By Robert Middleton - Action Plan Marketing
This past week I led my 3-day workshop for the current Marketing Mastery Program. Twenty attended and we all dove in head first to fathom the mysteries of marketing.
One thing I was sure to do was supply limited information.
Workshops are not a great way to disseminate information; you can do that much more efficiently through reading, listening to audios and watching videos.
When you get people together in a workshop, you want to build skills and confidence. And to do that takes both preparation and practice.
The preparation can be the hard part. After all, most people just want to show up for a workshop and "have it done to them." As a past associate of mine once said, "training and workshops are dip and pray. You dip them in the information and pray that some of it sticks."
But that won't do if you have people traveling from half way around the world. So preparation has always been a key part of every workshop I've given. I ask people to study information before the workshop. In the Mastery Program, I even look at and give feedback on their assignments before they show up.
That way, the practice in the workshop has a solid foundation.
The majority of the workshop was on practicing marketing conversations and selling conversations. I wanted to see all of the participants in action and give them feedback that would move them forward.
This went even better than I had imagined, because in addition to preparation and practice we added participation. I just didn't give feedback, everyone else did as well.
It was an amazing process seeing two people sitting at the front of the room delivering a portion of the selling process based on hours of study and preparation.
And the feedback was amazing. They were as committed as I was that each participant get maximum value - that they leave with a new understanding and deep insight into how to have powerful conversations that convert prospects into clients without manipulation.
Why am I tell you all this?
Well, at the beginning of the workshop we had a session called "Just One Thing."
What is the one thing you must do in your business to be successful? What is more important to focus on above everything else?
No, it's not good marketing and selling. As important as they are, they are not the One Big Thing.
The One Big Thing is an absolute commitment to your clients' success.
Everything else ranks a distant second. Doing all you possibly can to help your clients succeed should be a priority above every other business goal as an Independent Professional. The way you conduct your workshops or seminars is all part of this. You can't let yourself be satisfied with a fun workshop or a good workshop or even an information-packed workshop.
You need to give workshops that dramatically increase the chances of client success. And to do that takes preparation, practice and participation.
Don't settle for less.
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The More Clients Bottom Line: The success of your clients needs to be your ultimate business goal, the One Big Thing. And for this to happen you need to look at every single thing you do for your clients and ask how you can do it better and with more impact. If you succeed at this, your marketing will get results beyond what you currently can imagine.
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What do you do to ensure the success of your clients? Let us know on the More Clients Blog by clicking on the Comments link below.
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