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Getting Clients
I’m going to do a three-part series answering questions that came in through email. A couple of few episodes back, I threw out the comment that if anybody wanted my take, my opinion or my thoughts on a current business challenge they’re sitting on. Email me what industry you’re in, what you do and what you believe your current business challenge is and I’d be happy to throw my opinion out there. I’m going to jump right in. Nick Horowski, the Owner of Evolution Health & Fitness emails, “Ken, thanks for all the show. What I would like covered would be how would you go about getting more coaching clients? I feel you’ve covered this before, but if you could go through a step-by-step as if somebody were starting fresh, that would help. I’m a holistic lifestyle coach, but I’m sure it could be coaching of any kind. If you could cover the following, what would your website look like? Would you do videos, blogs, podcasts, all or none? How would you advertise? What would these look like? Thanks so much, etc.”
I’m going to cover two-thirds of what Nick is asking for. I’m going to say this somewhat boldly because I’m not 100% sure Nick is asking the right question. I’m going to go on the assumption that Nick, bottom line, wants more clients as fast as possible, but on a long-term basis he wants the right client and he wants to develop clients that refer other clients, etc. To summarize, how do you get coaching clients? What would the site look like? How would you advertise, etc.? Number one, I want to switch the thought process from how to get to how to attract. It’s a dynamic difference. The mindset, the thoughts, the actions, everything changes when you realize you don’t ever, nobody has, gone out and get clients. Even if you knock on doors and you cold call, you’re not getting clients. The act of cold calling is the beginning bridge. Once you get face-to-face, you have to attract them. You have to become attractive physically. You have to be good-looking.
Here’s my answer is number one, I would start with episode 28. It’s called the Success Wheel. The reason I would have Nick start there is that Nick and anybody looking for clients needs to become a magnet. You need to get to the point where you’re so magnetized. Your clients are coming to you. They’re bringing you clients. If you’re not sure what the Success Wheel is, you’ve got to jump into episode 28. I’ll do a summary. My personal Success Wheel goes back many years ago and I started growing as a business owner by attending conferences. At the bottom left of a circle of a wheel, put the word conferences and at each of these conferences, the speakers, the ones I respected almost always recommended books. The top left of my Success Wheel, imagine the word books. I would read every book recommended by every great speaker. At the top of my Success Wheel, I began developing IP, Intellectual Property, knowledge, wisdom. It got to the point where within a couple of years of me going to these conferences and reading these books, I became a subject matter expert in my space to the point that whenever I opened my mouth, you give it ten minutes and I had a crowd of people around me wondering, “What else did I know?”
I became a magnet. I attracted the greatest people that wanted to work for our company and I attracted many people that wanted to do business with us. The episode on the Success Wheel goes into the details of how to build one, how to stay on one and why you’ve got to go all around them a couple of few times. Here’s a benefit of the Success Wheel for me personally, and this is in the last few years. We had fifteen sales reps. We were growing rapidly. We had great numbers. Now, we do fifteen times more annual business than a few years ago. Instead of having fifteen sales reps, we only have two. We’re almost solely referral-based. We do some marketing, but not really. We’re so magnetic and the words got out that if somebody comes to us with a couple of bucks, has us buy them a website or build them a website, they’re going to get cashflow for the rest of their life and have no worries.
The word has gotten out and now we’re three-time, soon-to-be four-time Inc. 5000 company. Step number one, my recommendation to Nick is become magnetic and jump aggressively into a Success Wheel. Number two, until you become magnetic, you do have to attract some clients and the sooner the better. If you’re going to do that, you want to be found in their flow. You want to be found in your customer or clients flow. Where are they? Where do they live? Where do they associate? I would do lookalike campaign Facebook ads. I would do pay-per-click campaigns. Most importantly, I would do an organic long-term SEO campaign, getting your website to be found in Google search. You can find out how to do that on episode three called Read Your Customer’s Mind. Step two, while you’re waiting to become magnetic, you still need to be found and you still need to be attractive.
Step three, I would develop the right to succeed in “business.” That is covered in detail in episode 40, not to be confused with building a right to succeed website. That’s episode four. Nick was specifically and expressly asking what would the website look like? Episode number four covers the physical structure of that, the minutia of whether it should be video-based, blog-based, podcast-based. That’s for Nick to decide based on the flow of Nick’s customer. I don’t know where holistic clients hang out so I can’t answer that question and quite frankly, it doesn’t matter. You’ve got to get your website found and the rest will take care of itself. You have to understand in step three that you don’t bring people to your website. You bring your website to people. I cover this in great detail in episode 91 and 92.
The act of cold calling is the beginning bridge. Once you get face-to-face, you have to attract them. Click To TweetThe final step, step four, is Nick needs immediate cashflow. I’m going on an assumption based on the question and everybody reading this blog could use more cashflow. Episode six titled Guaranteed Growth is no question the single-handed best immediate cash-generating model we’ve ever suggested to anybody. It physically works immediately. There’s no prep. You don’t have to get a certification. It is physically phenomenal. It runs on the concept of switching from activity to accomplishment, and in this case, Nick and hopefully, a partner or two or some sales reps would get out a calendar. On day one, they would go to the website called Google and they would Google and search for all of the Meetups and things like Meetups, Chamber of Commerce meeting, leads groups, different Meetups, anywhere where Nick could get in front of 10 to 50 people and present what he does.
Here’s the key. You’ve got to use the formula in episode six. I don’t have the time to go through it, but if you follow that quick ten-minute formula, Nick will be able to book himself in front of ten to fifteen presentations a month with 10 to 50 people in each venue on each meeting. In a matter of one month, Nick can present what his company does to no less than 150 and probably no more than 600 people. Those meetings are going to lead Nick to other meetings. Some nuggets when you’re doing the Guaranteed to Growth formula. When you’re speaking in front of a group, especially if you’re a one-man organization, you do not ever say the word I. You always say the word we. Even if it’s just you, it doesn’t matter. We represents a movement, a group of people.
I’m sure you have mentors, coaches and people you counsel with. Even if you’re a one-person shop, it’s never just you ever. Nothing happens from one person. You always say we and then everything Nick would say has to be spoken through the eyes of social proof. If Nick says, “I can coach you. I can do this. I will. This is what I do.” That’s not going to work because Nick will be perceived as a salesperson. Everything coming out of Nick’s mouth has to be from the voice of social proof and it has to be from the voice of testimonials, endorsements. Everything has to come out of Nick like, “Our clients tell us or the testimonials we’re reading say this or the results that two-thirds of our last group of clients received were,” because now it’s not Nick saying it, it’s Nick’s clients. It’s social proof, it’s endorsements. The Guaranteed Growth formula works better if two or three people attend the same event, Nick and a partner, Nick and a spouse, Nick and a friend or you could even split up and Nick does one meeting, a partner or spouse does another.
Hopefully that helps. That’s a four-step formula for how to get clients. I believe in my heart of hearts that would work 100% chance. If you’re sitting out there, you’re reading this blog and you have a business challenge, you can write an email to Ken@IncomeStore.com and it says, “This is my name. This is the business and industry I’m in. My current business challenge is this. Ken, if this was your business challenge, what would you do?” I would be happy to respond. I hope this helps. Take care.
Important Links:
- Evolution Health & Fitness
- Success Wheel – Past episode
- Read Your Customer’s Mind – Past episode
- Episode 40 – Past episode
- Episode four – Past episode
- Episode 91 – Past episode
- 92 – Past episode
- Guaranteed Growth – Past episode
- Ken@IncomeStore.com
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