By Mike Schultz
Note: The following is an excerpt from Wellesley Hills Group's complimentary white paper, "Making Lead Generation Work For Professional Services". Download the complete white paper for free.
Most professional service providers seek to win clients based on delivering superior value, not on having the lowest price. (Caution: If you're the rare professional service provider who sells to win a client on price, stop reading. This is not for you.) When you interact with a prospective client, or send any message to them, that prospective client is evaluating what it might be like to work with you and what you can do for them. For this reason you should offer value directly in your marketing and selling efforts themselves. Help prospects to understand that working with you after they become your client is much the same as what it's like to work with you before they become your client. Except, of course, at some point they start paying you. A consulting firm executive once told me that he needed to get his prospects and clients to perceive that his firm was credible and distinctive. A lot of professional services executives have this same thought, so they end up writing ads that say, “I'm credible and distinctive.” Or, “I'm trustworthy.” Or, “I'm innovative, yet solid.” If professional services firms want their clients and prospects to believe that they're credible and distinctive, they need to demonstrate that they are credible and distinctive. Simply advertising with the words “I'm credible and distinctive” is not only insufficient, it can create the wrong impression. (When I see ads voicing these messages, I think, “If they're this self-centered, and this bad at marketing, how good are they really at their core services?”) Steps to Demonstrating Value To demonstrate value to prospects, you must: - Understand your value. Unlike what many textbooks and rules-of-thumb say, your value doesn't need to be unique. It just needs to be genuine, distinctive, and valuable to the prospect. For example, you don't need to be the only person to have innovative financial consulting processes. Yours just need to be worthwhile, in specific situations, at the right times, to specific clients who might need them.
- Make the value tangible. The value a client eventually realizes from your firm's services might well be your “efficient and effective solutions that helped them grow their revenue and strengthen their business.” However, before they work with you, most buyers don't have the first idea of what that means, or how it applies to them. Instead of using empty language, communicate that your innovative approach to financial restructuring has successfully freed up over $2.2 billion dollars which had previously been tied up in your clients' working capital due to poorly designed financial instruments.
- Explain your process and the expected outcomes. Potential clients want to know what you are going to do, how you are going to do it, and what outcomes they can expect. It's easier to lead the prospect down the path you want them to follow when you show them both the destination and the path.
In the research report Evaluating the Cost of Sales Calls in Business to Business Markets, over 90% of buyers stated they wanted sellers to be more of a resource to them. Sellers that demonstrated they understood their prospects' businesses, needs, and pressures were 69% more likely to come away with the sale versus those who did not. However, only 39% of buyers said that the people marketing and selling to them actually understood their needs, and weren't just trying to sell, sell, sell. Professional services providers fall into this trap as often as any other sales people do. In the RainToday.com research report, How Clients Buy, 85% of buyers reported that professional service providers made critical mistakes when selling to them. Some of the top errors the professional service firms made were “not listening”, “not understanding the clients' business”, and “not understanding the clients' needs”. It's no secret that repeat clients are the best clients. They already know the value they get from working with you. They know that you are trustworthy and will do what you say. Because of this, the risk of buying from you is much lower than bringing in a new provider. To generate a new client, you need to help him see you in a similarly trusting light. Be as valuable, as reliable, and as energetic when communicating with them before you win them as clients as you are after. Takeaway: The marketing and sales process is a preview for prospects of what it's actually like to work with you. If you want to be seen as a valuable provider, offer value directly in your lead generation and sales efforts. Read the rest of the complimentary white paper, "Making Lead Generation Work For Professional Services" for six other secrets to lead generation success. |