by Deborah Redfern

This week I was given two really good opportunities to think about the strategies used to get clients and specifically, what NOT to do: first a sales call I received (where the guy totally turned me off!) and then a chance teleseminar I took that showed me a great way to approach marketing.

The reason I am interested is that I want to know how to be more effective in my own business, so I watch and see what I can learn.  And of course these examples apply to any type of business, not just Feng Shui Practitioners. 

First what NOT to do. A few months ago, I signed up for an SEO analysis of one of the websites I designed. I was promised a written report and a follow-up telephone coaching call.  Okay I admit I was naive in expecting I would actually get any real advice for the small price I paid, but when I received the telephone coaching call it was apparent that I paid this company to give me their sales pitch. Even that I didn’t mind so much: what really ticked me off is that the salesman almost immediately put me on the defensive.  Why in the world would I want to work with someone who tore me down about the marketing effort I was making in the first two minutes of our conversation? Even if I hired them and they delivered on the promise, that energy would be in my website and there is no way I wanted that. When I told him I would have to think about it, he gave me a deadline and told me that if I didn’t get back to him by that time, he’d give my ‘offer’ to my competition. I don’t know if they are a legitimate company but that particular line sealed my opinion. Intimidation and fear tactics do not win my confidence and approval. 

Now for the good example. Business coach Bill  Baren delivered a stellar   ”How to Be a Master of Enrollment.” Bill recommends that the enrollment conversation be all about the client with the goal of finding out what their needs are and the problems they are having. We have to figure out the ‘gap’ of where they are, and where they want to be. It is our job to help them see the big picture. Then we offer our expertise and services as a solution. And key to this approach is resisting the urge to problem solve right on the spot. Bill says when we give what we intend to be a ‘sneak peek’ into how we can help, the potential customer takes it as the solution and will go off to work on that bit of information. He says:

The consultation is not the time to help your prospect solve a micro-problem they are currently having.  It’s an opportunity for them to see much greater opportunities for themselves and for their business and to establish you as someone who can help them close the gap.

Here’s why this is a mistake. Often when you give them 1/20th of a solution to their problem, they think they’ve already received the solution from you and go off to implement it on their own – without hiring you.

And I admit I am as guilty of this as the next person. I love to get those juicy bits of information too, but now I know why I shouldn’t offer it as my getting-client strategy, and why it doesn’t work when companies seem to be offering just that. It got me into an unpleasant conversation with ‘x SEO company’ this week. BUT I imagine what this company could have done if they had followed the advice above. I still might not have signed on, but at least, I am sure I wouldn’t be as ticked off as I am right now.

Translating this to Feng Shui

How can we translate this approach to getting Feng Shui clients?  One thing that immediately comes to mind is resisting that urge to do micro-problem solving. I do it unconsciously just because I love having conversations about feng shui! But I strongly suspect I have lost clients by doing it.  I solved their most immediate problem in a casual five-minute conversation, for example by giving cures to use for a problem in the relationship area. I have always thought this is fair game that person could go on-line and get plenty of advice, or pick it up from a book. The difference is that I am, as an expert, giving them the information which devalues me and what I have to offer.

I’ve thought about what I could do differently. In helping the client to see the big picture, I could say instead that all the parts of our lives are connected, that we need to look at more than one area of life (or bagua map) to see where the patterns are.

Beyond this observation I can’t add any more at this point. After all I haven’t taken Bill’s course on Enrollment Mastery (yet) … just the 1/20th that he gave away for free in the teleseminar that got me thinking.

Here’s a link to Bill Baren’s site if you want to read more about his strategy: http://www.billbaren.com/

What is your experience with getting clients? What has worked, and what hasn’t worked?

© Deborah Redfern 2010. All rights reserved.