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What's Your Story?

Posted by

Ian Brodie on 16th April 2011.

Personas In the world of espionage they call it your “legend”. In drama, it's a character's “backstory”. In marketing we often call it a “persona”.

In essence, it's the stories about you, your history, your experiences which uniquely qualify you to do the things you claim you can do. The things that give credibility to your services.

If you're a an innovation consultant, perhaps you spent 10 years at Apple and know how the very best do it. If you're an IT outsourcer, perhaps you used to be the CIO of a major corporation and know just what CIOs need from outsourcing. If you're a leadership coach, perhaps you interviewed the 10 most prominent leaders in your sector and know what they do that makes them so effective.

In my post on Marketing Half-Truths I showed how important this backstory can be. How it can give you significant credibility and also make you more interesting to clients.

I'm not talking here just about your achievements or your CV. Just a list of stuff you've done is neither interesting nor memorable.

What I'm talking about is crafting a coherent and memorable story that brings a logical underpinning to your capabilities and services.

It works best if you can sum it up in one sentence. “<your name> can <do what you say you can do> because <your story which justifies it>”.

In my case, I can help consultants and coaches get more clients because I've done it myself – despite being far from a natural at business development.

Here are some others from my Authority Marketing podcast interviews:

Drayton Bird can do world-class copywriting because he's an obsessive student of the art and learned personally from the very best.

Greg Alexander can use benchmarking to improve sales performance because he's an ex-Sales VP who teamed up with a benchmarking geek to devise a method that really measures what drives sales success.

Tom Searcy can help small businesses beat their bigger competitors to land huge clients because he's done it time and time again himself and has turned his experience into a practical methodology.

In each of the cases, the history of the person lends credibility to what they say they can do.

Knowing their backstory, I'm going to hire each of them ahead of someone who claims to be able to do the same, but doesn't have the same credibility in their story.

So do you have a credible backstory like this?

I'm not suggesting you make one up if you don't. But what you can do is identify and focus on the elements in your own history which support your claims. This could be jobs you've done, experiences you've had, something you've studied, or a quirk of your personality.

What sort of stories typically work well?

In no particular order, here's a list of types of backstory which can work well. See if your experience can fit into any of these templates:

“I've done what you want to do”. This is a particularly powerful one. If you've done yourself what you're advising others to do (turned around a company, led a large organisation, doubled the sales of your business) then it makes sense to people that your advice will be good.
“The researcher“. You may not have done yourself what you're advising people about – but you've studied those who have and become an expert on what drives success based on multiple examples.
“The power behind the throne”. You were the guy behind the scenes advising, guiding and coaching others who've become big successes in the way your potential clients want to. Who did Roger Federer turn to recently to revitalise his career? Paul Annacone, the guy who helped Pete Sampras to nine of his Grand Slam victories.
“The pioneer”. You've the guy who's come up with new ideas in your field. A new theory of leadership. The first application of benchmarking to HR or whatever.
“The man on a mission”. You're dedicated to a cause – reducing waste in the public sector, democratising leadership.
“The champion”. This time you're dedicated to a particular type of business. Like Tom Searcy, for example, who champions small companies in their fight to win big deals against their big competitors.
“The safe pair of hands”. You want someone to manage a big IT project? This guy's done dozens. He knows every trick in the book and lives and breathes these projects.
“The engineer”. The guy who sees everything as a puzzle to be solved. Incredibly curious and obsessive about cracking every problem he gets given. You have a tough marketing challenge? Give it to him and he'll figure it out.

And, of course, there could be a whole bunch more.

In every case, something about the character or the experience of the persona gives credibility to why you should hire them. People can understand simple stereotypes like this. The can mentally file them and associate them with good things.

And if they're playing their role well, their behaviour and the stories they tell should be congruent with that stereotype.

So what's your story?

———-

PS For more information on using personas as part of business development, check out Dan Kennedy's work on Personality in Copy, and Jay Abraham and Rich Schefren on Maven Marketing.

Image by Nicolas Nova

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Mindset

5 Crippling Beliefs That Keep Consultants And Coaches In The Poor House

Posted by

Ian Brodie on 12th April 2011.

There's a myth often perpetrated in the media that consultants and coaches earn easy money doling out simplistic advice while hard-working salaried employees get on with the “real work”.

In my experience, the truth is very different. Most independent consultants and coaches work long hours, dedicated to helping their clients. They're still there plugging away long after the “hard-working employees” have gone home.

Yet most earn less than they did in the corporate world. And many struggle to survive.

It's not for want of talent or hard work.

Most usually it's because they're not good at marketing and selling their services.

And often, that stems from “crippling beliefs” they have about marketing and sales that undermine their attempts to get new clients.

In my time I've seen 5 particularly damaging beliefs that are commonly held by consultants, coaches and other professionals. Beliefs you must eradicate if you want to succeed at winning clients.

Crippling Belief #1: “If I do good work, people will hear about me”.

Painful truth: no they won't.

Sadly, good news doesn't travel. When researchers TARP looked at word of mouth, they found that if you have a bad experience with a business then on average you'll tell 12 people, and those 12 people will tell 6 others each. You've probably heard this or a similar statistic before.

However, a much less reported finding is that they also found that if you have a good experience with a business then on average you'll tell just a couple of friends. And those friends won't remember much, and won't tell anyone else at all.

And the problem with relying on word of mouth is that as most people practice it, it's a passive strategy. You're reliant on the goodwill of others to generate leads for you.

If you want more clients? Well, you just have to hope you get more recommendations.

So while word of mouth is great – relying on it alone is a sure road to the poor house.

Crippling Belief #2: “I just need to get my name out there”.

Painful truth: it won't make any difference.

Having your name out there more, having more people know about you, just means you're adding more noise to the constant barrage of promotional messages we all face every day.

“Getting your name out there” causes consultants and coaches to pay for advertising, send out meaningless flyers, and hire SEO companies to generate traffic to dead-end websites.

Unless you have a message that resonates with potential clients and that sets you apart from the myriad of others clamouring for attention then getting your name out there is pointless.

Crippling Belief #3: “I can copy what others are succeeding with”.

Painful truth: it might be working for them, that doesn't mean it will work for you.

These days we're overwhelmed with opportunities and information. Every day we see others “crushing it” with webinars, events, product launches, direct mail, networking, social media…

It's incredibly easy to become distracted – to try copy all the things other people (who always seem somehow less talented than us, but more succesfull) are doing.

But if we do this we'll hop from strategy to strategy. Always following the latest technique we've heard about and never mastering any of them.

And worse still, just because networking or social media or direct mail worked for one of your competitors or someone you saw speaking at an event doesn't mean it will work for you. Your clients are different. Your skills are different.

You have to tread your own path. Learn from others, but find the things that work for you. Then focus on them and become a master at them.

Crippling Belief #4: “I can't find the time for marketing”.

Painful truth: if you don't market, you'll soon have plenty of time on your hands.

Not having the time for marketing sounds ludicrous when you say it – but I hear it or something similar again and again.

You don't find the time for marketing – you make the time.

I advise most small firms and solo professionals that they should be spending between 10 – 20% of their time on marketing and business development. More in the early stages of their business.

If you can't make that time, then you've either got your priorities wrong, or (if you need to be billing for 80%+ of the time to make ends meet) you've got your economic model seriously wrong.

More usually, the problem is that people avoid marketing because they don't feel competent or comfortable with it, and unlike the area where they're an expert, it holds out the terrible potential for failure and rejection.

If you want to be successful you've got to get over this, and you've got to get over yourself. You've got to knuckle down, book the time, and get your marketing done.

Crippling Belief #5: “I'm not a (natural) salesperson”.

Painful truth: almost no one is a natural salesperson. It doesn't stop them, and it shouldn't stop you.

For some reason, many of us seem to have acquired this belief that “natural salespeople” kind of pop out of the womb that way. So we look at people who are good at selling and we assume we could never be like that and feel overwhelmed.

But the truth is that when we look at people who are good at selling, we're seeing the finished article. The product of years of experience and training. They didn't start off that way.

Sure, there are some skills like listening, empathising, making friends and being sociable that some people seem to be naturally good at or pick up at an early age. But those are perfectly learnable skills for us too. Along with the more structured skills involved in selling.

And we don't need to have perfected our skills to still have success with them. Most people see significant improvements in their success rate winning clients just by learning and following a simple, structured sales process.

Empowering Belief: “I CAN do this. I will do this”.

Marketing and sales isn't some magical thing you have to be born into. It's a set of simple principles and steps that anyone can do.

And it doesn’t have to be the pushy, hypey type of marketing that many of us would hate to do (see my article on How To Market Without Using Hype for details).

What it does take is a commitment to learn what you need to do and then to put it into action.

Can you do this? Will you do this?

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Mindset

Marketing Half Truths

Posted by

Ian Brodie on 31st March 2011.

Did you listen to my recent Authority Marketing Podcast interview with Drayton Bird? Hasn't he led an amazing life?

The interview reminded me of something I've long felt but never spoken about before. Something I describe as one of Marketing's biggest “half truths”.

Have you ever heard anyone say “your clients aren't interested in you – only what you can do for them”? Or “they don't care what you do – only the result they'll get”? Or the old classic “clients are tuned into WIIFM – what's in it for me”?

Well, of course, that's marketing 101. Real basics.

But it's also only half the story.

Here's the thing: weren't you fascinated by Drayton's anecdotes about his experiences, for example? And what are the most popular programmes on TV? The soap operas or character-based dramas like House or CSI.

We humans are fascinated by interesting characters. We want to know why House is the way he is – not just watch him cure the patient. We want to see the interplay between Grissom and Sara – not just the solution to the crime.

And vitally important for professionals – those stories lend credibility to our expertise. We hear Drayton's stories of studying human nature in his parents' pub. Of researching direct marketing more than anyone else. Of learning from the greats. And of making mistake after mistake until he got it right.

And so we think “yes – he must know what he's doing”.

So although clients initially focus on what's in it for them – what results you'll deliver for them. They're also interested in your story. What is it in your backstory that makes you credible to deliver those results.

And that means that as a consultant, a coach or other advisor, you need an interesting and credibility-bestowing backstory.

I don't mean you make one up. But you look at your story and pick out the elements that make you credible in what you do.

Did you obsessively research your subject, for example? Or have you, like Drayton, “made every mistake in the book and then some” – you've got the experience and scars that mean you can steer your clients away from the problems you hit.

Perhaps you're the champion of the little guy (or big guy) like them. Or maybe you've been the guy behind the scenes pulling the strings making others like them successful.

Or maybe it's a combination of those things.

In the next post I'll run through some of the most effective “stories” you can have.

But for now, just think about your own story and what elements of it give you the most credibility in what you do.

PS – it's not just people that people are interested in the backstory of. One of the most successful print advertisements of all time was the legendary Claude Hopkins' ad for Schlitz Beer shown here.

Did the ad focus on the refreshing taste, or how the beer would make you feel? Was it all about the result?

Nope. it talked about the 50 years of brewing experience. It described the care they took selecting the hops from Bohemia. It detailed the supervision of the process, the cleanliness, the purity, the filtration and the storage.

In short, it gave the backstory of the beer. It gave credibility to the claim that it was the best beer in the world.

And the impact for Schlitz? It went from fifth in the market to first in a few months and stayed there for years.

That's the power of a good backstory. One that goes beyond just WIIFM.

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How Productivity Tools Destroy Your Productivity

Posted by

Ian Brodie on 28th February 2011.

I love gadgets.

I've bought every sort of smartphone right from the Treo through Windows smartphones to my shiny new iPhone 4.

And I love tools too. I must have bought every available to-do manager on the market.

So with all these productivity tech and tool purchases you'd have thought I'd become more productive, right?

Well, in the sense that I can now fill my downtime with activities, yes.

If I'm on the train or in a cab I can read my email. Using my online CRM I can browse my client and prospect details anytime, anyplace, anywhere. If I'm in the middle of nowhere I can still keep in touch with my Twitter buddies.

But the truth is that none of these activities are particularly vital for my business. They're not unimportant. But they're not crucial.

In essence, the tools have made me more productive at the mundane. They've allowed me to do “admin” when I wouldn't previously have been doing anything.

Or would I?

If I think back at what I really used to do when I was sitting on a train, or in a cab it turns out I wasn't doing nothing.

If I was on a train then usually I'd be reading. Learning useful stuff. Or thinking about a client or project – maybe planning or taking notes.

And actually, this is important stuff. Actually taking the time to think about my work and my clients or to improve my knowledge and skills.

Way more important than answering emails, tweeting or doing admin.

The fact that I'm “always online” with my iPhone has meant that I now spend more time reacting to events (email, tweets, even phone calls) than I do proactively thinking and planning. My ability to get access to this constant electronic stimulation has squeezed out the quiet time where I used to actually do some of my best thinking.

And it gets worse.

Being constantly online has conditioned me now to check my email when I'm a bit bored to see if something interesting has come in.

And usually it has.

Not something important. Probably nowhere near as important as the document or the plan or the idea I was supposed to be working on when I got a bit “stuck”. But interesting.

And if there's nothing interesting on email I'm sure there will be on Twitter. Or I could always check my website stats for the 20th time today.

Lord help me, I've even just checked email right now while I was in the middle of writing this blog post.

And who knows how bad I'd be if I had a Blackberry with that awful red light that tells you when you get a new email. I'm not sure I'd ever be able to resist checking what had come in.

In truth, we've got more productive at the things that aren't really important – and less productive at the thoughtful hard work that really is.

We're obsessed by “real time”. I had to laugh recently when otherwise-sensible social media guru David Meerman-Scott lauded the new development in Tweetdeck that meant you got instant updates rather than every 30 seconds. ‘Cos being 29 seconds behind the times is going to kill ‘ya…

Now here's the thing: I'm not saying all these productivity tools and technology are a bad thing. Even if they were, it's too late – the genie's out of the bottle.

But what we need to do – me especially – is learn to become their master, not their slave.

To use them when it actually is productive – not to oust otherwise productive activities because checking email is intellectually easier and more stimulating.

So next time you find yourself checking email more than a couple of times a day – or whipping out your Blackberry in a cab to check Twitter. Think to yourself whether this really is the best use of your time.

So how about you? Have you managed to tame your tools and use them really productively?

———-
Image by Jeff Kontur

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Mindset

The SACI Principle

Posted by

Ian Brodie on 8th February 2011.

Stepping Stones When I was developing a recent training course I put in a tiny little section on what I call the SACI principle.

I have to admit, at the time it was pretty much an afterthought. A few minutes of filler I thought.

But the feedback I got told me it was something more.

And the more I reflected on it, the more I realised I was onto something. I'd accidentally stumbled ont a really important point.

Let me explain.

You see, we all like secrets. Silver Bullets.

We all want to know that one elusive thing that's gonna change everything. Turn everything around.

“It's not your fault”. How many times have you heard that before someone tries to sell you the latest, greatest silver bullet?

“It's not your fault. You see, you didn't know X”.

It's super alluring. The thought that if we just knew X – that one elusive thing – then we'd be a huge success.

Of course, there is no X. No one mystery or secret that's going to change our lives.

But that doesn't stop us wishing for one.

How often have you been on a training course or read a book hoping to learn a new secret only to be disappointed?

“I already know that”. You think. “Nothing new here”.

But really, the question shouldn't be whether you already know it. It should be whether you already do it.

You see, we already know the things that will make us successful. They're not complex. They're not mysteries. They're not magic silver bullets.

They're simple things.

Things like regularly keeping in touch with prospects and clients.

Things like regularly going out and networking (if that's a strategy that works for us). Or regularly getting up on stage to present. or regularly writing blog posts and articles.

The secret – if there is one – is consistency. It's doing these simple things week in, week out.

Success in business development is not determined by big, one-off, complex new strategies.

It's Simple Actions, Consistently Implemented that bring success.

And that's the SACI principle.

————

Image by Tim Green

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Mindset

Accelerating Expertise – Part 1

Posted by

Ian Brodie on 16th January 2011.

Kid Playing Chess In my posts about Authority Marketing I talk about the power of establishing yourself as authority in your field.

It's common sense really: when you're viewed as an authority, you're the default “go to” person for the difficult, challenging problems your clients have. You're the benchmark. And you'll command the high fees that being the leader in your field delivers.

One of the key components (along with enhancing your influence) of Authority Marketing is positioning yourself as an expert.

But being recognised as an expert is no easy task.

Please don't believe all the “how to instantly become an expert in your field” hype you might read on the internet.

Doing a handful of interviews with real experts doesn't make you one yourself. That gives you a valuable product to sell and some useful knowledge. But it doesn't make you an expert. Not yet at least.

Nor does endless self promotion and chatter on social media sites.

According to Professor Anders Ericsson – probably the worlds leading researcher on expertise and elite performance – becoming a true expert in a field takes around 10,000 hours of deliberate (goal-directed, feedback guided) practice.

Wow. That's 5 hours of practice every working day for 10 years.

Is that really necessary to become an expert in your specialism in consulting, coaching or other profession.

The answer is both yes and no.

Ericsson's definition of expertise is based on elite performance. An international-level concert violinist, a chess grandmaster, or one of the top athletes in a sport.

If you want to achieve those levels of expertise in your own field then yes – you do have to put in 10,000 hours of practice.

But if you're not “competing” at that level. If you're a marketing consultant who wants to be seen as the go-to expert for retail businesses in California, for example. Or you're a leadership coach focused on the public sector in the UK. In those cases, the level of expertise needed is not quite so high.

Selecting The Right Niche is One of the Keys to Becoming an Expert Quickly

By focusing on a very specific sector, geographic area or other factor, you don't have to be the leader in your field globally. What you need as a minimum is to have the expertise needed to provide significant help to your clients. And expertise at a level which puts you well above your competitors.

If you focus on leadership in the public sector in the UK, you'll rarely be competing for work against a Warren Bennis or John Kotter, for example.

So by focusing on a very specific niche, it's easier to become the recognised expert. Of course, you have to find a niche where there is still strong demand for your services. There's no point in being the recognised expert in a field where no one is buying.

It's also easier to become the recognised expert in a relatively new field. Where few people have any expertise at all, you can steal a march and become a recognised expert fairly quickly. Rather than standing on the sidelines waiting to see if the new technology or trend becomes mainstream, taking a gamble and investing your time to learn and experience the field can put you well ahead of others. Of course, the risk is that the new field doesn't become mainstream and your investment is wasted.

And selecting a niche where you already have considerable expertise helps too. If you look below the surface of the sort of work you've done, you can often find common themes and threads which you can use as a foundation for your niche.

When I initially looked at professional services marketing and sales as a potential niche, for example, at first I thought I hadn't done that much work in the field. But then I realised that for over a decade I'd been marketing and selling my professional services and the services of the consulting firms I'd been working for. So do look beyond the obvious.

Finally, and in my view, most importantly of all, find a niche you're passionate about.

If you choose a niche that you're not really interested in – then no matter how lucrative it initially looks – you'll struggle to build the enthusiasm to really “get into” it.

If you're going to invest thousands of hours into continually building your expertise over the years and strengthening your expert positioning – then you really need to love what you do.

Think of the best and highest paid sportspeople and performers in their field. How often have we heard them say that they'd do what they do for free, they love it so much?

Time and time again.

Ironically, it's that love of their subject, that willingness to “do it for free”, that drives them do the hours and hours of practice when others fall by the wayside. And that's what's given them such a high degree of skill and has earnt them so much money.

Now sure, it's certainly possible to become an expert in a field you don't love. But it ain't easy. And it's certainly not a life I'd want to condemn myself to.

So in summary – if you want to accelerate your path to expertise – find a niche that you love, that you already have some experience in, and that isn't already filled with experts.

And stay tuned for the next article on Accelerating Expertise where I'm going to take a look at the practical steps you can take to build your expertise once you've defined your niche.

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Mindset

Hustle, Hustle, Hustle

Posted by

Ian Brodie on 17th December 2010.

In my experience, the people who succeed at business development are not necessarily the ones who are the best at it. They're the ones who are the busiest at it.

They're not the people with the greatest skills. They're the people with the most “hustle”.

I'd like you to do a little exercise for me, right now.

Really simple. Will only take 2 minutes.

First – write down what your top 3 sources of new clients are. It could be referrals, your website, networking, giving presentations – whatever.

Then for each of those methods – write down when you last did whatever it is. The last time you went networking, wrote an article for your website, asked for a referral.

If it's not within the last few days then the chances are you're not busy enough at business development.

In my experience, the people who get the most business from networking aren't the people who are the best at it in the technical sense. They're the people who do it the most.

The people who get the most clients from seminars? The people who run the most.

The people who get the most clients from referrals? The people who ask the most.

The people who get the most business from their website? Well, you see where I'm going.

So ask yourself seriously – how busy are you at business development? How much hustle are you putting into it.

I see far too many people “waiting” for something to drop. They put some feelers out, do a little networking, speak to a few people.

Then wait.

Don't wait.

If you're not busy with client work – do something.

I found myself falling into this trap myself recently. I read a few articles on the web about how to get clients online and kept thinking to myself “I could do better than that”.

But of course, what I should have asked myself (and thankfully eventually did) was “why haven't I done better than that?”. Why don't I get off my backside and get some better articles written, published and attracting traffic for me.

Instead of looking at others succeeding and thinking you COULD do better. Get out there and DO better.

Hustle, Hustle, Hustle.

——

Photo by Steve Edgeworth

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Mindset

Overcoming Procrastination

Posted by

Ian Brodie on 24th November 2010.

A slightly off-topic post, but one that should be highly relevant to most professionals: overcoming procrastination.

Since most professionals have a high degree of control over their activities and schedules, they very often fall victim to procrastination.

Last night I read an excellent article in the New Yorker reviewing a collection of essays on procrastination – and how to overcome it.

The good thing about the book is that it presents a variety of different viewpoints on procrastination (rather than one dogmatic view) and hence offers a range of potential solutions.

Here's a quick summary of some of the major viewpoints and my experience and ideas on how to use each one to overcome your own procrastination.

Viewpoint: Procrastination happens when you're overwhelmed. You have so much on your plate that doing any specific task doesn't seem like it will help – so you put off the tasks and do something trivial instead.

Idea: Take a radical review of your tasks and cut out those that aren't absolutely essential. get down to a psychologically manageable task list. And in future, only take on essential jobs.

Viewpoint: You procrastinate with something if subconsciously you don't think it's worthwhile.

Idea: Sometimes your subconscious is right. If there's a particular task you're avoiding, take a good look at whether it really is worth doing.

Viewpoint: You procrastinate when you don't realise the full impact of doing so. In other words, if you realised how much damage you're really doing by avoiding the task, you'd get on and do it.

Idea: Make sure that before adding tasks to your “to do” list you've properly assessed what you're required to do and the impact of doing/not doing it. Often I find that I'll write down actions but not really think them through and so I don't realise what impact delaying them has. Make sure you break down big tasks into concrete steps – it's much easier to procrastinate big, fuzzy things than specific actions. Probably also a good idea to remind yourself of the impacts on a regular basis too when reviewing your to-do list.

Viewpoint: Procrastination is a natural condition that's almost impossible to overcoming using your own willpower.

idea: Use external rules and help to get you to stay on track. Create deadlines and commit to them publicly. Find an accountability partner who you can discuss progress with your goals with. Join a mastermind group who will support you (this has really worked for me in the past). Block yourself from distractions (head to a room with no TV, use Freedom to block the internet etc.)

My take is that there's not one simple cause of procrastination – so there's not one best way to beat it. But by looking at some of the different ideas above you should be able to find something that helps you.

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Mindset

How Not To Keep In Touch – IBM Style

Posted by

Ian Brodie on 4th August 2010.

It's important that you keep the contact details of your prospects and customers up to date. But here's an example of the wrong way to do it…

I got a phone call a couple of days ago from IBM – or rather from one of their offshore call centres.

Is that Mr Brodie?

Yeah, that's me.

Can I confirm your address please?

Hang on, who is this calling?

I'm calling from IBM. [Now sounding quite annoyed]Can you confirm your address please?

Er, no.

I'm sorry. Can I confirm your address please so that IBM can contact you?

Actually, no. I don't think I want IBM to contact me. Bye.

Now there are many things wrong with they way they handled that call. But the biggest thing it brought to mind for me is the huge shift in my (and most other people's) willingness to put up with these sorts of calls over the last 5 years.

5 years ago I'd have been most obliging. I'd have given my details over so that IBM could get their stuff to me.

Today, not only do I not particularly want to give over my details in case I get sent junk – but I even feel resentful that they're wasting my time with the call.

Today, if you want to get anything from me on a call – even answering a few quick questions, I'm going to have to feel I'm getting something of value in return. In fact, I need to know that within the first few seconds of the call or I'm already tuning out and thinking of ways to get rid of you.

I don't think it's just me. We're all incredibly short of time these days, incredibly cynical about why people want our details, and incredibly intolerant of being “sold to”.

So next time you or your team need to make a call to get some information from a client or prospect; think how you can actually make the call valuable to the person you're calling rather just a drain on their time and energy.

If you want to confirm their address, for example – offer to send them a free report in a subject area of interest to them. That way they get something in return and it's logical that you need their address to be up to date.

Want to carry out a client survey to get feedback on where your firm can improve its performance? Offer to create an individual action plan as a result showing how you'll improve your performance for them.

Anything you need from them: give them something back in return.

Otherwise each non-valuable communication is one step further to them becoming an ex-client.

———-
What do you think?

Are we all less tolerant these days of communications that don't add value to us?

Or is it just me getting grumpy in my old age?

I'd love to hear your views – drop me a comment in the comments box below.

Thanks!

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Mindset

Think Like a Fish

Posted by

Ian Brodie on 21st May 2010.

Captain John Rade catches a Sea Bass Legendary copywriter Gary Bencivenga tells an insightful story about Long Island fisherman Captain John Rade.

Rade was a rod fisherman who out caught all other fishermen day-in, day-out. In his little motorboat he'd put out to sea and regularly come back with a bigger haul than boats with dozens of fishermen on them.

A local journalist interviewed him once and asked him what the secret of his success was.

“Well” he said, “when other fishermen set out to sea, they think like fishermen”.

“I think like a fish”.

OK – so it sounds simple, trite even.

But how many of us really think like our clients?

Rade apparently studied fish, and the ocean, obsessively. He knew what different currents meant, different weather conditions, and how the fish would react in each. He was able to go where the fish were, and offer them the bait he knew they'd take.

Are you a real student of your clients? Do you know what they really feel like when they've got the sort of problem you deal with – or they're thinking of hiring a professional like you?

Sure, you've probably skimmed the market research. Maybe even read the results of feedback or focus groups which reveal what clients feel comfortable sharing in public.

But how often have you put yourself in their shoes? Immersed yourself in what it must be like in their position?

What do they feel when they first approach a professional if they've never hired one before?

Here's a starter: fear.

Fear of looking stupid. Fear of being ripped off. Fear of losing control. Fear of what might happen if things go badly. Fear of what might happen if things go well.

Next time you meet with a client for the first time, think like a fish, not a fisherman.

For my in-depth guide to building deep understanding of your ideal clients so you can think like a fish, go here:

» Customer Insight Mapping «

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