Many entrepreneurs don’t realize that business growth requires working with perfect clients. That’s the key to sustaining a profitable and joyful business. How perfect your clients are, how aligned they are, and how they bring out the best in you. That is 100% what makes or breaks your business.
The million-dollar question is, how and where do you find them? Do you want to turn even your former employer as your client? Let’s make that possible! In this week’s episode, Samantha Hartley talks about finding clients for your consulting business.
Part One of ‘How to Find Clients for Your Consulting Business’
How do you find perfect clients? Simple. Clarity about who they are. Knowing who they are is about eighty percent of finding them. By formulating an excellent question, you’re seventy-five percent of the way there to answering that question. Stay clear on who you’re looking for. They’re out there for you, and you can find them.
People who read their goals every single day eventually achieve them. Because they keep these things in mind. You keep your mind actively thinking. You must have the conviction to find these clients you’re compelled to serve. It connects to the idea that your perfect clients are out there. They’re hoping, wishing, and praying for you to show up. They’re tormented by whatever’s going on with them. You can solve it for them. Someone out there urgently needs what you do.
“Your attitude, mindset, and energy affect how you conduct your marketing.”
Have confidence. Be confident that your client is out there. That you can connect with them. If you start any marketing effort with confidence, you must believe that things are going to work for you. Be intentional and be open to receiving more clients. Your attitude, mindset, and energy affect the way you conduct your marketing.
The next thing that you need to prepare is your message. People are going to say, what do you do? They’re going to think, why do I need to know you? We need to be ready and prepared with a concise, clear, and compelling message to communicate with them.
Preparation is necessary before meeting perfect clients. Maximize opportunities. Many people struggling to grow a consulting business are either avoiding or overlooking the necessary things. Success requires returning to the most straightforward, basic marketing techniques.
Part Two of ‘How to Find Clients for Your Consulting Business’
It’s great to send out a Facebook ad and reach thousands of people, and create a sales conversation to convert. But even in person with the perfect client, you must know exactly what to say, what to ask, how to engage that person, to get them interested in their services.
You’ll feel amazing when you have the opportunity to have a face to face conversation with a potential client. Watch their energy to see how they seem when they talk about what their challenges are. Those kinds of fundamental pieces of feedback are critical.
There’s so much that you can learn from face to face interaction. That’s why prioritizing offline marketing and offline connections are vital. You can see that when you deliver your marketing message, you’re going to see a lot of micro-expressions.
The good thing about offline marketing is that anyone can do it. You don’t have to have excellent technical skills. You don’t have to have a high-speed Internet connection.
You don’t have to understand the ins and outs of social media. You can walk out your door and go and connect with potential clients and listen to them. It’s very gratifying because the things that work offline will work online, and the things that don’t work offline very often don’t work online either.
You have to be sincere, you have to be engaging, and you have to connect to people before you can sell them something. If you practice these things offline, it makes you a sharper online marketer. All of these will eventually translate. Other people are going to know you according to the value that you can deliver.
“Maintaining relationships is the key to business growth.”
You must keep your network intact, and you keep nurturing those connections. You never know if your simple communication with someone can turn into your first consulting engagement, and they may return again for your service.
Networking is a critical marketing technique. It’s a fundamental life skill that you need to learn that can help you to connect with your perfect clients. If you’re already in circles with people who know you, what you’re looking to do is communicate how and who you can help.
The last is referrals. Finding good referral partners is about the alignment of values. And that can be a significant part of your marketing strategy.
