective ways for a business like yours to get clients? Now, are those three ways how you've been spending the majority of your marketing time? If not, change your strategy.
5. You're too busy with a day job, school, or family responsibilities.
Trying to squeeze a business into an already full life doesn't always work. It's a common mistake to consider only the time you'll need to serve clients, and not the time needed to get them in the first place. But to have a successful business, marketing has to be part of the picture.
It may be that your part-time business will need longer to get off the ground than you thought. If you don't like that option, perhaps you can negotiate fewer hours at your job, take some time off from work or school, or share family responsibilities with someone else. Don't get discouraged; most new business owners face this same issue. We like to believe that time is infinitely expandable, but it's not so. When you add time in one area of life, it must come from another.
So the next time you find yourself thinking you are too busy to get clients, think again. If you don't have enough time for marketing, something about your business needs to change. Stop what you're doing, and take the time to figure out what it is.
Do you go to networking meetings hoping to meet potential clients? How many do you meet? Are you really getting a good return on your time spent networking? My guess is that you aren't. This approach is like walking into a clothes shop and trying to sell them your coat. Networkers aren't there to buy. Like me and you they are hoping to sell. So why bother?
Change your mindset. Don't look for clients - look for salespeople. Regard all of the people in the room as your sales force. Then seek out those who are SUCCESSFULLY selling a product or service to the kind of clients you are looking for. Then tell them about your business and what you do and talk about how you can co-operate to send each other clients. Want to know how? Contact me mike@getclientsnow.co.uk
Never underestimate the power of a thank you. Recently, I thanked someone for helping me solve a technical problem. She replied to my note of thanks by inviting me as a guest speaker for a group she chairs. I didn't even know she chaired this group and had never considered speaking there. This speaking opportunity would never have occurred if I hadn't taken a moment to say thanks. It started me thinking about how often saying thank you turns into paying business.
Here in the U.S., it's Thanksgiving month, when we often pause to reflect on our gratitude. So it's an excellent time to consider seven ways of saying thank you that can bring you more clients.
1. Thank those who refer clients. When you thank people for sending referrals your way, several positive results ensue.
Being thanked encourages them to send more referrals, as they know you appreciate them. Expressing thanks gives you a reason to get in touch with them, find out what they are up to, and let them know what you're doing these days, which is always good for business. It also shows them that you are a professional who follows up and follows through.
2. Thank those who refer prospects who never become clients.
Referrals that don't result in business may seem as if they don't warrant thanks. But it's essential that you thank people every time they refer. When a referral doesn't turn into a client because he or she chooses someone else, the two of you aren't a good fit, or you're too busy, the prospect frequently tells the referrer that "it didn't work out." As a result, that referrer is unlikely to send you any more business.
Instead, say thanks for every prospect, no matter what happens.
It you end up not working with that person, tell the referrer why. If the referral wasn't on target for your business, say more about who would be a good client for you. If you're too busy, explain that it's only temporary and future referrals would be welcome. And if the prospect chose someone else, express thanks for the great opportunity and that you'd appreciate more just like it.
3. Thank your clients. Even when you are interacting with clients daily, taking a moment to thank them for their continued trust will increase their respect for you, boost their loyalty, and encourage them to refer others. Thanking past clients for the work you did together is often a much more powerful and gracious way to stimulate repeat business or new referrals than asking for those outcomes directly.
4. Thank the leaders of groups you belong to. Association officers, program and membership chairs, and special interest group leaders deserve your thanks for the hard work they do.
And, these high-profile individuals are often asked to refer someone with a particular specialty for an interview, speaking engagement, or business opportunity. Expressing your thanks gives you a chance to get better acquainted with them so they'll think of you first.
5. Thank people who mention you in articles, blogs, and social networks. It has happened to me more times than I can count that I have thanked people for mentioning me or my work in an article or Facebook, Twitter, or blog post, and they have replied by asking me to speak for their group, be interviewed for an article, or contribute to their blog. Saying thank you increases the affinity between you and those you thank. It makes them want to find other ways to engage with you.
6. Thank those who provide good service. A lovely way to thank people who serve you and your business is to offer a testimonial they can use in their own marketing. Making your thanks public can result in higher name recognition for you and your business, inbound links to your website or social networking profile, and sometimes even gains you priority service because the recipient of your testimonial wants to keep your goodwill.
7. Thank prominent people whose work inspires you. Those who generously give of their time to help and inspire others are seldom thanked enough for their efforts. When you go out of your way to give thanks, you'll stand out and be remembered, adding influential people like these to your personal network.
So many ways to give thanks may suggest that you could spend your whole day thanking people, and that's not a bad thought.
Saying thank you isn't just a nice thing to do, it's a practical approach to strengthening relationships, encouraging referrals, staying in touch with your network, and reminding people what your business is about. With thank yous leading to business in so many ways, perhaps they should become a significant part of your marketing strategy.
And by the way, thank YOU for reading this article, subscribing to my newsletter, buying my book, and sending referrals my way!
I appreciate your trust and look forward to serving you for another year.
Five Steps to Turn Audiences into Clients by C.J. Hayden, MCC
Recently, a client of mine asked, "I do a lot of public speaking -- talks at association meetings, presentations at conferences, even workshops. My talks seem to be well-received, but I don't get many clients from them. Am I missing something?"
Public speaking can be one of the most powerful methods available for an independent professional, consultant, or coach to land new clients. But it doesn't always work out that way. Before you book your next speaking engagement, ask yourself these five questions to make sure you're on the right track to turn your audience into clients:
1. Am I speaking to the right audience?
A common practice of many professionals is to speak at meetings of their professional association. In some cases, the members of your industry association may include prospective clients. If you are a computer systems consultant speaking for the Association of Information Technology Professionals, for example, there will be IT directors in the room who might hire you.
But with some associations, the only people in the room may be other independent professionals like you. For example, a professional organizer speaking at the National Association of Professional Organizers would typically not find potential clients there. With associations like these, speaking can build your credibility and stimulate referrals, both of which can ultimately result in clients. But you usually won't leave the room with people who want to hire you.
The best audiences for landing clients are those that match the profile of your ideal client as closely as possible. A leadership coach trying to reach human resources and training directors would have more success speaking for the American Society for Training and Development than for the Chamber of Commerce. While there certainly could be HR or training directors at a Chamber of Commerce meeting, they would only be a small percentage of that audience.
2. Do I have the right topic?
The topics you speak on should represent the core of your expertise -- the body of knowledge and skills that are the primary reason people will decide to work with you. It's not enough to choose a topic you happen to know something about. You need to speak on a subject that demonstrates you are an expert in the same issues you want to be hired to address.
3. How will the people in the room find out what I do?
At a typical speaking engagement, you'll have at least three chances to describe exactly what you do without being overly self-promotional. The first opportunity is when you are introduced. Be sure to write your own brief introduction and give a copy to the program chair or room host for them to read. Don't let someone else decide what to say about you, as it may not be at all what you want people to know.
Your next opportunity will be in your audiovisual materials. Your program handout and slides should include your professional specialty and the type of clients you serve. On a handout, this information can be in a one-line footer on each page or a longer bio slug at the bottom of the last page. On slides, you can include your occupation on the title page, and a brief description of what you do on the last page. Be sure to include your contact information on both handouts and slides.
Finally, when you conclude your talk, invite people to get in touch with you to explore the possibility of working together. Be as specific as possible in your invitation. For example, a web designer might say, "If you need assistance with launching a new website or updating the look of your current site, I'd be happy to help. There's never any charge for an initial consultation, and here's how to contact me."
4. How can I make my work tangible through a demonstration or examples?
One of the challenges of marketing a service business is that people can't always grasp the tangible results of your work. Whenever possible, don't just tell them about it, show it to them. A life coach could demonstrate expert coaching with a volunteer, an interior designer could show slides of her beautiful interiors, or a management consultant could share before-and-after statistics for productivity or employee retention.
The most effective way to use examples like these are by integrating them into a learning experience that improves the knowledge or skills of the audience. If all you do is say "This is what I did; isn't it great?" the audience isn't learning much from you. But if you share your examples in the context of "This is what I did, and here's how you can do it too," you'll be delivering value.
5. How will I follow up with the audience after I speak?
It's rare that someone will walk up to you at the end of your talk and say, "I'd like to hire you." To get the most from any speaking engagement, you'll want to follow up with the people who attend. If you'd like the opportunity to follow up with everyone, pass a basket to collect names for a drawing and give away a book or CD related to your topic. Or, offer to send people a free report, e-book, or newsletter subscription in return for their contact information.
For a successful speaking engagement, delivering a well-presented program filled with useful information is essential. But if you want to land clients from speaking, just giving a good talk may not be enough. Every time you get a speaking invitation, be sure to ask yourself the five questions above before you say yes, and you'll stand a much better chance of making it pay off.
The marketing activities which produce the best results can also be scary, difficult, or distasteful. Placing follow-up calls exposes you to rejection. Going to networking meetings means talking to strangers. Public speaking may be outside your comfort zone. It feels so much easier and less confronting to mail a stack of letters, pay for a few directory listings or ads, or add a bunch of new email addresses to your list of subscribers. But is this "easy way out" really so easy? Consider the potential consequences of continuing to use all the least effective ways to market yourself and none of the ones already known to work: o Advertising, whether you choose to do it by mail, in print, or on the web, is typically the most expensive form of marketing available. To have any significant impact, your letter or ad must be powerfully written, well-designed, and reach your potential client more than once. If you don't get the mix of factors just right, your ad might have no response at all, or cost you much more than the few clients you ever get from it. o Prospects who contact you as the result of a print or web ad, flyer, direct mail letter, or other anonymous solicitation will be more skeptical, harder to sell, and take longer to close than prospects who know you by name or reputation, or are referred by someone they trust. These strangers will also be much less inclined to pay what you ask, and often waste your time preparing bids or proposals while they shop around for the best price. o When you stick with just a handful of proven strategies like networking, referral-building, speaking, or persistent follow-up, you can create a marketing plan that a solo professional can realistically accomplish. But if you try to implement simultaneously a dozen different "creative" ideas for advertising, promotion, and solicitation, you won't have enough time and energy to carry them off. Instead of doing a few effective things well, you'll end up doing a host of not-so-effective things poorly, and you'll also wear yourself out. It seems that the easy way out may not be so easy after all. If it takes you more time, more money, and more work, and there's no guarantee you'll get clients as a result, that sounds pretty hard to me. The next time you are tempted to spend your scarce marketing resources on an activity you're not so sure about, try asking yourself these questions: How much time will this activity take? How much money will it cost? Do I have enough time and money available to do it well? How many clients do I honestly think this activity will bring me? Is there an easier way for me to produce the same result? Judgments like "easy" and "hard" are relative. You may have a lot of time available to promote your business, and not much money. Or perhaps you have some money, but not much time. You may have an outgoing personality and enjoy attending networking mixers and calling strangers on the phone. Or you may prefer more intimate conversations with people you know better. Only you can decide what "an easier way" to market your business truly is. But be sure when you make that choice, you think it all the way through. Instead of telling yourself, "It would be so easy to just place an ad," consider the cost, potential consequences, and likelihood of results. If it still seems like the easiest way for you to get clients with all those factors taken into consideration, by all means go ahead. I suspect, though, that more often than not, you'll find that what you first thought would be the easy way to market will turn out to be hard... and what you thought was so hard may turn out to be easy after all.
Last week I was with the chairman of a large professional association discussing how we could put together a marketing programme for his members. He is already running a one day training course, which by all accounts isn't working too well:
"By the end of the day their heads are spinning with talk of pay-per-click, blogs, web optimisation etc etc."
He was shocked when I proposed a half day seminar followed by coaching:
"How are you going to fit it all in?
"The truth is to be successful, you don't need all that much information. Two or three well chosen strategies, an action plan that works for you as well as your business and ACTION!
This is the secret of success and is the basis of the Get Clients Now! programme.
So what is he going to do? He wants to run a 4 day training course to fit it all in! Evidently it takes some of us a little longer to learn than others!
The lesson here? To be successful, you do need to work smart..but you also need to work hard!
Mike Smith is marketing and business coach with a passion for helping small and medium businesses. A Chartered Marketer with 20 years experience, Mike can help you get more clients and increase your sales.
