Everyone said YES!

I had a week recently when I spoke to four prospective clients and they all committed to long term coaching packages. It was a pivotal moment in my business. So what happened?

I was able to trace it back to several vital steps

 

1. Be crystal clear on your Ideal Customer Profile

I kept working and refining this.

Initially it was anyone who ran or wanted to run a business in my local area who needed help.

Now it is owners of construction & support businesses turning over $300,000 to $3,000,000 within 50 kilometres of Lennox Head who are willing to commit to a coaching package for business improvement.

See how specific my target is. And it relates to the second step

2. Know your Unique Value Proposition inside out

 This used to be: do whatever the business needs right now to move it forward.

Now it’s:  Create a more profitable busines in 90 days. I did it twice.

Because I have started, built and sold two multi-million dollar businesses, I know what to do to make a business successful. I give individual tailored solutions to my clients – specific mini-projects to solve their most important business needs.

Interestingly by only working with clients who are willing to commit to growth and improvement, their results come much faster. We are both ‘all in’ from day one.

Within a week I am up to speed on financial results, new goals and plans and a clear list of specific actions. It helps that I have easy to use templates for budget and cash flow and a one-hour business plan model.

Here’s what a client emailed me this morning after we created her one-hour business plan together.

Good morning Grant

Thanks for the session yesterday – it certainly puts a pep in the step moving forward.  I feel like action is actually happening rather than thinking about it happening.

I’m happy with the business plan and agree to move forward with all we discussed. 

My clients’ plans and actions get very specific very quickly.

It took a lot of practise to get clear on what I offer. When I did it made my sales process so much easier.

3. Become great at pitching your services.

 How do you get good at pitching? Practise, Practise, Practise

It’s important to keep your pitch genuine and friendly. The more you practise, the more you will notice which parts clients respond to positively. Here’s how I did it.

After I typed out my ideal customer profile, I typed out a one minute pitch. I then practised it out allowed to myself and a friend. Then I refined it.

Next, I started going along to business networking events where you have an opportunity to do a one minute introduction. Just Google “business networking” and your area name to find them. This regular practise helped me refine my pitch further.

As my ideal customer profile and value proposition became clearer and more specific, I refined my one minute pitch even further.

I also started to talk to everyone I met who might fit my ideal customer profile.

This continual practise and refinement boosted my confidence and finally got me to the stage where I could recognise a potential prospect almost instantly – then my whole business changed – it doubled in 7 days.

I could describe my offering in 1 to 2 minutes and ask clients if they were interested. Most then agreed to a free coaching session. I had 4 conversations in 7 days and gained 4 clients. The combination of knowing my ideal client, knowing my offering and continual practise and improvement clicked into place.

As my confidence grew, I realised I have many opportunities to meet prospective clients. For example, I picked up some metal tubing from a fabricator and asked him if he would like to have a coffee to help with some ideas to grow his business. He was a yes.

I also asked the builder across the road for a load of soil for my garden. I gave him a bottle of wine to thanks him – I didn’t do that for any other reason then I appreciate it what he did. As I developed my ideal client profile, I realised he might need my services, so a few days later I mentioned that I helped small businesses grow and get more organised. He too became a client.

When you have any interaction with someone, ask yourself might they be a potential client?

The trick is to believe in what you are offering and keep it genuine and friendly. If they say no be good natured about it and move on.

One thing is for sure, the more you know your ideal customer, value proposition and one-minute pitch, the more successful you will be.

4.  Make a sale Appointment with yourself

 This is a favourite. When I had my advertising agency, I made an appointment with myself to make sales calls every Tuesday & Thursday morning from 9.00 to 9.30.

I tore out ads from papers & magazines where I felt they could be improved. I would call the business and ask for the Marketing Director (or equivalent). I would say that we had some ideas that could help them and book them in for a presentation at our agency.

I did this every week for two years. The biggest success from this was landing a million dollar part of the Sydney City Rail advertising account.

5. Always, Always, Always Have an Excellent Credentials Presentation Ready

 

And keep improving it.

You never know when that great opportunity is around the corner. It is usually too late to prepare your credentials when the opportunity comes up.

Also include the right team in your pitch. Even a one person business can have the right team. How?

My advertising agency was a great example. I could not afford a full-time Senior Creative Director and Senior Art Director, yet a such a team was crucial to pitching to my ideal target.

So I provided offices in my premises for a top level creative team who freelanced out of my agency. They had to be available for new client pitches when I lined them up. We also had very well presented case histories. As a result we gained a great range of Blue Chip clients.

I continued this strategy at Byron Bay Accom, where I developed very clear proposal documents by client type. They were individual for different property types – houses, apartments and on-sight managed properties. Then one day Byron Bay’s largest holiday clients walked int eh door for a chat. They owned 6 exclusive up-market holiday houses. We were ready and they appointed us to do all bookings and property management, increasing our business by 20% in one go.

In Summary

1. Be crystal clear on your Ideal Customer Profile
2. Know your Unique Value Proposition inside out
3. Become great at pitching your services.
4. Make a regular sales appointments with yourself
5. Have an excellent Credentials Presentation ready to go

If you would like any assistance with growing or organising your business for success please give Grant a call on 0408 462587 or email me at [email protected]. I’m always up for a chat.