If you’re running a business that relies on you forming connections and working relationships with clients, rather than just selling to customers, then you have to understand that how you get them on board is more complex, as well. In particular, you might have to help them realise what, exactly, you do and how it specifically benefits them. Here, we’re going to look at a few ways that you can get your clients on board with your services and ready to sign up.
Know your audience
When you’re marketing to an audience of customers, some understanding of the demographics that are going to be making the buying decisions that lead them to your products is a good idea. When you’re reaching out to clients, however, you need to get a lot more specific than demographics. You need to know precisely who your client is, what kind of work they do or what industry they are in, and a good idea of the goals they have and the pain points that might be in the way of reaching those goals. Take the time to research your potential clients before you reach out to them. Doing your homework is impressive, but at least knowing them is the bare minimum.
Get used to the personal approach
If you’re offering B2B services, you might think the professionalism inherent in the relationship with your clients would keep things impersonal, but the exact opposite is the truth. Usually, when you’re pitching to a business or a client, there is one person who has the final decision on purchasing power, and you’re going to do a lot better by fostering a personal connection with that individual. Whether you do it yourself or appoint someone from your team, you should make sure that your client’s decision-maker has a direct line of contact with a consistent member of the team who can address issues, answer questions, and keep urging them towards the point of crossing the finish line.
Listen as much as you speak
You want to be confident and to put your foot forward in explaining the benefits that you can offer their client, but if they start speaking, you had better make sure that you listen up. Not just to give them a turn in the conversation and be polite, but to truly engage with their wants and needs. If you feel like you have a hard time connecting with clients, then you may need to work on improving your active listening skills. Show that you’re engaging with what they’re saying by nodding, sounding off your acknowledgement, and responding to it. If they bring up a pain point, then returning to it a little later in the pitch or conversation can be a way to demonstrate that you really do have them in mind.
Sharpen your pitch
You shouldn’t start talking to clients without a good idea of what you’re selling, how you can sell it rhetorically, and what pain points it’s going to address for them, specifically. This can change to some degree from client to client, but you should take the time to craft the most effective pitch for your services. A good pitch is all about staying focused. You don’t want to spend too much time straying from the main point, which in this case is likely going to be a few specific benefits or aims that you can help your clients reach. You can supplement a good pitch with other materials, allowing you to not have to explore too many topics, which we’ll cover later.
Share knowledge wisely
You have knowledge that your client does not. They would not be approaching you if that were not the case. However, you should share that knowledge with them in a way that encourages them to better understand what you do, not just to demonstrate your own credentials. Professional clients tend to have a bit more of a stomach for jargon than consumers, but you should still steer clear of using insider terms without giving them a proper introduction, first. Being able to explain to your client what you did, your aims, and how it matches with their needs will always give them a better sense of security when relying on you.
Make it a presentation
A good pitch that boils down precisely the key points of how you can help your clients meet their goals is all well and good. However, if you want it to hit them as well as it should, then you can offer a little help in making it more digestible and easier to engage with. This is where creating a presentation could be useful. You don’t want to open with a presentation the first time you meet then, it should be closer to when they’re ready to seal the deal and sign the dotted line.
Put it in a booklet
If you offer services that can help your clients in a wide variety of ways, and offer a whole host of different benefits, then you want to make sure that your pitch isn’t too bloated. The best way to do that, while also giving them all of the information they need on what you do, is with the help of a good brochure or catalogue of what you can do for them. Printing out customised booklets can help you explore the various layers of your business and what you can do in the detail necessary to give clients a full scope of how you can help them, but allow them to engage in their own time. You don’t want to hold them hostage with lengthy explanations, be concise when you can, and offer the detail when they’re able to digest it better.
Have a portfolio at the ready
If you have the body of work to show your clients that you know what you’re talking about, then you should be ready to show it to them, of course. Creating a portfolio means that you have to have work at the ready and, if you’re just starting out your business, you might not have that just yet. As such, you should take the time to build it up. You can present your portfolio in a range of different ways, be it on paper, in a folder, or on your website, or you can even create a portfolio website in and of itself to create a more comprehensive experience of showing clients what working with you can offer.
Don’t just agree with everything they say
That said, you don’t want to baby your client. There’s a real urge to nod along with everything they suggest or want, even if you have a different idea, and this can prevent you from giving your best work. You want to be open-minded to what their thoughts and concerns are, but you should feel comfortable in expressing your honest opinions, not in a way that is combative, but in a way that invites them to see your expertise at work. You’re in this together, you want them to be able to see that. Of course, you have to be mindful that you don’t appear disrespectful or disregard of their views, too.
Be able to share your successes with them
A lot of the points above have focused on how you sell yourself to your client, but that process continues long after they have agreed to work with you. If you want to keep working with them or to create the kind of reception that might help you get extra work in the future, you have to be able to demonstrate the value that you have created for them. Project delivery tools can play a major role in doing just that. You can lay out what goals your services are trying to reach, and be able to show them precisely what you did, and how you did it in a way that’s both easy to understand and aesthetically engaging. Otherwise, it’s very easy to not get credit for the work you’ve been doing under the hood.
Make it a collaboration
Of course, while you want to be able to take credit for your successes, you shouldn’t appear too big-headed when your client makes a win, even if it is with your help. Staying humble is a much more attractive trait, so long as you don’t over-egg it and look insincere. Be willing to take praise from your client and to own what you did, but you should also recognise and voice your recognition that a good and cooperative client is just as important in the successes that you achieve, as well. It can really cement the feeling of collaboration that will keep clients coming back.
You don’t have to treat your clients like they have no idea what benefits you can offer. What you want to do is explain how what you offer already matches what they want. It’s all about trying to align your vision with theirs. Do that, and you’ll be able to reach that mutual understanding much more easily.