| |
| |
|
KwikMarketing.com - Marketing Information |
|
|
|
How to Get the Right Clients and Avoid the Wrong Ones
If you are like most service professionals and small business owners one of your primary concerns is generating as many leads as possible. And that may be your biggest mistake, resulting in wasting time on unqualified prospects and working with too many clients you wish you didn't have to. Bill is a financial advisor looking for clients. Working from his stack of leads he picks up the phone and starts making calls. The first person he gets on the phone has lots of questions and it turns out is just looking for free advice. After a half hour Bill finally gets him off the phone. Bill's next call finds a highly interested prospect. After forty-five minutes, he's ready to sign her up, when he discovers she only has a couple of hundred dollars to invest. At the end of the day, Bill has spent eight hours on the phone and still hasn't signed up any new clients. Do you ever spend time chasing leads that are just a waste of time? Martha is a graphic designer who has plenty of clients but her profits have been shrinking instead of growing lately. One of her long-term clients calls her daily with a question or a complaint. Just when Martha thinks a project is done, this one client changes her mind and wants it redone. And while the customer is always right, this customer's lack of respect and professionalism is starting to get under Martha's skin. Have you ever had to deal with clients who waste your time or are unrealistic in their demands? A common mistake is to try to appeal to everyone, with the result that you attract too many people who don't want to pay for your services and clients you'd rather not work with. A more profitable marketing strategy is to position yourself >and your firm to attract just those clients that want to work with you and who you'd enjoy sharing your expertise. Imagine that every lead you pursued turned into a client, one who you could be honest and direct with, a client who you looked forward to working with. You'd make more money and have more fun. Wouldn't it be nice if you could pick and choose your clients? While you can't completely control who contacts you, you can use your marketing to position yourself to attract promising prospects and people who would make good clients. Here's how. Define Your Ideal Client - What business is your ideal client in? Use Your Marketing Message Use Articles Use Questions to Qualify Prospects If you've called one of them and they don't seem like a good >prospect, get off the phone in 3 minutes or less and move on to a more promising prospect. Clarify Expectations Make a short list of questions to ask that will help clients define what they are looking for. When you talk with clients use these questions to clarify their expectations. If you can meet these requests, use their answers to provide a summary of services. That way you will both be working from the same script. Get Rid of Problem Clients Use these marketing strategies to position your firm to attract the prospects you want so you can pick and choose your clients. You'll have more fun, increase your profits and be more successful. The author, Charlie Cook, helps service professionals and
MORE RESOURCES:
Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Marketing On The Cheap: Join The What? Your local Chamber of Commerce.Now before you stop reading, I assure you this really works, and no, this is not an advertisement for the Chamber of Commerce although it may read like one. Private Practice Marketing: 3 More Things I Wish I Knew When I First Started 1) Create systemsCreate systems for everything you do, especially those things you do on a regular basis.My members and mentees ask me all the time how do I manage to get so much done. Use Events to Market on the Internet Having difficulty knowing what to offer people online? Worried that your prospects are too bombarded by sales pitches to pick yours out from the hundreds they get every day?Try something different - an event!Events have a number of benefits over standard marketing approaches. Some of these benefits include:Events are perceived as informational and are often more accepted than sales pitches. Top Five Tips for Marketing that Gets Results When marketing your practice, as well as designing your brochure, website, business card, flier, advertisement, or other marketing effort, I recommend investing the time and effort needed to effectively address the following:Tip #1: MARKET FOR YOUR DESIRED PROSPECTS, NOT YOURSELFWhat looks good to you is not necessarily effective for your desired audience. Do your market research and test your strategies on your target market. Discover the Winning Marketing Strategy Secrets of Donald Trump Apprentice Wanna-bes The highly entertaining Donald Trump's search for an apprentice turned into a hit reality TV show captured attention of millions of Americans and week after week delivered great insights into leadership, business and marketing savvy.In one of the episodes Trump challenged the two opposing teams of apprentice wannabes (Apex and Mosaic) to put together a bridal gown sale. How to Set (and Get) the Right Prices Which product feature of yours is every buyer keen to know about? Which sales tool closes prospects instantly? Your price. Yet, despite the far-reaching consequences of a company's pricing, I'm surprised at how little time small business owners spend on it. Did You Know Your Mind-Set IS Your Problem? How To Save Yourself From The Pits of Marketing Cyber Hell!"Your Mind-Set IS Your Problem!"Did you know that the one major thing that stands between You and Success is Your Mind Set? Yes it is true. Sometimes our "Own Stinkin' Thinkin'" gets in the way of our Success, or our ability to achieve success. Packaging Trends You Cannot Overlook (part #1): 1) People are buying in smaller quantities. Our busy lifestyle keeps many people from eating at home on a daily basis. Successful Non-for-Profit Fundraising Letters Share Eight Qualities You'll be encouraged to know that the art of writing effective fundraising letters can be learned. I learned it. Hello, My Name Is . . . What Your Name Tag Says About You When you attend networking functions, what kind of name tag do you wear? One of those sticky things you scrawled your name on, or something a bit more sophisticated? For just a few cents to a few dollars, you can have a classy, customized name tag that will draw attention and comments and help you make the most of every networking opportunity.Instead of relying on those disposable sticky tags, you can get your own engraved or imprinted name badge at your local office supply store. Ready, Fire, Aim! You probably read my headline and thought, wait a minute, isn't that backwards? Isn't it supposed to be "Ready, Aim, Fire?"Well, a year ago I might have agreed with you. But not anymore. Attract Your Dream Customer Have you clearly defined your target audience? These are the prime buyers of your products or services. It is the people or organizations you are pursuing actively as customers. Mortgage Originator Marketing - Differentiate or Die One of the best ways to attract more clients is to quit marketing the same way your competitors do. Because when all mortgage originator marketing is essentially the same, it becomes nearly impossible to distinguish one loan officer from another. How To Bond With Customers So That They Stay With You Longer How many of your customers are loyal customers? More importantly do you know why they are loyal customers?Customer loyalty has been a buzz term in marketing for some time and with good reason. Estimates suggest it can cost 5 times as much to get a new customer as it does to keep an existing one. The Importance of Interpersonal Communcation Skills Interpersonal Communications is the transmission of information from one person to another and their understanding of it through the use of common language or symbols. It is a way of interacting and happens always at all times whether you want it to happen or not. Niche Marketing: The Affiliate Angle If you're just dipping your toes into the waters of Niche Marketing for the first time then Affiliate marketing is the ultimate low risk choice to get you started.Affiliate programmes cost nothing to join and present an almost infinite choice of products and services from which to build a niche business. When, Why, and How to Use Mailing Lists Mailing lists may be the cause of more heartbreaks than anyother single factor in mail order. A poorly chosen list, a weakmailing and the high cost of mailing to a list can tax theoptimism of a new dealer very, very quickly. The Secret to Good Writing Skilful business writing involves getting your message across simply and quickly. This often means writing in a style that is easily read and understood by a broad audience. Off the Shelf Small Business Mapping Software All small businesses can benefit from inexpensive off the shelf CD Rom mapping software. If you own a business you need to where your customers are coming from, where you would like to expand your sphere of influence to, where your competitors are located and how to route your delivery vehicles. Who are Those People Youre Selling To? If you're in the IT business, that's an important question.Most marketers are keen to profile their prospects.
|
| home | site map |
| © KwikMarketing.com 2007 |
