Education, A Key to New Clients
Saturday, April 24th, 2010FRUSTRATION
I had a chance to meet with a well-intentioned service provider yesterday. He’d just been to a long meeting with two potential clients who turned out to have very little potential at all.
“They just don’t understand,” he said. “They really have no idea what it will take to do this project successfully and they couldn’t see how I might be able to provide value.”
It doesn’t really matter which service in particular this person provides. The truth is he could be selling legal services, or accounting, or finance or interior design. His clients couldn’t see the value and he couldn’t help them see it without sounding like a pushy jerk.
EDUCATION
One of the MOST EFFECTIVE but LEAST UTILIZED secret to selling services is EDUCATION.
People hire service providers like lawyers and event planners and interior designers precisely BECAUSE they have an expertise that those clients do not. Unfortunately, that often also means there is also a lot they need to know about how to hire someone like you.
- How much does a good painter charge?
- How do I tell if the CPA I’m thinking of hiring is a good one?
- Do you pay an event planner by the hour? How much?
There are typically two types of prospective clients we find most frustrating. One kind is just not your CHOIR. They don’t get it because they never will.
Another type however are the great people who don’t get it because they’ve never gotten educated. There is a lot they don’t know…often starting with how to find someone like you, how to evaluate you before the hire you and how much they should be paying for someone like you.
They might actually be GREAT clients but you’ll never know if you don’t take the time to educate them.
You may think selling a service is tough…but try buying one. It’s hard to feel confident about the decisions you’re making when you don’t have at least a basic education about what you’re buying.
THE GOOD NEWS
The good news in all this is that the problem is also a very effective solution.
They are missing knowledge.
You have it.
GIVE IT TO THEM!!!
WHAT TO DO
Take the time to create documents that explain how things work in your industry. Take the time to write up a page or two on the different types of people who have a title like yours and where you fit in as far as experience, expertise, and even price. Do a bit of research and put together a short write-up of standard pricing in your industry. Do the work to give your clients that basic background knowledge.
If you can’t write it yourself, see if someone else already has. Gather some resources and display them on your website or give them away prior to your first meeting.
Some specific ideas to get you started EDUCATING your potential clients all the way to the bank:
- 10 Top Mistakes People Make When Hiring a
- 5 Smart Things to Remember When Hiring a
- How Much Should a Cost?
- A Guide to Hiring a
- All Are NOT Created Equal
- 7 Surprising Things About Working with a
- Ten Tips for Finding a GREAT
These can be simple articles that you use on your website, post on your blog, submit to a magazine, or offer to email a new contact. However you deliver them, they should all have a note at the bottom with your contact information and a short blurb about your services.
Remember: Take the time to teach your clients how to buy services like yours and you’ll find that many more of them actually buy those services…FROM YOU.
Good News! We’re launching several great courses to help you get good at finding good clients. If you missed out on 60 Second Commercials 101 or Referrals 101 we’ll be offering those AGAIN as well as two BRAND NEW courses: Identify Your CHOIR and Leads Group Strategies (a 3 hour workshop.) Visit the Classes & Books page on our website for all the latest.