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The
Seven
Principles
for
Attracting More
Clients
By
Robert Middleton
Master
these Seven Principles and you'll grow your
business
If
you are going to attract more clients to your
professional service business you must market those
services. But you can't market haphazardly and
expect consistent results. You must market
according to proven principles. This brief article
outlines those principles and gives the owner of a
professional service business the keys to growing
their business with less struggle and effort.
1.
Marketing is a Game
 Not
many business owners see marketing as a game.
They see it as a struggle. But it's only a struggle
because they are unaware of the rules of the game
and how to win the game.
Let's
look at a game most people are familiar with -
baseball. In baseball there are four main
activities - throwing the ball, catching the ball,
hitting the ball and running. Pretty simple. If you
took a person who was highly proficient at these
four activities but didn't know the rules of
baseball and had him join a baseball team, he would
struggle for some time. Until he figured out the
rules of the game, baseball would be mysterious and
perplexing.
It's
much the same with marketing. Most of us know the
fundamental activities of marketing - networking,
writing, speaking, sending emails, etc, but we
rarely see it as a game with very specific rules
that lead to attracting clients on a consistent
basis.
The
marketing activities we engage in seem random and
subject more to luck than intention. If we could
discover that hidden marketing rulebook that
explained how to move a client along the bases with
some degree of predictability, marketing would be
less of a struggle and much more fun as we began to
win the game with some regularity.
Introducing
Marketing Ball
Marketing
Ball is the name I gave to the process that finally
makes some sense out of the game of marketing.
Marketing Ball outlines the rules, the skills and
the moves required to win the game.
Marketing
Ball is built on the simple premise that everyone
who is now a client was once a stranger and that
the purpose of marketing is to build a relationship
with a prospect until they feel comfortable doing
business with you.
Those
relationships are built one step at a time through
a very logical and methodical process. Even if you
don't realize you're playing Marketing Ball, it's
still happening in the background. But as you
master the game you'll discover that you can
convert prospects into clients more quickly and
reliably.
Like
baseball, in Marketing Ball, you move prospects
around the diamond one base at a time. You start at
home base armed with your marketing message. When
you deliver that message, your aim is to get your
prospect onto first base. You're on first base when
you have the attention and interest of a prospect.
Once
a prospect is on first, your next marketing
activities are designed to get them to second.
Second base is when a prospect is ready to explore
working with you. Third base is where a prospect is
ready to buy from you and home plate is where
you've consummated the sale and started working
with your new client.
Mastering
the game of Marketing Ball is a matter of
understanding and practicing the "marketing plays"
between the bases and gradually moving a prospect
from a complete stranger to someone who is a paying
client.
Marketing
Ball isn't about getting home runs by delivering a
perfect marketing message (there isn't such a
thing), but by moving prospects around the bases as
they learn more about how your services work and
how they will benefit from working with you.
2.
Having the Right Marketing Mindset
 If
marketing is a struggle for professionals, not only
don't they understand the game of marketing,
they have a poor attitude about it. And this
attitude, or what I prefer to call Mindset, colors
our approach to marketing and tends to result in us
avoiding most marketing activities.
A
marketing mindset, is how we think about marketing.
It's our attitudes, thoughts, beliefs,
expectations, fears, fixed positions, assumptions,
and limitations. You could say that our marketing
mindset is the "water that we swim in."
It
affects us profoundly, but we don't see it because
it's so close to us. What we focus on, what we
believe, what we think and what we assume, shape
our actions. And if these beliefs, thoughts and
assumptions are negative, we see marketing as
something bad, something to be avoided.
Here
are a few of the beliefs, thoughts and assumptions
I've heard from Independent Professionals over the
years. Do any of them sound familiar to you? Do you
operate from any of these as if they were the
gospel truth?
•
Marketing leads to rejection
•
If I ask for referrals it will sound like I'm
begging
•
Marketing doesn't work for this kind of
service
•
I don't have the time to market
myself
•
Only people with sub-standard services need
marketing
•
I can't start until I know exactly what to
do
•
I'm not qualified (educated, experienced, etc.)
enough yet
•
Marketing is a bother and an interruption to
people
And
these are only the tip of the iceberg! In working
with clients I've discovered that most are attached
to literally dozens of thoughts and beliefs that
lead to marketing avoidance.
How
Marketing Mindsets Work
The
response most of us have to negative marketing
mindsets is to resist them. For instance,
you've heard that networking could be useful to
your business. But you don't enjoy it due to your
belief that "nobody who attends networking events
needs my service." But you resist that, put on a
happy face and try your best, struggling through
every event that you attend. Ultimately your
experiences verify your beliefs and you give up
networking as a waste of time.
When
you're stuck in a negative marketing mindset,
everything that happens lines up with that mindset.
People want reality to be consistent with their
beliefs and this makes it hard to change a mindset.
Sometimes
something will happen that challenges your belief
and things can change very rapidly. For instance
you may go to a networking event and connect with
someone who turns into your best client. You then
start to question your belief about networking
because the new evidence is that it worked for you.
Start
Questioning Your Mindsets
What
has occurred to very few people, however, is to
start questing your mindset even before you
have any observable evidence that it just may not
be true. This is a simple but extraordinarily
powerful approach, as it undermines your attachment
to the beliefs that may be holding you back.
When
we don't question our limiting beliefs, we
automatically become subject to them. When we start
to sincerely question them, we may discover that
what we were so certain was true may be the exact
opposite.
Is
it really true that all marketing leads to
rejection, that asking for referrals is begging,
that you don't have time to market yourself, that
you can't start until you know exactly what to do?
Perhaps not.
Once
you start to inquire into your mindset, with the
intention of discovering the truth, you may
surprise yourself and actually realize that the
opposite of these beliefs are just as true or
truer. In my personal experience, I've discovered
that marketing leads to acceptance, that asking for
referrals is a contribution, that there is time to
do marketing and that you can even start without
knowing exactly what to do.
Learning
and mastering this process of inquiry regarding
various limiting marketing mindsets can transform
your outlook about marketing forever. For many
people, this has turned their experience of
marketing from one of struggle, effort and poor
results into an experience of ease, engagement and
consistently good results.
3.
Understanding the Language of
Marketing
 Marketing
actually has a language. And the purpose of
this language is to get attention, generate
interest and motivate people to take action to find
out more about our services.
If
you understand this language and speak it fluently,
you'll be more successful at moving prospects
around the bases of Marketing Ball and ultimately
turning them into clients.
The
language of marketing is based on what I call
"Marketing Syntax." Syntax is the order of things.
Syntax creates meaning. For instance, the order of
letters in a word give that word meaning and the
order of words in a sentence give that sentence
meaning.
I
also discovered that the order in which you present
marketing ideas determines the meaning the listener
attaches to your message. In other words, if you
deliver your marketing message in a certain order
using marketing syntax, you'll get more attention
and interest than if you use a different
order.
For
instance when people ask us what we do, we often
answer them literally, that is, we tell them our
label or our process. We say, "I'm an accountant. I
prepare taxes for small businesses." That's
accurate, but it's not a very attention-getting
message. The listener is thinking, "What's in it
for me?"
The
first three steps of marketing syntax are as
follows:
1.
Target Market - That is, whom do you work
with?
2.
Problem/Challenge - What issues do your clients
have?
3.
Outcome - What results do your clients
get?
This
syntax can be used anytime you communicate about
your business, verbally or in writing. And when you
use it, your attention value will go up
dramatically. Let's look at these steps in a little
more depth.
When
someone asks what you do, the first words out of
your mouth need to be about whom you work with.
This creates focus: "I work with multi-national
technology firms" or "I work with retailers on the
East Coast." When you identify who your ideal
clients are, your listeners can immediately know
whether or not you can help them.
Next
you tell the problem or challenge you address.
"…who are being beaten up by outsourcing" or
"…whose profit margins are shrinking." When
you mention a problem, you hit a nerve. Problems
are where people live. It's what they are thinking
about. And if you can address their problem, they
will realize you know something important about
them.
Finally,
you communicate the outcome you actually deliver.
This is what a client gets if you work with them.
"We help our clients maintain their profit margins
in an outsourcing economy."
With
this understanding of marketing syntax, you can
start to develop your own personalized marketing
message.
4.
Creating a Powerful Marketing
Message
 Once
you understand the basics of Marketing Syntax, you
have the building blocks that enable you to
create marketing messages that actually communicate
the true value you offer.
The
problems most professional service businesses
encounter in developing such a message include the
following:
1.
The message isn't directed to a target
market.
2.
The message fails to hit a nerve.
3.
The message talks about services, not
solutions.
4.
The message tries to say too much and gets
unwieldy.
5.
The message doesn't say enough and becomes
cryptic.
All
of these are relatively easy to solve as these
examples show:
Not
directed to a target market:
Every
marketing message should start with something
like: "We work with this kind of client…"
or "We help this kind of client… (insert
the appropriate demographics or
psychographics)."
Fails
to hit a nerve
Talk
about a problem, challenge, issue, pain, or
predicament that is symptomatic and clearly
observable. Say: "We work with managers who are
struggling to reach their financial targets."
This they can understand, and it hits a nerve.
Don't say, "We work with managers who are
marginalizing their optimal financial
opportunities." Huh? Don't laugh, I've heard
worse.
Talks
about services, not solutions
When
you talk about services, I need to translate
what it means to me. If you get right into
solutions, results and outcomes, I see the
immediate benefit. "We offer a retention
maximization program," isn't as good as, "We
have a service that will increase retention of
your best employees." Now that has value.
Says
too much
To
get someone's attention, you need to communicate
in meaningful sound bites. Run-on sentences or
worse, messages with multiple targets, problems,
and solutions, will only confuse people: "We
work with large and small companies in the
broadband and microwave industries who have
management, marketing and financial issues and
want to dominate markets at the lowest cost
while retaining high-performing and
self-generating managers/leaders." Expect
confused looks.
Says
too little
You
might understand the message you've come up
with, but your audience many need some
translation. "What do you do?" "I'm a management
consultant." Wait, what's wrong with that?
Nothing except that it's meaningless except to
other management consultants. There's no target,
problem or solution. And so the twenty questions
game begins.
Next,
you expand your marketing message into written
marketing materials that communicate about your
services in more depth.
5.
Developing Persuasive Marketing
Materials
 What's
persuasive? Many think of overly exaggerated
hyperbole. But that's not the case. Good
marketing information educates your prospect about
how your services will benefit them.
Marketing
materials are what come after your main marketing
message. Once you have someone's attention and
interest, you need to provide enough information so
that they will know if you can help them or
not.
Marketing
materials, such as a web site, brochure or
presentation also employ marketing syntax. They
open with a discussion of the target market,
continue with an overview of the prospect's
situation and challenges and then discuss desired
outcomes and solutions.
Marketing
syntax continues with the following
elements:
1.
Stories or case studies of clients you've
succeeded with.
2.
Benefits, advantages and features of your
services.
3.
Background on you and your firm for
credibility.
4.
A call to action to let the prospect know what
to do next.
Let's
look at all of these in a little more detail. The
purpose for this information is to answer the
unasked questions lurking in the back of your
prospects' minds.
Stories
or Case Studies
These
answer the question, "Have you worked with
clients like me and have you been successful?"
This is a very valid question. And you don't
answer such a question conceptually, you simply
outline a number of case studies that explain
what you did for your clients and what results
you produced. This is very persuasive and gets
the prospect thinking how they could get similar
results.
Benefits,
Advantages, Features of Service
This
answers the question, "How exactly do your
services work?" Prospects want a snapshot of
what it will be like when they are clients. What
will happen, how long will it take, how will
they be involved and exactly what process or
methods will be employed?
Background
on You and Firm
This
answers the question "Who are you and are you
credible." Interestingly enough, this is not the
biggest question most prospects have. So it
doesn't need to be the first page of your web
site. But many are interested in your
background, experience, education and even some
personal information so they can get a sense of
what it would be like working with you.
Call
to Action
This
answers the question, "What do I do next to find
out more?" People are hesitant to pick up the
phone or even send an email until they know more
about how you start working with clients. Tell
them what will transpire once they contact you.
Show that you are accessible and easy to work
with. And give them a reason to contact you now
(not someday).
The
great thing is that all of this information can be
communicated efficiently and effectively on a web
site. It's a powerful marketing vehicle that is
often under-utilized by professional service
businesses.
Now
you are ready to take your marketing message and
materials and get them in front of prospects
through a variety of marketing
stragegies.
6.
Determining Marketing Strategies
 Once
you are armed with the previously mention marketing
principles you are ready to choose marketing
strategies or activities that get your message
out into the world and in front of prospective
clients.
Let's
revisit Marketing Ball. The marketing strategies
you employ depend on where your prospects are
located on the Marketing Ball model. Remember that
the purpose is to move them around the bases. First
are marketing activities to get prospects onto
first base.
From
Stranger to Affiliation to Attention
Your
first step in moving from home base to first is
developing affiliations with those who could be
possible clients. An affiliation is a connection
between people. If you belong to an association
or organization, you have an affiliation. If you
went to the same college, you have an
affiliation. If you belong to a church, you have
an affiliation with all the other members.
Your
first marketing task is to form affiliations
with groups and organizations who are made up of
prospects or those who can lead to prospects.
These are the people who will be most receptive
to your marketing messages. Whether you network,
make calls or send mailings, if you have created
an affiliation first, your message will be more
readily accepted and you'll get the attention
you need to get onto first base.
From
Attention to Familiarity
Going
from first base to second base is a longer
process where you get to know your prospect and
they get to know you. People like to do business
with those they know, like and trust, so your
next task is to stay visible and become familiar
to those you are affiliated with. Doing such
things as networking actively, adding members to
your ezine list, and meeting with others over
coffee or lunch builds your "familiarity
factor." Then once you are more familiar,
prospects want more information.
From
Familiarity to Information
Even
when people know you by name, they don't
necessarily understand what you really do for
your clients. Your next job is to provide the
information that lets them know who you work
with, what challenges you address and what
outcomes you produce. Important information
tools are web sites and articles such as the one
you're reading now.
From
Information to Experience
The
final stage before getting to second base is
providing more of an experience to your
prospects. Going beyond information, where you
tell people what you do, is to actually
demonstrate the value of your work. This can be
accomplished through case studies, presentations
and, in some cases, offering a sample of your
work through presentations, executive briefings
or teleclasses.
From
Experience to the Selling Process
With
a sufficient amount of affiliation, attention,
familiarity, information and experience,
prospects are much more likely to want to
explore working with you. You might say this is
where marketing ends and selling begins. When
you get to second base you are engaging in the
selling process and learning how you can help
this prospect specifically. Selling is much
easier if you have played the marketing game
well up to this point.
Because
this article is more focused on the marketing
process, I won't go into the details of the selling
process here. But now you know the most important
strategies of the marketing game and how to play to
win.
7.
Creating Marketing Action Plans
 Even
after you've developed the foundation of your
marketing, which includes understanding the
game, maintaining the ideal marketing mindset,
creating a powerful marketing message, materials,
and strategies, you have one more important step
towards marketing success.
And
this step is creating a marketing action plan. You
might think of this as a marketing blueprint, much
like an architectural blueprint. This action plan
is your step-by-step guide in implementing your
marketing strategies.
An
ideal marketing action plan includes the following
elements:
Your
Target Market
Who
exactly will you approach? Who are your
potential clients and where can they be
reached?
Price
What
will you charge for the service you are
offering?
Strategy
How
will you get the word out? What is the specific
strategy you'll use to market your service? For
instance, this might be networking, speaking,
publishing, or mailings.
Purpose
This
is the ultimate result you hope to achieve by
implementing your plan. For instance, the
purpose of a speaking plan may be to "Get 10 new
clients valued at $5,000 each."
Intended
Results
This
is everything else you intend to accomplish
through this marketing strategy. So in addition
to attracting more clients, you may want to a)
get more exposure to you target market, b)
increase your credibility, c) add names to your
email list, c) sell products at the
presentation, d) improve your speaking ability.
Strategy
Game Plan
This
is your actual approach to implementing your
strategy. If you've chosen a speaking plan you
need to determine where you will speak, how you
will get engagements, what topic to speak on,
what handouts and materials are required, and
what offer to make after the talk. This will
often take some research and assistance to avoid
major mistakes in your implementation.
Marketing
Materials and Resources
What
written or other marketing materials will be
needed? And what other resources will be
required for success? This may include money,
information and assistance.
Offers
and Call to Action
For
many steps of the plan you may need to ask
someone to take action. You will need to
approach organizations and ask them to book you.
At the presentation you will be selling your
ideas and ask them to buy your concepts. At the
end you will deliver a close that asks your
participants to request a follow-up.
Follow-Up
Once
you have implemented your activity, you need to
follow up in some way, shape or form. You can't
just cross your fingers and hope the phone
starts ringing.
Action
Steps and Timeline
The
final step in your marketing action plan is to
outline all the steps you will take in
chronological order.
The
Seven Marketing Principles in Action
These
principles represent a comprehensive system for
attracting clients. Developed by Robert
Middleton of Action Plan marketing, these
principles have been applied successfully to
hundreds of professional service businesses, from
consultants, coaches and trainers, to financial,
legal and employment firms.
The
key to making these principles work is studying,
applying and implementing them to current marketing
projects. They offer focus and a clear direction
for any campaign intended to attract more
clients.
These
principles are packaged as the Fast Track to More
Clients Program and are taught and implemented with
individual service business owners, through group
or in-house programs by our Action Plan Marketing
Coaches.
For
more information on how you can apply the Seven
Principles to your business, click on one of the
links below.
Action
Plan Marketing Coaches
The
Action Plan Marketing Coaches have been trained
to assist you in implementing the Seven Principles
outlined in this article. On the following page you
will find profiles of these coaches with links to
their individual sites.
Marketing
Coaches
Action
Plan Marketing Products and Programs
If
you are looking for do-it-yourself assistance with
marketing, one of the manuals or programs we
offer online may be what you're looking for. The
link below will lead you to a list of all the
programs we offer.
Marketing
Tools
Thank
you for reading this article and good luck with
your marketing!
Robert
Middleton
Owner,
Action Plan Marketing
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