I hope you’re doing a little more to build client confidence before asking for them to invest in your offline consulting services than this …
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Q: What are you doing to create credibility and believability?
Even though what we do is commonly referred to as offline ‘marketing’ it’s a simple fact that there are many people who are great at doing what they do but don’t really enjoy marketing and selling. Do you hate the very idea of marketing or selling? If you do, I don’t blame you because neither do the clients and customers that we serve and that’s why they need our help.
*In a minute, I’ll give you details on how you can get hold of some little-known secrets that can help build your client base that’s overflowing in record time*
What most offliners call ‘marketing’ is really nothing more than thinly veiled “used car salesmanship” but the good news is that using that type of approach doesn’t work to market your professional (niche) marketing and consulting services, so if what you do is only 5% different you will stand out from the crowd.
What’s Are The Options?
There’s a very powerful technique that every Offline Marketer should and could use and I’ll be including it in a video tutorial due to be released soon — but for now, I want you to let me know what your biggest challenge is when it comes to marketing and selling your offline consulting services to businesses.
Only 10 Comments Allowed
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As soon as this blog post gets 10 comments, I’m going to disable comments.
I’m going to answer every single response and the first 10 people to respond get a FREE copy of the upcoming video coaching product.
So if you feel like you’ve got a particular challenge when it comes to marketing and selling your offline consulting services leave your response below and I’ll respond
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Update: Thank you to everyone who responded. I’ve had feedback on how thought-provoking some of them are. Also people said it was good to know that they were not alone in their struggles to master Offline Marketing consulting.
I’ll be in contact with you for details of how to claim your gift
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Hi Bayo
I would like to know how to get more clients without feeling like I have to jump through hoops all the time.
Great topic and I love the ideas you share!
H
Hi Heidi,
The first thing you need to do is narrow your focus. When you do that marketing and selling becomes easier and more productive. As a direct result you get to understand your market at a deeper level too.
Businesses can quickly spot a ’switched-on’ service professional instantly i.e. someone who ‘gets it’ and is confident.
My biggest issue is trying to find someone that I can trust to do the sales for me. I had once person that looked great and started to work together and then she just quit.
I’d like to be able to have some video I can use to train others to do offline sales.
Hi Neil,
Trust comes over time. Fact is that our clients don’t trust us instantly either. Create instant rapport? Yes, but trust takes time. If someone leaves it might not be a bad thing because imagine if they stayed and screwed up your business somehow.
There are great people to outsource to and the truth is you get what you pay for. Having said that, people do move on and outsourcers are not guaranteed to stay. In the eraly days I had people jump ship as soon as someone with a more aggressive payment structure came along. Once the marketer couldn’t afford to keep paying those high(er) fees they came back explaining why they had gone and asking for another chance.
Video – Seems like you know the problem and also have an idea of a potential solution, so let me ask you this. What’s stopping you from creating such a video that walks someone through what you need to have done in your offline business based on your business model?
I don’t do videos for pretty much the same reason I was interested in your post: I hate sales! Don’t do sales! My passion is the technical side and I’d really like to be able to find methods to start finding local businesses, especially in this economy. I have done the postcards, etc. but it seems local businesses today are reluctant to go farther into online marketing than just putting up a website.
“I hate sales!” … I hear ya…
I would be fooling you if I said that you can manage to get by without selling. You’ve got to sell and its how you can re-position ’selling’ in your own mind first that going to make the most difference to your results both in terms of how you go about it and how that translates into the type and quality of help that you hire if you outsource.
I’ll be providing pointers and guidance in the video that will help you out.
In the meantime, I suggest you view selling as a ‘consulting.’ Selling indicates that the objective is to make a sale and puts pressure on the situation. Consulting gives a different fee’ to the exchange.
Hopefully you’re not doing what I see many offliners do which is try to skip bases and go from go from “Hi, pleased to meet you” to “Whwre are we going to live and how many kids are we going to have together?”
I wouldn’t be doing justice if I didn’t add the fact that when you niche your success rate is much better too.
Biggest challenge is how to motivate these BUSY small business owners to respond quickly (or at all…)
They are getting hit by internet marketers all the time, so they say, and just seem to be tuning out everything but “word of mouth”
It may sound a little cliche-like but the best way that’s proven is to look at the world through the eyes of the business owners you are seeking to help.
Here is a real world example…
When I pulled this issue up (it’s been on my mind to create something to solve the problem for a long time because of the number of emails I get about it) I already knew that people in my target audience, i.e. Offline Marketers and people who offer products and services to businesses, are as you say “being hit …” all the time with different messages and so they tune out.
2 choices … do what everyone does or find a different way to get attention.
At the time of this reply, people who are motivated to solve the issue of selling have taken time out to respond to a business challenge they have of selling and marketing. How did I get them to respond? nothing ‘tricky’ or unethical. Its simply by offering a reason for them to respond that matters to them and is worth their time to stop by and write about the problem they have with marketing or selling. That’s motivation at work in the purest form.
“Being hit by internet marketers ….”
That’s a problem first and foremost for people that see themselves as internet marketers. If you see yourself as an internet marketer that’s the same way you’ll operate and been perceived by your prospects.
We are not dealing with internet marketing and we are NOT internet marketers. Clear those 2 facts up and you’ll see immediate changes in how you operate and how you’re perceived, I guarantee it.
Well my biggest problem is figuring out pricing across products. Go in with a low price physical price product/solution or go in with a higher price consulting package that includes the smaller products and services. Determing the price point and approach is whats needed.
Gregory Burrus
First of all let me be clear that low pricing has never been and never will be a winning or sustainable option.
You’re generally forced into the low price issue when what you offer is a ‘commodity’ and is not perceived as being any different from what others offer. The perception is from the perspective of the business (business owner) because marketing is seeing your offerings through the eyes of your offline customer or client.
Marketing and consulting, when done properly is actually hard to offer as a commodity. ‘Niche Marketing and Consulting’ is even harder to offer as a commodity and so someone with enough focus, skill and knowledge of how to operate as a niche marketing and consulting specialist will always outsell, outperform and outdo someone offering commodity services.
Determining your price points are easy when you don’t have to ‘re not competing on price.
How to break through in the UK. i beleive Uk business owners are the most diffcult to get through to, the perception is that only a big company with a huge tv campaign is good enough to offer them a service with no questions ask, from experience even if they know what you are saying is benefecial to them, they still stay adamant and refuse your cold call, what will be the best way to gain business owners intrest with few words before they say no. This is from personal experience, even thoughi can see clearly that the business needs what i am proposing, i always feel that they are loosing out.
Hi,
There are people currently offering niche business marketing and consulting services in the UK. Being from the UK myself I know this to be true and also have niche marketing consulting clients in London, Bedfordshire, Birmingham and Sheffield, North America, Canada, Australia etc. Personally I didn’t find it harder in any country.
Yes, there were and still are ‘differences’ in perception and approach but not necessarily harder.
Here in the US, I get asked questions because they know I’m not from around ‘here’ originally — With UK clients they ask me certain questions because they believe that what I’m talking about may work in the US where they believe everything is driven by ‘hard-core’ marketing. but may not necessarily work 100% in the UK.
Fair observations indeed, but not necessarily true. Overcoming these issues is one of my initial tasks every time I market (so it is an issue that isn’t going away anytime soon for me)
But what matters is HOW you get through to them. If you take the full on IM approach you’re bound to struggle because you’ll be ‘perceived’ as one of those ‘internet people‘ — We are not internet marketers when we are working with businesses (my opinion and people can feel free to differ) and if they believe in big companies as being the only option for internet marketing, then you’re sunk.
Analogy
If a GP (General Practitioner = ‘Doctor’ for those who don’t know who a GP is) says “Take this medicine because it’s going to work for the illness you’ve got” would you take it or not? You bet you would and here are some reasons why…
1. YOU recognized you had an illness or discomfort (you weren’t just ‘aware’)
2. YOU felt enough discomfort to go and see a GP
3. YOU believe that what she offers will help you
4. YOU believe in the GP (Expert)
5. You were never pressured, cajoled or persuaded to see the GP
6. YOU know that if you don’t do something you’re going to be one sick person experiencing even more pain
I teach that people should borrow a leaf from GPs in their marketing and selling of offline services. I also believe that people should learn from the ‘types’ of GP that exist.
1. A GP (General Medicine) is paid much less than a specialist
2. When you go to see a specialist, you expect to do what you’re told to do
3. When you deal with a specialist, you’re prepared to pay good money for that expertise
In a nutshell, although it is unlikely that you will close 100% of your business all the time, I’m not convinced that the UK is any different to any other developed country. Neither do I believe that if you niche and work with a demographic that knows they have marketing and business development problems and are actively seeking solutions, that they wouldn’t be open to exploring working with you.
I agree I hate selling myself. I find what works well for me is to find out what are their most pressing issues and offer solutions. Many times I will put together a video or presentation, record it and deliver it back to the client.
They are usually blown away with the insights I share throughout video. These don’t take long to put together and have a higher perceived value as it is very personal to client. This helps to build more trust without “selling” as I am offering solutions.
This is my way of working around the selling. I still find it hard to narrow my marketing down as I specialize in several key areas.
Hi James,
That’s a great approach, sadly, not too many people will ever use this type of positioning tactic for a whole bunch of reasons apart from fear.
To do this does take first and foremost having a niche and understanding it, because if you don’t have a niche you’ll end up saying things that are very general in nature … which puts you in the ‘commodity seller‘ group. Most folks don’t understand the importance of operating in a niche or a select few. Having a niche means your marketing efforts are more focused based on an organizing set of principles driven by what the niche responds to.
Narrowing your marketing down becomes easier when you service related industries or professions in a niche — That’s the key.
I am just getting started in the Offline Marketing arena so it’s difficult for me to speak specifically about approaching this clientele. I do however, have many years of selling and marketing experience in other fields most recently Real Estate. I have never really considered myself a “Salesman” per se but rather have had the most success through positioning myself as the “Valued Consultant”… I don’t sell properties I help my clients buy the the best ones for them. I fully intend to continue with this approach in my new endeavors as well. I’ve been a bit nervous about getting started in this new business and find reading the info provided here somewhat comforting and encouraging. I’d say that the best confirmation I’ve gotten from Bayo which let’s me know that I’m getting close to launching is his persistent insistence on zeroing in on a “Specific Niche”. I’ve recently clearly defined 1 or 2 that I’m about ready to pursue and I certainly have a solid comfort level with the 1st. I’m looking forward to getting started and will come back here often for guidance.
Thanks Bayo!
Glenn – Thanks for your comments and let me tell you that you are on the right path. It doesn’t matter what I say, the truth can’t be denied. Too many people are afraid to niche because they have been told in the first place that they need to get whatever widget, tool etc and they’ll get ‘bucket loads‘ of ‘local’ businesses lining up with ‘cash in hand’ to do business with them.
“Total, absolute rubbish“…but that’s the topic of a separate discussion.
Q: Can you operate in ways that make you and your offline marketing and consulting solutions more attractive and desirable to certain demographics e.g. CPAs, Tax professionals etc?
A: You bet you can.
Q: Could the situation ever exist whereby many of these businesses are waiting to get ‘face time’ with you?
A: Sure, I do it every week (my action-oriented plan is weekly based) — Reality is that you have to plan and create these situations. They don’t just happen and neither do they happen as a result of trying to be everything to everyone. Missing this point is why people find marketing and selling their great offline services so darn hard. How do I know? Been there and done that when I started in this lucrative line of business and it is the biggest challenge the majority of my new offline coaching students face.
Seeking to eliminate barriers to marketing and selling starts with differentiating yourself through ‘nichefying‘ all you do.
You know, it doesn’t matter how much a specialist in SEO knows or charges, I believe they could be working less and charging more if they became known within a niche or certain niches.
Stay focused and I look forward to sharing your success story with the world someday!
Bayo