There are only two ways you can get new clients on board.
One is to wait for them to find you. The other is to actively search them out. The first leaves things to chance. Them finding you. The second is you taking charge and control.
When working with clients we stress the importance of three interlocking activities. Marketing, prospecting and selling.
Marketing attracts and educates your market as to why they should consider you.
Prospecting which is you being proactive. Actively seeking out potential clients, contacting them and subsequently engaging in a sales conversation.
Having said that, most people I speak with positively cringe at the thought of prospecting. Reaching out to someone cold, be it via phone, email or direct mail.
Which means they’re missing out on business.
Here’s why.
The majority of your potential clients have no idea you exist. They may have issues they want to solve, but aren’t yet actively looking.
Your reaching out and starting a conversation can trigger opportunities. Once a prospect shows a level of interest and is willing to continue the conversation, the sales process begins.
Contrast that with purely passive marketing where you wait for a prospect to contact you.
In this case they already know they have an issue, and are likely to be actively searching for solutions. Which means they’re also comparing you to your competition.
And there’s a real risk they’ll never contact you and have an actual conversation where you can uncover their real needs, figure out the best solution and present them. Even though yours may be the best one for them.
So they lose out and you lose out.
Actively prospecting means you’re always on the front foot. You control your sales pipeline and the opportunities.
So don’t neglect it.
Coming back to the interlocking activities of marketing, prospecting and selling.
Once you’ve generated interest, your marketing supports you by educating your prospects and positioning you as the best choice.
Sales involves honing in on what your prospects want to achieve, highlighting what’s stopping them and showing them you have a solution. Done well, you never have to use pushy sales tactics. Your clients recognise your ability to solve their issues and want to buy.
To be really effective you must have a system to combine all three.
So if you’re not completely happy with where you’re at with your client growth, contact me and we’ll work together to put together a client acquisition system which will bring you new business within 90 days.
This system is especially suited to professional service firms, consultants and coaches who sell high value services. Contact me at revealedresources.com to get started.
Till next time, this is Rashid Kotwal.
