In the 1989 movie, Field of Dreams, Ray Kinsella (Kevin Costner) hears a voice that tells him, "If you build it, they will come." After many adventures involving metaphysics and baseball, Ray plows down the corn crop on his Iowa farm to build a baseball field, literally in the middle of nowhere. The Black Sox of a bygone era do come to play on his field (visible to only believers), but that doesn't pay the mortgage. His neighbors and even relatives think he is crazy for destroying most of his crop, but he doesn't look so foolish for obeying the voice when the prediction of his friend Terrence Mann  (James Earl Jones) comes true:

People will come, Ray. They'll come to Iowa for reasons they can't even fathom. They'll turn up your driveway, not knowing for sure why they're doing it. They'll arrive at your door, innocent as children, longing for the past…. The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball…. It reminds us of all that once was good, and that could be again. Oh people will come, Ray. People will most definitely come.

It makes a great Hollywood movie, but in real life, "building it" is no guarantee that anybody will actually "come." Even if you "build a better mousetrap," you've still got to build a business to effectively market and sell it.

An essential key to marketing that is often talked about but less-often practiced is the importance of defining what your prospective customers and clients actually want and need. Ultimately, a successful business is not about you and what you do, but it's about being a contribution to your customers. It's about giving them what they want, meeting their needs, and serving those who buy your products, programs and services.

How do you know what your prospects and clients want and need? You could hypothesize all day long, study trends, examine the competition, and analyze data (all of which can be informative). You can even do what Ray Kinsella did and rely on your intuition (also important, but by no means infallible). But the best way to know what your clients want and need is to simply to ask them. It's not only the simplest way, but it's essential.

Follow these tips to gain a greater understanding of your clients… and greater success for you:

• Find their big pain point.

What's their top-of-mind concern? What's their biggest problem or their most burning desire? What one need, if met, do they think would make their lives nirvana – heaven on earth? As an expert, you may know that's not necessarily the case, but be willing to get into their shoes. Think how they think, feel what they feel.

• Dig deeper.

Find out what their struggles are and what it means to them, not just intellectually, but emotionally and financially. Find out what it costs them to have this problem or pain, and what it would mean to have it solved. Explore the impacts of the problems and potential solutions, both quantitatively – numbers and measurable facts – and qualitatively, in terms of life.

• Make asking questions of your prospects and clients a habitual practice.

Ask questions formally – through surveys, questionnaires, and customer feedback forms – and  informally – through conversations. Ask questions of your "raving fan" clients who have been successful why they did business with you, and ask those prospects who chose not to do business with you why they didn't.

• Make it worth their time.

To acknowledge the value of their feedback, give them a reward, such as a discount coupon, a gift certificate, a free training or bonus product or service. Enter them in a drawing for a prize give-away. Reward them unexpectedly with a thank-you note or coffee card. Or use any combination of rewards.

• Interpret your results.

Look for the pain issues that respondents report in common. As the provider of the solution, do they make sense? Can you craft a program, product or service that addresses the pain points that your survey has identified?

You have to understand specifics and nuances. For example, if you are a business coach and your clients say their biggest problem is "more cash", does that mean they need more clients, or do they need to lower their expenses or raise their prices? And if they need "more clients," does that mean they need to attract more prospects, or that they're not converting the prospects they have? Dig for specific information, don't assume.

• Ask what they'd like to buy.

An excellent question is sometimes a blunt one: "What's a product, program or service that we aren't currently offering, but if we offered it, you'd buy it?" You might get some surprising answers…

There may be a real distinction between what they say they want and what they actually need, and you'll want to understand both. When a prospect says they "need" something, it means they "want" it. Whether having their perceived "need" met actually solves their problem is a different matter. You may be able to see that what they need is something in addition to or instead of the thing they believe will solve their problem. And just because they say they "need" something doesn't mean they are necessarily ready to invest in it or commit to it! But it gives you a good place to start.

Master the skill of understanding what your clients want and need, and build that understanding into your marketing messaging, then people will most definitely come!

These days, it seems that everyone knows someone looking for work. Savvy job seekers prepare their resumes, polish their interview skills, and network like maniacs in the hopes of "getting hired."

As a service professional, "getting hired" is no less a concern for you! No clients, no paydays. You may have finely honed your skills and abilities as an independent business owner in your chosen field, possibly obtaining degrees, certifications, and undergoing many hours of practice. But at the end of the day, it doesn't matter how good you are at serving your clients if you can't get clients to hire you.

It's actually very simple (though not necessarily easy) to get clients. First, you have to develop marketing strategies to attract prospects. Next, you need a reliable way to convert those prospects into clients, customers or patients.

One popular way to convert prospects to clients is through initial sessions. These could be free or paid introductory sessions, strategy sessions, or consultations.

There are ways to dramatically increase your chances of converting a prospect into a long-term paying client at an initial session, just as there are ways to dramatically increase – or sabotage – your chances of getting hired at a job interview. Nobody in their right mind would show up late in dirty jeans to an interview with a wrinkled, misspelled resume in hand. Similarly, you want to give yourself the best chance of "getting hired" by your prospects.

The process of converting a prospect into a client is often thought of as "selling," or "closing the sale." However, the real secret to success is getting clients to sell themselves... on hiring you!

The following tips can help you dramatically increase your conversion rates as well as eliminate time wasted with "tire-kickers:"

• Use filtering mechanisms to ensure you are meeting with a qualified prospect. I personally use a casual conversation, a questionnaire, and a fee as filtering mechanisms before I do an initial session with a client. If they can't afford you, aren't committed to getting the results you provide, or aren't a good fit otherwise, they won't hire you.
• Plan and Prepare. Gather information about your prospect beforehand. Consider having them fill out a questionnaire to help you understand their situation better. Think about the recommendations you will make. You're not likely to be hired, if you walk in blind, start from scratch, or try to "wing-it."
• Set the context for the session. Explain what you're going to do together and what you're going to accomplish together. Guide the session according to your format, and when you deviate (which is almost inevitable, as you must go with the flow and not be too rigid), come back to the structure you've set.
• Deliver value, not a monologue. Create stand-alone value for the prospective client; don't just deliver a wordy "introduction" to your business, or worse, a sales pitch. Initial sessions should be interACTive, not an "act" for an audience of one. If they experience tremendous value in their initial session with you, chances are better that they will hire you.
• Diagnose their pain and then give them with a treatment plan. This is the secret to providing value in your initial session. Show them that you understand their pain and the causes for it, then point them to specific solutions. Leave them with a game plan that is useful to them whether they hire you, hire someone else, or "do it themselves." (I recommend doing this through a paid strategy session, not a free session.)
• Connect their goals and dreams to the pathway you provide. Your initial session should mirror elements of your Core Client Process (your specific processes and strategies for working with clients) and show them how you can help them reach their most important goals. They need to see what they want to accomplish as doable and possible for them. If they can feel it, own it, and see themselves doing it by working with you, they will hire you.
• Listen and look for indicators of alignment. See where you can identify energetic alignment, intellectual alignment, and alignment of core values. If the you and the service you are presenting match their possibilities of how they want to transform their life or their business, they are more likely to work with you, rather than with someone else.
• Look for opportunities to point out specific measurable results, outcomes, improvements and experiences they could get by using your programs, products and services. They may know you and like you, but it's essential that they trust that you can give them the outcomes they seek. To hire you, they must feel confident in the results you can deliver. 
• Let them choose. Do you enjoy feeling like someone is trying to "close a sale" with you? Few people do. While "closing techniques" can be helpful, never try to manipulate anyone into hiring you. Be committed to helping them all you can in the time you have, without anxiety or attachment to whether or not they will hire you. Never pressure, but don't make the opposite mistake of failing to even ask them if they'd like to work with you! Be sure you give them a clear invitation to take the next logical step in using your services. Offer to help, and let them choose.

I've learned these tips through lots of trial and error. And I've found that if you practice applying these tips, you're likely to end up having clients selling themselves on working with you.

And that's the ultimate in "selling without selling"!

If you’re going to use introductory sessions at all, you’ll have to decide "free vs fee." In other words, will you offer complimentary sessions, or charge for your initial appointment? If you have a choice between free or paid sessions, all other things being equal, no doubt you’d choose paid. After all, who doesn’t enjoy being paid?

Does it stand to reason, then, that it’s always best to be paid? After all, there are big advantages to mastering the skill of paid introductory sessions, such as higher conversion rates, better filtering and qualifying of prospects, greater cashflow, and an increased lifetime value of each client.

Perhaps then, you should completely abandon the idea of offering free introductory sessions or complimentary consultations. Not necessarily! Just as you wouldn’t want a car with only one gear, a one-size-fits-all-approach is also not going to fit for all service professionals, industries, situations, or prospective clients.

So, how do you decide which approach is best for you?

There are fundamentals and nuances to being successful with paid introductory sessions. There’s a learning curve, and depending on where you are in that learning curve, it might make sense for you not to charge. Although I can promise that if you become proficient at offering paid sessions, you’ll be even more effective with your free sessions!

There are also circumstantial situations where it simply makes more sense to approach clients with a different offer or process than a paid introductory session. Just like you need a lower gear for a hill, or a higher gear to cruise the freeway, you’ll want to consider the situation to determine the best approach.

Here are common situations and circumstances in which you should not charge for an introductory session:

1.   Industry regulations may prevent you from charging a fee.

Some situations demand you be paid only by commission on products/services. Some service professionals simply can’t legally charge a fee (for instance, when someone in the financial industry is not certified to charge for the planning itself.)

In many situations, such as with real estate agents and brokers, fees such as a retainer fee or a consulting fee can be charged (as long as the fee goes through the brokerage), but most realtors are afraid to ask for fees. Why? In a competitive environment, a realtor may fear they would lose potential clients by doing so. And if they’re charging a fee for what other realtors are offering for free, they are right! Which leads to the next point. You shouldn't charge if:

2.   You’re trying to monetize what is traditionally given away in the market place.

Imagine being charged the next time you wanted to sample a mini-spoon of ice cream at an ice cream parlor to help you decide what flavor to order. The ice cream might be sweet, but the experience could leave a bad taste in your mouth.

Simply put, you’ve got to discover how you can add additional value if you want to charge sessions in an industry where "free" is the norm. You might offer a comprehensive strategy, a personalized game plan, a diagnostic assessment, or tools and resources not available elsewhere.  If you can’t figure out how to add additional value to the "norm" or status quo, you’re probably not going to be successful with paid introductory sessions.

3.   You don’t have a definitive structure or model for your initial session.

If you’re just "winging it" in your introductory sessions, your chances for a successful outcome drop significantly. You need a format, a comprehensive approach for carrying out your session from start to finish. Though it’s not necessary that your session be "linear," you do need to have structure, direction, and an end in mind. The benefit and value of your session should be easy for you to explain and also easy for the client to retain and describe afterwards.

Get comfortable and confident with your session format. Practice it, hone it, refine it. With free sessions, you can get away with providing a bit of "fluff," hoping they’ll hire you because they like you. With a paid session, the client’s expectations are higher, so don't "wing it."

4.   Your introductory session doesn't have "stand-alone" value.

To successfully charge for your initial session, it must provide real value to the client, whether or not they continue working with you. You might even want to consider offering them a "guarantee" of some sort. If you can’t give them something of tremendous value – such as a game plan to reach their goals, an explanation of what steps they’ll need to take, and how you can assist them in the process, then don’t do a paid introductory session.

5.   You don’t have a Core Client Process that can be integrated into your initial session.  

A Core Client Process is a step-by-step methodology for how you help your clients get what they want. If you can't find a way to showcase this methodology during your initial session, then don’t do paid introductory sessions or you'll be likely to fall flat on your face.

6.   You lack the confidence to charge for your introductory sessions.

A lack of confidence can plague experienced as well brand new service professionals, and it compromises your ability to ask for and receive payment with integrity. If you are lacking confidence, take actions to build it! Do more free sessions. Build your Core Client Process. You might even consider doing volunteer work in your field or hiring a mentor.

7.   You want to keep a low barrier of entry to your services.

Maybe you haven’t been doing much marketing; maybe you’re a little "rusty" with your introductory sessions. You want practice. You want more prospects to say "yes" to doing a session with you, regardless of whether they’re ideal clients or not.

8.   You’re trying to "get in the door" of a big client.

In this case, you wouldn’t lead off with offering a paid session. With a corporate client, the sales cycle is typically longer, so you’d start by having a lot of conversations to get to know the company and their needs and to explore the potential of working together.

Once they are interested enough to "test the waters," you could then offer them a strategic session (or series of sessions) for a fee. Or if you feel the strategy session could be the "deal clincher," you could also use a complimentary session (even a long and involved one) to demonstrate your long-term value to a potential high-end client.

9.   You’re not sure that you’re dealing with the key decision maker.

If you offer a paid session, you might discover whether or not you’re talking to a decision maker, or it can bring you to a dead end. There’s no point in doing a free or a paid session until you get to the key decision maker, so don’t make the offer until you know you’re talking to one.

10.   You’re working with government agencies or any other industry in which requests for proposals (RFPs) are commonplace.

Again, you can still lead them to a paid strategic session, but it would be a longer sales cycle.

Free or paid? My recommendation is to become proficient with free and paid introductory sessions. Having this ability situation makes you versatile in any situation!

No doubt, you've heard the adage: "Failing to plan is planning for failure." On the other hand, it's been said that while planning is important, the actual plans themselves are useless. This apparent contradiction applies equally to both overall business planning and your marketing planning.

Why? As you to invest necessary time and thought into your marketing strategy, you'll learn what works and doesn't work along the way. And as you do, elements of your marketing plan will and must be modified. You'll see opportunities that weren't obvious earlier in the planning process. You'll discover new insights. You'll learn more about marketing.

So, how can you plan for marketing success?

The keys of successful marketing are to:

• Effectively promote awareness of and the value of your product or service
• Get the attention of the right people.

And who are the right people? They are:

• Actively looking for the solution you provide
• Ready to buy, right now.

I recommend the following proven approach based on sound marketing concepts:

1. First, establish the Core Market Position for your company.

Your Core Market Position defines:

• Who you are marketing to
• What is your prospective customer's big problem or burning desire.
• How your offering provides a solution for their need or desire.
• Why you or your company is the best solution provider.

2. Second, create your Core Marketing Message.

Your Core Marketing Message clearly states:

• Evidence that you understand your customers' frustrations and desires.
• Why your customer may have been dissatisfied with other "solutions" and how your products or services are distinctive, different or better.
• The results your client/customers/consumers experience (through testimonials, before-and-after stories, and other evidence of outcomes).
• How the customer know they can trust you (your commitment, expertise, and guaranty).
• The features and especially benefits of your products and services.

3. Third, "package" your communication.

Take the concepts of your Core Market Position statement and Core Marketing Message and put them into words, both in written and verbal forms. The emphasis here is on crystal-clear communication. Your Core Market Position and Core Marketing Message need to be presented in ways that capture the attention of the right people through web sites, brochures, flyers, and conversations with others.

4. Fourth, consider promotion.

Only after the previous three steps have been adequately addressed is it appropriate to consider strategies for getting the word out. To effectively promote your products and services, practice this four-step approach:

• Attraction. In this era of information overload, you need to effectively capture the attention of the people you can benefit from your offerings.
• Discovery. Once you've gotten their attention, it's vital to explore their issues, problems, and challenges and ways you might be able to help.
• Conversion. After they've explored ways that you can help, you need to help them to see the value in using your products and services so they are compelled to purchase them.
• Consumption. Once your customers have made a purchase from you, the sale isn't complete, yet. Unless they actually use your products and services, they won't get their value. And, if they don't get the value, they won't ever come back to buy more or tell others about them. So, it's important to support your customers and clients in actually using your services and products, long after the sale.

Summary:

Building your business based on sound marketing principles is critical to success.

Your Core Market Position and Core Marketing Message serve as the foundational platform for launching all of your marketing campaigns and strategies. Once these fundamentals have been established, they can be appropriately refined, packaged and promoted, according to the changing needs and the demands of the marketplace.

Action Plan:

1. Commit to investing time and energy into developing a solid marketing messaging platform that includes the above principles into your marketing plan.
2. Enlist third-party assistance (for example, current and past customers) to help you review your current marketing materials and compare their contents with the key elements of the Core Market Position and Core Marketing Message as described above.
3. Define manageable steps you need to take to enhance your overall marketing messaging. It's a lifelong process of testing and refinement.

Most service professionals name their biggest need as “More Clients!” Sometimes just a few more clients can make the difference between success and failure. Client attraction is the first of three essential elements to a sustainable service business:

1. Attraction – methods to make your phone ring and email ping with inquiries about your service or product.
2. Conversion – a system to filter through the prospects, identify the ones best-suited for your business, explore the mutual fit, and naturally lead well-matched prospects hire you.
3. Retention – processes to effectively serve your clients, customers and patients and keep them happily using your products or services for as long as needed.

The first step cannot be neglected. You’ve got to ATTRACT qualified prospects before they can become clients! Without plenty of prospects, you’ll be attached to everyone hiring you. You’ll come across as needy and you’ll chase people away. Or you’ll settle for working with people who aren’t good matches or who can’t afford your rates.

If nobody’s coming in through the pipeline, the rest is moot. It doesn’t matter how effective your “introductory session” is, how high your “closing ratios” are, or how brilliant you are in delivering value to your clients. Without client attraction, you’re dead in the water. 

In a “Marketing Demystified” webinar, I identified the eleven basic pathways to attracting clients. (And one of these ways gives you new options for the other ten, hence, twenty pathways.)

I’m not recommending you tackle all or even most of these strategies. On the contrary, marketing methods should be chosen carefully and strategically, based on your ideal clientele, intentions and budget, as well as your abilities and skills. Don’t view these pathways as a “checklist” of everything you should be doing, but rather an overview of possible options.

1. Referrals

This is the art of generating referrals from colleagues and current or past clients, such that you are put in touch qualified prospects who contact you or want to hear from you. 

2. Networking

Networking can have many goals, and finding prospects either among the people you network with or the people they know is a common one. Other goals may be to find a collaborator, joint venture partner, or service provider. And whatever your goals are, if you approach networking as a giver and not a “getter,” you’ll invariably find yourself on the receiving end.

Networking can be:

a)      Formal, such as a weekly BNI or LeTip meeting, or a monthly eWomen or Chamber of Commerce meeting.

b)      Informal, which is simply connecting with people and making connections with other people about ideas, resources, collaborations and guidance. This can happen planned or unplanned at a coffee shop, happy hour, or anywhere.

3. Writing

Writing is an effective attraction tool because it informs and educates potential prospects while leveraging time. Writing can include:

• Books
• Articles
• Newsletters
• White Papers
• Regular columns
• Editorials

Not a writer? No problem, you can hire one, or you can record yourself and have it transcribed.

4. Speaking  

Some common forms of speaking are:

• Presentations to professional or community groups
• Keynote speeches
• Workshops
• Seminars
• Special events

Such platforms can be

a)   “By invitation” and promoted by others (paid and unpaid)

b)   Joint ventures, or

c)   Self-promoted.

5. Direct Outreach

There are two main pathways for direct outreach:

a)      Outbound calling (cold-calling or telemarketing)

b)      Direct mail, such as

• Flyers
• Postcards
• Letters
• Dimensional mail

6. Sponsorships

Established companies (perhaps a bank, chamber of commerce, or a networking group) may partner with your business by offering resources. They might foot a part of the bill or pay you. A sponsor also could provide food, venue or other needed items. Sponsors generally offer a service or product that is complimentary to yours, and wishing to gain exposure to the same audience.

7. Joint Ventures and Strategic Alliances

In this strategy, complimentary business with similar target markets partner to expand their networks or sell products and services. Strategic Alliances may partner by offering referrals or information. Joint Ventures involve some risk of money, energy, or other resources, perhaps even the creation of a new business from scratch.

8. Publicity and Media Relations

A good PR strategy that relates your business to timely topic can get you and your product or service featured in:

• Newspapers
• Journals
• Television
• Radio outlets

 Media Relations involves building relationships and connections with media such that they call you when they need commentary from an expert.

9. Special Events

This is marketing, building relationships, and obtaining leads through

• Trade shows
• Auctions
• Charity appearances
• Volunteering
• Book signings

10. Paid Media

This is traditional paid advertising, such as ads on

• Print media
• Radio
• Television

 (This is often the last pathway I would recommend. For many busineses, it is not necessary or even desirable to spend money on paid advertising.)

11-20. Internet and Social Media

This eleventh strategy actually contains within it the other ten. For each of the above strategies, there are “internet specific” ways to carry these out.

11.  There are online sites specifically geared to obtaining referrals for service industries, from carpenters to mortgage lenders. There are also other ways to gain referral leads online, such as mutual recommendations on blogs, testimonials on profiles and sites such as Yelp.

12.  Network on Biznik, Facebook, Twitter, Linked In, ning sites, chat rooms, google groups or professional online networks.

13.  Write blogs, guest posts, ezines, online articles, an online column, e-course and auto-responders.

14.  Speak on a YouTube video, internet radio show or a webinar.

15.  Do direct outreach online, contacting people who have a history of buying what you offer.

16.  Seek sponsorships for your website, blog, or online radio show.

17.  Collaborate with a joint venture or strategic alliance partner, for instance, for an email campaign that expands your mailing list and promotes your product or service for a split of the proceeds.

18.  Get publicity in online publications, radio shows, and other internet media, while building media relations.

19.  Self-promote or participate in special events such online training events, blog carnivals, book lauches, auctions or fundraisers.

20.  Utilize paid media such as google adwords or advertising in popular blogs or online publications.

If you’re feeling a little overwhelmed right now, just breathe… slooowwly.

And perhaps, you’re asking some questions, such as, “How do I determine which strategies are best for me?” "How do I combine strategies for maximum effectiveness?" or “Which pathways are most effective, and which ones will best target my ideal clients?”

Well, those are great questions… for another article, another day!

Conscious Leaderpreneurship Call, April 29 2010, with Rev. Suzi Schadle

Wouldn't you love to be paid and prospered for who you are and what you love to do?

My Conscious Leaderpreneurship special guest this week, Rev. Suzi Schadle, believes this is possible, and... the best way to create a sustainable economy!

As Suzi says,

I believe the new economy is all about people awakening to their unique passion and purpose, and then fully expressing it as a path to prosperity. What we have the greatest passion for is often where we also have our greatest natural talents and the capacity to do the world the most good.

The intersection of our passion, talent and contribution is the sweet-spot where our life-purpose lies. To paraphrase Joseph Campbell, "Where your talent and your bliss meet the needs of the world, that is where your purpose lies and that is where Spirit wants you to be."

So often we have had it backwards—“If I have money, then I will be able to do what I want and I will be okay.” Suzi contends the more powerful model is BEING who we are and DOING what we have come here to do, which will naturally lead to HAVING all we need and want.

“Let’s create a world where we all do well by doing good.” - Rev. Suzi Schadle

Come join our discussion about how a world filled with fully self-expressed and fulfilled people is a world of peace and prosperity.

My call with Rev. Suzi Schadle from the Center for Spiritual Living Eastside this Thursday, April 29th, from 12 noon – 12:45pm, PST. If you would like to receive the call-in number and code for my Conscious Leaderpreneurship calls, please opt-in at the bottom of this page.

When I launched my business in (year), I was the poster child of success for using “free introductory sessions” to build my business. Indeed, free sessions helped me build my coaching business to an annualized six-figure income in only 73 days! With a combination of networking, events, and complimentary introductory sessions, my income grew to the six-figure mark, and then doubled by the end of the first year. As this kind of jump-start is almost unheard of in the coaching industry, it became a sort of calling card, garnering me interviews, introductions, and more.

So why would I abandon a system that delivered so much success!?

While I did some things very right, such as offering diagnostic “Strategy Sessions” that offered stand-alone value, parts of my system didn’t work so well. (I explain more about diagnostic Strategy Sessions vs. “sample sessions” in a previous article, “The Problem with Free Introductory and Sample Sessions.”

One thing that didn’t work so well was the “free” part of the sessions. While free for the prospect, there was a high hidden cost for me: an enormous commitment of time and energy. I would meet anyone who appeared to be a potential prospect, whether they came from a workshop, website, referral, or other means. I would painstakingly gather all kinds of information about them and their business, and next, I’d spend literally hours conducting a free Strategy Session with them.

My Strategy Session gave the prospect a road-map for accelerating their business growth. It gave them a game plan, focus and confidence of direction. I organized thoughts, strategies, and ideas into cohesive pathways. The client and I would spend two, three, even FOUR hours accomplishing this! They would be appreciative and excited about the strategic game-plan, though interestingly, many failed to act on it.

In spite of all this sizzle, there was no steak. Most of the time, lack of funds, limiting beliefs, and a myriad of other reasons made the prospect a poor fit for my coaching. After giving away the best I could offer, I’d have no client to show for it. I was exhausted, discouraged, and I was working a lot of hours for free. And I still had a business to run! I didn’t have all day to go chasing after new clients.

Worst of all, my results were actually going downhill! Initially, my prospect-to-client “closing ratio” was a respectable 30%. Those first prospects were somewhat “pre-screened,” as they had already invested time and a little money for a seminar I offered. But when I started giving free sessions to a wider pool of prospects, my conversion rate actually dropped to a dismal 10-15%!

I had no consistent way to pre-screen prospects. People who were “less ideal” were being attracted to my “free session.” I was meeting with everyone from network marketers to people who were just "thinking" about starting a business, and I had no filtering mechanism to weed out people who weren’t well-matched, motivated, or who couldn’t afford to hire me.

I desperately needed a system for ongoing client attraction and conversion that didn’t drain all my time and energy! I needed a way to

• attract qualified prospects
• naturally lead them to become paying clients
• honor my time and the value I provided, and
• duplicate the process.

There seemed two obvious solutions to my quandary: either spend much less time with each prospect, or start charging!

The thought of doing a 30-minute “complimentary consultation” just didn’t sit well with me. In my previous career in plastic and reconstructive surgery, I had never watched the clock. I just did whatever needed to be done. Limiting my time, holding back, and only offering a fraction of the value I was capable of giving just wasn’t my style.

I did, however, wonder, “How could I make this better, faster, more efficient?”

Instead of asking my prospects a laundry list of questions, I got wise and put the most important questions in a “Snapshot Questionnaire” that I could email to people. Interestingly enough, this became a great qualifying filter! Sometimes people express interest working with me, but won’t even follow through and return the questionnaire. Although I would love to help everyone, I realize now that not everyone is ready to be helped.

In spite of streamlining, I was still doing sessions with people who couldn’t afford my coaching. I realized that if I charged something, that would add another filtering mechanism. I reasoned, “If they won’t pay for my guidance up front, will they pay for my help after the session?” Not likely.

I began offering Strategy Sessions for a “fee” instead of “free.” Now, with the questionnaire and the fee as a filters, my conversion rates shot up, and my time investment was minimized. Plus, when a questionnaire suggested that someone wouldn’t be able to hire me, I could still help them in an appropriate way. I could spend a few minutes (not an afternoon) giving them some suggestions and resources to move them forward.

The results of using Paid Strategy Sessions?

• I spend less time prospecting for clients and more time serving them.
• I do Strategy Sessions with qualified people. I rarely work with a prospect who isn’t an appropriate fit for coaching or can’t afford it.
• My conversion rates have gone through the roof! From as low as 10% a few years ago, my “closing ratio” is now upwards of 80%.
• People approach the sessions as partners rather than prospects. (And now they’re not “prospects, but actually paying “clients”!) They’re more invested and much more likely to take action on the recommendations.
• The energy feels “cleaner,” with an equal exchange of value. Clients expect and receive value without fear of obligation, and I feel more at peace with the process.
• I can help a wide variety of people with different needs. I can give someone stand-alone value and a “strategic game plan,” whether they hire me as a coach or opt to implement the plan themselves.
• The process is consistent with good business practices. I am honored for my time with compensation, and the process also serves the client.
• Paid Strategy Sessions help me attract more and better clients. If I’m always giving away my time, it’s going to be hard to attract well-paying clients!

I’ve learned a lot of lessons that I trust have value for others as well. I used to claim that one day I would help a client to a six-figure income even faster, and sure enough, I recently coached a client to the six-figure level in only 70 days, using this and other strategies. Probably the best result of this new system is the ability help others duplicate my success, minus the exhaustion and frustration!

If you’re a coach, consultant, or service professional, it’s possible that you offer some kind of free introductory session, sample session, or complimentary consultation. Indeed, this is the primary method of “marketing” taught in some coaching schools. It goes something like this: “Go offer free sample sessions to everyone you know. Ask them if they’d like to continue coaching. Some will. Congratulations, you now have clients!”

And you know what? Some people will hire you. Maybe one out ten. Maybe two out of ten. Chances are, some won’t want to pay the going rate for a coach or other service professional, some may even insist on “trading services” instead of cash, but they enjoyed your service, and they’d like “more, please!”

You rationalize, a client is a client, and you take a few under-paying clients.

Now you’re somewhat busy (though not making much money), so you go find more people to give free intro sessions to. And the cycle repeats… you give umpteen free sessions to find a few clients who might not even be willing to pay your rate, much less stick around for the long term. Invariably, they leave about the time you find your next new client, so it feels like you are just spinning your wheels.

And it’s getting harder, not easier. You’ve exhausted your initial list of friends, colleagues, acquaintances, and other warm contacts, and now you’ve got to go meet complete strangers you hope will hire you.

You give free sessions to friends of friends. You offer sessions to people you meet at grocery stores. You network like a maniac. You blog. You tweet. You give introductory sample sessions, and just in time, because the first people who hired you have now run their course, so the new clients are just replacing the ones leaving through attrition.

Congratulations, you’re broke and exhausted. Welcome to self-employment.

What went wrong!?

Let’s take a look:

1.      You used the scattershot method of marketing.

You didn’t wait for people to identify themselves as prospective clients; you simply went out and found people who could fog a mirror and agree to a sample session. The result is that now you’re trying to convert prospects you didn’t even really attract in the first place! It’s more like you “attacked” them – by putting them on the spot to do a “free sample session” with you.

The solution to this is to have a systematic way of actually attracting the right people. By using a marketing message that appeals to your ideal client and by delivering that message in different formats to audiences who are looking for you, you’ll attract prospects, and not just warm bodies willing to book an hour of your time. 

2.      You didn’t qualify your prospects.

Perhaps you asked people to sample your services because they fit some market “niche,” such as parents, athletes, artists or entrepreneurs. Perhaps you even happen to observe that they could really use your services! But do they know they need your services? Are they actively looking for the solution you provide? Could they even afford your services, even if they wanted to hire you?

If you can’t answer those questions in the affirmative, then you most likely you are giving your time away to a “tire-kicker” who isn’t a qualified prospect. 

3.      The “free sample session” is the wrong model, because it doesn’t convey the value you provide.

Perhaps the “free sample” method works well with chocolate, but it falls short of communicating your potential value as a coach, consultant or service professional.

This is why I recommend doing a Strategic Session instead of “sample sessions” or “free introductory sessions.” Coming from the medical model I honed in for my first career as a plastic surgeon, it’s essentially a “diagnostic” approach in which you look beyond the immediate pain, problems or symptoms to discover the underlying issues.

Will it take longer to gain an understanding of the prospect’s core issues – the “big picture” – and recommend a plan for moving forward? Of course it will, and it will also be infinitely more valuable for them. If the value is clearly communicated, and if they are a qualified prospect who sees the value, wants what you offer, and can afford your services, then chances are they’ll willingly pay for that value.

You’ll be offering much more than a “sample” or an introduction, you’ll be providing a diagnosis and a strategic game plan. You’re offering them the solution for which they’ve been searching, something truly “worth paying for.” Additionally, you’ll be helping them invest in their own solution, and they’ll have a greater chance of actually following through with a plan they purchased, rather than one that was given to them.

4.      You have no system or proven method to convert even qualified prospects into long-term clients.  

Relying on good luck and your magnetic personality is not a proven system, nor is hope a good business strategy. To successfully use initial sessions to convert prospects into clients, you need:

• The ability to clearly state the value you provide and for whom.
• A method to easily obtain a “snapshot” of your prospects current situation
• A way to articulate the value your Strategy Session will provide for them, and to invite them to do a session with you so that they are naturally inclined to say “yes.”
• The ability to deliver tremendous value such that they gain stand-alone benefits from the strategy session, whether or not they choose to continue working with you.
• Pre-determined criteria of who is and isn’t a “fit” for you as a client.
• A client engagement agreement that defines the terms of moving forward.

In summary, you need a system that naturally and logically leads the right clients to hire you for extended work.

Having a system for attracting prospects and converting prospects into long-term clients is essential for any business person, and yet, too many service-oriented professionals spend years studying and honing their crafts, only to “wing it” when it comes to finding and keeping clients.

And without clients… all you’ve got is a hobby, not a business.

"Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts persistence and determination alone are omnipotent." --Calvin Coolidge

There's a critical difference between "persistence," as in perseverance, and "insistence," as in continuing to believe that what you are believing, thinking, and doing are the right things, despite blatant evidence to the contrary.

If you could distinguish between the two, would it make a difference in your business and your life? Of course it would!

On today's Conscious Leaderpreneurship Conversation, we discussed practical ways to tap into "superconsciousness" and distinguish between persistence and insistence.

Listen to the recording here

When it comes to crafting your business' marketing messaging and defining your position in the marketplace, a commonly encountered question is: "What is the 'competitive advantage' of your company?"

The traditional definition of "competitive advantage" is the way a company distinguishes itself by keeping an upperhand over other companies who offer similar products and services. It's all about "survival of the fittest."

Reverend Suzi Schadle from the Center for Spiritual Living Eastside in Bellevue, Washington (www.csle.org), once shared this direct experience of hers from when she was leading a workshop in a school.

She was working with kids from the ages of 5-6. She wanted to teach them to work as a team.

She split the students into smaller groups of several children. The exercise she gave them was to take a raw egg and then, using the supplies that were passed out, they were to build a container for the egg so that it could be dropped from a height of 6 feet without breaking the egg. No further instructions were given.

She noticed that, unprompted, children from different groups began helping each other out, sharing supplies and trading ideas between the different groups. Some of them even went to the back table to get more supplies (no instructions were given that said they couldn't do that).

Some of the older students were intrigued by this exercise as they passed by. So, in the end, the middle school and high school students go involved in the project as well.

But what Reverend Suzi noticed was interesting:

• Among the middle school-aged students, there was no sharing of supplies and ideas between different groups.
• With the high school-aged students, not only was there no sharing, but there was also stealing of supplies between the different groups! And the energy level was one of more tension and competitiveness.

Much to Rev. Suzi's chagrin, the preschoolers decided they wanted to drop their eggs from the second floor. So, she started praying!

This is what happened when the eggs were dropped by the various grades from the second floor:

• High schoolers: All eggs dropped, all eggs broken.
  
• Middle schoolers: All eggs dropped, all eggs broken.
• Pre-schoolers: All eggs dropped, all eggs survived intact!

(Even from the second floor, which was not the original intent of the exercise.)

Consider what might be possible when we learn again what unbridled collaboration, free of the limitations of competition, might lead to as we emerge from a down economy!!!

As entrepreneurs, what might be possible if we took this lesson to heart and integrated this into daily business practices? Then, instead of a "competitive advantage," we'd be focused on showcasing our "collaborative advantage."

"Great power lies not in the mind and will of one man,
but in the collective consciousness of the many."

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