What to invest in to have more and better clients?
Do you want to have not only more clients but better clients? Have you been considering improving the “target” of clients to be able to work with more committed people, who really need and value your help and who are willing to work tirelessly to achieve results in the area in which you specialize and can really make a difference? difference? Have you realized that you obviously have to invest to achieve it but you don't know how to invest in what ? This article is ideal for you because I am going to give you the most concrete and valuable answer you can get to the terrible question:
What to invest in to have more and better clients?
The answer is super simple: invest in your potential clients.
Today this article comes with a personal story (yes, mine) to exemplify and that you understand each point that I want to mark you. There we go then with:
3 key steps to invest more in your potential clients (and thus achieve better clients)
Step # 1 - Learn to listen to your prospects and put yourself in their shoes
It is not just about being attentive to what your potential client says he wants or needs. It's about listening beyond his words, feeling his energy, putting yourself in his shoes and experiencing his pain (figuratively). And it is vital to realize what your potential client expresses as his need and not what you think. (Remember, if you are convinced that your client has a problem but your client does not, there is nothing you can do except help her see her problem. Until she sees it - and wants to do something to change it - there is no help
When you connect at this level with your potential client, and both are on the same page, a channel opens between the two that overcomes any contractual relationship. It is super clear to me who, after a sales conversation, will become a customer and who will not. And it does not have to do with what you have said, or with what I have said, or with whether the price has fit you well or if my program is what I needed. Furthermore, in many cases the work together has not been immediate, but the connection was and is what marked the future relationship.
So worry less about the service, the price, etc. (come on, without exaggerating and go to the other extreme, yes?) And take care of generating a good connection-relationship from the beginning. Of course, all these factors happen and are combined. But what surpasses everything is the connection that you can generate with your potential client. And you won't have it with all your potential clients.
Step # 2 - Get obsessed with how you can help him
This is super connected to the previous point, obviously. Here is a clarification: impossible to obsess over a project that is not yours if you do not "buy" that project. And for this, it is essential that you be selective when you choose your clients and so you can be passionate about his project as much as he is.
Being passionate or obsessed doesn't mean that you take a moment and sit on your sofa or at your desk with your hot coffee in hand and say "well, let's see how I get obsessed with this". It does not work like that. When you really connect (the previous point) with this person who is your potential client and with her project, ideas come up when you are least expecting it.
A very personal example. The day after a conversation with a potential client (I do not put his name but I know that when I read this he will know that I am talking about him J) I was trying to fall asleep in my bed but there was no way (
He had connected with her and his project so much that he wanted to help her. But it was spinning in my head and I could not find a way to get around a limitation that had appeared (and that was definitely not cheap). It had reached me so much that I had to get up (see if you understand me… 3 in the morning) and I began to sketch some ideas that crossed my mind to see how they would fit with what she needed.
Of course, this does not happen to me with all my clients (but, of course, it would be for the asylum), and that does not mean that I care less about one client than another. It is just an example of how, when you really connect with a client's project, it is transferred to you and so other ideas can arise that help you enhance what you do for them. And that's what it is about. With or without insomnia, worry about what you can help them achieve and how.
Step # 3 - Look for alternatives, don't close
I have a very clear rule that I always share with my clients, so that they take into account when they have a new potential client: if you can't help them, don't offer them anything. For me it is like that. If I have a person in front of me who has a pain, a need, a problem and my service is not the solution that fits their situation perfectly, I have nothing to offer.
Separate paragraph to remember that this should not happen to you, that you have a person with a pain, a problem or a need that you cannot attend to. For this, the first step is always to correctly define who is your ideal client, the person to whom you will focus your business and your services.
But there is only one exception: if this person in front of you IS your ideal client but there are some other powerful reasons why your service does not fit perfectly, you can think of an alternative.
This happened to me with this client. As she told me about her problems and wondered how I could help her, I knew that my regular program was not going to help her. So I didn't offer him anything. But I decided to continue investing time and energy thinking how I could help her in another way. I came up with an alternative, I proposed it to her and we started working together.
Something important: you won't be able to do this with everyone. Firstly, because sometimes an alternative is not viable either (because it has the same limitations as the original option). Secondly, you don't have to get into the habit of doing it because you can make the mistake of thinking that what you are doing is putting together an alternative and in reality you are focusing on your ideal client and / or your specialization. If you make sure you are within those limits, then yes. Precisely, being attentive to the needs of your clients and finding the most viable alternative to help them, will be the best investment you can make to have more and better clients.
