How to Define a Prospect so that They Become Clients!
by Gerry Rose, Integrity Networking Solutions, Business Consultant
 

So, you are a realtor, or maybe a lawyer. How about a mortgage broker or a hairstylist? Who is your prospect? Where do you find more?

The first thing to do is define your target market. If you are a hairstylist answering, “anyone who has hair”, I’m sorry, but that is not correct. We all need to focus on a specific target, looking at the demographic of our best client. A hairstylist might define a target market by age, gender, and income. For example, males 25 to 40 with incomes of $70,000 per year. A second target market might be females 50 to 75 with incomes of $100,000. Pick up to four specific target markets. This is important because we need to figure out where our target markets hang out. “Why?” you ask. So we can direct our marketing to that target.

Identifying a target market is much like going fishing. If you want to fish for perch, you would go to a lake where perch live. You would bring perch bait (your marketing offer). With your trusty electronic fish finder (this is your research tool to find where your target market hangs out), you find perch swimming thirty feet below the surface. When you put perch bait on the hook, drop your line and hook thirty feet below the surface, what will you catch? Perch!

Now that you know where to fish, how do we land them (turn them into clients)? There are many strategies. But first, I believe it is important to understand what resources are available. We each have four resources that are the same…time, energy, creativity and money. The goal is to take our time, energy, and creativity, and turn those into money.

Now back to the strategy. I find using my time, energy, and creativity to give value to potential and existing clients reaps huge benefits. There are many strategies to implement using time, energy, and creativity; however, the idea below has returned tremendous results. Here’s what I do:

1. Collect a business card from a target market potential client. Be sure it has a correct email address. If there is no email address, ask for it.

2. When you get back to your office, send an email. The email should include:

   Subject line which includes title of the meeting where you met and meeting date.
   Body should read something like this:
       Dear NAME ON BUSINESS CARD, Great to meet (could be see you if you have met this person before) you at the title of the meeting where you met. Can I email you a complimentary copy of our latest ebook?” (Ebook should be a subject that relates to your target market. You can substitute an article that relates to your target market). Include the title of the article. To 95% of these emails, I get a “YES” reply requesting the complimentary information.

Remember, we want potential clients to say “YES”.

3. Send the article. (Do not send the article with the first email. Remember, we are using our time and energy to create value…the article. Our creativity is being used to get people to say “YES” to our offer, ultimately becoming clients or leading us to clients).

4. Wait 24 to 48 hours.

5. Call the potential client. Use the following or similar script below:
    Hi, NAME ON BUSINESS CARD. Did you have a chance to read the ebook I sent?
    (Wait for response). {Response will be “YES” or “NO.” Each is OK.}
    Are you interested in…?
    (Place your offer here. In my case, I ask them if they are interested in attracting the right prospects and generating more referrals.) No matter what their response, you would say:   
    “Would it make sense for us to get together for five to ten minutes to…?
    (Here again repeat your offer – here I say “Would it make sense to get together to see how we might work with you to attract the right prospects and generate more referrals?)
    {Again, wait for a response. You should have a five to ten minute presentation prepared. Offer them more time if you need to answer their questions.}
   If you get a “NO” response, offer them an article that you could create and send to them as a monthly communication (my communication strategy) once every 30 days.

  Your purpose for offering an additional article is to continue to provide time, energy, and creativity to demonstrate value. It keeps you and your company name in front of this potential client. Possibly the timing was not right. As they receive an article from you every 30 days, the time may become right, and you will get the sale. Using these and other strategies will help you get all the prospects and referrals you need.