Ten Clients Acquisition Truths

by Tom "Bald Dog" Varjan, Organisational Provocateur

Important to note: In a professional service firm every content professional is a salesperson. Everyone who does client work, must be able to sell client work.

1. If your company has a 'Sales and Marketing' department, is likely to have other conceptual problems too. Marketing comes first and selling is just the conclusion of good marketing. You first date your future spouse for months - or even years - (marketing), and only then marry him/her (sales). You cannot make sales without marketing. Marketing is all about communicating the value of your services, and selling is delivering those values.

2. In a professional service firm the person who sells the work must do the work, or lead the - client's - project team. Many large service firms lose reputation and market share by sending out a senior professional to 'pitch' the gig, and the sending out a truckload of fresh MBAs to do the work. It is the same as going for a test drive in a Mercedes and then selling you a Pontiac Sunfire at the Mercedes' price tag. How would you feel? And it happens every day.

3. If you believe your clients know all of your services, them you are leaving money on the table. You must constantly educate both existing and potential clients about the services you offer and the results you can help your clients to create. Keep yourself inside your target market's head all the time.

4. A company that features the president's picture on its brochure, is a dying company. Nobody really gives a damn about the president or anyone else at that phase of the sales cycle. Nobody will do business with your company just because the president has a well-trimmed Hitler moustache or a nice full Karl Marx beard. A face alone cannot raise people's interest in what you have to offer, although it is a great ego trip for the owner of the face. It shows the company does not care about clients. Emphasise the clients.

5. Your firm has only one purpose, and that is creating and retaining only ideal clients. Every now and then some undesirable clients get caught in your marketing net, that have to be jettisoned later.

6. The more clients want to do business with you, the more sales you will make. However, at any one time about 3% of the people you contact want or need what you have. Then what is the logic in wasting your time trying to convince all 100% to by your services. But that is exactly what most companies do. If people are not beating your door down wanting to do business with you, then the problem is with your marketing.

7. You always have competition. Your prospects are already solving the same problems your services can solve. How is your value proposition better than that of your competitors.

8. Marketing people must generate leads, so your content professionals (accountants, lawyers, IT consultants, etc.) have someone to offer your services. If you ask your professional staff to generate their own leads, then your are heading towards a disaster. If you condemn your content professionals to generating their own leads, your business is a mere monkey business, and the reward for that is the proverbial banana.

9. Selling is more likely lost on poor marketing than poor selling. If I want to buy a Ferrari, I buy it regardless of how inexperienced the salesperson is. It is far too easy to blame salespeople for the lost sale, and they will lose their commissions (a truly unethical form of compensation indeed), while the people who really messed it up, keep receiving their fix salaries. The whole company must create a buying environment, so somebody actually wants to do business with you without twisting their arms.

10. Never rely on brochures to make sales for you. Business is between people, not pieces of paper. Forget about full colour brochures. A well-written letter offering valuable information on your website to your target market is much more effective and is likely to better received. The brochure says: 'Hey, here we are. Give us your money and do business with us.' The letter says: 'Hey, here we are, offering you lots of free information relevant to improving your business.'

Bonus

11. 'Unavoidable bad times' are created by firms to justify their own internal sloth and laziness. Firms create their own self-fulfilling prophecies. Effective marketing can overcome that.

Summary

If you want to sell more, then focus on improving your marketing, for without better marketing there is nothing. And marketing's job is to create leads, and with time those leads can be turned into paying clients.

Copyright Tom "Bald Dog" Varjan. All rights reserved. You are free to use this article in whole or in part. One favour though: Can I ask you to you include complete attribution, including a live website link. Also, can you please let me know where you plan to publish the article.

The attribution: This article was written by Organisational Provocateur, Tom "Bald Dog" Varjan of Dynamic Innovations Squad, a firm specialising in helping consulting firms to sell their expertise at the highest margins. Get Tom's free Practice Management Black Paper when you sign up for his monthly newsletter, Commando Consulting: Lessons And Practices From The Ultimate Professional Service Firm, The Military. Visit Tom's website at http://www.di-squad.com.

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