I got news recently that one of my clients had just won a huge contract, beating out some very large competitors.

That's always good to hear and it proves that it really is possible for small firms and sole practitioners to win against big firms; if they get their approach right.

In this case she'd used an in-depth lead magnet to get the attention of the potential client. She'd followed up regularly for a couple of months sharing further useful information.

She'd had a meeting with the potential client too where she ran through the content of her lead magnet and discussed with them how the principles could work for their organisation (rather than trying to sell to them).

The end result was they asked her to work with them rather than choosing the two big consulting firms they'd also been talking to too.

It's hard being a small player. The temptation is to cut your prices and position your self as “as good as the big firms, but cheaper”. But that rarely works.

You may be cheaper than the big firms, but you're perceived as riskier. And lowering your prices adds to that perception.

Going the other way and positioning yourself as having more expertise makes you the less risky option. And you can charge more too.

It starts with having a great lead magnet that establishes your credibility and opens your client's eyes to the challenges they're facing and some of the things they could do to resolve them.

After that, you need to nurture your relationship to build more credibility and trust until they're ready to buy.