So much is written about the various styles of marketing available to PSF's. But as Alan Weiss and other collective pieces of knoweldge state the best way for PSF's to develop their long term client base is to form authentic relationships with their clients.
Too many PSF's jump into the lake without checking the depth - the consequence is no different to that of me leaping into the murky waters of a lake without checking its depth - inevitable death or slow or non-recovery of essential limbs. Diving in may create some short term success, but aren't we all in business for the long term?
Lesson Two: Focus on the relationships. This does not mean inviting potential clients over for dinner or a business lunch and expecting instant returns for sharing a bottle of wine or two. It is much much deeper than this. Think deep dive (to keep in with the diving scenario). A deep and well researched dive will pay dividends.
A colleague said to me the other day when going through our Relationship Model:-
Craig, this is surely the long way around to making contact with the prospect. Shouldn't I just send them a letter to get the ball rolling?
A letter about what I asked?
Who we are, what we do, services we have
Big deal, everyone has services, everyone has experts on their team (well they will claim they are - every consultant is good...aren't they?), everyone has a tool or tools...why would we be any different?
What prospect intelligence do we have? What are the challenges they are facing that we can actually provide some useful insight (not advice) too? Without this, and other intelligence, it is not worth your time to contact a prospect. You will be added to the delete file or bin just where your competitors are.
At Mettle I have created the rule that no prospect should be contacted without the following being completed:
- Business Development Qualification
- Prospect Intelligence Dashboard
- Prospect Relationship Map (internal to prospect and within Mettle)
- Concise letter of introduction outlining why we are contacting them (this is not a hey do we have something for you...)
- Scheduled strategic follow up strategy
It is surprisingly challenging to get this level of discipline from people undertaking the business development however, once established, it is a powerful way to approach a prospect.
One of our cultural drivers is to always go to a prospect or client armed with value add solutions. Remember however never ever walk into a prospect and start 'consulting'. You are there to establish an understanding of how they work, what their issues are and how you can add value. They don't need to be consulted to - they need to know you appreciate and understand - by you talking their language first and foremost.
Don't be a know it all on the first visit - you will not be asked back.
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