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Where Are You Casting Your Client Net

By: Rashid Kotwal

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1. The money's in the list!

How often have you heard this? Many times? But have you actually taken it to heart and truly understood the power of this one statement...

If getting new clients is one of your business goals, (and I have yet to come across a business that isn't interested in this), you can spend your money in many ways acquiring clients.

Some of these ways will be cost effective (you make more than you spend) and others will be woeful. (Read most Yellow Pages and institutional advertising including Brand and Image advertising)

If you're going to be successful in business (and for that matter, life), there is one and only one thing that is going to make a difference. So sit up and take notice! ;-)

Whether you're a restaurateur, accountant, relationship advisor, business coach, dentist or doctor, your primary goal is to REACH OUT AND CONNECT with your clients. You need to know what their fears, frustrations and desires are. You need to empathise with what's going on in their lives. In short, you need to understand and relate to your market.

Why? Because people are a walking, talking, skin bag of emotions who just want you to take their pain away and give them what they want as easily and painlessly as possible.

But how do you figure out what your prospects want from you?

You can guess - and you may be right, but most often not. Nothing beats research - nothing.

Think fishing. There's not much point in casting your line where there are no fish. And even if there are, and you're using the wrong bait - not much is going to happen. So smart anglers do their research as to where the fish are, what they like to eat, and the best type of equipment to catch them.

Now if you're into fishing as a sport - you want the challenge of landing one fish at a time. It's a contest between you and the fish.

But if you're in the BUSINESS of fishing, you use a very large net and trawl (naturally where the fish are). Anything else is financial suicide.

So, why wouldn't you do the same with your business and livelihood?

I don't know about you, but I want my business to be like shooting fish in a barrel, or even better, using dynamite! Okay, not very sporting - but I'm in business to make money and have a life.

So how do you find out where your clients are?

By far, the easiest way is to meticulously study your list of clients to find out who they are, what they bought, why they bought and when. By studying your list you'll find patterns which I'll explain how you can use in a minute.

But first, here are a couple of examples.

A mortgage broker arranges loans each year for teachers, truck drivers, radiographers, white collar executives, barbers, butchers and candlestick makers. Basic fees range from $3,000 to $6,000 a loan.

When questioned about the WHO of his business, who were his clients, who where his BEST clients, I hit a nerve - he didn't know.

So we investigated, and we found that about 25% of his clients were long haul truck drivers who'd been divorced, and were making a new start. Another 30% were teachers (both primary and high school). The rest fitted into different categories in varying percentages.

Now I want you to think about what we might do with this information...

A podiatrist we work with has a large number of veteran and pensioner patients (aged 70 and up). These patients are often diabetic (which can lead to major complications including amputation of feet if they don't have regular treatment). His practice is also in an area made up of certain ethnic groups. Why would it be important to know this?

Coming back to the mortgage broker, here's what he could do. Long haul truck drivers have their own language, they read certain publications and generally stop at the same roadside food stops on the major routes. So if you were to advertise to catch their attention, where would you go?

Obviously you'd target what they read (there are at least 10 trucking publications in Australia), as well as opportunities to advertise in truck stops etc. You wouldn't waste time advertising in the Financial Review - or wasteful telemarketing from the white pages (which is now banned anyway).

You could buy a list of people who've bought trucks, or do a joint venture with a supplier to the industry.

As to the teacher segment - what do they read? Could you give talks and seminars showing teachers (who are overworked and underpaid for what they do), how they can own their own homes? You would advertise in specific publications and journals read by them. Do you think teachers talk to one another?

The podiatrist could give talks at the local RSL (Returned Servicemen's League Clubs), Bowling Clubs etc., where these retirees hang out, detailing the need for good foot care and the dangers of not looking after themselves. There'd be very little point in email or internet advertising to a pensioner market.

With the ethnic groups - they often have their own newspapers - so advertise in those.

The key is to know WHO your market is and provide the RIGHT MESSAGE using the RIGHT MEDIUM. Anything else is fishing in the dark with no bait and no fish in sight - which is frustrating at best and downright dangerous at worst.

Article Source: http://depositarticles.com/

Rashid Kotwal is an international speaker and author who specializes in on-line and off-line strategies for direct response marketing and sales optimization. He works with sales organizations want to get more business, faster and with less wasted effort. You can find more information at Sales & Marketing Consulting and Get Clients Online Fast. Copyright Rashid Kotwal.

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