Getting Clients Fast

Last week I discussed the importance of clarity in all aspects of your marketing; no clarity equals poor marketing results. This week I want to focus on how to leverage that clarity to attract clients quickly.

First let's review the five marketing elements.

Element 1 - Clearly defined products or services

Element 2 - Clearly targeted ideal buyers

Element 3 - Clear, benefit-oriented messages

Element 4 - Clearly written/designed marketing materials

Element 5 - Clearly communicated offers

These five elements are the foundation of your marketing. They can take some time and effort to put together. But once you've got them, you have the launching pad for attracting clients quickly and consistently.

Then your vehicle for attracting these clients is a well-designed campaign using one or more marketing vehicles such as networking, speaking or teleclasses.

In 1995 I launched a speaking campaign that did just this. I had moved my business from San Francisco to Silicon Valley so I needed to generate new business fast.

After preparing my Five Elements above I contacted every organization in the area whose members were self-employed professionals. I sent a speaker's kit and followed up. I got booked for several talks. I gave the talks and followed up with those who attended. I then converted those people into clients.

In 26 weeks I had gained 26 new clients.

I'm using a similar plan today to fill my new Marketing Certification Program. After putting all Five Elements into place, I contacted my customers and subscribers by email. I then held an introductory teleclass. Those who attended applied to be in the program and I set up individual appointments with them.

The program is now almost full.

My client, Shelley Simon, put her Five Elements together and then promoted her chiropractic business coaching services through ads and articles in targeted chiropractor publications. Those who responded went to her web site and filled out a form to request an initial consultation.

Shelly's business is now filled to capacity.

A customer of my InfoGuru Manual and Web Site ToolKit, Darrell Crawford, owned a franchise business - TAB (The Alternative Board). He assembled his Five Elements and then targeted a select group of prospects through telemarketing and put them on his email list. That led to qualified inquiries and conversion of prospects into TAB clients.

Before long Darrell was the second most successful TAB franchise owner and ultimately sold his business for a healthy profit.

By the way, both Shelley and Darrell went on to become two of my most successful Action Plan Marketing Coaches. They realized the power of this approach and wanted to teach it to others.

It's the Campaign!

What I've noticed is that people do not conduct their marketing as a campaign. Instead, it's done as a series of disconnected, random activities. You do a little networking, a little speaking, etc. and not a whole lot happens.

What's missing is the PROCESS of the campaign. One thing must lead directly to another. When you design, implement and master this process, it's like turning on a marketing machine. Clients will predictably pop out the other end!

Let's look more closely at how the campaign process works.

Step One - Prepare all the Five Elements. Now you are clear on what you are selling, who you are selling it to and have put together your message, materials (i.e., web site) and offer.

Step Two - Put your message, materials and offer in front of your target audience. Again, any marketing vehicle can work. For instance, a speaking engagement can accomplish this.

Step Three - Have a specific call-to-action, not to buy, but to find out more. This is key. "If you are interested in this service and want to know more, let me know and we'll set up a time to talk."

Step Four - Conduct the sales conversation with your qualified prospects. Learn about their goals and what stands in the way of achieving them. Show how your service can help them get there.

Step Five - Confirm the sale, sign the agreement and get your first payment. This, like all the steps, needs to be designed and implemented flawlessly.

Repeat this process enough times and gaining new clients will become natural and effortless.

Is this all there is? Yes, these are essentially the steps to attracting clients consistently and quickly - first the Five Elements and then the Campaign. Everything needs to be in place and you need to play it like a game you can win.

What else do you need?

You need information and guidance in developing and mastering the process. I took a look at all my many marketing programs and have put together a special "Quick Start Marketing Package" that will help you do exactly that.

You can order this package here.

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The More Clients Bottom Line: The fastest way to get clients is to mount a very focused campaign where one marketing action leads naturally to another until you are attracting clients consistently. It takes time to develop that campaign, but once you do, you become an unstoppable marketer.

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What have been the results when you've actually launched "marketing campaigns" instead of just "doing marketing activities?" Please share on the More Clients Blog.

Comments

[foreclosures]

Relationships count. When asked for three factors that influence their online purchases, 62% chose familiarity with vendor. 39% gave the opinions of friends and colleagues a major role. Only 21% said emails and coupons were influential. Makes sense to me. A coupon from an unknown does not impress yours truly. A sales- pitch email from an unknown is likely to be deleted. However, a coupon from a desired and trusted source might even get me to cough up my email address. The reverse is not true.

[Factoring Invoices Expert]

I used your InfoGuru Manual to launch my business. One lesson that I took was that "Clarity of Message". This is true for anyone that sells a complex product.... if your message requires the client to "join the dots" you'll loose the sale.

[Mark Wayland]

Robert, what about the emotional aspects of marketing in a business. Shouldn't there be some clarity about that as well that's included in the process? To me it's the distinction between "what do you do?" and "what business are you really in?" I'd like to know your thoughts on nailing this aspect of a business.

[Duncan Brodie]

Hi Robert

Another great ezine and blog post. Your ideas are as always grounded,action focused, simple and highly effective.

Duncan Brodie

[nmartin]

I saw your posting and thought you would be interested in some advice from my client, Wireless Toyz if you are thinking about starting a business or purchasing a franchise. “Make sure you select a business about which and about whose products you are truly passionate. Like any business you choose to run, it is a marriage. You’ll be living, breathing, nurturing and growing it for a long time and nothing is worse than a marriage without love,” advises Richard Simtob, president of finance and franchise development at Wireless Toyz. Simtob has been managing the expansion of its franchise network through the opening of 66 new stores in 2006 to a total of 180 locations. Learn more about how to choose a franchise or determine whether a franchise business is right for you by contacting Richard Simtob at 866-2FRANCHISE or email him at [email protected]. You may also visit www.wirelesstoyz.com/franchise for more information.

[Louise Barnes-Johnston]

As a long time customer of yours, I know that your products work! Once again, you've hit the nail right on the head. So many business owners just try to fit in a bit here and there, when they have time.

Marketing needs to be a process - planned, ongoing and monitored. Keep up the good work Robert, there's still a lot of educating to do out there!