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More Clients - the Online Marketing Newsletter
for Independent Professionals
from Action Plan Marketing
and Robert MiddletonIn This Week's Issue: What exactly do you say once someone has
shown interest in your services?
What to Say
Last week I talked about the small steps or "little yeses" you
need to get from prospects to move them closer to becoming a
client. But in this issue of More Clients, I'd like to get even
more specific.I'm going to talk about what to say and when to say it.
What do you say at a networking event when someone shows
interest in your services? What do you say after a talk to get
the cards of those attending? If you can do both of these
consistently, you'll connect with a whole lot more prospects.At a Networking Event
You know how to use your Audio Logo to get attention and you
even have an article to give away (you do have these in place,
don't you?), but when it comes to saying something that can lead
to a follow up, do you go blank?You need to understand a couple things. One, people love to be
listened to and they also love to be given something for free. And
you can accomplish both by using this script. Just tweak to fit
your situation."Your business sounds like it has huge potential but I really
understand how frustrating it can be to get everyone moving in
the same direction. I recently wrote an article on how leaders can
get much better results from their employees. Can I send you a
copy?"I assure you they will say, "Yes!" with little hesitation. And then
you say:"Great, I'll send you a pdf copy this afternoon. I'd also like to
get your reaction to it. Can I give you a call later this week?"Do this a few times a week and you'll have some real-live
prospects willing to talk to you.At a Talk or Presentation
Once you've given a talk to a professional group or chamber of
commerce, what do you say to get the cards of those attending?
Again, you have an article, but what's the best way to use it to
get those cards? This script has proven virtually foolproof both
for myself and my clients."Thank you so such for attending today. I hope you got a lot from
this presentation. I've written an article that covers most of the
things I talked about today in even more detail. Who would like a
copy?"Hold up an actual copy of the article for them to see. Everyone
will rase their hands. Remember, that people love to get free
stuff. Then say this:"OK, great. Everyone please take out your business cards and make
sure your current email address is printed on it. Then just hand
your cards up to me and I'll send you a copy of the article by
email."You'll get from 75% to 95% of the cards in the room using this
simple approach. And you can then use those cards as your
follow-up list. I've used this one strategy to turn 25% of those
cards into clients.You don't have to be great at thinking on your feet to come up with
something brilliant to say. You just need to think through your
situation, script what you will say and practice it a few times.Before you know it you'll be able to get a card, create a favorable
impression, and arrange a follow-up in only a few seconds.More on "What to Say" in Marketing Flashes below.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Marketing Action Groups start in a month
Currently I'm working with about 100 people in Marketing Action
Groups. Since I stopped doing one-on-one consultations, the
demand has been great. But next time I'll be working with many
fewer people. (It's been a little overwhelming!)I've created a somewhat different format for the upcoming
semester that is designed to give you more time to create the
foundation for your marketing. The program will now be six
months long but won't cost much more.We'll be doing one session a month in June, July and August and
working on three areas: Purpose, Vision and Goals, Marketing
Message and the Marketing Planning Process.In Mid-September we'll start to meet weekly and get into the
nitty gritty of implementing your marketing plans. We'll do 12
weekly sessions through mid-December.All your questions about how the groups are structured (including
dates, price, etc.) can be found at the link below and you can apply
online. I am limiting this next semester to 24 participants, so
don't delay if you'd like to be in one of the groups.http://www.actionplan.com/actiongroup.htmlThe InfoGuru Marketing Manual...
...is the required text for the Marketing Action Groups. If you don't
have it yet, you can get it below.The manual doesn't just give the "what you need to do" to market
yourself successfully, it gives you the "exactly how to do it" and
the all important, "what to say" in every marketing situation you
can think of. Check it out at:http://www.actionplan.com/infoguru.html~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Marketing Flashes on "What to Say"
When saying something designed to get a positive response or
action from a prospect, note the following principles:* People will always act in their own best interest, so offer
something or make a request with that in mind. "I have an article
I think you'll be interested in" works better than, "I've written
many articles on leadership."* People prefer an offer to a request. "I'd like to get together
with you and discuss your leadership challenges" works better
than, "Would you like to meet with me to discuss your leadership
challenges?"* People will act consistently with what they've previously said.
"Put up your hand if you'd like a copy of the article" works much
better than, "You can come up later and give me a card if you want
the article."* People like to be well-regarded or seen as an authority. "I'd like
the opportunity to meet with you and get some of your thoughts
on leadership for an article I'm writing" will work better than,
"I'd like to meet with you to share some of my ideas about
leadership with you."* People respond better to an offer when a resource (such as
time) is perceived to be scarce. "I have a couple spaces open next
week, which would work better for you?" works better than, "my
schedule is totally open next week, what's a good time for you?"Until next week, all the best,
Robert Middleton
ACTION PLAN MARKETING
Helping Independent Professionals Attract More Clients~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
210 Riverside Drive
Boulder Creek, CA 95006
831-338-7790© 2004 Robert Middleton, All rights reserved. You are free
to use material from the More Clients eZine in whole or in part,
as long as you include complete attribution, including live web
site link. Please also notify me where the material will appear.
The attribution should read:"By Robert Middleton of Action Plan Marketing. Please visit
Robert's web site at http://www.actionplan.com for additional
marketing articles and resources on marketing for professional
service businesses."* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
