Turn Contacts into Clients

We are going to discuss ….

• What are YOU selling?

• Who or what is YOUR ideal client?

• Turn YOUR Cards and Connections into Clients

• Centers of Influence

•Your Next Steps

Let’s begin….

What are YOU selling?

• What problem(s) do YOU solve?

• Is YOUR solution relevant to TODAY?

Research - tap into what people are saying and thinking in your traditional markets – hook into blogs, chats, tweets. The business and cultural landscape is changing rapidly.

Tap into your competition and topic specialists.

Adapt your offering to the new pain – you need a new cure.

Research, Relevance, Rapport

What are YOU selling?

• Learn to describe your product or service in 60 seconds and each key benefit in less than 120 characters per benefit?

Why ?

Impact Immediately

THE TYRANNY OF DISTANCE IS DEAD

We live in a GLOBAL market driven by technology.

Your clients can be anywhere in the world and conversely your competition can be anywhere in the world.

The new social marketing channels and the internet have and will continue to change how we do business and our society. To remain

RELEVANT you need to get on board or get run over.

Who or what is YOUR Ideal Client ?

Turn connections into clients

What are the key characteristics of your NEW ideal client?

1. They have an obvious need for your product or service.

This is where the HARD WORK comes into play.

2. They have the capacity ($) to engage your services.

They are worth your time.

Relevance !

Match YOUR offering to their NEED.

The 3 R’s :

RESEARCHRELEVANCERAPPORT

Determining Relevance

Time is of the utmost importance

Step 1:

Quickly classify your contacts into 4 groups by comparing their perceived profile against YOUR ideal client profile:

•A = contacts you believe are excellent prospects

•B = contacts you think would be good prospects

•C = contacts who may be centers of influence

•D = contacts who are dead ends

Understanding YOUR Contacts

Turn connections into clients

Step 2:

Learn as much as you can about ‘A’ and ‘B’ contacts by accessing the 2 most important resources you have – the internet and the human-net.

Start with the internet:

•Websites

•Facebook

•YouTube

•Twitter

•LinkedIn, etc.

Turn YOUR Contacts into Clients

Rapport is gained through knowledge

Step 2 continued:

Next access your personal human networks:

• Colleagues

• Friends

• Peers

• Industry specialists

• Clients

The objective of this research is to learn enough about your contact’s business so that you can confidently isolate a need(s) that your service or product will readily satisfy.

Turn YOUR Contacts into Clients

Your solution must solve a problem

Step 2 continued:

Finally, as a result of your research and analysis you may need to re-classify your A and B contacts.

Step 3:

Create a simple needs/solution matrix to easily check that you are solving your contact’s needs.

Draft a brief description on how YOUR product or service meets the NEEDS of your A category contacts. (When you have run out of A contacts, reclassify your B contacts as an A and go again.)

Rapport - credibility

Rapport comes from common ground

Step 4:

Depending on your relationship with your contact you are now in a position to develop rapport or increase your level of rapport with your contact.

If you met your contact at a networking event it is wise to hold off pitching big time until you meet them a couple of times again. At each meeting you reveal a little more of your knowledge of their industry and current problems.

If you have developed a credible rapport with your contact, you are now able to pitch your idea.

Develop rapport and credibility globally via the same channels you used for your research.

Category ‘C’ - Centers of Influence

Turn connections into clients

A Center of Influence (COI) is someone who has access to a client base the same as or very similar to yours.

A COI does not have to be a client or a prospect. They are a conduit to a group of people who match your client profile.

COI’s are usually advocates and can influence multiple prospects in a single instance.

New age COI’s are everywhere on the internet !!

COI

YOU

YOUR Next Steps

Research, Relevance, Rapport

1. Don’t abandon all traditional marketing methods.

2. Learn to use the old and the new in an overall marketing strategy.

3. Clear out your contacts – time is speeding up and you need to focus on you’re A class contacts.

4. Drop your D contacts in the trash.

5. Make your offering relevant to TODAY’s problems.

The Future is Here and Now

It’s a wild ride

Don’t fear the future.

Accept that your world is forever changing and

stay on the bus.……… Reality Ros