Attracting Clients from the Outside In

Last week someone asked me, “what’s the biggest mistake solo professionals and small business owners make in attracting new business?”

Every time I get asked that, the answer is always the same: failing to understand the clients’ or customers’ needs, and failing to look at the business relationship from their perspective.

Business happens only because one party has a need or desire, and another party has a service or product that fills that need or desire. No need or desire, no business. No service or product, no business.

Another way to think about it is Economics 101: supply (product/service) and demand (need/desire).

The big mistake most small business owners make is to think about and talk about their product or service, believing the customer actually cares. They don’t. All they care about is getting their needs met, and if they don’t understand you as the person to help them with that, they’ll quickly move on to someone they think can.

Notice I say, “someone they think can,” not, “someone who can.”

It’s all about your prospective customer’s point of view.

By the way, for those of you who are actors, don’t think this doesn’t apply to you. Just like any other self-employed person, you have clients too. Yours just happen to be agents, casting directors, producers, etc.; they all have their own needs and problems, and you’re one of the people that can help fill those needs. Understand yourself as offering a solution, and you’ll get more work more consistently, because you’ll be developing lasting business relationships.

Let’s look at a hypothetical example of two people out marketing their services.

Consultant A goes out and gives a talk about what he offers, to his local Chamber of Commerce. He says things such as, “we excel at business to business communication, developing strategies for a constantly changing marketplace.”

He may be the absolute best in the business and what he says may be true. Yet his audience is giving him yawns, because he’s talking about what he does, without addressing their concerns.

They don’t see how it relates to them.

He may even talk about benefits, e.g., “we help businesses communicate better with other businesses, creating strategies that make it easier to adapt.” That’s a little better, but the audience still doesn’t see how it applies to their needs or concerns.

Now take Consultant B who speaks at her chamber’s meeting, starting out by asking a few key questions. “Are you frustrated by technical communication breakdowns? Bewildered by changing technology? Feel like your competitors have the edge? We clear away the anxiety and confusion by helping you adapt to a speed-of-light marketplace.”

Get the difference? The real need for the potential client isn’t bad communication or a lack of strategies; the real need is their frustration about bad communication. It’s their confusion. It’s the fear that their competition is beating them.

Consultant B immediately gets the attention of anyone in the room that has those feelings and issues. Here’s why:

1. She appeals to the prospective clients where they are, for a moment seeing the world through their eyes.

2. She appeals to their emotions, touching a nerve. This is always more powerful than just presenting information.

3. She demonstrates right off the bat that she understands the client and their issues, and that she’s the person to help them.

It’s worth pointing out that this idea of seeing the situation through the eyes of the other party isn’t restricted to business.

Common sense tells us it’s one of the keys to effective communication and harmonious relationships. Practice it with the people in your personal life and notice in different results you get.

THE CALL TO ACTION Here are a couple of exercises to go through to help you see things through your customers’ & clients’ eyes.

First, take a deeper look at the marketing of others.

1. Go to some websites of products or services you might be interested in.

2. Notice the way they word their message. Does it relate to you? Does it get at some need or desire you have? Does it touch a nerve you have?

3. Write some notes about specifically what others do that has a compelling effect on you. Note what they say and how they say it when something makes you want to buy from them. Note what makes you not want to buy.

Secondly, change your own marketing paradigm and language.

1. Make a list of your past and current clients, and/or the characteristics of your ideal client.

2. For each one, note the need they have, i.e., the problem or concern. Phrase it in a way that gets at their emotional state.

For example, “they are frustrated, or struggling to get more clients.”

3. Write a brief statement of the way you fill that need. This is not the process you use or a description of your product; it’s the solution to the problem. Remember our examples above?

Consultant A presented his process and nobody related to it.

Consultant B let them know she can handle their issue and quickly and easily resolve it.

4. Go out and start talking to people in a way that reflects the first three steps. Let them know you understand where they are and you can help. Focus everything you say to people in a way that relates it back to where they are.

5. Notice the change in response you get. Keep listening deeply and tweak your message as needed.

The bottom line is that commerce thrives when needs get met.

Businesses and entrepreneurs are successful when they put themselves in their clients’ & customers’ shoes, and then tailor their message to reflect what they find there.

Until next month, here’s to understanding your market better and, getting more business, and making the market a better place to do business.

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