Maidsfield Blog - Partnering and Business Development

Hi Donagh, good article. As I went through your process, I am very positive about your work and believe the sales strategy we worked out for Shared Visions future is very appropiate.
I am looking forward to working with you in the future and highly recommend you to every business that needs good focus and results. Best of luck with the blog, I got to get mine going soon too. Roland

‘How does your ideal client find you?’

I’d like to know how, when you find your ideal client, you get to sit down with them. I find once I get a face-to-face meeting, I have a good conversion rate, but getting those meetings are difficult.

thanks Roland for your comments.

Ed, some points -
1) just showing up on a search of those who know they have a need
2) getting in the door of those who dont know they have a need

So firstly 1) just showing up on a search of those who know they have a need

As you understand on the web, when someone is searching for something you know how to be found; understand what they search for and getting your message ahead of the competition.

When you do a Google search for something, if a particular company shows up a number of times you take more notice of them that others who only show up once. OR you take notice of those who are speaking your language and describe what your looking for precisely.

The real world is not a whole lot different is this regard. The search is not as instant and your efforts to show up multiple times requires a clear understanding of the client needs and how they attempt to resolve these needs on a daily basis. What are the symptoms of the need? What need do they think they have? How do they describe it?
what magazines they read, events they attend, newsletters they receive etc and targetted mailings etc.

on number 2 point - this is getting into the elements of what Roland of Sharedvisions is commenting on - that is Seductive Marketing - This requires a separate post. Assuming the toughest prospect ever - devise a Sales Generation Process to gran their attention and slowly draw them in to your message and the value of what you deliver.

Too many think that one letter is enough and give up when it doesnt hit or generate any enquiries. Even a great letter may not hit the first time -

WHY? somepeople say we’re inherently negative and we have to be asked 7 times to get a yes. Persistence pays off in sales I remember reading sometime ago that the average number of contact attempts to get in a prospect door was 12 attempts. You might wonder - is it worth it?

Ed, as you say when you get in front of the prospect you can get business - so the challenge becomes getting in front of the prospect - pick your prospects well - understand your Ideal Client as well as you can - continually refine your Ideal Client definition - Understand the key messages of what you offer and your existing clients will help you here.

Some companies are afraid to carry out too many mailings as it may annoy some of their prospects but it has a better chance of getting sales - And as a Beneton spokesperson said once, when speaking of their shock tactics on their billboard campaigns - “the people offended by our advertising are not our target market”

Thanks for that Donagh! You have a consistent message of focussing on the ‘ideal client’, and now I see what you’re saying about ’solving their needs’ - that should be the goal of every marketer. So logical when you read it - identify their needs and how your service solves them.