Make sure your existing client feels that they have more to gain than lose.
The last thing your client wants to worry about is you dropping the ball, or their friend being underwhelmed or perhaps even offending you. “Is my friend the right kind of client? Will my friend make me look bad?”
It’s easier not to. Think about it, how many referrals have you actually received in your career? See, earning referrals is hard and over the last few blogs I’ve made the case that service alone won’t bring them in.
Do these six things …
1. Be worth it. If what you do can be found anywhere, then there is no help for you. I’m really sorry, but you and what you do are not that interesting. Yes I know, what you do is so important, truly, but that doesn’t make it interesting. Stage experiences don’t just deliver services.
2. Work with as specific a group of people as possible. Enough has been written about this that by now you should accept that it’s true.
3. Make it easy for someone to bring up what you do by breaking the script. Honestly, how often do your clients sit down and talk about financial planning specifics with their friends? Never.
Give them a story they want to share. A story about them, and something they did because of you. HINT … Financial planning is all about goals. The stories that your clients will tell are not about goals or planning but about aspirations, which you probably haven’t discovered.
Do you know your client’s aspirations?
4. Show your human side. When someone hears about you, they’re going to google you. What will they find? People want to know who you are and not what you do. They know what you do, and once they know who you are they’ll want to know more about what you do. Pick your social media platforms, and learn how to use them. There is a lot of free info on all of that.
It’s great that you’re a professional. It’s great that you believe in “tailored solutions” etc. But first and foremost, we’re humans, and when I see on Instagram that you shared a photo of a beautiful patio, with a nice comment about the importance of taking a deep breath and being grateful, it helps me relate with you in a way your Brooks Brothers’ LinkedIn profile pic does not.
5. Be generous. Do more than anyone would think is reasonable. Show that you care; details matter.
6. Ride in on the white horse. Do the work that is required …. Not just the work that is assigned. All assigned work, the work that is written on your business card, competes on price. All of it.
The required work is the work that needs to get done, that isn’t written on your business card, that everyone needs but isn’t asking anyone to do.
Do. That. Work.
Figure out the problems that your client has, and figure out how to support them and make it happen.
You should sing up and join our community. If you know that there is an easier, more enjoyable and authentic way to attract and keep great clients but you haven’t figured it out, come on in. We’ll show you how to do that, while succeeding more easily and enjoying more personal freedom. www.seriousshift.com
Life’s what you make it.