Last week, I mentioned my interview with the wonderful Marcella Palmer over at IFV News (In Full View.) The video is featured on their site this week, so I hope you’ll check it out. I had the opportunity to share my personal story with their viewers, and for all you Mompreneurs (and Dadpreneurs), I hope you find it helpful.
We Parent-Entrepreneurs have a unique set of challenges when it comes to running a business and managing our family life. In fact, most Mom and Dadpreneurs that I know have a difficult time separating business from their family life (or even making a go of business at all.) Let’s face it, in order to feel successful when we’re at work, we need to be fully focused on work. And more importantly, when we’re with family, we need to be fully focused on family. Without that ability, we’re cheating our businesses and our children.
Over the years, I’ve been able to create both a personal and professional system to authentically live my ideal life of balance, meaning and happiness. I’m here to tell you it can be done! Enjoy the interview and post a comment to share your thoughts!
Professionals don’t discount. Period. Your lawyer doesn’t. Neither does your doctor. A set rate is a set rate. At least for them.
But what about you? Having a sale on products you sell to generate interest or say ‘thanks’ is fine, once in a while. It even makes people excited to test out your stuff. But have you ever felt the temptation to discount your services to sign on more clients? Come on, be honest.
Worse, you may be someone who has a “sliding scale,” meaning you determine what to charge once you get that prospective client in front of you. You’ve got to stop doing that! It’s about the worse thing you can do for your reputation, Client Attraction, and practice building.
Now, many people feel the pull to offer discounts to friends and people who can’t seem to afford their services. Here’s my thought about that: it devalues your services dramatically and shows others you’ve given them permission (as well as yourself) to think your services are not worth what you charge for them.
While you’re at it, you’re also giving them a signal to keep taking advantage of you over and over again. I remember when I was doing nutrition counseling, back many years ago, I was “pressured” by a client to give a discount. I was in a place where I “needed” clients, so I gave in, thinking that this person would not have signed up if I hadn’t knocked off those last $200 or $300.
I found I resented that client the entire time we worked together. Somehow, I was a little angry that I was forced into this and I found myself giving less of myself in our sessions. I didn’t like what I was doing. I just felt used. (Has that ever happened to you?)
It became clear that when someone takes an inch (asking for a discount and getting it), they’ll then try to take a mile (not believing the policies and procedures apply to them). I had to set up a whole bunch of boundaries in the relationship. Needless to say, the whole thing was a disaster and if I’d stuck to my original rate the first time (my boundaries around my rates) I wouldn’t have had this problem throughout.
Discounting is not necessarily good news for you and your reputation. Here’s what you can do instead. Offer different options, and different programs to fit all different budget levels. Let there be something for everyone’s budget, that way, you don’t HAVE to discount.
Your assignment:
Make a pact with yourself now that you will never discount. Yes, right now. Trust me on this one.
If the person still cannot afford your services, that’s OK. Avoid the temptation to reduce your rates, even “just this one time, because I like you.” (This is especially important for those who don’t have a full practice and really NEED the money.)
Let them know you’ll be here to help them whenever they’re able to. Most times, people come back to sign up for one of your programs when they can afford it a few weeks later. It’s worth the wait.
Instead, create different offerings at different price points to have something there for different types of clients and different budget levels. Wanna see how I set up different packages and programs with different price points, so there’s something for everyone? It’s easy and it’s all in the Client Attraction Home Study System™, the “bible” for attracting all the clients you need with proven, systematic processes that will help you fill your practice quickly and consistently, guaranteed. Here’s where you can get a copy: TheClientAttractionSystem.com.
© 2010 Client Attraction LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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Want to use this article on your website or your own ezine?
No problem! But here’s what you MUST include:
Fabienne Fredrickson, The Client Attraction Mentor, is founder of the Client Attraction System , the proven step-by-step program that shows you exactly how to attract more clients, in record time…guaranteed. To get your F.R.E.E. Audio CD by mail and receive her weekly marketing & success mindset articles on attracting more high-paying clients and dramatically increasing your income, visit www.ClientAttraction.com .
Have you ever become a victim of your own perfection paralysis when it comes to marketing yourself? I talked to a few clients this week who have been toying with the idea of putting together a talk to promote their services for months but haven’t done anything about it. The problem is they’re waiting to have the talk written, finished, practiced, the flyer completed and have a list of marketing sources that are lined up to promote the thing before actually selecting a date and getting it done. NONSENSE!
If I’d waited to have all things perfectly settled before moving forward with a talk, I’d still have only 3 or 4 clients in my practice, and believe me, I wouldn’t be moving forward very quickly. Instead, I believe in scrapping this traditional route and going backwards. Ask any clients of mine and they’ll tell you I’m notorious for getting my clients to commit to a date 4 weeks from today (yes, we actually have them pull out their calendar and select the date right then and there) and book the space, time, and title of the talk, before anything else is done.
What are my clients’ reactions? Yup, you guessed it… “YIKES! I need to get my butt in gear and get things going! I’m giving a talk in 4 weeks!!!”
Magically, everything always gets done. The talk is written, finished, practiced, the flyer is completed and they have a list of marketing sources lined up to promote the thing, and always before the deadline. I call this being PULLED forward by your marketing, instead of being a victim of Perfection Paralysis.
When you set yourself up to stop procrastinating and to start working to make it happen, it works every time. In the past, I too have dragged my feet on picking a date for an event I wanted to give. ‘Should I have it in the summer, should I wait ‘til fall?’ Since nothing was happening, I pulled out my calendar, picked a date, gave my credit card number to reserve the space and then made it happen, and you can too! There’s nothing like setting a deadline and getting in gear to make it happen.
Your Client Attraction Assignment:
Your turn. Are you procrastinating putting together a seminar or big event to market your services and reach out to your prospective clients? End the questioning NOW and just pick a date. Commit and then everything will fall into place because you’ll HAVE to get it done. Now, that’s what I call being pulled by your future. Use your business coach or a buddy as an accountability benchmark, and then send them an email with the date of your newly scheduled seminar or workshop. The most accountable thing you can do though is to pay for the space ahead of time. That’ll get you moving! 🙂
If you like the idea of this unconventional way to market that gets you clients, you’ll love the Client Attraction Home Study System™ for attracting all the clients you need with proven, systematic processes that will help you fill your practice quickly and consistently, guaranteed. Here’s where you can get your own copy: www.TheClientAttractionSystem.com.
Want to use this article on your website or your own ezine?
No problem! But here’s what you MUST include:
Fabienne Fredrickson, The Client Attraction Mentor, is founder of the Client Attraction System , the proven step-by-step program that shows you exactly how to attract more clients, in record time…guaranteed. To get your F.R.E.E. Audio CD by mail and receive her weekly marketing & success mindset articles on attracting more high-paying clients and dramatically increasing your income, visit www.ClientAttraction.com.
Imagine you’ve worked hard to market your services; you’ve attracted a prospective client, set up a “sales conversation” and gone through the whole sales process. Great job, but sometimes, no matter how hard we try, prospects don’t always sign up on the spot.
Sometimes, a prospect needs some time to make the decision on whether or when they’d like to start working with you. What I’ve noticed over the years is that when this happens, most always, the sale never happens, probably because life gets in the way and what’s out of sight is out of mind.
Often, this means you’ve lost them for good. UNLESS you use the proven method to get indecisive prospects to slide right into your practice, instead of slipping through your fingers.
So I’ve come up with a fantastic remedy for this, which again, helps me close the deal 97-98% of the times that I use it.
If they don’t bite on the sales call, use what I call the “bookend” method. Here’s how it works:
When a prospect tells me they need to talk to their spouse or needs some time to decide, or wants to ideally start in 2 months, I schedule a 5 minute “check-in” call with them (next Tuesday at 3pm, for example) so that we can follow up with each other without having to play phone tag or have to follow up with one another.
The great thing about this technique is that it puts a time limit in the prospect’s mind as to when THEY would like to make the decision, and obviously, you let them choose when they’d like to have that 5 minute chat.
I essentially came up with this because I really dislike following up in this situation. It makes me feel like I’m chasing after them and I don’t feel that this is Client Attractive. So instead, we agree that they’ll call me on set date and 90% of the time they do, and out of those times, they don’t feel pressured, have had time to think about what we talked about, and are ready to make a decision to move forward. It’s a great tool!
If for whatever reason they don’t call during the time of your 5 minute check-in appointment, you can then call them or e-mail them asking if anything went wrong. This usually puts the prospect into a mode where they feel obliged to get back you, as they were the one who missed the appointment. Again, this is much more Client Attractive and ends up saving you a lot of time.
YOUR ASSIGNMENT:
If a client doesn’t sign up on the spot, make sure to bookend another date so you don’t have to follow up on each other for weeks. Use it as a “let’s see where you are in your decision making process then.” It works like a charm.
Having trouble with actually getting the prospect INTO the sales conversation in the first place? You’re definitely not the only one. The good news is, I’ve developed a way to close the sale 97-98% of the time and I share the entire process in my Client Attraction Home Study System™. It’ll help you fill your practice quickly and consistently, Guaranteed. Here’s where you can get your own copy: www.TheClientAttractionSystem.com.
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Want to use this article on your website or your own ezine?
No problem! But here’s what you MUST include:
Fabienne Fredrickson, The Client Attraction Mentor, is founder of the Client Attraction System , the proven step-by-step program that shows you exactly how to attract more clients, in record time…guaranteed. To get your F.R.E.E. Audio CD by mail and receive her weekly marketing & success mindset articles on attracting more high-paying clients and dramatically increasing your income, visit www.ClientAttraction.com.
OK, so you’ve figured out where your best clients have come from and where your Ideal Clients can be found in large numbers, and inexpensively. It’s time to create a marketing plan that has you focusing on “fishing where the fish are.” The more focus you have, the better the results.
When coaching clients to do this in private sessions, I ask them to draw a large circle on a blank sheet of paper, and draw 4 lines to create a pie with 8 slices.
Then I ask them to fill out each slice of the pie with what they’re currently doing to attract clients (only the things that really work) and then fill in the rest of the marketing pie with marketing tools we’ve agreed will PULL their clients in. This comes from the list of where their Ideal Clients congregate, remember?
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One of the best ways to be credible in your business (and scoop up new clients at the same time) is to speak in front of a room of ideal prospects, already gathered FOR you. And if you can get PAID to speak about what you know, then it makes it even more appealing.
Problem is, most solo-entrepreneurs have no clue how to secure paid speaking gigs. In this month’s Special Topic Call, I’m interviewing a seasoned booking agent who’s booked over 2,000 paid speaking engagements since 1982. We’ll get real about what simple things you need to do to get paid to share your expertise at associations, conferences, conventions, employee trainings, continuing ed courses and corporate meetings.
If you’ve been struggling to get paid for your speaking, do WHATEVER you can to be on this call!
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DON’T MISS October’s Client Attraction INNER CIRCLE Call…
TUESDAY, October 5th, 2009, 4:00pm Eastern (NY) time (that’s 1pm Pacific, 2pm Mountain, 3pm Central.)
TOPIC: “How to Get PAID Speaking Engagements (and Scoop Up New Clients At The Same Time!)”
“Understand that it sometimes takes some time for the marketing seeds you’ve planted to grow roots, to sprout, grow and then bear fruit that you can eat.
That’s why you have to be diligent about planting them quickly and doing whatever it takes to foster them. At the same time, it’s important to plant as many marketing seeds as possible, so that you have different things cropping up and you’re not relying on just one thing in your business to bring you money.”
I believe the key to more clients, more in-come, and more time off, is making your business run like a well-oiled machine. Right now, you may be handling everything yourself, or perhaps delegating a little bit of it. The problem with that is your business is probably running YOU, as opposed to you running your business. And that probably means lots of stuff is falling through the cracks, which then means lost opportunities and fewer clients and less mo-ney coming in.
If you’re like most people in business for themselves, you market yourself in an ad hoc fashion: when you have time, when you think of it or only when a specific opportunity comes along. But wouldn’t you agree with me that inconsistency in marketing creates inconsistency in new client flow? That seems to be the bain of existence for most self-employed people like us.
I recommend buying a year-at-a-glance calendar and plugging in your marketing efforts. For example, your weekly breakfast networking group goes onto the calendar for the entire year, same with your monthly association meetings, writing your articles, giving teleclasses, meeting with your referral partners, sending your newsletter, mailings, speaking engagements, etc.
That way, you never have a week where you’re not doing ANYTHING to market yourself. That means you no longer have periods of feast or famine, or an inconsistent pipeline of curious prospects, ready to buy.
