The biggest trouble (and I get told this many many times) facing many consultants, coaches and elite service professionals, is that they are in unchartered territory when it comes to… marketing, promoting and selling themselves.
You see, now that you’ve become an ‘ELITE SERVICE PROFESSIONAL’, and it’s absolutely the same whether we’re talking about …
… a dentist, a chiropractor, mortgage consultant, financial advisor, professional speaker, accountant, lawyer, doctor, Internet marketing consultant, chiropodist, healer, hypnotist, lifecoach… you name it…
You’ve now got to attract people in to use your services… right?
Well, you’d be surprised how many of us feel that just because ‘we’ve got the qualification, been through the academic and learning ‘process’… that there will be an automatic stampede to our doors…
… that somehow, our client book overflows to bursting… without a jot of effort on our part!
Let me tell you; there are starving professionals in every discipline and industry you care to name.
Maxwell Maltz was a pioneer in the area of facial plastic surgery in the 1960’s. When he told his family what he was going to become, they laughed, sneered, made fun of him.
The day soon arrived when he was officially anointed a ‘plastic surgeon’. He set up practice. First day, no clients. Second day, no clients. First week, no clients. Second week. No clients. Max would sit by his phone, waiting, hoping, praying that somehow, miraculously, there’s be a rush to his door.
Never happened.
It was only in the third week when a friend of Max’s dropped by with a person who would need the services of a plastic surgeon. On phoning back, the prospect wanted to know if such and such date was available.
Of course, Max had no clients, though he wanted the prospect to feel that he was a busy surgeon. So, Max proceeded to thumb through his diary, rustling pages as he went along, all the while saying ‘booked’, now let me see -booked’, ah yes, there’s a slot in a couple of week time, is that okay to go ahead and book?
And that’s how Maxewll Maltz, famous pioneering surgeon got his first client and how he then went on to be a mega-rich, successful surgeon, serving and providing facial cosmetic surgery to the stars and elite of society.
Now, frankly, I don’t think it’s a great way to conduct business, waiting, staring blankly, hoping for the phone to ring, for the doorbell to be rung, for a referral to come spluttering your direction.
There’s a better way.
Being proactive, helps. Selecting the exact clients you want, finding ways to reach them, presenting them with sparkling offers, writing articles, creating newsletters, having client showcases… are all things one can DO.
Very few do any of the above. Why? The answer is rooted in a professional mindset that says something to the effect of ‘thou shall not advertise’.
That particular phrase has literally stopped many elite service professionals, consultants, business entrepreneurs… dead in their tracks. Instead, what they’d rather do is to simply trust their success to that age old thinking ‘because I’ve got a better mousetrap, people will automatically come and marvel at my invention, and… will all want one!’
Whatever profession, whatever, industry, whether selling tangibles or intangibles, whether it’s to individuals, teams, partners, owners CEO’s…it doesn’t matter; it all has to be strategised, marketed and communicated!
If you’re seriously looking to capitalise on the strengths and skills you’ve carefully assembled together, hadn’t you better take full advantage and serve the people who are literally begging that you show up on their doorstep?
Then, DON’T DO what the struggling solo entrepreneur or professional does. DO THE OPPOSITE!
The key to being successful in any discipline is to master one aspect, and then move on to the next. If you keep doing that, pretty soon, you’ll be a bona-fide expert, running rings around your competitors. And, at the same time, giving your clients extraordinary value that’ll have them telling others how fabulous you are.
Now that’s something they definitely DO NOT tell you at business school or business set up seminars!
Have a fabulous day!
Raja Hireker
www.RajaHireker.com
P.S. If you’re looking for assistance in cranking up your sales letters and marketing documents to bring you greater rewards, please checkout – http://RajaHireker.com/copywriting.html
