BILL DOERR, CCO
860-798-6964
BILL DOERR, CCO860-798-6964
I help you convert your competence into compensation — GUARANTEED.
HERE’S MY SKIN-IN-THE-GAME:
If you work with me, you’ll enjoy a 200% ROI or you’ll owe me nothing.
I’m either dumb as a bunny or smart as a fox. If I were you, I’d . . . bet on the fox! ‘-)
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Building Your Client Development System
MarketingPeople Have The Attention Span of a Gnat
You know it’s true. We are being deluged with 3,000 – 5,000 messages bombarding us on a daily basis. It’s daunting! And, it’s so easy to simply tune out anything and anyone who does not present us with an immediate need for a response or an opportunity for possible gain.
Even Your Ideal Prospect Probably Isn’t Ready To Buy . . . Today
Regardless of how you come into contact with someone who satisfies the ‘Ideal Client’ profile for your services, there’s a very good chance that they will not have an ‘immediate need’ for your services.
You buy groceries weekly, you get a dental cleaning every 6 months, and you look at buying or leasing a new car every 3 – 5 years.
In between those periodic ‘high need’ moments, you’re still a qualified prospect but you’re not a ‘HOT’ prospect, are you?
And THAT . . . is why you want to Keep-In-Touch to Stay-In-Mind with people who, sooner or later, WILL be buying what you’re selling.
Cultivation Makes You More Competitive
Maintaining contact with your prospects — especially when they’re in the early or middle stage of their buying-cycle — builds awareness of you and preference for your brand . . . so when they are ready to do business or refer someone who is, you’ll have a competitive edge!
KEY POINT:
If you’re not cultivating relationships with people who can buy and/or refer you to others who can . . . you’re missing out. Big time!
Building Your Client Development System
Marketing, RelationshipsHaving The Right People Is a Good Thing
As you know, the real difference between your potential and your profits are the people you serve.
In terms of people, there are two key factors you’ll want to use to help you decide who is ‘qualified’ to take your time, money and energy for your business or practice.
1. Can someone BUY the products and services you offer?
2. Can Someone REFER or INTRODUCE you to people who can?
That’s it. Don’t make this complicated, my friend!
“Can You Buy From Me?”
This is an obvious criterion. If you’re not connecting regularly with people who will, sooner or later, want the kind of products and services you offer, you’ll never generate any revenues. And that’s unacceptable. So knowing whether someone can buy what you offer is a key to your success.
“Can You Refer People To Me Who Can Buy My Products or Services?”
Next to finding you have a viable prospect for your products and services, learning that someone is willing and able to refer people to you (or, introduce you) to people who can best understand, desire and afford the services you offer, is the next best thing.
People who are referring others to you are demonstrating their TRUST and RESPECT in you. That’s not to be taken lightly. Nor is it earned easily!
Ideally, you want to find people who will both BUY and REFER. But at least one of these two criteria is required to have someone ‘qualify’ to get into your Client Development System.
So Again . . . WHY Are You Qualifying People?
Building your business or practice requires clients –– and the revenues they suggest. Clients come from people who’ve come to know, like and trust you. Some of these people may need your services themselves. Others, for any number of reasons, may not need the products and services you offer. But they may still be able to refer people to you who will.
Regardless of what someone may be able to do for your ‘bottom line’ . . . if you can’t see how they can help you by buying and/or referring you to others who can . . . you don’t let them ‘in’ your Client Development System. Period.
KEY POINT:
Building relationships is the basis for building revenues. However, if you’re working with people who cannot (or, will not) buy from you and/or refer to you . . . you’re burdening your social relationships with a business expectation that’s simply not going to happen. Don’t do it!
Building Your Client Development System
Marketing, MethodYour Business or Practice is a Vehicle
You may find it helpful to think of your business or practice as a vehicle.
Vehicles are means of transportation. As a vehicle for you, your business can take you from where you are today to where you want to be in the future.
When you think of your business as a vehicle, it’s easy to see it taking you to a well-deserved retirement, dropping the kids off at a nice college or university along the way and maybe even trailering a nice big boat behind you to enjoy whenever you feel like stopping.
Your Vehicle Needs Fuel
Every vehicle requires fuel of some kind to operate effectively. To your business or practice, that fuel means people . . . who can help you grow your business . . . directly or indirectly.
You Need The ‘Right Kind’ of Fuel
As you know, you must be ‘choosey’ about the fuel you’ll put into your vehicle. Putting gasoline into a diesel engine or diesel fuel into a gas engine will cause you a lot of problems — and it won’t help your vehicle operate as you expect to take you where you want to go.
It’s no different with your business or practice. You want to begin your client development process with the most suitable people you can — assuming you want your business to operate effectively, efficiently and profitably.
You Need ‘Enough’ Fuel, Too
Your journey through life . . . from where you are today to when you send the kids to college and when you seek to retire . . . is a long ride! Getting from ‘here’ to ‘there’ will take some doing. And, of course, you’re expecting your business or practice will help you make the journey.
But if you lack sufficient ‘fuel’ — people who can buy or refer people to you — you may not be reaching your ‘destinations’ as you intend. In fact, you may have no choice but to settle for less . . . a less desirable lifestyle before you retire, a less desirable college for your kids, a less desirable quality of life in retirement for yourself and your spouse. Not a pretty picture, is it?
KEY POINT:
If you don’t have BOTH the quantity and quality of the people you need to operate your business or practice as you want, you may be working longer than you like, harder than you want and for far less than you deserve.
Your Client Development System
MarketingIt’s a rush. A good feeling. Isn’t it?
But do you know how you generate a new client?
Mystery or Mastery?
Some people tell me, “I don’t know . . . I just seem to get them whenever I want them”. I’m sure that’s gratifying to their friends who aren’t wizards and aren’t able to ‘manifest’ clients on-demand!
But many business owners or professional practitioners find that generating clients (or, ‘rainmaking’ as some prefer to call that function) is more of a mystery than a mastery. They find that frustrating. Maybe you can relate?
The Client Development Process
Thankfully, there is a ‘method’ to address the ‘madness’ of discovering that, despite your ability to solve problems for your clients, generating clients for yourself as easily and adequately as you might like . . . may not be one your strengths.
The Four Functions
Generating clients requires four (4) functions all working consistently on your behalf:
FUELING
This generates the ‘raw material’ or opportunities for you to generate new clients
QUALIFYING
This separates your opportunities into two groups: ‘real’ and ‘OMG’
CULTIVATING
This builds the ‘know, like and trust’ factor about you with qualified opportunities
CONVERTING
This is where you realize the value of your cultivated opportunities
In 2012, we’ll be spending a number of posts on each of these functions . . . to help you become more effective at developing clients . . . by design, not accident. And, oh yes . . . you won’t need to be a ‘wizard’ to make this happen, either!
KEY POINT:
Generating clients is not a skill-set that you may have, BUT . . . you can learn to do it (and, we will!)
Linking Up on LinkedIn
Marketing, Media, Method, RelationshipsKeep It Simple . . . Join Groups and Discussions / Make Comments and New Friends
While there are many things you could do to leverage LinkedIn, a very basic (i.e. easy-to-do) tactic that is also highly effective is to:
1. Join / Explore relevant groups that interest you
2. Observe what people are talking about in the group’s Discussions
3. Comment when you feel you have something to contribute
4. Follow-up any meaningful response with a direct message
5. Invite the other person to connect with you
This is a very basic and DO-able process that will help you build your LinkedIn network with people whom you have connected to in a meaningful manner.
An Example:
Recently, I saw a post by someone in a group where I’m a member, made a comment and received a very nice response.
Here’s a follow-up message I received from another (new) connection after we connected on LinkedIn:
This happens far more often than most people realize. If you’re so inclined to grow your LinkedIn network, do it gradually. Set a goal to find and comment on someone’s post on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. When someone responds, if it feels right to do so, invite them to connect — and cite the common connection you both shared. Slowly but surely your LinkedIn network will grow — as will the opportunities your LinkedIn community generates for your business or practice.
KEY POINT:
Growing Your LinkedIn Connections isn’t hard . . . just do the ‘basics’ consistently!
Creating a Compelling Call-To-Action
Marketing, Media, MethodLest you accuse me of dragging out the answer too long, let me direct your attention to the fellow with the megahorn as a final clue. Does that help?
After Attracting Visitors, You Want To Get Some Kind of Action!
With an inbound marketing approach, you’re anticipating what the ‘Next Step’ in your process must be and do for you. Let’s face it, although you want to drive traffic to your website (or, blog) . . . if that’s ALL you do, you might as well not even bother.
The next ‘step’ after attracting traffic to you is to ‘convert’ your faceless visitors into recognizable people whom you can invite to take the ‘Next Step’ until, after enough steps, the person becomes a customer or client.
Use a Call-To-Action
Once you have attracted a ‘qualified’ visitor to your site, you want to learn who they are so you can begin the ‘courtship’ process — going from a suspect to a prospect to a client. The mechanism for doing this is called a ‘Call To Action’.
This is typically a graphic button of some kind inviting you to do something to get an item of value . . . like a Special Report, a Buyers Guide, access to an exclusive video, etc. in return.
Call To Actions make it EASY to show you that a visitor has an interest in the value you have that they want. And, if your initial ‘offer’ doesn’t require too much effort or expense . . . you’re more likely to get a response and, when you do that, you’ll be converting more visitors into opportunities. Won’t that be nice!
KEY POINT:
Curious about converting visitors into opportunities . . . ???
Getting Found Online
Internet-related, Marketing, MethodToday — just one day later — I do a search on Google for what I’d like to think a prospective client might type into Google assuming, of course, that they were interested in ‘Inbound Marketing’ and entered (as many do) a geographic factor i.e. ‘Connecticut’.
Relevance Makes You Rise To The TOP!
Well, lo and behold . . . My post is found on PAGE 1 of the Google search for the phrase (some call it a ‘long-tail keyword’) that was the title of my post. (you can check it for yourself — click the image to open in a new window!).
What Were The Ingredients That Worked?
First, It was only 230 words (quality beats quantity in a blog post, folks!). Second, I used the keyword phrase ‘inbound marketing’ but in a meaningful and relevant way. Third, I included a video that was ranked well on YouTube. Fourth, I used the phrase (keyword) ‘Outbound Marketing’. Nothing magical there. Just basic SEO that you can do, too.
Something is missing from yesterday’s post, though. Can you tell what it is? If not, I’ll share it tomorrow.
KEY POINT:
Content attracts people who are looking for what you do . . . so plan to use it effectively in 2012.
Inbound Marketing in Connecticut
Internet-related, Marketing, Media, MethodInbound vs. Outbound Marketing
One of many changes I’ve seen this year is the movement toward marketing that focuses on ‘Inbound’ strategies and tactics vs. ‘outbound’ strategies and tactics.
It’s kind of cute . . . but also accurate to depict the ‘old’ with the ‘new’ marketing along the lines of the famous Apple vs. PC commercials . . . Enjoy!
OUT is ‘Out’ and IN is ‘In’
In 2012, we live in a robust web-based world — based on the fact that tweets, texts, email on your smartphone, and even McDonald’s has free WIFI. You may or may not like that but . . . you can’t really ignore it, either.
The fact that we’re so digital has irrvevocably changed the world as we (once) knew it.
Marketing . . . Then and Now
Not too long ago, if you were going to ‘do some marketing’ . . . you were likely thinking about running ads, making phone calls (cold calls!), sending out direct mailings, attending trade shows and the like. Without a web-based medium (i.e. the Internet), what other choices did you have? None, really.
Today, the options and expectations for marketing your business have changed. Seriously changed! The name for the new approach is ‘Inbound’ (vs. outbound) marketing. This refers to being found — online — by people who want and are searching for what you can offer and/or do for them.
KEY POINT:
It’s a ‘Brave New World’ . . . are you planning to be in it?
Catch’M, Dang it! Catch’M!!
Marketing, MethodHowever you ATTRACT people to your website:
• SEO
• Direct Mail
• Advertising
• Word of Mouth
• Promotional Emails
• Blog Posts with inbound links
• etc.
you definitely don’t want to lose them.
You want to CATCH them!
Not literally, of course. But as we saw in a previous post, if you don’t learn who is interested in the benefits you offer, you may be extremely frustrated at the dismal contribution your website is (NOT!) making to your top-line revenues and bottom-line satisfaction.
Call-T0-Action + Landing Page = Success
Let’s assume someone finds you as a result of a Google search — a likely possibility — and they click your listing to gain, what they hope, is something useful . . . to them. That would be your content that caused Google to show you on the search in the first place.
Call To Action . . .
that invites a visitor to do something to get what they want . . . like learn your insights on how to address an issue in their life or business . . . better than they’ve been able to do.
Keep this simple. It’s merely a mechanism . . .
Landing Page . . .
If a visitor doesn’t go directly to a landing page from a link in a Google search, your Call-To-Action button should lead a visitor to a page on your site that’s dedicated to the topic of interest to your visitor.
Once they are on your landing page, you want to use only as much copy as is needed to convince your visitor to give you their information — usually their name and email — in exchange for the low-risk, high-value information you have and they want.
KEY POINT:
Attracting visitors to your website is a critical first step in generating revenues for your business. But you must learn who you’ve attracted . . . so you can take appropriate actions to generate not only leads, but revenues as well.