Okay, so what happens after a prospect becomes a client?
You’ve done a lot of hard work to convert a prospect into a paying client. How do you now cement this relationship into a satisfying long term working relationship, where your new client is happy to stay on for years on end?
As a start, you roll out the red carpet and make your new client feel super special.
Sending them a special gift is usually a good way to start.
This can be a box of chocolates, a bottle of wine or just something small to let them know you appreciate their business…and including a handwritten welcome note with your gift will just seal the deal.
The next step is to ensure both you and your new client are on the “same page” with regards to the working relationship. It is important to put this client at ease and provide them with the necessary information of how you work and what the roles of each party are.
For this, you can send your new clients a welcome kit.
A welcome kit serves as a reference guide to give them the information on how things work in your business. It can also go a long way towards establishing credibility and presenting yourself as a serious business owner.
What to Put in Your Welcome Kit?
Well, you can basically use anything that can help your new client understand your processes better.
You can include:
An introduction or welcome letter on your company letterhead. The purpose of this letter is to make the client feel welcome and also to review the main points regarding the project/program you’ll be working on.
Your bio – This can be your compelling story of how you got to where you are now. Clients love to know more about you the moment they start working with you. This helps them to relate better to you. Include some interesting facts, life experiences and your values.
A short overview of what else you offer. The purpose of this is not to serve as a selling tool, but rather to inform your new prospect of other ways they can benefit in working with you as well.
Policies and procedure within your business. Give your clients the details of how you work. E.g. how you will communicate with them; how often you check email, what you expect from them and what they can expect from you.
Your office hours.
Contact details – be clear on how and when clients can contact you.
A copy of the contract / agreements for them to sign and send back.
Call to action – tell clients what you want them to do (e.g. sign and return contract)
Your business card and extra cards for them to pass out. Remember, this new client can now become part of your unpaid sales force and can refer you to other clients.
A brochure.
A list of frequently asked questions.
Promotional items with your logo: e.g. pens, calendars, magnets.
Any publicity items you may have: articles you’ve written or articles that were written about your business, testimonials, press releases.
Client questionnaire. Include this if you feel there is additional information you need to understand from your client and their business.
It is not necessary to include everything above, but evaluate what is applicable to your business.
As a rule of thumb, include things that will highlight important aspects of the relationship and will help the client to understand how things work.
How to Present Your Welcome Kit
When you work mostly virtually with clients, you can email your welcome kit or use file sharing software if it is quite a hefty document. You can also put it into a specific client portal you’ve created especially for this client.
Else, you can send it to them in hardcopy format. Print it on the best paper possible – it doesn’t need to be extremely expensive, but it should be as professional as it can be. It shows respect and appreciation for the client, and it demonstrates the excellence of your business.
The truth is, when you start the relationship positively and keep the relationship strong throughout with services excellence, it is much less expensive and requires much less work to retain a client than to get a new one.
Thus putting your best foot forward from the start, positively impact the impression your clients will form from day 1 and can increase the likelihood that they would stay on longer.
Action Steps For Today:
Develop a process to cement the relationship with a new client
Decide what you will send as a welcome gift and if all (or just clients in a specific program) will receive this gift.
Prepare your client welcome kit and set a goal of when it should be finished
Tip: Set up your welcome kit and have it ready. Then each time a new client signs up with you, it only requires minimum changes to tailor it to this specific client before sending it off.
Decide if current clients can use the information – then send it to them as well.
How consistently do you market your services? Are you perhaps like many other solo-preneurs who rely on a combination of word-of-mouth and occasional marketing and networking activities when time permits?
Did you know that consistent marketing to get the right message to the right people is one of the many secrets in the arsenal of highly successful entrepreneurs?
It’s true…
Successful entrepreneurs do not only rely on others to send them clients or referrals and they don’t do marketing only when the appointment book looks a bit empty.
No, successful entrepreneurs take control of their marketing actions. They create a plan and a process that ensures they are regularly promoting themselves.
They know…
Consistent marketing allows for measurement
When marketing is done haphazardly (or only when you need clients), it becomes increasingly difficult to judge if a specific marketing techniques is really effective or not.
However, when you are consistent in your efforts you have more control over your business and the results you achieve. You can make better decisions if something is working for you or not.
Consistent marketing allows you to measure where your clients come from; what marketing methods and tactics work best for your business; what to focus on and what to improve. Thus you stop doing marketing that might not be right for your business and /or the clients you serve.
Consistent marketing inspires accountability
When you get into the habit of doing marketing consistently, it helps you to stay accountable to what you’ve set out to do… and we know that accountability inspires action and action leads to results.
For example, let’s say you’ve decided to attend a regular networking meeting and you’ve scheduled the meeting dates in your calendar. Then each month when the reminder of that networking event pops up in your calendar, you will most probably attend it. Why? Because if you don’t attend, you’ll feel a ping of quilt since you’ve let yourself and your business down.
So the system you’ve created by simply scheduling the dates helps you to be consistent with your marketing and inspires you to stay accountable to what you’ve decided to do.
Consistent marketing builds trust
Consistency removes uncertainty. When you are consistent in your marketing – consistent with your messages, and consistent in really everything you do – your clients know what to expect and they’ll trust you more.
If you build a marketing system that consistently and regularly stay in touch with your prospects and not only provide them with valuable info, but also inform them of ways they can work with you, you will significantly increase the know, like and trust factor. Thus, the odds escalate that your name will be at the top of the list when they do actually decide to work with someone like you.
Here are 5 tips to stay consistent with your marketing
Develop a clear action plan to keep you motivated;
Focus only on a few marketing activities at a time until they are fully implemented, then move on to the next one;
Create systems that take care of the repetitive marketing activities and put them on autopilot;
Schedule your daily/weekly / monthly marketing activities in a calendar and set reminders;
Work with a coach to keep you focused and accountable to implement consistently.
I know consistency isn’t really the sexiest or most exciting word in your business right now.
But, sticking with your plans and doing things consistently – not just when you feel inspired or need more clients – is a very, very powerful marketing strategy. It gives real results.
“In essence, if we want to direct our lives, we must take control of our consistent actions. It’s not what we do once in a while that shapes our lives, but what we do consistently.”
~ Anthony Robbins~
Your Assignment for the week.
To get into the habit of doing marketing consistently, choose one of your marketing activities, decide how often you want to do it, schedule it in your calendar for the rest of this year, set up a reminder and then stay accountable to yourself and your business to actually follow through and do it as planned.
The two words “marketing” and “plan” can on their own evoke strange and uncomfortable feelings in many solo-preneurs.
It’s like, you know you need to do marketing and you know you need to do some planning, but it’s a constant battle to commit to any of them. Worst, if these two words are thrown together into “Marketing Plan” – then it’s enough to run away from.
The problem is that women are often afraid to create and stick to a marketing plan. They might feel:
Creating an effective marketing plan seems messy and hard.
They don’t know what will happen in a month, much less six months… and thinking ahead is kind of scary and mind-boggling;
Committing to the actions they put on their plan today, can limit them in some way. Especially if something new or more exciting comes up in a few months’ time;
Planning has just never work out for them. Even if they’ve made a plan in the past, they could not stick to it. So they stopped planning, period.
The truth however is, marketing planning should not be hard, messy or scary at all…and it is something you should do as much as possible – especially when you are still carving out your business success. And if you’ve found that planning didn’t work in the past – it is not necessarily the fault of the planning process. It’s often the strategy that you used to execute (or not execute) your plan.
So, to make your marketing planning and execution a bit easier, think about it this way. It is simply about creating an effective, step by step road map to relieve stress and make running your business easy and fun.
Imagine the amount of stress that will go away when there is no more guessing about what marketing activities to do when. Think about the relief when you experience more and more clients entering your client pipeline or contacting you to inquire about your services. Visualize freeing up your time and starting to earn a better income so that you not only can grow your business, but also create the life you want…
All because you’ve committed yourself to creating an effective marketing plan and to implement the things you’ve planned.
So let’s look at what an effective marketing plan is supposed to be.
Well, a marketing plan is NOT this thick, dusty “whoowhoo” type of document that you prepare once and then put in the bottom drawer of your desk never to consult again.
Your marketing plan should be a living document on your PC or up on the wall where you can SEE it and access it on a daily basis. It should be this road map (or GPS) that you consult daily to show you what you need to do today (or this week / month) to promote your business and get those clients.
Thus, for marketing planning to be effective you MUST incorporate the following 6 crucial elements:
1. The EXACT GOAL you want to reach. This can be for example earning a specific amount of money this year or selling x copies of a new product or filling a tele-class with x attendees or getting x new clients this month or whatever – just any specific goal that will bring money into your business and that you need to do some marketing for.
2. WHO specifically you want to attract as clients. In other words who do want to work with (ideal clients) or who you want to sell your products to. If you do not know who you want to attract with your marketing efforts, marketing can be such a waste because then you cannot make offers or reach the right people with your marketing.
3. WHERE you will find these people. It is important to “fish where the fish are”. If you can find your target audience in large numbers, it makes your marketing much more effective. It saves time, effort and even money and will results on higher returns on all your marketing efforts.
4.WHAT to say to your prospects once you’ve find them. It is all about getting their attention and then inspiring them to take some sort of action (e.g. clicking a link; getting on your list; calling you to set up an appointment; signing up to work with you).
5. HOW you will effectively reach them to put your message in front of them. Your target audience will mostly dictate the marketing methods you should use. So it is crucial that you know who they are and then use those marketing methods that will have the best positive impact for your business. Then promote and stay in touch consistently to give your audience time to get to know, like and trust you.
6. Scheduling daily, weekly, monthly ACTION STEPS to keep you accountable for implementing all your marketing and thus reaching the goal you’ve set in step 1.
Bottom line: Doing marketing according to an effective plan will have an amazing impact on your business. It will give you peace of mind and greatly relieve the stress and anxiety of getting more clients, because it provides clarity, purpose, and direction on what to do when.
Through your marketing planning you’ve taken care of one of the crucial and fundamental aspects for creating a thriving business.
Execution of an effective marketing plan can lead to many more clients. When you have clients, you have a long-lasting business.
Your assignment:
Could you identify which of the elements above is lacking in your marketing planning process? If so, make a commitment to yourself this week to incorporate it into your plan… and, if you do not have a marketing plan yet, then take time this week to create your plan for the next month, 6 months or even this whole year. It will be time well spend… I promise 😉
To grow and to prosper, in business and in life, it is important to learn. These days, technology makes it extremely easy to learn top quality information from experts all around the world and is making the world a small place! We are surely in the middle of an information explosion – and, between you and me, I love it.
One of the most effective approaches to learn these days and to get access to new information is via attending online events like teleseminars and/or webinars. These are events you attend over the telephone (teleseminars) or via streaming on your computer (webinars) rather than attending the event at a specific location.
How do Teleseminars Work?
The teleseminar host and the listeners all dial the same telephone number and connect via a teleconference line (also known as a bridge line).
The teleseminar can be a one-way event where the host/speaker lectures and the participants listen. There are however also teleseminars where the speaker actively interacts with the participants and/or the participants interact with each other. Teleseminars are similar to the in-person or physical seminars we’re used to attend, except that everything is now happening via phone.
Teleseminars can be a one-time event, where everyone meets on the phone for an hour or so. It can also be an ongoing series, where everyone meets e.g. once a week for several weeks or even months.
Teleseminars are primarily an audio format and can be recorded. If the host records the call and makes it available afterwards, you can download these audio files, and listen to it at your own time. This is particularly beneficial if you’ve missed the live call and or when you want to cement the learning and refresh what you’ve learned. In this fashion, a teleseminar becomes a life-long learning opportunity for the student.
Benefits of attending a teleseminar
You do not need any specialized equipment. For a teleseminar you only need a phone
You can attend from anywhere in the world. Every teleseminar has a unique number to call, so at the time of the training, you can simply call the number (which will be provided to you by the host of the event) and listen/participate in the call.
It is convenient. We all have busy lives and teleseminars allow you to quickly get training in one-hour increments without having to travel to multiple destinations. You can attend the event from the comfort of your house – and even in your PJ’s (no-one will know ;))
It’s an incredibly cost effective and time efficient way to enjoy all of the benefits of traditional, in-person seminars and training. With teleseminars and webinars, you can learn from- and interact with experts in your industry effortlessly, and because there are no travel or hotel costs associated with it, you can save money while learning.
Tips for attending a teleseminar
It’s always better to us a landline phone when attending a teleseminar. However, if you want to save on long distance international phone costs and have a stable internet connection, you can dial into most conferences with technology such as Skype (by using Skype credit). I personally use Skype for attending teleseminars since I always have to call international numbers to attend. Thus for me, Skype is convenient and extremely cost effective (a 60min call to the US often costs me less than a “trip” for one to Mugg&Bean or Starbucks).
Do not multi-task while on the call. Even though we as women are good at multitasking, you do miss important information if you are not fully listening and concentrating on the call. So schedule some uninterrupted time, take lots of notes and have fun. This is a great way to learn!
Things to know up-front
Teleseminars can either be a paid event or be at no cost. If it is a paid event, the event host will give you the details up-front and you will have to pay in order to get the call-in details and access to the actual event.
Many coaches and online business owners have free teleseminars giving out great info. If it’s free, go and participate as there’s minimal risk to you. Take advantage of the opportunity. It’s a great way for you to start building a business relationship with the speaker / host and or other participants.
Just keep in mind that even if a teleseminar is at no cost (from the host side), you will incur some costs on your telephone bill (because it’s a phone call) or by buying and using Skype credit.
If you are a new business owner, or even a savvy entrepreneur, attending on-line training via teleseminars can vastly benefit your business. It’s a great and very convenient way to learn without the hassle of leaving your house.
Having the right attitude helps you to cope more easily with the daily affairs of life. It brings optimism into your life, makes it easier to avoid worries and negative thinking and makes you happier, brighter and more successful.
With a positive attitude you see the bright side of life, become optimistic and expect the best to happen. It is certainly a state of mind that is well worth developing and strengthening.
That’s why we need to protect ourselves against “diseases” that can impact negatively on our attitude, because they are always lurking, always ready to infest and infect your mind.
Be on guard and avoid these “diseases of attitude” at all cost!
1. Complaining
Have you ever been in a situation where no matter what is being said, some people always tend to complain. If it’s not the weather, it is the economy. If it is not the economy it is the political situation. If it is not the political situation it’s their work and so they go on and on forever and a day. They always blame something for the situation they are in.
Complaining does nothing good for you. It is only working against you, draining your positive energy and contaminating everything you experience.
When you catch yourself complaining, stop and rather focus on something other than the thing you might be tempted to complain about. A trick to not complaining is to constantly remind yourself of how blessed you are (even if you don’t feel blessed at that moment). Just remind yourself about everything that is still good in your life and as long as you focus on the good things; you will soon forget to complain.
ALSO if you are in the company of a “complaining culprit” simply excuse yourself and run!
2. Negativity / Pessimism
We all can relate to the situation where you are excited about a new idea or project and wanted to tell everybody about it and they responded with “Yes, but ….it won’t work; it’s not the right time etc. etc.” It is like these pessimists are throwing cold water directly into your face!
What happens then is you put yourself in defence mode and even start to doubt your own dreams and abilities. This is also when fear settles in: “What if they’re right and I waste all this time, money, effort.”
Guard your thoughts from negativity and pessimism – whether it is coming from yourself and/or others.
The best antidote to negativity and pessimism is simply to surround yourself with positivity. Spend more time with positive people. Get involved in fun activities and things you like to do. Surround yourself by positive slogans and quotes. Create a habit to wake up each morning with the first words: “What a beautiful day! I’m so excited about ……..!”
3. Lack of confidence and self-doubt
Many situations, words and actions performed by ourselves as well as people around us, can hamper our confidence and make us doubt our abilities. Self doubt has many causes. It can be age, education levels, fear, looks or many other reasons and can cause you to say that you are not good enough or that you cannot do something.
For me the quickest way to get more confidence is by making a list of all the things that you have accomplished in your life so far. Believe me, when you start making that list, you will be amazed of what you’ve actually accomplished so far.
Then every time you doubt yourself, take out your list and see for yourself how good you really are. Remind yourself that you have no ground to stand on to doubt yourself! You CAN do this!
Remember, if you say you can OR if you say you can’t, you’re always right.
Become an “I can” person and believe in yourself.
4. Predjudice
The Dictionary defines prejudice as “an unfavorable opinion or feeling formed beforehand or without knowledge, thought, or reason”.
It’s like in a conversation I overheard about a book called “The Secret”. One lady asked someone else what she thinks of the book. Without hesitation the second one responded: “That is utter nonsense.” I could see the first one was a bit stunned when she asked: “Have you read it?” to which the second one responded “I’ve heard about it”. Now that’s what I call prejudice.
The truth is, we all sometimes fall prey to this one – judging people or things without having the right knowledge and information.
Do not be prejudiced. Rather, give things the benefit of the doubt. Be open-minded and do not pass quick judgment. Almost every time when you have all the facts, your opinion will be more objective and you can better substantiate your point of view with facts.
Your Assignment this week:
We can change our business, our lives and the lives of those around us by changing our attitude.
John C Maxwell says in his book, The Winning Attitude: “It is hard to soar with the eagles when you have to live with the turkeys.”
Take the decision today to leave the turkeys of complaining, negativity, self-doubt and prejudice behind.
Develop a positive mental attitude and go soar with the eagles.
Francis van Wyk is an experienced business and client attraction mentor who supports women solo-preneurs with planning and achieving business success online.
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