My best advice for selling to more ideal clients
Hi Brad,
What do you think is the #1 thing that helps you the most with your marketing? I’m working on putting together some marketing habits and wanted to reach out to people I respect (like you!) – here’s what I have in mind for myself: sending 5 hand-written notes a week or contacting 5 people a day or taking clients out to lunch.
What’s the one thing that’s helped you get clients and has been effective?
I thought this was a great question. Here’s what I wrote back to her:When it comes to business development, the first thing to remember is that the only thing you can control is the top of the funnel. Some people will buy from you, and some won’t. You can improve the conversion percentage to some extent. But if you want to sell more the easiest way to do that is by starting more conversations with your ideal clients.
When I started, I set a goal of 5 conversations with my ideal clients per day and kept at it until I got that to happen regularly. I cold called. I networked. I did public speaking and guest published on other people’s blogs and newsletters to get those five conversations every day.
So, where do your ideal clients gather (in person or online)? Go there and talk to them! I have a preference for in-person, but online conversations can also work in 2019, as long as they are 1-2-1 in a safe place where people can share their actual needs, difficulties, and dreams.
Once you’ve got that working, look for a strategic partnership. Who else is selling to your ideal client? Who else might be in the room when your ideal client decides they need your services? Partner with those people and put on events, cross-refer, work together to make things useful for each of you.
Do the first set of things for 4 – 6 months, and you’ll start to see momentum. Then work on strategic partnerships, and your business can take off.
You can’t make money if you can’t sell. You can’t sell unless you can identify your ideal clients, start conversations with them, demonstrate your expertise to earn their trust and then ask for their business. That’s the “easy way” to sell your services. What advice would you give to Nedra? What have you done to kick-start your business development flywheel?