“How can I attract the right clients?”
It’s a question I am asked often, especially by my own ideal client – someone who has been in business for a while and wants to be (and can afford to be) more selective about who they work with.
Client Attraction
The word attraction describes the condition of being drawn to something and so client attraction is about creating the conditions so that your clients are drawn to YOU – naturally.
Now, whilst I don’t claim to be a marketing expert, the truth is that I have managed to successfully attract the exact clients that I want to work with and so, I thought I’d share the ten things I believe you need to know in order to attract the exact clients YOU want!
1. YOUR CRAFT
It is one thing knowing how to market yourself, but if you don’t have the skills and competence to deliver, then you are unlikely to consistently attract the right clients.
Ask yourself:
How can I continue to develop my competence to be at the top of my game? What books could I read? What courses or seminars could I attend? And, who could I hire as my coach or mentor to challenge me to perform at my best?
2. YOUR IDEAL CLIENT
You may have skills that mean that you can help lots of different types of clients, but if you try and attract everyone, you will attract no-one.
Ask yourself:
What kind of client do I REALLY want to work with? Who do I work with now that fits this profile? What type of person are they? And, what type of person, business and/or industry are they?
3. THE PAIN THEY ARE IN
An undisturbed prospect doesn’t buy. This is why, like it or not, you have to be clear about the pain your ideal client is experiencing (and how you take that pain away!) so that you can talk to ‘it’.
Ask yourself:
What problems do they have? Why do they have these problems? And what stops them from resolving them themselves?
4. THE SPECIFIC RESULTS YOU DELIVER
Your clients don’t really care what you ‘do’. What they care about is what you do for them.
Ask yourself:
What do I ultimately deliver to my clients in terms of results? And, what do they have once they’ve worked with me that they didn’t have before?
5. THE DIFFERENT WAYS YOU DELIVER THOSE RESULTS
Results are important to your client, but different clients will have different preferences for how you deliver those results. This means packaging your offering in way that enables them to ask “which one?” rather than “yes” or “no”.
Ask yourself:
What different preferences do they have? What different packages can I offer? How can I deliver my value in different ways? And, what fee structures would appeal to them?
6. WHO YOUR COMPETITORS ARE
Your competitors are not just the people who do what you do. Your competitors are also the people that claim to resolve the same pain that you do.
Ask yourself:
Who targets the same clients as me? Who claims to solve the same pain as me? And, who do I lose business to on a regular basis?
7. WHAT MAKES YOU UNIQUE
As you know, your competitors are out there marketing to your clients. You need a unique claim – something that set’s you apart from them, so that your ideal client understands why they should work with you rather than your competitors.
Ask yourself:
Of all the people who do what I do, what do I deliver that others don’t? What results can I promise that others can’t? And, why should a prospective client work with me as opposed to someone else?
8. WHY YOU ARE CREDIBLE
Credibility is important not only because it attracts clients, but also because it reminds you why others should work with you. Listing your credibility factors enables you to stand by your claim with confidence which instils confidence in your ideal client.
Ask yourself:
What is it about my background that gives me credibility? What knowledge do I have? What qualifications have I gained? What expertise do I have? And, what experience do I bring?
9. HOW TO COMMUNICATE THE VALUE YOU BRING
Knowing all of this stuff is great, but you need to be able to communicate it effectively. The best way to ensure that your message is clear is to describe the benefit of working with you in a way that a 10 year old child could both understand and repeat.
Ask yourself:
How can I convey my value in a way that compels the other person to ask me “How do you do that?” How can I say that in 60 seconds? And, how can I say that in ten words?
10. WHERE TO FIND THEM!
Once you know who your ideal clients is, the pain they have and how you resolve that, and once you know how to communicate that to them in a way that they can understand and repeat, you need to find them!
Ask yourself:
Where do they go? What do they read? What social media channels are they using? And, who else do they do business with?
These are the things you need to KNOW to attract the right clients. Of course, there are things that you need to DO too and that’s for a future blog. However, you’ll be surprised at the difference having this conscious knowledge makes to your client attraction.
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