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How do you win new
clients? Can
you win clients without cold calling? Is there a way to effectively get
clients to come to you? Winning
new business is getting harder and harder! The question you might ask...is it
possible to win new clients without cold calling? Yes,
absolutely. This is what we concentrate on when a new coach joins our
network. There are two areas, one is your positioning and the second is your
technique. Winning
new clients can be one of the most frustrating, time consuming and expensive
elements of your business…..…and it is one that is often done very poorly. Without
leads and an effective sales conversion system..…it
doesn’t matter how good your internal systems, your personnel and your
product is…….your business will simply fail. |
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What is education
based relationship marketing? Education
based relationship marketing is based on the idea of adding value to your
prospects. This
is achieved by providing prospects with valuable ideas and helpful
information on topics that are most important to them. The
goals are to build trust and establish a dialog that is not just centred around a sales pitch. The
more you don’t sell “openly” the more your potential prospects start to trust
and want to establish a relationship with your firm. You
do however in the presentation of your information position yourself as an
expert. You do this by including references to your stature and standing,
past client or years experience in the field you have chosen to supply
information. |
Diagram 1
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But
the education can’t just be a one off…….you must set up a communication plan
that keeps you in front of your prospect. This over a period of time
convinces your customers that you are the type of firm that they would want
to deal with. |
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Building Trust By
acting as an authority in a niche area you gradually start to build trust
with your prospect. By producing “solution based” educational material you
are even able to solicit leads. The goal of this type of marketing is to
produce information which you offer in magazines, seminars and PR programs.
You offer this information and in return you receive the contact details of
your prospects. But
that is where it starts. You have the warm leads but you still have to
convert them to a converted sale. This is where you need to build your
communication program and keep offering value. The basis of the communication
plan is to continue to refine the prospect down into “problem areas” and to
match these “problem areas” with products or services your practice offers.
You need to establish good “teaser” information. For example, “7 things to
know before buying a car”,“10 things not to do when
building a house.” In diagram 1 we simplify this process into 6 separate
steps that could form the basis of your communication plan. In diagram 2 we
explore in more detail each step and we indicate some of the details that you
need to address. How do you
develop an educational message? Try
not to attract people that you can’t convert to a profitable assignment.
Think about your end goal, your billing rates and
the number of clients you need. Then
you need to get inside the mind of your prospect. Work out every step of
their day to day routine keeping in mind the product or service that you
offer that might be “the solution”. You
need to then develop material that contains a “step by step” guide. How do you get
the message out? In
years past and when I established my consultancy in 1990 we were constrained
by seminars, mainstream advertising and expensive mail shots. These days our
education material can be broadcast at a very low cost via the internet and
through webinars.(Web seminars). We can use email or
fax. Of course traditional channels such as coupon advertising, leaving
material with your channel is all very effective provided it can be cost
justified. How to implement
this process in your business! Space
was of a premium so we have had to limit this article but if you would like
examples of actual lead generation programs that were developed for business
consultants, management consultants and business coaches then go to our
website at www.corprat.com. We are also conducting free seminars on “How to
win clients” across the country where we discuss a “step by step” system that
you can implement on a shoestring budget. What to remember
from this article!
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