The More Clients Blog

Mixing Up Marketing and Selling Conversations

By Robert Middleton - Action Plan Marketing

A question I've gotten a lot over the years is, "What's the difference between marketing and selling?"

The simple answer is that marketing prepares the ground for selling. Everything you do before an actual Selling Conversation is marketing.

Marketing includes targeting your market, preparing your message and materials, and undertaking various marketing activities such as networking and speaking.

Marketing ends when you get to the Selling Conversation.

The selling Conversation happens when the prospect is ready to explore working with you. The Selling Conversation consists of learning about the prospect's situation, goals, and challenges and then presenting the service that will help them reach those goals and overcome those challenges.

The Biggest Mistake in Selling

When people are having trouble converting prospects into clients, they are usually doing one thing wrong - they are selling before they are actually in the Selling Conversation. They are selling when they should actually still be marketing.

It's necessary to be clear about the distinction between marketing and selling or you'll continue to make this mistake.

Here's what most often happens:

You're talking to a prospect about your business. It may be at a networking meeting or over the phone. The prospect is interested in your services. And then, pow, out of nowhere you start the Selling Conversation. You start explaining about your services. You stop listening and you say too much.

Often when you do this, you blow the opportunity to ever have a real Selling Conversation because you've told the prospect all about your services and they've already made a decision. "Well, this sounds interesting but it's not what I need right now."

What you need to learn to do is have "Marketing Conversations" or "Pre-selling Conversations." These are very different from "Selling Conversations."

Let's look at the elements of a Marketing Conversation.

1. Someone asks what you do, and you respond with your problem-oriented Audio Logo: "I work with people who have trouble getting major projects done on time."

2. They follow up with, "Oh, how does that work?" and you respond with your Ultimate Outcome: "The clients I've worked with typically double the speed in getting major products done and as a result end up getting promotions and raises."

If you can do those first two steps, you're doing better than about 90% of Independent Professionals. But what you say next, or more accurately what you don't say is the key to keeping this a Marketing Conversation, not a Selling Conversation.

3. You now have their attention and they want to know more. "How do you accomplish those results?" And here's where most make the mistake of explaining the "process" of how you do what you do.

Don't do that!!!

Instead, you want to tell a story. "A client I worked with recently kept getting bogged down on projects and his job was on the line. We worked together and he became the most productive person in his department. Ultimately he got a big promotion and a raise."

4. Now the prospect is even more interested. "Can you tell me what you did to increase his productivity?" Don't tell him. You're saving that for the Selling Conversation. "Well, I wrote an article about that called 'Ten Mistakes Managers Make That Kill Productivity.' Can I send you a copy?"

By providing more information (not on the process of what you do, but on the issues your clients deal with), you are setting up the right conditions for the selling conversation.

5. Next you would send the article, then follow up by phone to learn more about their situation. You'd focus on them and what productivity issues were impacting them. You'd tell more stories, but still, you'd say little about your process. You're informing, not selling. All of this is a continuation of the Marketing Conversation.

6. If the prospect is showing sufficient interest, you'd invite them to engage in a Selling Conversation: "John, it sounds like you're interested in being more productive. You're much like the clients I work with.

"I'd like to offer you a complimentary "Productivity Strategy Session" where we'd discuss your situation in more depth and talk about your goals and challenges around productivity. And I'll also give you more details about how my services work."

You have now transitioned from a Marketing Conversation into a Selling Conversation. The prospect is interested and open to exploring doing business with you. Because you've held back about your process, they are curious to know how it all works.

Now let's look at this from another angle, the mistakes you make in the Marketing Conversation that could sabotage your efforts to set up a Selling Conversation.

1. You don't use a problem-oriented Audio Logo. You use a label such as "I"m a productivity coach." That's all about you. Who cares?

2. You don't have a powerful Ultimate Outcome. Instead, you talk about your process. "I have a coaching service where I work with people on their productivity." See the difference?

3. You don't use stories, but talk to much about process: "The first thing we do is sit down and find out all the areas where you're not productive and then we work out strategies to increase your productivity." True but boring.

4. When they show more interest, you don't offer anything. Instead, you exchange cards and say something inane such as, "It was good talking to you, if you'd like to know more about my service, please give me a call." You'll be waiting a long time!

5. You don't follow up. And because you haven't set the stage for follow-up, it's pretty hard to do so. What are you going to say on the phone? The mistakes you've made have completely undermined the opportunity to set up a Selling Conversation.

Remember, all the activities of marketing, including the Marketing Conversation, are designed to get you into a Selling Conversation, but it just doesn't happen by itself. You need to have a step-by-step strategy and methodology, executed in a certain sequence if you hope to succeed.

*

The More Clients Bottom Line: You must make a clear distinction between Marketing Conversations and Selling Conversations. If you don't, you end up trying to sell too soon and lose the opportunity to set up a real Selling Conversation.

*

What's your process for setting up Selling Conversations? Please share on the More Clients Blog. Just click on the comments link below:

Recession-Proof With a Book?

By Robert Middleton - Action Plan Marketing

If you think writing a book is merely an excellent long term marketing strategy, I have news for you.

Perhaps you were thinking of writing a book recently, and changed your mind, deciding to focus on marketing efforts that you felt would give you more immediate results.

You also might have been thinking that writing a book is too complicated, time consuming, and costs too much.


In a recent conversation with my friend, publishing and marketing guru John Eggen, he explained why now was actually the very best time to create a book.


He made several very valid points:


First, he reminded me that a book can be the ultimate marketing tool for Independent Professionals. It gives you instant credibility, establishes you as an authority, and helps you attract a lot more of your ideal clients a lot faster. 


And this is even more true in recessionary times. It's not a time to retreat and "play it safe" John said, but a time to be even more visible and to differentiate yourself from others in your field. And nothing does that like a book. 


Plus, a book can be written and published in as few as 90 days by using today’s methods.

And John should know. He's has helped nearly 1,000 Independent Professionals to author their own book.


But his last point was the clincher.


"Robert, the thing almost nobody understands is that the moment you make the decision to write your book you can leverage that fact to start attracting more and better clients. All you really need to start is a good working title. And you can begin to generate new business right away before you've written a word."


John reminded me he had worked with many authors who I originally referred to him and have generated from $22,000 to $150,000 in new business from their book, before even completing a first draft. He emphasized that simple news about your forthcoming book is a powerful way to attract clients and to profit now -- as well as later. 


I asked John to give me some solid examples and I'd include them in this eZine. I also asked him to lead a TeleClass to talk about how to grow one's business during this recession with a book. He agreed to both.


No-Cost Tactics - And Why they Work


First of all, John told me that most of these tactics he’s developed were free and that you could use them right away. 


Second, he said they work because 3000 years of history have made a book is the number one undisputed symbol of authority for professionals. Just mentioning that you're writing a a book gives you an immediate jump in credibility, sets you apart from others in your field, and attracts new clients even before the book is written.


Here are four ways to leverage this fact:


1. Turn Every Email You Send into a Client Magnet


The first easy technique to attract new clients is to create an email signature line that announces you are authoring a book.


To do this effectively, create a good working book title and subtitle using a time-tested formula to get the attention of your target market. 
 

Then place the title in the signature line for your emails using these exact words: "Author of the forthcoming book, "_______________________." (that simple!)


Fill in the blank with your working title and subtitle, and put them in italics. Those words are a publishing industry-standard term and they give you instant credibility. 


It takes only a few minutes to create this kind of signature line for your emails. And it works. One of my subscribers, independent professional Jeanna Pool, tried it after writing her book title. She reported, "I got two new clients and $25,000.00 in income, all within 30 days of starting my book. It took just three minutes to use one of John's simple techniques."


2.  Turn All Your Introductions into Business Magnets


Another proven way to attract new business is to simply announce the title and subtitle of your forthcoming book in all the prepared introductions about you.


This includes introductions made by others, or you, in all your public presentations, your marketing materials, on your Web site, in your bio, in your media kit, etc.
 This only takes a few minutes to do. Does it work?


A subscriber of mine, independent professional Katalin Halom, tried it while she was writing the first draft of her book. She reported, "In just the first four months, I booked an extra $48,000 in fees to me. Now I have more inquiries for my coaching programs than I can handle."

3.  Put Your Audio Logo or Elevator Speech on Steroids


You can also add news about your forthcoming book into your audio logo or elevator speech and automatically attract more business.


An audio logo and an elevator speech are statements you create to describe what you do in such a way that a genuine business prospect will ask you for more information.


It's most effective if they're short and precise -- just one or two sentences long. 


It takes only a few seconds more to mention your forthcoming book. Is it worth doing?


Another subscriber of mine, independent professional Michael Cannon, began using this method consistently with new prospects as soon as he started writing his book's first draft with John.


He reported, "I've been getting 30-40% more first meetings with CEO prospects and a 25% increase in those who closed. I've also been getting less negotiation on price, because they perceive me as an authority."


Do the math and you will see it's a geometric increase in his results.


4.  Use Two or More of these Tactics and Multiply Your Results


Another secret behind these insider techniques is that they use the power of a book to leverage your existing marketing methods... the things you are already habitually doing.


In other words, they don't require any new expenditures of your time or money. And using two or more of these simple methods can multiply your results.


One of my subscribers, Laura Cardone, took John up on this idea and reported, "I generated an additional $150,000.00 in new business just by using a few of the no-cost marketing tactics John taught me, and that was before I even finished the first draft of my book."


John emphasized that, "In today's economic climate you need every marketing advantage you can find.


"Within a few days from the moment you commit to creating your book, you can have a good working title and subtitle. You can then use them in these simple, proven ways to attract new clients and extra income immediately." 


OK, John, I get it! I guess I need to declare that I'm writing a book even though I'm not 100% sure what it will contain!


I don't know if you're considering writing a book or not, but if you are, John's proven methods are a great way to get a head-start by demonstrating that you're a credible authority.

Free TeleClass: Recession - Proof with a Book


In an eZine article we can only touch on a few of the ideas John has used successfully with his clients. In fact, a total of 213 of my subscribers and clients have worked with John in his quick-start publishing programs. 


For several years I've worked in partnership with John to offer these publishing programs. They are designed for Independent Professionals who not only want to publish a client-attracting book in as little as 90 days but to recession-proof their practice.


I asked John to offer a TeleClass that would go into more depth about how to use a book to make money immediately and thrive during this economy. We'll discuss some of the ideas covered in today's eZine and a whole lot more.


If you've even considered writing and publishing a book, I highly recommend you attend. Here are the details:


Date: Thursday, May 28


Time: 5:30 pm Pacific. (6:30 mntn, 7:30 cntrl, 8:30 estrn)


For complete details and to make a reservation, please click
on this link:


http://mypublishingopportunity.com/robertm

*

The More Clients Bottom Line: For Independent Professionals, the money you make from a book is not from book sales but from attracting new clients. The good news is that you can increase your credibility immediately and start attracting more of your ideal clients, even before you've started writing that book.

*

Have you written a book? How has it helped your business? Please share on the More Clients Blog. Just click on the Comments link below.

Good Processes = More Clients

By Robert Middleton - Action Plan Marketing

Some of the most important parts of marketing are the most prosaic. They are boring and uninteresting. Yet they are key to attracting to clients on a consistent basis.

I'm talking about "Marketing Process Engineering."

Not something you hear a lot about in marketing your services! But if you learn how to design, fine-tune and master your marketing processes, you're way ahead of almost everyone else.

A process is simply a series of steps carried out in an organized way. A process is a way to make something work consistently and predictably. A process is all about how-tos.

A process is a lot like a recipe.

Once you know the basic principles of cooking, you can cook just about anything with good results if you follow a recipe: Assemble the ingredients, mix in a certain way, cook for a certain time at a certain temperature and voila, you have beef stroganoff!

In marketing it's not much different. Once you know the basic principles of marketing, you can implement almost any marketing strategy if you follow a process: Assemble certain materials, deliver marketing messages in a certain way and order, communicate to your prospects and voila you have new clients!

I'm currently working on teaching the marketing plan process to both those in the Action Plan Marketing Club and the Marketing Mastery Program, so let me outline a process for you today.

The Speaking Marketing Process

This is one of my favorite marketing processes because it works so well to convert prospective clients into paying clients. I've used variations on this process to attract hundreds of clients and customers over the years.

The great news is that this process works just as well now as it did years ago. In other words, it's a time-tested system that will work for you as well, if you take the time to learn and apply it.

This is a marketing process to get speaking engagements in professional organizations.

1. Determine the talk you will give. Make sure you have a benefit- oriented title. "How to Manage Better" won't get you much attention, but an outcome-based title like this will: "Ten Strategies for Doubling the Productivity of Your Team."

2. Assemble your speaking package. These days you can put your materials together as a pdf document, but printed materials in a folder still work. You need these five items:

a) A cover letter that gives an overview of your talk and why you think it would be well-received by the organization.

b) A write-up of the talk that addresses both the challenges and your solutions: Challenge: Lack of productivity, Solution: New and effective approaches to increasing productivity.

c) A biographical sketch that demonstrates your experience, accomplishments and background in a way that proves you're the right person to give this talk.

d) A list of places you've spoken (if you have such a list). If you don't, don't worry about it; before long, the list will grow.

e) Some quotes from people who have attended your talks. Get quotes that praise you for sharing ideas that made a real difference to them.

3. Contact organizations. You must do this by phone. Rarely does email work (unless it's a follow-up to a request). Never mail or email your speaking package to an organization without knowing who will receive it.

4. Pitch your talk to the right person. You don't need hype, just a clear, benefit-oriented message. "I give talks on management to business associations and I've prepared a talk called, "Ten Strategies for Doubling the Productivity of Your Team." It's designed for the members of organizations like yours.

5. Send out your materials. You usually won't get an immediate yes, but if the talk sounds good to them, they'll typically ask you to send your materials. Send it off and then follow up in a few days to see if they have any questions. This simple 4-step process will get a lot of talks booked.

There's a lot more to this process, but I just remembered a teleclass recording I made a few weeks ago that covers this subject in even more detail. I'd like to give you a free copy.

Free Recording on The Speaking Marketing Process

Get this free recording: "Jump Start Your Business in 60 Days." This is an interview that Andy O'Bryan did with me. Andy asks me one question: "If you just had 60 days to get your business off the ground, what is the marketing approach you'd take?"

I not only answered the question, but gave a comprehensive overview of the total speaking marketing process, showing how to integrate a specific marketing strategy into the complete game of marketing. You can get it here now:

www.actionplan.com/tc_jumpstart.html

*

The More Clients Bottom Line: Turn every marketing strategy into a detailed step-by-step process. Once everything is in place and you've done it a few times, you'll find it relatively easy to roll it out anytime you want to generate more business. The struggle and effort of marketing disappears and is replaced by results.

*

What processes work best for you in marketing your services? Please share on the More Clients Blog. Just click on the Comments link.

So Sell Me, Already!

By Robert Middleton - Action Plan Marketing

This morning before getting out of bed I looked up at my skylight and recalled how I had tried to replace it a few years ago.

It had been leaking in the winter rains, and so I called a local skylight company to come and take a look to see if the frame needed to be sealed or if the whole thing needed replacing.

A young man came over a few days later, got up on the roof for a few minutes and then came down and told me, "You need a new skylight." When I asked if it was the wooden frame or the skylight itself, he couldn't help me.

He said someone from his company would give me a call in a few days and give me a price. When they called they told me, "We can give you a flat skylight or a domed one. It's $750 for the domed and $900 for the flat."

We talked about the pros and cons of each and I left it with, "Let me think about it and I'll get back to you."

I'm still thinking about it!

This skylight company made several selling mistakes that seemed very obvious to me. Ultimately they instilled zero confidence that if they installed a new skylight it wouldn't continue to leak. The young salesman never asked when it leaked, how often it leaked or how it leaked.

In other words, I never felt heard. After about two minutes on the roof, the diagnosis was clear (to him); I needed a new skylight. But it wasn't cheap, and after all, it was just a drip...

Do you make the same kind of mistakes when it comes to selling your services?

My experience in working with thousands of Independent Professionals, is that most are not only bad at the selling process, they are usually worse than the skylight salesman!

See if you recognize some of these selling mistakes:

1. You make recommendations, too early in the process. Selling starts with a diagnosis where you work to understand the prospect's situation in great depth.

If the skylight person had brought me up onto the roof with him to look at the skylight, asked some questions and pointed out where the leak originated, I'd probably have a new skylight today.

2. You don't learn the desired outcome or future of your prospect. It's one thing to point out the problem, it's quite another to explore where the prospect would prefer to be.

If I was a skylight salesperson I'd ask about all the time and hassle you spent during rainstorms putting pots and pans under the leaks, and then have you picture what it would be like with a leak-free roof no matter how hard the rain was falling.

3. You don't explain in enough depth what it will be like working with you. Your prospects don't get a clear picture of exactly what they'll get, how you'll work with them and what will happen. They need to be briefed in detail to feel reassured.

My skylight salesman didn't even mention the process of replacing the skylight. He didn't explain how they ensured that it would be leak-proof and how they guaranteed its performance. He simply gave me a choice of two skylights. 

4. You close weakly and tentatively. Instead of showing confidence that your service is what they need and demonstrating that working with you is a good choice, you tend to waffle with lame statements like, "Why don't you think about it?"

I never got a solid close from the salesman or the person that followed up. They essentially said, "Here is what we have." There was never a real invitation to choose one way or the other. And you know how that worked out.

Selling is a Conversation

The thing to understand about selling is that it's a conversation where you develop a real connection with your prospects. You must listen and strive to understand their situation and desired future.

When you are sure you have a solution for them, then explain in depth how they will benefit and how your services work to ensure the outcomes they desire. Finally, give them solid reasons to work with you and invite them to get started.

Now I don't know if I'm a particularly hard person to sell. Maybe I'm somewhat sales resistant. But I don't part with my money easily unless the salesperson follows these basic guidelines.

What happened with the skylight? I never replaced it and it leaks only every other year! I still don't know if it's the actual skylight or the frame, and I may never know until I talk to a salesperson who really knows how to sell.

*

The More Clients Bottom Line: Just because someone seems to need your services, doesn't mean it's a slam dunk sale. You have to know what you're doing in the selling process or you'll get a whole lot of people saying they'll think about working with you but never actually hiring you.

*
What selling mistakes are you making in your business? Please share on the More Clients Blog. Just click on the comments link below.