Do You Use This Seven-Step Process?

By Robert Middleton - Action Plan Marketing

Do you have a marketing plan?

I mean, do you have a real plan that gets you clients? And not just randomly, but consistently like clockwork. Do you know exactly what to do to bring in ideal clients who pay you well and are a delight to work with?

I'll bet you don't.

Most marketing for Independent Professionals consists of a random series of marketing activities with no particular aim, no sequence of well-thought-out steps and certainly no way to measure if the plan was successful or not.

If you were asked the purpose of your marketing plan, you'd say something like, "get exposure," or "get my name out there."

Sorry, that's not a plan but a hope.

A marketing plan is a step-by-step process designed to consistently and predictably attract clients. If a marketing plan is properly designed and executed it will produce the same results almost every time - more ideal clients.

But the truth is that it's rare for the average Independent Professional to design and implement a marketing plan consistently and successfully.

The reason I know this is that I've never heard an Independent Professional say the following: "How do I get clients? Easy! Every time I need new clients, I just use a special seven-step process. When I do, I gain as many clients as I need every time."

This is more often the answer: "Well, I do a little networking and send out a newsletter once in awhile, and if anyone asks I'll give a talk, and I've published a few articles. But most of my clients come from word-of-mouth."

Please tell me this doesn't sound familiar?

From what I can see, a successful marketing plan is so rare that, like the fabled unicorn, most contend that it doesn't really exist, but is the stuff of legends.

And when the very rare person talks about a marketing plan that recently worked to generate tens, if not hundreds of thousands in new business, we scoff in disbelief: "Must have either been luck or some kind of scam. No way that could work!"

Well, let me give you some caveats.

Most successful marketing plans are not simple. They are multi-step processes and each step in the process must be executed competently. And it takes persistence and skills that take a little time to learn and develop.

But let me tell you, it's a lot easier to learn than many other things. Try learning the piano, a foreign language or computer programming; now those are hard!

No, a marketing plan is challenging but quite doable.

And if you think about it, don't you think it's worth the effort to learn? I mean how would your life change if you could implement a plan in a few weeks or months that generated as much money as you made all last year?

It's not only possible, but something you can do.

Just as there are many songs, many languages, and many computer programs, there are many marketing plans. They can be customized to your needs and adapted to work to attract clients over and over again.

And by the way, I'm not talking about one of those "secret plans" that will make you super rich without lifting a finger. I hope you're not so naive.

What does every marketing plan include? Thought I'd never get around to it did you?

Here we go, in seven steps:

1. A target market. You need to know specifically whom you are offering your service to. You should be able to picture them as clearly as your own family.

2. A defined service. Not a vague service but preferably a service that will produce a consistent and desirable outcome for your clients. It helps if you're somewhat obsessed by this service!

3. A marketing message. This is what you say to your target market about your defined service to get them interested and wanting to know more. The message must be crystal-clear and promise a clear and valuable outcome.

4. Some marketing materials. Usually something written, these days primarily by email and web, can include audio or video. The purpose of these materials is to educate and persuade your prospects that it's worth exploring further.

5. An invitation to engage. Once you have the interest and attention of prospects, they need to be invited to talk to you under favorable conditions to explore how you could help them produce those outcomes.

6. A sales process. This is a conversation that takes place with qualified prospects who are ready to learn more and are open to explore working with you. Ultimately, the sale process converts prospects into paying clients.

7. Ability to deliver. Once you have new clients, you need to deliver the services as promised, meeting or exceeding their expectations, which then leads to word-of-mouth business.

That's it. That's the seven step process.

And you can adapt this to any professional service in the world and start attracting clients in droves. I've done it over and over for years (and have taught hundreds to do it as well).

You can't miss a step and each step must be executed competently. Again, each of the steps must be customized for your business. Yes, it usually takes a certain amount of trial and error to make your plan work consistently.

Are you disappointed? No magic secrets or silver bullets.

But I promise you, that's all there is. Sounds simple, right? But if you look closely at those seven steps, can you honestly say you can successfully do most of them, some of them, any of them?

Probably not, because you never learned.

Like music or a language or computer programming, you were never shown how to do all of these things. And you were certainly not taught this as a time-tested process, as a complete system.

And as a result, attracting clients consistently is still a mystery to you. The good news is that it doesn't have to be. This is something you can learn and it's easier than you think.

This page will tell you how to master this seven-step process:

www.actionplan.com/actionplanclub.html

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The More Clients Bottom Line: You can struggle with marketing your business forever, or learn the seven-step process to attracting clients and start growing your business in ways you never imagined.

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What's your marketing plan? Please share on the More Clients Blog.

Comments

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Thank you for the tips..

[Florida Process Servers]

Thank you very much for sharing this great information and I am happy to read this post and come to know about various marketing activities and this article is very helpful for marketing team and to set the marketing plan.