Attract More Clients: 7 Steps for Building a Profitable, Sustainable Business
Monday, November 10th 2008 @ 1:37 PM
Attract More Clients: 7 Steps for Building a Profitable, Sustainable Business
Successful businesses are built on a strong foundation comprised of powerful branding and marketing, effective systems and a client-first environment.
The widespread availability of information and technology allows entrepreneurs and professionals, who dream of being powerful rainmakers, to convert their dreams into a reality. At UpwardAction®, we teach a 7 step process for building strong foundation that supports accelerated, sustainable business success.
UpwardAction® Step 1
Clearly define your target market, then describe your ideal client. Your target market is often the industries or areas of expertise in which you plan to concentrate.
Once you have identified your target market, describe your ideal client(s) in great detail. Leave no stone unturned when developing your description. Make sure to consider elements such as:
| · Occupation | · Gender |
| · Education Level | · Age Range |
| · Interests | · Marital Status |
| · Religious Affiliation | · Parental Status |
Resist the urge to focus on too many ideal clients in your initial launch phase. Limit yourself to a maximum of three ideal clients and make sure they are in related fields. When you have more than three ideal clients, your ability to really understand the needs of your ideal clients and effectively market to them is compromised.
UpwardAction® Step 2
Identify what your ideal clients need for greater success and profitability. Use your in-depth knowledge about your ideal clients as a platform for becoming intimately familiar with what is likely happening in their business and personal life. What is missing? Where is the pain? What do they need? Take time to get really clear about your ideal clients’ pain and then determine how your unique strengths can relieve/cure the pain or fulfill the need.
UpwardAction® Step 3
Know what products and services are currently available and what is missing. Spend time analyzing what is currently offered to your ideal clients. Conduct market research to determine what products and services are missing or underperforming. Market research can be made easy by utilizing poll, surveys and paying attention to the conversation on various sites. These are just a few of many ways to collect valuable information about your target market and ideal clients’ needs. Once you know what is in the marketplace and what is missing, you are in a position to develop powerful programs and services that fill your target market’s void.
UpwardAction® Step 4
Define and then share your unique strengths with your target market.
What information, services or opportunities are you passionate about sharing with others? What are you particularly good at doing or conveying for others? Once you are clear about your ideal clients’ pain and are fully aware of what you bring to the table, you are ready to define your unique positioning in your target market.
UpwardAction® Step 5
Discover where your ideal clients spend their time– both online and in person. Based on the work you did in UpwardAction® Step 1, create a list of the top 10 community service organizations, professional associations, social networking groups and online forums in which you are most likely to meet year ideal clients. Now, go though this list to identify the top three entries in each category in which you are most interested in being an active member.
UpwardAction® Step 6
Become Active! At UpwardAction®, we teach a three pronged Integrated Marketing Strategy that requires the professional or entrepreneur to become an active participant in (i) professional associations or community groups to facilitate one-on-one interaction and networking, depending on available time and (ii) social networking groups to support and leverage all marketing and networking efforts.
LinkedIn®, Facebook® and Twitter® are basic social networking requirements for all of our clients who are serious about attracting more highly qualified clients and increasing their profitability. Social networking platforms present powerful branding building and networking opportunities for professionals and entrepreneurs. I encourage you to invest in learning how to maximize your online and off-line business development and networking efforts through coaching and training programs like those offered by UpwardAction®.
Look for opportunities to share and showcase your expertise. Regardless of whether you are participating in person or virtually, make certain that your contribution adds value. This is important to remember when engaging on forums or other social networking platforms (both of which I highly recommend that you do). A quick and easy way to measure value of your contribution is to determine whether at least three of the following five elements are present:
· Information
· Curiosity
· Inspiration through stories
· Motivation through calls to action
· Insight
This is not an all inclusive list; instead, it is a quick-start guide to get moving along the path of always looking for ways to make positive contributions.
UpwardAction® Step 7
Focus on clients and follow-up. A client first business environment will ultimately differentiate your business from your competitors and attract clients to you. Consistent follow-up is essential to building and solidifying your professional and business brand, and being seen and respected as a resource.
· Business eNewsletters and Client Alerts are effective ways to use email. Just be certain that each issue contains highly relevant information that will be useful and valuable to your target audience.
· Greeting cards and personalized postcards are other powerful ways to create a competitive advantage for your business. Let’s face it, while email is still a powerful and important way to stay in touch, people like getting greeting cards, especially when they are customized for them. Technology also makes it possible to automate your process of sending greeting cards. I invite you to visit UpwardActionCards.com to learn more about the customized greeting card system we use at UpwardAction®.
At a minimum, we encourage our clients to select 17 to 27 ideal clients with whom you would love to establish a relationship. An objective for this exercise is to recruit clients and members of your cheer team; therefore, your “champsios” should consist of people who are both likely to hire you and are influencer who could be powerful sources for referrals and increased credibility. People like to be associated with winners, so spend time building a list of “winners” who will champion your business. Once you have identified your top tier list, make it a point to send something that will help their businesses or careers and also showcase your expertise or diversity knowledge base. There are many examples of useful information that you can provide, let’s explore just a few:
· Current bestselling books
· Top 7 Lists you have written or articles on topics your prospective champion is likely facing
· Introductions within your network
The combination of a powerful email customized greeting card system for staying in contact with your target audience and on their radar screen is what we at UpwardAction® call a Client / Relationship Management system. You want to be considered the expert and go-to resource for your target market and there is no better way to do this than nurturing and managing your relationships via a Client / Customer Relationship Management system that is automated.
About the Author:
T.C. Coleman, JD is an internationally known business coach, attorney and new media expert. She is also the founder and CEO of UpwardAction®. T.C. has helped numerous lawyers, finance professionals and entrepreneurs develop powerful professional brands, effectively use social media for increased profitability and develop virtual business systems. UpwardAction® assists clients through private and group coaching programs, keynote presentations, teleclasses and webinars. Visit us at www.UpwardActionToday.com to sign up for our highly acclaimed eNewletter – UpwardAction® for Success.
