Client Magnets Official Blog

Archive for November, 2009

“The moment one definitely commits one’s self then providence moves too.” W. H. Murray

Which would you think is more likely to happen:
1. You think how nice it would be to relax on a white, sandy beach with a cold drink.  You dream of getting away, of finding that perfect beach.
2. You think of that perfect beach scene, you decide that you will spend a week in Fiji next winter.

Which of those two scenarios is more likely to come true?  Notice how the trip to Fiji gives you something concrete to work towards, and that will cause you to take steps toward making that goal a reality.  So it’s much more likely to happen than your ‘wouldn’t it be nice’ scenario.

The same can be said for setting the goal for your business.  When you have a tangible goal set, you’re more likely to achieve it.  Just saying my business is going to be successful versus my sales will exceed one million next year is just the same as dreaming versus setting a goal.

Now, do you need a complete business plan laid out in front of you when you’re setting your goal?  No!  In fact, is that what’s stopping you from setting a target?  Think of Fiji – you don’t know what flight you’re going to take yet.  But now that you’ve set a goal to get there, you can search for the best flight, then choose the hotel and take care of the specifics.

So, what I’m saying is – set a goal, not a ‘wouldn’t it be nice’ scenario.  Don’t let the fact that the whole scenario isn’t mapped out yet stop you.  The quote I offer in the start here is by a man named W.H. Murray, although it’s often attributed to Goethe, it goes like this:
“The moment one definitely commits oneself then providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one’s favour all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamed would have come his way.”

My goal for the past year was to reach one million in sales.  I didn’t know in detail how I was going to reach it when I set the goal.  In fact, my plan for how that was going to happen didn’t pan out, the path took a few twists and turns, but I still made my goal. So what you need to remember is that there is a perfect path for you from wherever you are right now to where you want to be.

Hopefully, at this point you’re not throwing up roadblocks to reaching your goal.  It’s so easy to do, yet so counterproductive.  Perhaps you’re thinking, “But I don’t have the resources, I don’t have the cash, I don’t have the child care in place”.

When you throw up those roadblocks, you’re talking yourself out of succeeding before you’ve even started.  So that leads me to my second favorite quote, one by Doreen Virtue:

“God doesn’t give us our dreams without the ability to make them happen.”

The truth is that what you see as your goal, it absolutely is possible for you.  But we don’t always see the opportunities because we’re so busy wishing our circumstances were different.  So, don’t find excuses – set your goal, where you are now is the perfect place for you to start for you.  Why?  Because your current circumstances offer the seeds of everything you need to achieve this goal.

So, when you make it to Fiji next winter, please send me a postcard!

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How many people have you asked to give you money today?

I’m not talking about begging for or borrowing money from someone. How many people have you approached about paying you for the services your business has to offer?

It could have been directly in a verbal conversation. Or you could have approached them by sending out an email promotion or by sending traffic to a page on your website where you’re selling something.

So, how many people did you ask to give you money today?

If that number is less than ten or even five, and you’re not getting the paying business that you want, you can’t be surprised.

If you’re putting all of this energy out there, but you’re not directly asking for the business, that is the missing piece in your business.

You need to ask more people to give you more money.

Maybe you’ve got a blog. Or, you’ve got an email newsletter. You’re on Twitter. You’re on Facebook. You’re doing all of these things to get your name out there.

But, as Internet marketing has become more and more prevalent, it has become easier and easier to do these things. A lot of people are using social media, email and newsletters, hoping they will somehow be discovered in the sea of names and faces in the never-ending online universe. It’s just like the aspiring actress working as a waitress in a Hollywood restaurant, waiting to be discovered.

Honestly, it’s extremely rare that someone is going to show up, see your article or blog or whatever, and say “Wow. What an insightful, amazing, intelligent person you are. I can’t wait to give you some money. Tell me what you can do for me.”

Now, all of those things you are doing do raise your visibility. They’re getting your name out in the marketplace. And maybe you even have ways of then getting people to join your subscription list. But, all of that activity is not going to magically manifest into paying clients.

It is still only lead generation. And leads don’t magically convert into paying clients on their own. You need to do something to nudge them into action.

Until you start directly putting specific offers in front of your prospective clients, don’t expect them to throw money at you. When you say, “Here’s what it is. Here’s what it will do for you. Here’s how much it costs. Here’s what to do now,” – that is when the money will start coming through in a big way.

So, if you’re not getting paying business out of your prospects, start asking for the business.    One of the keys to your success is to be more upfront and ask more people to give you money.

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At some point, everyone feels that there’s greater potential in their business than what they are achieving. The trick is for you to recognize new opportunities when they present themselves, so you can turn potential development into actual growth.

Sounds simple enough, but the truth is that people often miss opportunities because they just don’t see them. And, one of the reasons they don’t see them is that they’ve become stagnant in their business. They are stuck in some type of rut.

And they’ll remain in that rut until they get to the point of near desperation. The point where they need to find opportunities to grow their business now because the cash flow has already dried up.

I want you to see those new opportunities to expand your business and make more money before you are at the point where you are struggling.

If you feel stagnant, like things are drying up around you, it’s time to get creative and think outside the box. If you’re stuck in a pattern of behavior where you’re just doing the same thing over and over and getting the same old results – results that you don’t want – you need to refocus.

Maybe all you really need to do is just get out of your office. If you’re stuck in the office doing drudge tasks that someone said you need to do, but all the while you’re thinking of the other things that you ought to be doing, you are not getting anywhere. You’re not giving the things you are doing their due attention. So, just stop doing them. It’s like that old saying – If you find yourself in a hole just stop digging.

Once you stop, you will have created enough space to see the opportunity for the growth you want to achieve. And, it will be right in front of you. You simply need to stop doing what is no longer effective.

You also need to have a certain mindset to make this work. I know that there are moments when you are open to suggestion and absorb new information like a sponge. There are also moments when you think, “I can’t do that. That won’t work. That doesn’t apply to me.”

It’s so critical that you recognize “that-won’t-work” thinking.

If you find that you are often saying, “That won’t work. That won’t work,”
recognize that this is a type of a rut that you’re in. Say to yourself instead, “I can’t see how to make this work right now. But I trust that it does work. How can I make this work?”

Another great way to refocus and think outside the box to see opportunities is to belong to mastermind groups. Odds are that many of the members will have had the same questions or problems that you do, and have already found answers that they are more than happy to share with you. Being surrounded by like-minded people who want to succeed is a great way for you to stay aware of the greater potential that you know you are capable of.

I encourage you to use interactive elements like these groups and the online forums to open up your eyes to new ideas and ways of thinking.

Sometimes asking for help can make you feel a little bit defensive or lacking in confidence. But forums and mastermind groups provide a tremendous spirit of support and sharing. No one is going to knock you there.

If you recast your approach, you’ll increase your confidence in your ability to create new opportunities and recognize the opportunities that are already there:

*Refocus your attention

*Effect a change in your habits

*Change your mindset

*Ask questions

*Stop doing the things that are no longer effective

*Think outside the box

Even if things are going great in your business, always keep your eyes and mind open to new opportunities. If you do, growth and cash flow will never again be a problem.

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At the end of every quarter, and even at points throughout the month, I stop and think about what I’ve learned.  What I can share with people to help make their journey easier.  I came up with nine points that were important realizations, and I’d like to share them with you.  You’ll see that they all tie together, they’re all part of a multi-dimensional way to meet goals and grow our business.

1.    Don’t throw in the towel before the game even starts.
If you go into the next quarter with a defeatist attitude, you will be defeated.  Coaches can tell you, games are won and lost in the locker room.  We’re in the locker room, don’t psych yourself out telling yourself the market and economy is too challenging.

2.    Decide what you want.
Did you know the word “decide” comes from the Latin word “decider”, which is to cut off.   When you set your next goal, really decide that you want to meet that target.  When you have truly decided you want to meet that goal, there is no other option, you have cut off other options, including failure.

3.    There’s a perfect path for you from where you are now to where you want to be.
You may not know each and every step you’re going to make to reach your goal, but there is a path, you just don’t see it yet.  While it may not be perfectly clear, and the timing may not be perfect, that’s all part of the master plan, it’s part of the groundwork for the perfect path.

4.    Be firm on the what, but flexible on the how.
Know what you want, but be flexible as the path unfolds.  Again, it’s all part of the perfect path, and it unfolds with each and every experience laying groundwork for the next step.

5.    Use the 80/20 rule.
There are several areas in which the 80/20 rule applies – in this instance, I’m saying that 80% of your revenue will come from 20% of your customers – focus on those 20% to make the most of your time and efforts.

6.    Identify and put into place the structures to support your goal.
Look at your business, your time and even your personal life.  Now that you know your goal, determine the changes that need to be made to support it.  It can be as complex as relocating or as simple as hiring a virtual assistant.

7.    Take action.
It seems so obvious, but for some it just may be the step that’s missing.  Timing is never going to be just right, there will always be reasons that can be found for NOT taking action.  So just do it.

8.    Be prepared for setbacks.
Recognize a setback for exactly what it is – just a bump in the road.  If you expect perfectly smooth sailing towards your goal, any setback will become a major disappointment.  Realize you will have setbacks and deal with them for what they are – just a bump in the road that helps shape your journey.

9.    It’s not over until you decide that it is.
As I said earlier, to decide comes from the Latin word that means to cut off.  And failure is just one of the things you’re cutting off when you decide to reach a target.  Even if you feel you may not make it, realize that you may need to change course, but don’t throw in the towel.

So, those are the nine things that took me some time and introspection to learn, and I hope having they help you grow and learn and prosper, as they did for me.

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What is the process someone must follow to become a paying client of yours?  Is it something like this:
1. The person calls you or sends an e-mail.
2. You respond, but may end up playing telephone tag for awhile.
3. You eventually connect and arrange a meeting.
4. You do a consultation.
5. You write a proposal.
6. You ask the person if they want to proceed with you.

If there are that many steps, there are too many steps. And there is one common denominator in each and every one of  those steps. You. So we need to wean you off your personal involvement.

I’m sure you’re thinking, “No. That’s absolutely impossible. My business is too complex, there’s so much detail. I need to speak to the client individually and really understand their needs.”

And yes, there are certain business situations that call for that. But not every time, and it’s not the only way.

So, here are the reasons we need to fire you from your sales team.

1. The greater the dependency on you, the weaker your business. You’re putting a lid on your income because you become a bottleneck when everything must go through you.

2. Too much personal investment in a potential client weakens your negotiating position. If you met someone out of the blue who says, “I like what you’re doing but will you do it at half price?” you would probably respond, “No way. Who do you think I am?” But you’d likely put it more politely than that.

But what if you’ve had prior phone conversations with a client, submitted proposals and had meetings? Now you’ve gone quite far down the path.

And after you have invested your time and your resources, the client comes back to you with, “We really like you. We really want to work with you. But we can only afford half of what you’re charging.”

You’re more likely to waver because at that point you’re already invested in the potential sale. Then you are faced with the agonizing decision of cutting your losses completely, or accepting the low fee and hoping for more work later on. That’s not a position you want to be in.

3. Too much personal involvement in a sale creates a false expectation for your client relationships.
Has this ever happened to you? You receive great and attentive service from a sales person before you purchase something from a company. Then, the moment you hand over your cash it seems like they’re not interested in you anymore.

You may think you would never treat customers that way, but you run the risk of this happening if you give a lot of personal attention to people before they become a client. Because you can only do that as long as you’re not busy.

Sooner or later, when your business is at capacity and you’re working with many clients, you’re not going to have the time. Something will have to give. Or you will be so focused on bringing in new business that existing client relationships will suffer.

So, be aware of the dynamic of your business relationships with clients. Be available, of course, but keep it realistic and professional.

4. The final reason we need to fire you from your sales team is that you can’t be duplicated. I love working with clients one-to-one, helping them figure out solutions to their problems. But as my business has grown, I’ve had to pull myself back from those types of conversations. I can’t sustain that level of service on a personal basis throughout my whole business. So now the people that get one-to-one attention from me are the people in my mentoring program.

The key is to eliminate at least some of the one-to-one activities that you’re currently doing to generate new business. Remove your personal self as much as possible from the manual labor and intense personal involvement of getting new clients.

Fire yourself from your sales team and focus on finding tools and resources that will attract more clients with less of your time.

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Knowing, in general, who your target market is can be a lot like knowing, in theory, what it’s like to ride a roller coaster. You may have read a lot about that amusement ride but, until you’ve actually ridden one, your knowledge is incomplete. In the same way, until you have an in-depth understanding of your target audience, it’s impossible to know what they need and how to provide it.

This may seem very elementary to you, if you’ve been in business for awhile. But it’s really the most important step toward building a stronger business. If you aren’t sure who needs your products and how that audience lives, works and thinks, how is it possible to market to them effectively? The great thing is that, once you’ve learned those things, your marketing efforts are much more successful.

Think of it this way: once you’ve clearly identified the group of people most likely to need your products, your marketing changes from “How to reach lots of people” to “Will this help reach my target audience?” That sort of focusing in is so much more effective in the long run.

So, what are some questions to ask when defining your target audience? Here are the important ones:

• What age, gender and occupation are the people who need my services?
• What are their hobbies and interests?
• What’s their lifestyle—where do they go on holiday and what do they buy when they shop?
• Are they married or single? Do they have children?
• Where do they live, and what things do they like to have around them?
• What is most important to them?

These questions are obviously targeting individuals. If you usually work with businesses, consider these factors, as well:

• What industries are my target clients in?
• Where are those companies located geographically?
• How many employees do they have?
• What position in those companies do my targeted contacts hold?

As you can see, answering each of these questions gives you a more in-depth knowledge of your target audience. Not being able to answer them simply says that you need to focus more on who is most in need of your services.

The more specific your answers to these questions, the more targeted your marketing becomes. The opposite approach to building business is to attempt to please everyone. The danger to that approach is that when your marketing is generic, it may not capture anyone’s attention.

Having clarity about a target audience and focusing on what they need is the strongest possible foundation for your marketing. If you feel reluctance about narrowing down your audience, is it because you fear losing opportunities?

The opposite is actually true. Trusting that you’ve found your perfect audience allows you to relax and simply meet their needs. You don’t have to fret about competition, because you’re the perfect person to serve them.

Specialising your services to meet the needs of your target audience can be scary, if you don’t yet feel that trust. Here’s an example that might motivate you toward identifying your niche:

Suppose you offer telephone etiquette training. Your current marketing generically offers to train employees to sound more professional on the telephone. What if, rather than offering general telephone skills training, you narrowed your approach down to teaching sales people to cold call more effectively?

Do you see how that narrowed focus might make your services more interesting? Cold calling is something most salespeople resist. By teaching those same salespeople to make more appointments with fewer calls, you’re providing a valuable service to sales-based organizations. That automatically makes your marketing more effective. You begin to attract business naturally from the companies that most need that service.

There’s no need to worry that you’ll miss opportunities by specialising because you focus your marketing on people much more likely to respond. Trust that your business will grow as you define your audience and target your services to their needs.

Take the time to identify your target audience more clearly, if you’re struggling to build your business. Identify who that audience is and what it needs, and you’ll see much greater returns from your marketing dollars.

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Are you charging customers as much as your services are really worth? Or are you charging them as much as you think they will pay?

The truth is, most people are not charging what they are worth. They are charging what they believe they can get. But this way of thinking will only hold you back.

One of the fastest ways to propel you forward and increase your income is to increase your fees.

If talking about increasing your fees touches a nerve for you, look at it this way.

As you increase your fees you attract a better quality client. Because often, if you’ve been in the “bargain basement” in terms of your business, if you’ve been going after the discount buyers, these are the least loyal buyers. These are the buyers who jump ship as soon as someone else comes along with a cheaper price offering.

If you want to create long-term loyal clients, you have to charge the right fees. You have to charge fees that enable you to deliver great service without being in sacrifice. Talented people with tremendous value to share can often become burned out because they’re selling their services for bargain basement prices.

So, if you are working crazy hours just to earn a decent income, and you’re stressed out, that’s a lose-lose situation. Your client loses out because they’re not getting the best of you. You’re losing out in terms of self-esteem and cash flow. And your family and your loved ones are losing too.

I see people agonizing all the time over what fees to set and being fearful that clients won’t pay that fee or that they’re going to encounter price objections. So, how can you overcome this fear and go about increasing your fees? Here are a couple of ideas you might try:

• Change your approach. Stop worrying about what your clients can afford to pay. Approach setting your fee as if money is no object for your clients and as if you have no issues about receiving that much money in one go. What would you really charge for your product or service then?

• Put together a package. Think about what would be the most amazing package that you could put together. And, when you do suddenly get it and increase your fees, it’s like having one of those L’Oreal “I’m worth it” feelings.

• Talk to your clients. Sit down with your client and ask what  they would consider a “gold star” program, and then you develop and deliver that program,. You don’t have to spend your time compromising and figuring out what you think people are willing to spend, and continually adjusting your product or service to fit that.

Increasing your fees is really such a simple change to make if you don’t resist it.  As you increase your fees, you’ll discover something really interesting. It’s like a metaphor really, where you’re saying to the universe, “I’m worth this.”

And as you find the courage to say, “I’m worth this,” the people in the world who are meant to be working with you will suddenly hear you. They will suddenly see you, and it will be reflected back to you.

I’ve coached so many people who will testify that their client didn’t bat an eyelid after they raised their fees. So, instead of trying to make excuses to yourself about why your prices are lower or why you shouldn’t increase your fees, justify why you should.

It is the fastest way to uncover hidden money in your business.

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What is your primary sales offering?

It’s your knowledge, your expertise in your subject.

But do your customers and clients know how much you value your own knowledge and experience?

Do the people you are selling to sense your wholehearted belief in your products or programs? Do they feel your confidence in your  ability to help them find the solutions they need?

If you don’t truly believe in the value of what you’re offering, you can’t expect your customers to. Any lack of resolve on your part will be reflected back to you. Customers and clients can sense if you don’t believe in what you’re selling. As a result, they won’t buy from you, or they will give you a lot of price resistance.

Valuing what you know is not just about price, though. Sticking a higher price tag on your products or services isn’t the answer. It doesn’t deliver the right message. If you do that and only that, you will still encounter degrees of price objection because the market will still detect your lack of confidence in your offerings.

Learning to value what you know starts from the inside out. It’s a mindset, a belief system. You won’t just suddenly say, “I wasn’t     valuing what I had to offer. Now I am.” It’s a process. And it begins when you make your decision to change to a positive way of     thinking.

Make the conscious decision to start valuing what you offer.

Then decide that you will only work with clients who also value what you offer.

When you make these definitive decisions, you will notice things beginning to change right away, before you even take another step.

For instance, someone who booked my workshop e-mailed me to say, “It’s incredible. Since I booked your workshop, all sorts of     things started happening. All sorts of opportunities have opened up and new income streams are appearing, etcetera.”
And all of this happened before the workshop even took place!

My response to her was “Yes, of course.” Because she declared her intention and took action on her intention. Those two decisions  changed her energy to a more positive level.

It’s like the world senses the change in you. You’re sending a different message. You’re saying, “I value myself. I want more.”

And that’s what comes back to you.

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Isn’t it easier to make a sale when you have what they want and both of you know it?  It’s called being in the power position.  It puts you in control of the transaction and helps close the sale on your terms.  Isn’t that what we all strive for in this business?

But putting yourself in that role is not about being power-hungry.  It’s about maneuvering yourself into a position where you have more business than you do days available and everyone knows it.

But how do you get to the power position?

Let’s start with what NOT to do…If you’ve worked in the traditional sales environment, you typically make calls, do your prospecting, make appointments, present and hope to close the sale.  You’ve already put yourself at a disadvantage.  You’ve put yourself in a place where you need the client more than they need you. So how do you change it?

Supply and Demand Basics

It doesn’t happen overnight and it’s not a single step you can take.  It’s a series of steps to maneuver yourself into attracting clients to the point where they are calling you.  That’s what being a Client Magnet is all about.
Remember that you have a limited number of days available.  Your phone doesn’t need to be ringing off the hook nonstop to have more demand than you have supply.  Between weekends, holidays, your own training and running your business, you may only have 180 days available for client bookings.  Your goal must be to have 181 days or more of demand for your services.

Make Them Call YOU!

Now I am certainly not advocating that you play coy in your sales techniques nor am I suggesting that you pretend your dance card is full when it’s not.  Clients can see right through a charade.  You need to make it known that you are the ‘go-to’ person in your field.  Declare your expertise and focus and position yourself as the expert.

Transform Your Marketing

I can’t stress this enough – if you’re self employed or have a small business, you do not have the resources to conduct one-to-one marketing.  Cold calling and traditional networking are going to take up too much of your time.  Focus on the one-to-many marketing techniques such as direct mailing and advertisements.  These techniques are going to offer you unlimited potential to reach prospective clients, whereas the one-to-one cold calls are going to offer only limited results.

Creating Alternatives

If you know you have an option, you’re more likely to be in the power position.  That’s why you need to create passive income streams.  You don’t want to be desperate; it shows through in your actions and attitude.  If you have alternative income you can turn to, you’ve taken another step to putting yourself in the power position.  You’re going to have the confidence to negotiate harder and even charge more for your services.

Creating more demand for your services is the key to getting to the power position.  You want to get to the point where you can, with all honesty, look someone in the eye and say “If you want to work with me next month, these are the two days available, please let me know by the end of the week if you’re going to take these two days as I have two other people who are interested.”
Who wouldn’t want to be in that position!

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Do you feel like your days aren’t long enough to meet the demands of your workload?

Perhaps you have a steady workload but you are having trouble getting it all done. You could put in the extra hours but nobody wants to spend their personal time at the office. Your time is valuable, pure and simple. You can’t make more of it.

What you’re experiencing is what I refer to as the ‘time-trap.’ The time trap is a term that I use to describe a business that will not function without you. Essentially when your money is reliant on YOU, and your constant work, you are stuck in the time trap.

You shouldn’t have to pull a switch, so to speak, every time you want to make your business go. Your company is your baby, but unlike an infant it should be somewhat self sufficient.

Ideally, you want a passive income as well, money that doesn’t require your constant efforts. Money that is generated even while you’re not working.

Starting out, a lot of my work had been quite time intensive. It meant wonders for me and my family when I finally escaped the time trap. You can imagine with two small children under three, I don’t have a lot of free time. The time that I’m not working, I’m with my children, and I love being able to pack up the car and just leave for a week with them without worrying.

I didn’t want to be at work all the time. Now, I work part time, three days a week. But I actually make more in a month than I used to in a whole year. You can too. Your main goal is finding ways to serve people that aren’t so time dependent on YOU. And though the solution isn’t creating more time, it will feel like you have done just that.

If you were running a daycare, you wouldn’t organize the children one by one. It would be a madhouse. You find ways to function the day-to-day for the entire group. That doesn’t mean you don’t serve each individual based on their needs, but if 12 children have to eat you feed them all at once, and most of them will be happy to have the same food as everyone else.

I have a monthly mastermind group of 600 members. We meet once a month and I do one call. In that one-hour call I’m able to connect with all of my members at once.

Rather than making 600 phone calls saying the same thing, or 600 emails, doesn’t it make sense to just do one? Be creative, work online and develop more methods to serve more people at once.

Escaping the time trap is about doing less work for more people. One way to accomplish this is to sell your ideas as products. Many of your clients have a demand for the same service, maybe even exactly the same. So turn those ideas into products. Why does this work? Because unlike a specific service, you can sell a product completely independent of your time. If you set up a system whereby when people buy that information it is shipped to them automatically, you’re free to do nothing.

Perhaps the most challenging thing starting off is learning to make money independent of YOU. But if you create a system where you market everyone at once, and sell your services as products, you will have more time, more money, and more independence.

You might even find when the service or product is prepackaged and easy to order, it will appeal to more people. When you can make your business independent of YOU, your time will be yours, and it won’t fall privy to the all consuming time trap.

Since you can’t make more time, at least you can enjoy the time you’ll have saved.

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