That's right, clients are judging you.
If you are like many consultants, trying to find new clients can be frustrating. Maybe you are struggling with your marketing message. Or maybe referrals aren’t paying off like they used to. Maybe you are concerned about wasting time and money on unproductive efforts. If marketing seems like a lot of hard work with little or sporadic payoffs, you are not alone.
How would you like to attract more clients than you can possibly handle, without breaking the bank? The good news is the American Dream of creating a consulting business that provides a high six figure income is alive and doing well. That is, if you take the time to get the knowledge how to do it. Best of all, these techniques require a minimal investment.
Face facts. Other successful consultants have found the way. How can you model their success? To attract new clients, the best approach is the Educating Expert Model that demonstrates your expertise by giving away valuable information through writing and speaking. In addition, you can increase closing rates up to 50% to 100% by discovering and rehearsing the right questions to ask prospective clients.
Here are the five ways prospects judge you (Aaker, 1995, Strategic Market Management) and my views of how the Educating Expert Model is the perfect fit:
- Competence. Knowledge and skill of the professional or business and their ability to convey trust and confidence (you demonstrate and prove your expert knowledge by speaking and writing)
- Tangibles. Appearance of physical facilities, communication materials, equipment and personnel (you do this by the appearance of your Web site and how-to handouts)
- Empathy. Caring, individualized attention that a firm provides its clients (educating people to solve problems before they hire you proves you care)
- Responsiveness. Willingness to help customers and provide prompt service (when you promise to give people things like special reports and white papers, do it promptly)
- Reliability. Ability to perform the promised service dependably and accurately (prospective clients will judge you on how organized your seminars, speeches and Web site are)