I received an email from a struggling business owner the
other day. She's good at what she does, but is in danger of
closing her doors after being in business for over 3 years
due to a lack of long term clients.
The problem? There are actually two:
1. She's not *consistently* marketing to get new clients
(filling her funnel, pipeline, pyramid) and
2. She suffers from distraction (yes. . .it is like a
disease).
She and I are addressing the above problems for the long
term. The most immediate need, however, is getting clients
in the door.
Remember the famous quote by Albert Einstein:
Insanity: Doing the same thing over and over again and
expecting different results.
To get clients quickly, you must be willing to take a step
outside your comfort zone - take a big gulp and confidently
move forward.
1. Make time to market for new clients.
While she thinks she's busy now, a quick look at her time
allocation shows she could tighten up her day to insure
she's *productive*, not just busy.
When you're just starting out or in need of new clients,
you should spend up to half your day performing marketing
activities.
Do what you need to do to make this happen - after all,
without clients, you don't have a business.
2. Get clear on the RESULTS and tell everyone.
Write a letter to everyone you know (friends, family,
former clients, prospects) and educate (not sell) them on
your ideal clients and the results you provide (NOT what
you do - no one really cares) and ask them if they know
anyone who may benefit from your services.
People like to be seen as a good source of information -
you are giving them the ability to help others by
connecting them with you.
3. Partner up!
In the online world, we call it "joint ventures" - it can
be called the same thing in the offline world.
Make a list of other small businesses who offer
complementary, not competing, services and contact them
about mutual referrals. For example, a bookkeeper should
call CPA firms and offer bookkeeping services to their
clients (especially at this time of year in preparation for
tax season).
4. Get out of the office.
It's time to get out of the house/office and do some actual
face-to-face networking and speaking.
Groups are always looking for speakers - give your local
Chamber of Commerce, Real Estate Broker, BNI and Rotary
Club a call and offer to speak on a specialized topic
linked to the services you provide.
5. Advertise to those who know you.
If you are sending out an email newsletter (or any type of
CONSISTENT communications) to your prospects, let them know
that you have a few openings for new clients.
You never know who is thinking about working with you and
just needs to know you have the space.
These steps are designed to get you clients quickly. Once
you solve your immediate "client crunch", it's time to put
processes in place to insure you have clients in your
pipeline consistently and remember, by not marketing
consistently, you are denying those who need you the most!
Your Coaching Challenge
If you're currently looking for new clients, pick one of
the above items to do EACH DAY of the coming week -
starting tomorrow.
----------------------------------------------------
Sandra Martini, the Automatic Business Coach, and
award-winning author teaches small business owners how to
implement processes and systems designed to take them out
of the day-to-day running of their business. For more
information and to receive her FREE e-course/audio series,
"5 Quick & Easy Ways To Put Your Marketing on Autopilot",
visit http://www.SandraMartini.com
No comments:
Post a Comment