— Today is —
A "Live" Teleseminar with
Small Business Marketing Expert
Bernadette Doyle
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Our Guest - Bernadette Doyle |
Host, David Matthies Founder of EmpowerMe!Online |
Tired of struggling to 'get your foot in the door'?
“Here's How You Can Get Senior Decision Makers From Corporations Calling YOU to Ask For Your Help, Without Cold Calling, Endless Networking, Or Expensive Advertising.”
Here's why traditional prospecting methods like cold calling WILL NOT help you attract clients to your training or consulting business, and what you can do instead.
Let's rewind the clock to 1995. I was working as a salesperson for a telecom company, selling a service that competed with BT.
I was responsible for opening new accounts, which meant picking up the phone and appointment setting, presenting the offer at the subsequent meeting, and then closing the sale on the spot, or following up until I did.
The importance of constantly prospecting for new business was drilled into me by my managers. Most of the sales team HATED this aspect of the role, but in all honesty, I didn't find it too difficult. I understood the link between having a full pipeline of prospects and achieving my sales targets, so I spent at least one full day each week just focused on prospecting for new business.
Fast forward 18 months and now I was my own boss, aiming to sell sales training to corporate clients. Many people warned me that the hardest part of my new role would be finding new clients, but I wasn't daunted - after all, I had won awards for generating new business in my previous role. I knew how to get in the door, and I knew how to close the sale when I got in there.
I was quickly brought back down to earth with a 'bump'!
Overnight, the rules of the game had changed.
My prospecting skills had not deserted me, nor had my willingness to pick up the phone. But now I had three hats to wear. I had to prospect, close the sale AND deliver the training.
This meant that my biggest challenge was TIME. The main problem was that I only got paid for the time I spent DELIVERING training, whereas previously my employer had picked up the tab (via my salary) for the time I spent prospecting on the phone.
The other challenge I encountered was that whilst my prospecting efforts did yield appointments, I had a fair degree of resistance to deal with once I got 'in the door'. Sales Directors are not noted for their open mindedness towards sales trainers, and at just 26 I did not have a bulging testimonial file. This didn't mean that closing the sale was impossible, but it took a lot more effort than simply signing up a new customer at a first meeting. Writing proposals and then following them up was time consuming, and once again, was not time that I was paid for.
So all in all, striking a balance between time spent prospecting and selling and time spent delivering paid work was quite a challenge indeed. And it's a challenge that every solo-professional can relate to. It's the main reason why people struggle with 'feast or famine' when it comes to marketing themselves. When you're working with a client, you're not marketing and selling, and that means that when the contract comes to an end, you can find yourself in a very sticky situation indeed.
The good news is that there is a way to avoid this 'feast or famine' syndrome.
It starts with recognizing that 'traditional' prospecting methods are not suitable for the self-employed service provider. They simply cost us too much in time and energy.
As an employed salesperson, I relished sifting through a list of 'suspects' and uncovering the real prospects within that list, but as a self-employed person, this was a luxury I simply couldn't afford. I needed to find a way of sifting prospects WITHOUT it taking hours or days of my time.
As an employed salesperson, the techniques I was taught for prospecting were what I now describe as 'one-to-one' prospecting techniques. I needed to replace them with 'one-to-many' prospecting techniques which enabled me to simultaneously reach large numbers of prospects.
I quickly realized that when a prospect calls YOU first, you don't encounter the scepticism and resistance that you get when you call them, so I needed to learn how to position myself in the marketplace in such a way that my target audience could easily identify me and seek me out.
And I learned the hard way that when you 'chase' business as a self-employed service provider, if you're not careful, you can come across as desperate and needy. As an employed salesperson, it was considered acceptable for me to make follow up calls after a meeting, but those follow up calls were received differently when the service I was selling was ME! Understandably, the prospect couldn't help but wonder 'well if she's as good as she claims to be, how come her calendar isn't already full?'
It took me time, but I discovered a whole new way of marketing and selling that today forms the foundation of the 'Client Magnets' approach.
And it worked. Within a matter of months, I received a call from the director of an international company - with over 70 offices worldwide. He wanted to hire me and pay me to visit 5 of his offices around the world to deliver my training.
From starting out with no track record, little credibility, I ended up attracting clients such as BT, Norwich Union, Sony and AIG.
And in every instance, THEY called me first.
But while my training business was thriving, I noticed that the majority of self-employed consultants I met were struggling to get work. I remember being puzzled the first time I heard about 'feast or famine', because that really wasn't my experience. I had a steady stream of qualified prospects knocking at my door month in and month out.
So I started wondering, why was attracting business so effortless for me, whilst it was such an uphill struggle for them?
Why were they battling to even get their foot in the door, whilst doors were swinging open for me? Why were the very same people who were calling to hire me, refusing to even take a call from the struggling consultant down the road?
It wasn't talent. I recognised that many of these consultants were more talented than me.
It wasn't experience. Many of them had far more business experience than I did.
It wasn't time. The bulk of my time was spent serving clients. I didn't have time to go to networking meetings or make cold calls. Meanwhile those consultants had far TOO much time on their hands, yet they couldn't get enough paying clients.
It wasn't hard work. Some of those consultants were working really hard to try to get seen by the key decision makers. Frantically making cold calls, sending introductory letters, even spending money they couldn't afford on glossy brochures. (I'm pleased to say I never had a glossy brochure!)
It wasn't technology. I attracted a great deal of this business WITHOUT having a website, or even an email newsletter. Most of the enquiries I was generating were coming in by phone.
So what was the difference between us?
The main difference between us was that I had developed a marketing system that made me visible to those people who could most benefit from what I had to offer. And then encouraged and rewarded those same people for contacting me.
And made it possible for those people to become paying clients without me having to spend hours in meetings, writing proposals or haggling over fees.
So while people with more talent and experience were being kept out in the cold, I was attracting enquiries from motivated buyers who were pre-sold and keen to hire me.
A year ago I started to document every single strategy, technique and resource that I had used to Attract Corporate Clients. I call it the 'Attract Corporate Clients System'.
And if you're ready to discover a new way of attracting business, which doesn't drain your time on ineffective prospecting techniques, then check out my "How to Magnetically Attract Corporate Clients". (Value $97 - FREE to EMO Members)
LIVE TELESEMINAR
“How to Magnetically Attract
Corporate Clients”
DATE & TIME TBA
This Teleseminar Masterclass is only for people who are selling to businesses and want to discover:
- the 4 things you must NEVER do if you want to attract corporate clients
- 3 marketing techniques you are probably already using - and why they are hurting your business
- Describe the positive changes you bring to your clients, rather than just list your qualifications
- One simple change that will transform you from 'unwelcome pest' to 'invited guest'!
- If you are asking "how do I get through the gate keeper to the decision-maker?" you are asking the wrong question! Instead your goal should be to get the decision makers to reach out and talk to you. This masterclass will show you how.
- How to secure meetings with decision makers without cold calling
- How to have 'ready-to-buy' prospects calling you
- How to quickly get known as the expert on a certain topic - even if you're just starting out
- How to set up an 'auto-pilot' prospecting system that automatically attracts and qualifies prospects so that....
- You spend your valuable time dealing with prospects who are serious and qualified
...and much more.
This focused 60 minute session is content packed as I reveal the exact strategies and steps I followed to go from zero to being a 'sought-after' expert, and how you can do the same. This teleseminar usually costs $97 per person, but is FREE to EMO Members.
DATE & TIME TBA
Call Schedule and Reservation Enrollment Form
(All Data Must Be Completed, Or Your Place Cannot Be Confirmed.)
| You will be sent a confirming e-mail once your enrollment is processed that includes the private dial in number and the conference pass code you will need to be on the call. You will also be sent a reminder notice the day prior and the morning of the call --- so you don't miss out on this incredible opportunity. |
About Bernadette Doyle
Bernadette Doyle solves the problem of attracting corporate clients for independent consultants and solo-professionals using magnetic marketing and selling strategies that work on auto-pilot so you spend less time selling and more time getting paid! Her philosophy is that most traditional sales and marketing methods involve some form of chasing on behalf of the seller with the net results that prospects are scared away. Bernadette can show you how to take your stand in the marketplace so that you are visible to your target audience, and which marketing systems will help you draw them to you.