Client Magnets Blog

Imagine the following scenario. It’s Wednesday afternoon. You and a friend are having lunch at your favourite restaurant. After lunch you might go for a stroll, visit a local attraction, or just go home and read. It doesn’t matter which. Your phone and email are switched off, work is the farthest thing from your mind, and you’re committed to nothing more than simply relaxing. You return to the office the next morning, guilt-free and feeling rather energetic.

This is what Strategic Coach Dan Sullivan describes as a Free Day, a 24-hour period completely free from work-related problem-solving, communication, and action.

It’s not so easy to imagine, is it? For most business owners, the whole notion of free time, particularly midweek, is nothing less than far-fetched. How can you possibly take free time when there’s so much work to be done, money to make, commitments to be kept?

Most people think of Free Days as a reward for hard work. I don’t. Now I see Free Days as an essential precondition for achieving success and optimum productivity. The key to free days is recognizing that it means booking time to rejuvenate before — not after — your productive periods. Several years ago I started to notice that many of the successful business owners I admired talked about the importance of ‘downtime’ and blocking out periods of time where they did absolutely nothing.

Because I was interested in replicating their results, I paid attention and started to wonder how I could incorporate ‘free days’ into my own schedule. It wasn’t easy at first. On any given day, most business owners would consider themselves extraordinarily lucky (or seriously pressured) to be able to squeeze in a bit of free time, let alone a whole day. It happens only IF they can first get “a few things” done, IF there are no unexpected crises, and IF they can just clean up a few “little messes” around the office. Not surprisingly, this seldom, if ever, happens.

But if you want to improve the quality of both your work and personal life, you need ‘Free Days’. So how can you incorporate free days into YOUR schedule?

Right now, most of us figure out how much time we need to work and make money. Then, if there’s anything left over, we devote it to free time. But this concept doesn’t work for time any more than it works for money.

Successful savers know that you have to work out what you want to save, take it off the top of your income, and live on the rest. If you don’t, you’ll get to the end of the month and find there is nothing left. Free time is just like savings: it has to come off the top. So you need to plan your Free Days first, and then work everything else around them.

It won’t come easy at first. You’re not used to it. Like anything else, Free Days take time and practice. But it gets easier when you see free days as a necessity, rather than a luxury. When you’re running a business YOU are the most important asset. In the words of Coachville founder Thomas Leonard ‘Without you, there is nothing.’ So you need to make taking time out for relaxation, rejuvenation and what Stephen Covey calls ’sharpening the saw’ a priority.

How should you use a Free Day? Well that all depends upon YOU. Some people are rejuvenated by engaging in highly energetic activities. They need to be out and about, on the go all the time. Others (like me) are just the opposite. They just want to relax, curl up with a book, listen to music, get a massage, lie on a beach, or have a good conversation. Whatever you choose, your Free Day should allow you to be in a different world, away from responsibilities, concerns, worries, and goals.

Start NOW. Don’t let this be a ‘good idea’ that you’ll get around to ‘when you have time’. Take out your calendar and mark out your next ‘free day’. Keep it sacred! If a whole day seems like too much to start with, then start with an afternoon. I promise that when you make a habit of ‘free days’ and you notice your creativity and productivity soar as a result, you’ll be hooked. So start TODAY.

I once participated in a business coaching program where we were asked to set BHAGs – Big Hairy Audacious Goals. Looking back now, I can see that moment was a significant turning point for me. Up until that point, I had been playing it safe. My goals up until then weren’t Big, Hairy and Audacious. They were Small, Bald and downright Timid. I had been playing it safe. I wasn’t committing to a bigger vision because that way I could avoid disappointment if it didn’t work out. I had been censoring my goals and aiming for what I thought I could achieve as opposed to what I truly wanted.

Fast forward, and there have been some BIG changes in my business. Sales revenues increased by 285% last year and this year we are set to triple revenues again. My team and I (yes, I’ve had to pull in extra people to assist and manage all this growth) are fastening our seatbelts for an exciting year ahead. So, I want to share some of what I’ve learned about business growth over the past few years.

It starts with a decision. I recently read two books by two different multi-millionaire authors, and what struck me was both of them recalled a specific moment when they decided to become wealthy. While I’m not quite in their income league just yet, I did recognize that I had everything I had accomplished started with a decision.

You need a plan. For years I had resisted planning in too much detail, as I wanted my business to grow more organically and spontaneously. I was afraid that following a plan might prevent me from responding to new opportunities as they arose. I was deluding myself. How can you tell whether you are on – or off – track without a plan? Dare to set and plan for goals bigger than you dreamed possible.

You can’t penny-pinch your way to your ‘Big Vision’. Don’t get me wrong. The first law of profits is ‘have more coming in than you have going out’. But if you have a big vision for your own business, you must be willing to invest in the tools, systems and people to help you get there. I spent more on coaching and training last year than ever before, and my business almost tripled. I don’t think that is a co-incidence.

Be prepared to ruffle a few feathers. As you start to live your vision for your life and business, people WILL notice, and not everyone will be happy about it. Some might feel threatened as they see you striding outside of your comfort zone because it brings up their own fears and reminds them how they are still playing small. Others may just be downright jealous. Nothing brings critics out of the woodwork like success! It helps if you are prepared for it, and I would even go so far as say celebrate when the critics start making noise, as it means you must be really doing something.

Do you know about ‘ethical bribes’? An ‘ethical bribe’ is a freebie, something you giveaway in exchange for a person’s contact details and permission to contact them. So why do you need an ‘ethical bribe’? Because just as you don’t propose marriage on a first date, most business relationships need to start slowly and have the trust build up between you.

When you have permission to contact prospects you can send a mixture of valuable information plus sales offers to build up their trust and make sure that when they are ready to act, they buy from you. While traditional sales techniques focus on ‘closing the sale’, sometimes at the expense of the relationship, with this model, you give before you get. Your prospects get to ’sample’ you at low cost and risk. But it also gives you a chance to showcase your expertise too. When you share great content, people can’t help but think ‘if the content they give away is this good, how good is the stuff that they charge for?’

So what makes a good ‘ethical bribe’ and how do you go about creating it? First of all, you want something that has a high perceived value to the user but is low cost to distribute, that’s why information makes a great ethical bribe. You should give it a value too. For example, if you’re offering a free e-book that you could sell for £27, then say so.

Next you need to think about what content to include. You want to find the balance between sharing information that is valuable, and giving away all your information. A great tip is to make sure that your ethical bribe addresses the number one question, problem or issue that faces your typical prospect, and make sure that is summed up in your title. Eg ‘7 Days to the Career of Your Dreams’, ‘How to Lose Weight Without Dieting’.

Tell them what to do, but you don’t necessarily need to spell out HOW to do it (your paid product or service should do that). But make sure that you are sharing great content that isn’t easily available elsewhere. You want your prospect to feel that they have received value from what you provided, even though it was free.

Next you’ll need to decide what format to present your ethical bribe. Choose a format that suits both your target audience and suits you. No point in giving away a free ebook if you’re targeting an audience that isn’t online. Similarly, if you love talking, but hate writing, it might make more sense for you to record and give away audio material rather than write an e-book or free report. Here are some examples of formats I’ve used to get you started: e-book, e-course, teleseminar, quiz or assessment, CD, videos.

Finally you need to ’sell’ your ethical bribe. Just sticking the word FREE in front of something doesn’t in itself make it desirable! Even though it’s FREE, you still have to let people know that it exists, and why it’s worth the trouble of claiming. Tell them what important benefits they will gain from reading/using your ‘ethical bribe’, and why they should claim it.

You’ll be surprised at the difference an ethical bribe can make for starting relationships, building trust and goodwill, demonstrating your expertise and ultimately attracting more clients. So don’t delay, make sure you get started on your ethical bribe today.

Whatever business you are in, one of the best assets you can build is a databank of testimonials from satisfied clients and customers. But exactly how do you get those rave reviews that you can use to attract more clients? Here are my 6 top tips for collecting and using effective testimonials.

1. Deliver a great product or service

I know it’s stating the obvious, but the first step in getting testimonials is to have satisfied customers and clients. That means you need to make sure you have delivered on your promises and at least met, if not exceeded, your customers’ expectations. Don’t try to collect any testimonials until you have met this criteria!

2. Ask!

The big secret of getting testimonials is no big secret at all. You’ve simply got to ask. If you’ve been in business for any length of time at all, you probably already have satisfied customers who would be more than willing to give you an endorsement, if only you ASK them. I understand that you might be self-conscious about asking, so why not send a note or email along these lines.

‘Can I ask a quick favour? I’m in the process of updating my marketing materials and want to include examples of people I have worked with and how I’ve helped them. I would love to include you. Would you be willing to jot a couple of lines about how my (service/product) helped you? I’m planning to get this completed in the next two weeks, so if you could reply by (deadline) it would really help. Thanks in anticipation!’

There, now that wasn’t so difficult was it? Try it. You’ll be pleasantly surprised by the responses you get!

3. Use full contact details

Have you ever seen those testimonials that are signed by someone like ‘J.V, Leicester’. Do you believe them? I don’t. They scream ‘made up!’ Testimonials simply aren’t worthwhile unless accompanied by full contact details: name, company, location, age, profession. Include as much relevant info as you need to prove that the testimonial was provided by a real person.

4. Use examples of your target audience

If you’re targeting single 20 somethings, then it doesn’t make sense to include a testimonial from a 50 year old married woman. The unspoken question many of your prospects have in their head is ‘Will this work for me?’, so they want to see case studies and examples from people who started out in a similar situation. Adapt your testimonials to make them relevant to your target audience e.g. if you are targeting working mothers include information like, ‘Sarah Smith, mother of 3′.

5. Make your testimonials more believable with photos, voice and/or video

We’ve all seen the ‘testimonials’ on TV that are actually paid actors, so it’s not surprising that many of your prospects are jaded and skeptical. You can make your testimonials more believable by using proof in the shape of photos, actual voice recordings of the testimonials and even video testimonials if you can get them. Audio Generator includes a feature for easily collecting voice testimonials from your customers. They provide you with a phone number, the client calls to record their message, then you get a simple code for uploading the audio to your website.

6. Have a system for soliciting testimonials

I know you’ve already got too much on your ‘to do’ list, and the last thing I want to do is create more work for you. The key to getting anything done in marketing is to put a system in place that automates the process. For example, send a form letter or email a specific number of days after the service, treatment or goods have been received verifying that your client is happy and asking them to provide you with their comments.

Some of the best testimonials I got for my first e-book came from a standard email I sent to every customer 14 days after they ordered the product. I just set the email up on my auto-responder so I didn’t have to think about it. It generated a steady stream of testimonials with no further action required on my part.

The bottom line is that adding testimonials is one of the most effective changes you can make to your marketing materials, so make sure you start collecting and using testimonials, starting today!

I often hear people saying, “I’m really struggling with late payers. I’ve done the work and it’s just really frustrating. I’m a small business and some of these large companies are taking 90 days to pay me.” For many business owners it seems like there’s nothing you can do about this. It’s just something you have to suffer, something you have to put up with.

So the majority accept this as a ‘necessary and unavoidable evil’. But what if you didn’t have to accept that? What if you actually made it a condition of your business that people paid you in advance or they paid you a percentage in advance?

Please notice your reaction to the suggestion I just made. Because if your instant reaction is, “Oh, I couldn’t do that. That’ wouldn’t work in my industry,” I just want to push you a bit and say, “Well, why not?” What’s stopping you? Who says you can’t do it that way?

Because the fact is, if you want to produce extraordinary results in your business, you may need to take extraordinary measures.

I can tell you from experience that the instant you set a condition like that in your business and you say, “Actually I now only deal with clients who pay in advance,” you know what will happen? The ones that will grumble or the ones that might refuse to do business with you were the ones that were going to be the problem payers anyway.

Several years ago I did a very interesting exercise where I divided up my client list into ‘dream clients’ (love working them, in fact it’s not like work at all, they pay me on time and in full) and ‘problem clients’ (wish this person had never darkened my door, always asking for extras, quibbling over fees, pay late if at all etc.) As I reviewed this list I noticed a very interesting pattern. Every single one of the ‘problem’ clients had done something during the sales process to flag their ’special needs’. They had asked for some extras, or a discount, some bending of the rules, some pushing of my usual business terms and conditions.

At the time, because I didn’t know any better, I yielded to their requests because I thought I ‘had to’, and because I thought it was ‘good business’ to be flexible. Yet in every single one of these instances, their first request had just been the thin edge of the wedge and the start of a whole series of special requests.

So even if on the face of it it looks like you’re losing a client or two by putting a condition like payment terms in place, the fact is you’re losing the problem clients. Because the customers that were going to pay you on time, the customers that value you and aren’t going to quibble over your fees or drag their heels over paying your invoices will comply with your requests because they recognize the value of what you’re offering and they accept this as a term of doing business with you.

The bottom line is YOU get to determine the terms on which you do business. If you let your clients dictate the terms then don’t be surprised if you live to regret it. Don’t say I didn’t warn you!

It’s not unusual for someone setting up a service business to be advised to give a free consultation as a way of winning business. In the coaching world in particular, this is recommended as the main way of winning clients.

Many coaches are assured (often by the people selling them their coaching training) that all they will need to do to have a full practice is offer free taster sessions, and somehow those people will magically transform into paying clients.

This in my view is one of the Big Fat Myths Of Building A Coaching Practice, and it really annoys me to see would-be coaches being duped and misled in this way. The fact is, with any buying decision, the buyer has questions and concerns that need to be addressed, and not all of them will be handled in the free consultation.

Time and time again, I’ve encountered people who are frustrated and demoralized by their conversion of free consultations into paying business.

So what’s the answer? Are we for or against free consultations?

My take on this is that free consultations might work, but you need to use them in the right way, and that means asking the prospect to take the next step at the end of the session.

The Free Consultation Won’t Do The Selling For You!

The trouble is, many people use free consultations in the hope that the consultation will do the selling for them, and they won’t have to engage in the ‘dirty’ business of asking for the order. So the consultation comes to an end, the service provider says, ‘I hope you enjoyed that/found it useful’, and then waits for the client to initiate the next step, because they don’t want to be ‘pushy’.

Meanwhile the prospect is actually waiting for some direction from the service provider, yet when none is forthcoming, leaves, or ends the phone call, confused.

So if you are going to offer free consultations, make sure that at the very least you invite the prospect to take the next step, and find out what questions and concerns they have about proceeding. The free consultation should pave the way for a sales conversation to take place, not replace it.

They Take Up Your Time

The main objection I have to ‘free consultations’ as a selling tool, is how much time they take. When you’re running your own business, time is the most valuable resource you have. You can always make more money, but none of us, not even Bill Gates or Oprah Winfrey, can manufacture more time.

Most people, especially when they are starting out, think that they are cash-poor, but time rich, and therefore happily offer free sessions in the hope that it will win them some business. The trouble is, if you’re even half way good at what you do, it won’t take long for word to get round, and your calendar will be full with free consultations, but no paying clients. I suggest that instead of offering free consultations ‘one-to-one’ you offer group tele-coaching preview calls. That way you will leverage your time and can simultaneously reach a number of prospects.

What Type Of Prospects Do You Attract With Free Offers?

I hate to say it, but in my experience it’s true, when you offer anything for free, you will attract a percentage of people who will never, ever buy from you no matter what you do for them. I have had many successful coaches admit to me privately that it was only when they found the confidence to charge for an ‘introductory’ session that they attracted a better calibre of client.

I’m not saying don’t offer free stuff – but offer things that are low cost for you to deliver and high perceived value to the prospect eg special report, e-book, free teleseminar. Things that take your time on a one-to-one basis are a HIGH cost to deliver, because it’s time you can’t sell to anyone else, or time you could be spending on other projects.

Why People Say No To Free Consultations

Some people are mystified that even when they offer something free – people don’t want it. I’m reminded of the man in Hyde Park who, as an experiment, started offering £5 notes to passers by, only to be refused! There are a whole host of reasons why someone might be reluctant to take up your free consultation.

First, they might be worried about what they are getting into, secondly it’s wrong to assume that the financial risk is the only barrier preventing someone from doing business with you. They might be worried about being vulnerable or looking foolish. In these circumstances the prospect will take the safest option ie do nothing!

So should you offer free consultations? Well, at the risk of sounding like a politician, it depends. What I’ve done in this article is give you some things to take into consideration. At the end of the day, you have to consider all the options and make the decision that is best for your business right now. (You can always change your mind later).

Here’s a little marketing quiz for you. Imagine you are being offered two marketing opportunities. Option 1 is the chance of a positive front page news story on a national newspaper that will be read by millions of people first thing tomorrow morning. Option 2 is permission to communicate on an ongoing basis with 1,000 people who know, like and trust you.

Which would you choose?

I hope you said the list of 1,000 people. I know that’s what I would choose.

But why? Whilst at a first glance the chance to have your business seen by millions may appear to be the better opportunity, it has a few strikes against it when compared with the list.

The first point is relevance. An audience of millions may sound impressive, but how many of them are really potential prospects for your business? More to the point, how many of them are actively looking right now?

The second point is timing. A one time blast of your marketing message is only likely to get results with the people who have an immediate need for what you are offering. What about the people who are interested but for whatever reason not ready to buy your service right now? Unless you have a system in place for capturing the details and following up with the ‘interested, but not right now’ group, you’ve just missed a huge opportunity.

The third point is trust and credibility. Whilst the endorsement of a national newspaper will lend you some weight, there will still be people who hesitate to act. It takes time to cultivate a relationship with those people that culminates with them handing over their hard earned cash.

‘Getting Known’ is important – but it’s not enough to guarantee your success.

Or, to put it another way, fame does not necessarily equal fortune. Whilst ‘getting known’ will be one element of your overall business success, it’s important to be known by the right people. By that I mean people who are a good match for the product or service that you offer, or have access and credibility with groups of people who do. And even then, being known by the right people isn’t enough. If you want that relationship to translate into sales revenue and profit, those people also need to understand what you offer and trust you enough that they are willing to take you up on it.

In short, whilst the newspaper coverage is a one-time opportunity that may or may not generate business, an ongoing relationship with 1,000 people who know, like and trust you is the foundation of a successful business. Serve them well and not only will they become buyers – but repeat buyers and raving fans who will recommend you to others.

Want to launch a new product or service? Think how much easier it will be when you have a ready made group of responsive prospects to offer it to.

A list is like an insurance policy for your business. When I work with clients who need to generate cash windfalls for their business, the first questions I ask are ‘What sort of list do you have? How many prospects? How many clients and customers?’ That’s because a strong offer made to a list of people who have some experience of you will always yield better results than trying to go out and find and sell to new prospects. If you’re asking yourself ‘where’s the business going to come from this month?’, you really haven’t yet tapped into the power of cultivating a list.

Start TODAY. Collect up records of past clients and prospects, and put them into a database. (I like ACT!) People who have some previous experience of you are ALWAYS more likely to buy than people you contact ‘cold’. Is there some offer you could make TODAY to generate business or interest? Then do it! Next brainstorm what you could do on an ongoing basis to maintain and cultivate a relationship with your list. HINT: it’s better to send something little and often, than one major mailing 4 times a year.

A reader writes: ‘I am struggling to get new clients into my complementary therapy business. I have placed advertising in yellow pages, newspapers and I have started offering monthly discounts and special offers, but I only seem to get a trickle of people in the door and mostly past customers, not new ones. Where am I going wrong?’

Actually, I think you are on track, and what you need to do now is keep going and refining your approach. A successful marketing machine is a combination of several small pieces working together. Expecting one of those pieces to deliver all the results you need is like expecting a receptionist to handle sales, customer service, operations, finance and strategy. It’s an unrealistic expectation.

Let me explain.

A very common mistake is over-dependence upon 1-2 sources of new client enquiries. No matter what business you are in, it is highly unlikely that any single source will deliver ALL the enquiries you need. For example, it’s much easier to find 100 methods that will bring in 1 client each than it is to find one jackpot source that delivers 100 new clients.

Take a close look at any established, successful business and I promise you they have multiple sources of incoming leads.

What you are telling me is that your existing advertising isn’t delivering the quantity of new clients you want and need, so you are going to need to up your efforts. Before you say ‘I can’t afford that’ we need to take a closer look at the results your ads are already producing. It may be time to drop or change some of the ads you are running.

The first thing I want to talk to you about is your expectations. Over and over I see people making the mistake of investing their last dollar in an ad in the hope that it will solve all of their marketing problems, and bring in all the business they need.

The fact is, it just isn’t as straightforward as that. For example, if you run an ad and you aren’t satisfied with the results produced, it may be that you were in the right publication to reach your target audience, but that your ad was a dud. Or it could be that the publication did not reach in your target audience, so even an ad written by the world’s best copywriter would fail.

So the tricky part about evaluating your ad is that we need to establish whether you have:

1. The wrong message, reaching the right audience
2. The right message, reaching the wrong audience
3. The wrong message, reaching the wrong audience.

And of course, our ultimate goal is:

4. The right message, reaching the right audience.

Whilst you may strike lucky and hit the jackpot first time out, for the majority it DOES take time to get this right. Even experienced marketers have to tweak and adjust what’s in their ads and where they are running to produce outstanding results. The difference is that they keep going whereas the majority just give up.

So let’s talk about WHERE you are advertising first. For example, you have mentioned Yellow Pages and local newspapers and those are methods of reaching the general population. The trouble is, with both those media, you are paying a premium for their high circulation, even though a high percentage of their readers may never consider using complementary therapies.

Brainstorm other opportunities to reach your target audience. There is a good chance that there is a perfect opportunity right under your nose. Few people will invest the time to identify new media opportunities like this, but they are so vital for the success of your business.

The fact that you have already taken SOME action and got some advertising out there already puts you way ahead of everybody else sitting around ‘hoping’ for business to show. Now build upon that by looking beyond the ‘obvious’ and identifying other places where your target audience is ‘hanging out’.

It’s said that the most effective person is not necessarily the one who does the most, but the one who gets the most done.

Knowing the difference between the two means the difference between being stressed and busy and never feeling like there are enough hours in the day and a sense of ever increasing accomplishment, as you marvel at just how much you can achieve when you get out of your own way.

It seems to me that most business owners fall into ‘Do-It-Yourself-It is’ – even when we understand the importance of working ON the business versus IN the business. Several years ago, having done my time employing people (and feeling that I was working for them rather than they were working for me!), I made the decision to create a ‘lifestyle business’, one that I could operate with a laptop from anywhere in the world, without the overhead of office space or employees.

The mistake I made at first was that I thought no employees meant no help at all! It’s an easy mistake to make. If you don’t have a lot of cash when starting out, it may seem easier to do it yourself rather than hire help. And sometimes you may be reluctant to hand over tasks that you think nobody else can do as well as you!

But then I learned about ‘virtual assistants’ – the essential ingredient for everyone who wants to create a ‘lifestyle’ business. Because a VA only charges you for the hours he or she actually works, rates may be more than you’d pay an administrative employee (usually £20-30 per hour), and of course you don’t have the added expenses of employee benefits, office space, and equipment.

Today I have several different assistants dotted around the world ready to leap in and help me with specific parts of my business as and when I need them. I honestly don’t know how I managed for so long without them.

So this week I’d to share with you tips for assembling your own ‘dream team’:

1. Decide what can only be done by you and what can be handed over.

You have unique skills and parts of your business that only you can and should take care of. The more you are able to focus on those things, the stronger and faster your business will grow.

2. Understand the value of investing in help.

As wise man once said to me, if you want to make hundreds per hour, why get bogged down in penny-paying jobs? Are there things like updating webpages, bookkeeping, handling routine emails that could be better handled by someone else? Trying to avoid paying someone to do these things for you by doing them yourself is false economy, as these task will sap your energy and create mental clutter. Getting these things off your ‘to do’ list is liberating!

3. Find the right people.

Somewhere in the world there is someone who knows how to do the jobs you want to get off your ‘to-do’ list, and not just that, they even enjoy doing them! My favourite places to find ‘virtual assistants’ that you can hire by the hour are http://www.elance.com and http://www.assistu.com. You can find people to work on an as-needed basis from their own homes or offices, saving you the cost and hassle of hiring an office assistant.

4. Know the difference between delegating and abdicating.

Sometimes it is such a relief to find someone to take care of the things that you’ve been dreading, that you just hope that someone else will fix or take care of things for you. That’s abdicating. When you delegate you retain responsibility for the outcome. You will be most tempted to ‘abdicate’ those parts of your business that you don’t understand or enjoy. Make sure you both have a clear understanding of the desired end result, and that the person you are hiring knows how to do accomplish what you want them to do. Ask for references and proof that they have the skills they say they do.

5. Learn to let go!

For many business owners, the hardest part is trusting another person to care as much as we do, or do it as well as (we think) we can. Want to know the truth? When you assemble your ‘dream team’ of virtual assistants you will be surprised, amazed and delighted at how much better things go when you stop interfering!

The bottom line is outsourcing will free up your time immensely, allowing you to focus on the stuff that matters: developing your business, creating new ideas and income streams, and servicing your larger clients. You’ll think much bigger and will have much more creative energy. I guarantee it!

So what can you outsource, starting today?

The first place to start is with those things that give you that ’sinking feeling’ when you think about them. Keep track of tasks and activities for one week, and then go through and highlight the jobs that could be handed over. Make a plan for hiring the right helpers, and feel your energy soar!

A reader asked: ‘I have now been seeking freelance assignments for the past eight months. I have been meeting HR/Training managers in a one-on-one discussion and it’s painfully long till they decide to give the assignment. A client whom I approached recently wanted to know the names and contact details of clients with whom I had worked earlier. She did this even without evaluating me and the programs that I conduct. Is there a way a client should be evaluating a trainer/consultant? Is there a way one can influence the evaluating process the client adopts? For those of us who are starting with such assignments, we may not have many references to give.’

What this person is encountering isn’t all that unusual. It’s pretty standard for a training manager to want to know about your credentials and track record before they even engage in a dialogue with you. Think about it from their point of view. You are trying to sell to time pressed people who are bombarded with approaches by others just like you.

At this point in time, they are calling all the shots. Clients are completely entitled to evaluate prospective vendors in whatever way they see fit. Trying to tell them that they ’should’ be evaluating you differently is a waste of your time and theirs.

In this situation you have two choices 1. complain that it’s not fair, or 2. learn the rules of the game and start playing by them.

When I was in the same situation, I chose number 2!

I know it’s tough when you’re just starting out. I have been there, and I can tell you from experience that the situation you’re in won’t last forever.

First of all, let’s deal with the lack of references and testimonials. When you don’t have many references to give, it’s challenging. It’s the old catch 22 of you can’t get a job until you have experience, but you can’t get the experience because no-one will give you a job!

So what’s the way through?

Is there any business you have a good relationship with who would be willing to be a case study for you? When I was getting started, I had a friend who was a small business owner and was sympathetic to my plight. He needed help with sales and marketing, so we came to an arrangement where by he got a very good deal on my services and in return his company was a bit of a ‘guinea pig’ for me.

There aren’t many people who would be willing to let a ‘rookie trainer’ loose on their team, so success with this strategy does depend upon you having a good relationship with someone who sees your potential and believes in you. The work I did for his company helped me build experience and confidence in what I was offering.

A friend of mine approached local businesses and offered to do a free 1 1/2 hour ‘taster’ session with their sales team. He had brilliant rapport skills and once people got a sense of what he had to offer, they wanted more. He did £100,000 worth of business in his first year as a freelance trainer, and this was his main selling technique.

Get experience by finding local business groups or clubs and offering to speak for free at their meetings. I still cringe when I think about some absolutely awful presentations I gave when I was getting started, but the old motto ‘practice makes perfect’, really applies here. You’ll gain invaluable presenting experience, anecdotes that will help you with sales meetings and get some experience fielding questions and helping real business people. Of course this will raise your visibility too. When I was starting out, I did this purely to gain experience, but I ended up getting a lot of business via this method. Offer something at the end of your talk, such as a free article or CD in exchange for contact details, and you can start to build up a prospect list using this method too.

These are three suggestions, but the key is YOU have to be creative and determined and find a way to get the references and experience you need. It is possible, and plenty of people have done it before you.

Reading between the lines of your email, what’s really going to make a difference for you is ‘beefing up’ your own attitude and self-belief. I sense that you’re being somewhat timid and apologetic in the way you are approaching people, so they are immediately writing you off. Training managers want to hire trainers who exude ‘I can do it’ confidence. Bolstering your confidence is YOUR responsibility, not theirs. This is the ‘Inner Game’ on being a Client Magnet. The ironic thing is, when you truly exude this confidence, a lot of the obstacles you are currently encountering just fall away.

However tough it seems today, you must remember that even as you are reading this, there are companies out there who do need what you have to offer, and business contracts are being signed today for services you can provide. To get in on the action and start diverting some of these contracts your way, you need to start talking about what you can offer in a language that makes sense to companies. Describe what you’re offering in terms of problems that they have that you can solve and goals they desire. Companies don’t want more freelance trainers, but they will welcome problem solvers.

So whether you can boost morale, reduce absenteeism, increase sales, improve customer retention (or all of the above!), you need to start perceiving and presenting yourself as a valuable problem solver rather than just another trainer.