It is not necessary to change. Survival is not mandatory.
W. Edwards Deming
Heinrich stared at his calendar in disbelief. It was October 30 and there was not one client for the month of November—or, for that matter, for any other month!
Just four hours ago, Heinrich had been celebrating the final work with his shipbuilding client. It had been a huge project—almost too big for his first six months in business. But he’d bid on the job and won out over two other consulting firms that were much larger. Of course, the truth be known, he probably underbid that project. He didn’t have his project pricing down pat yet, which caused him to work many more hours than he’d anticipated. His family was not pleased with his long hours and absence during weekends. But the project was done and he would be paid. The client was ecstatic with the results and promised him a testimonial he could add to his website.
But now he faced another problem. He had no billable work on the schedule. How did this happen? He thought back. He’d started out with a bang! He’d had too much work to do, but didn’t feel he could turn it down. He sent out postcards to 125 people, just as his mentor had suggested, a month before leaving his job. His colleagues in other companies recommended him to their supervisors; his golf buddies introduced him to a couple of department heads; his old boss asked him to finish up a project during the first month. Oh, most of the projects were small, but he was busy. Boy, was he busy! There was no doubt about it. Now what?
What was that his mentor said? Something about “sales funnels and pipelines” and “The most important time to market is when you are too busy to market”? Yes, indeed, he had just experienced that.
Well, Heinrich wondered how his family would react to the exact opposite of what they’d experienced the past few months. Not only was he going to be home every weekend, but it was likely that he’d be home every weekday, too!
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Starting your business is the first difficult step. The second is staying in business. Staying in business as a consultant means that you have a continuous flow of clients. Heinrich experienced what many new consultants experience. He tapped into his network and was flooded with requests from people interested in helping him get off to a good start. New consultants are often overwhelmed with all that they need to learn and do. For many, this is likely to be the first time that they have been responsible for every aspect of business: selling, marketing, customer relations, invoicing, banking, paying the bills, replenishing office supplies, communication, and everything else. They are likely implementing new processes, working with new software, and feeling their way through what it means to be an entrepreneur.
Heinrich is headed for a couple of rough months. His address book has likely been exhausted and can’t continue to sustain his consulting practice. His immediate network leads have dried up. It’s been half a year since he sent his original message out, so it may be a little uncomfortable to reconnect. He probably has a very sketchy marketing plan in place—if he has one at all. And if he does have a marketing plan, it is unlikely that he has completed anything on it that he originally targeted. What should Heinrich have done—or, a better question—what will Heinrich do next time?
Obviously, you cannot just sit back with your stack of business cards on your desk and wait for the phone to ring! You may be the best consultant in the world, produce the best materials, know the most innovative solutions, provide the best service, and be the most knowledgeable in your field. However, if no one knows about you, what are your chances of having clients? Slim to none! So you must let people know that you are available for consulting. You must market your products and services. You must promote yourself.
A successful business can be measured by an adequate supply of clients, a professional image, and an ethical reputation. Each requires your attention and energy. All three will happen at the same time, and they will all happen all of the time. Everything you do will affect your business success, as measured by your clients, your image, and your reputation.
Chapter Four addressed your image. Chapter Nine addresses building an ethical reputation. This chapter addresses how marketing will ensure that you have an adequate flow of clients to stay in business.
Consultants must be marketing-oriented. In the beginning you may need to market yourself tirelessly, using every tactic that is at your disposal. If the term marketing scares you, think in terms of simply putting the word out that you are in business. Unlike Heinrich, you must get the word out. You must promote yourself.
You must promote yourself.
This chapter helps you prepare a simplified marketing plan and explores marketing with little or no money. Some of the ideas will stimulate your creativity as you explore your own ideas to keep yourself in front of your clients. The chapter will help you plan the most efficient and effective networking activities and show you how the dreaded “cold call” can be fun when you warm it up and refocus your attitude. Prepared consultants start marketing before they start their businesses.
The most successful consultants recognize the importance of marketing and started marketing activities long before they had their business cards printed—in fact, long before they became consultants. Actions you have probably taken since starting your consulting practice will be helpful now as you develop a solid marketing plan. From the start, from day one, you can begin to market.
Every person you come in contact with who has the potential of being a client or knowing someone who could be a client should be on this list. As the list grows, you can organize it so that you can easily use it for specialty mailings—for example, CEOs, personal contacts, female executives, petroleum industry, or retail contacts. I have both an email list and a mailing address for special mailings, thank-you notes, and greeting cards.
If you see an AT&T ad, a Dilbert cartoon, an item in a catalog, or hundreds of other things that suggest marketing ideas, file them in one place. You will be busy with other things, and you will forget the idea if you don’t have one place you can go to be inspired. We use an accordion file because not everything can be reduced to a URL or a PDF. The extra space gives us room to add small items that we can physically ship.
The least costly, high-impact marketing tool you have is your business card. It may take a couple months to work with a designer to create a logo and design for your stationery. Therefore, print a few hundred cards to start. However, do not let these cards be a substitute for high quality for very long. Business cards send a message and project your image. Ensure that they are as professional looking as possible and start working with a designer as soon as you can.
Your clients will begin to rave about your work. Collect those statements. You may receive unsolicited thank-you letters or notes. Place them in a file. If clients compliment your work verbally, ask them to put it in writing. You will use these testimonials for brochure copy, in prospecting letters, or in proposals.
Initiating these activities from the first day you are in business ensures that you will be better prepared to implement many of the marketing tools presented.
So what’s marketing all about? It’s about getting your name in front of clients and keeping it there. It’s about keeping work flowing and your consulting practice growing. It’s all about staying in business. This chapter gives you advice and suggestions for staying in business once you’ve started.
More books have been written about marketing than about any other business topic. The topic of marketing can be pretty complicated. You may find yourself reading about marketing goals, objectives, strategies, tactics, promotions, and practices. You may read about the marketing mix. Some marketing experts discuss the “four P’s” of the marketing mix: product, price, place, and promotion. Other experts discuss the “eight P’s and an S”: product, price, place, promotion, positioning, people, profits, politics, and service. You will read about advertising, public relations, and media. Then there are discussions about personal versus impersonal promotion or direct versus indirect marketing. How does social marketing support consulting? How do content marketing and blogging fit? You can read about personal selling, client-centered marketing, leveraging your clients—well, you get the idea.
No, you do not need a degree in marketing. You must find out how to put the word out that you have consulting services to offer. Although this may seem like an overwhelming task, and one you would rather skip, don’t be tempted. Developing a marketing plan is critical if you are to stay in business.
You may say, “What? Another plan?” The answer is yes. Your marketing plan will convert your ideas and intentions into commitment and action. Your marketing plan will guide you through the year so that the important task of marketing is never pushed to the back burner, or, as in Heinrich’s case, forgotten completely.
You will put your plan in writing. A written plan helps to add discipline to your ideas, enables you to measure success, and provides data for future use. Note that a marketing plan must follow a few guidelines in order to be useful. The sidebar lists several mistakes that consultants make with their marketing plans.
Creating a marketing plan requires you to make sound decisions based on data. You need to know your market. Consultants frequently make these mistakes when they develop a marketing plan.
We touched on a marketing plan in Chapter Four when you prepared a business plan. You have two choices: (1) If you went through that exercise and have the information, you can now use it as input to this more specific marketing plan or (2) If you did not spend time yet, you can use this process to develop a more specific marketing plan and slip it into your business plan.
A marketing plan can become quite complex. If you have never written one before, the format presented here is a simplified version. Exhibit 5.1 will take you through the eight easy steps. You will find that marketing is a combination of intuition and logic. The eight-step format will move you through the process comfortably. It will ensure that your resulting marketing plan does what it is supposed to do—put your name out there!
Marketing is a combination of intuition and logic.
Exhibit 5.1 Marketing Plan
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Because you’re just starting, there may not be much to analyze. However, a year from now when you make comparisons, you will want to ask these questions:
Responses to these questions will guide you as you focus on whether you project the image you desire, whether you have the competitive edge you desire, whether you are as financially successful as you desire, whether you meet your clients’ expectations, and whether you have the reputation you desire.
If you have been in business for more than a year, complete this subjective analysis. If you are just starting, imagine your future. Alan Kay often says in his speeches, “The best way to predict the future is to invent it.” Next year, you will have something to analyze. Today, each of your answers may still be described as your preferred future—the one you are inventing!
First, of course, you need to be certain that you have one. Clarify your position and how it differs from your competition. Clearly state the niche that you have selected. You must have a strategy for several reasons. The first is so that you know where to focus your energy. If you have decided to focus on large businesses as your niche and you continue to work with the federal government, you may work the same number of days but may not reach the financial goals you set. Even with a strategy, many consultants stray from it and get their business into trouble. So it’s not enough to have a strategy; you must also pay attention to it. Besides, if you don’t have a strategy, how will you know when you stray from it?
Determine the targeted client base on which you will focus, what size companies, what type of organizations, and in what industry. What skills will you promote, what services will you provide? And in response to the previous section, describe what you will offer these clients and identify what you will tell your clients about these services.
Determine whether you will target your current clients or new clients and whether you will market current services or new services. That means four combinations. Exhibit 5.2 shows you the risk, cost, and potential growth of each combination. Obviously, marketing the same services to the same clients has little or no risk or cost, but also results in little growth. Marketing new services to new clients is the highest in risk and cost, and results in slow growth. Marketing current services to new clients is moderate in risk and cost, and results in moderate growth. Marketing new services to current clients has a low risk and moderate cost with significant growth potential. These decisions should fall out of the research you completed in Chapters Two and Three.
Exhibit 5.2 Client Strategy Choices
| Services | New | Risk: Little | Risk: High |
| Cost: Moderate | Cost: High | ||
| Result: Significant Growth Potential | Result: Probable Slow Growth | ||
| Current | Risk: Little | Risk: Moderate | |
| Cost: Little | Cost: Moderate | ||
| Result: Little Growth | Result: Moderate Growth | ||
| Clients | New | ||
| Clients | |||
What increases the risk in two of the four combinations? It is the potential of new clients. In general, new clients also require more marketing dollars and result in slower immediate growth.
It may take months—even years—of marketing to acquire a new client. That is why a client in hand is worth 10 in your marketing plan. Where is your business heading? Some questions you might ask now include:
Your answers will reflect the kind of business you wish to develop. These questions will help you generate a list of potential customers with whom you want to do business.
Your strategy might be to focus on medium- to large-size financial institutions located along the East Coast that are facing mergers and need assistance working toward efficient, shared visions of the future.
You know how important goal setting is. Be specific. Make sure you can measure yours and add time limits to them. Go ahead and establish longer-range goals if you choose. No matter what your timeline is, make certain that you believe all are achievable. Here are some examples:
Generally, advertising and direct mail do not work very well for promoting consulting, but there are hundreds of other things you can do.
This is where the fun begins. We have listed several self-promotional tactics in this chapter. Use some of them or, if you prefer, use the list to spark your own tactics. Tactics are actions, including anything from cold calls to hot presentations, that put your name in front of potential clients. The marketing tools you select should have your client in mind first and foremost. Where does your client expect to see your name? In what medium will your client expect to see your services? The marketing climate is changing for professionals, so don’t be too conservative. Examples include actions such as these:
There is a cost to marketing. Whether you speak at conferences, write letters to the local newspaper, make calls to potential customers, purchase magazine advertising, publish a newsletter, or rent a booth at a trade show, there is a cost. You must weigh the cost and the benefits to determine whether a particular marketing strategy makes sense for you.
As you make plans, take care that you do not commit yourself to one medium too soon. Most print media (newspapers, journals, magazines), for example, will sign you up for a series of ads. You might commit to a year of advertising at $450 per month, only to find out that the ad does not garner one phone call after five months. You are still committed to the last seven months and the payments that equal $3,150. Try to maintain as much flexibility as possible in your plans.
But resources mean more than money. Resources can also mean people who can provide you with information or assistance. For example, you may have targeted a certain industry on which you would like to concentrate. You could publish an ad in one of the industry’s trade journals. Or you could go to lunch with someone you know in the industry to brainstorm ideas for approaching organizations within the industry.
This is the step where it all comes together on several pages. You will lay out your plan for the year on an annual marketing planning calendar, like the one in the exhibit. Each of your goals will be broken down into substeps using the activities you chose and listed on the calendar. You will, of course, need more detail for some of the activities, but this format will help you see everything at a glance: how time will be expended each month and what the anticipated marketing will cost for the month.
Your marketing activities will be more appealing if you break them down into small steps. For example, if you want to break into the banking industry to acquire two new banking clients this year, part of your plan might look like this.
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Exhibit 5.3 provides a layout for your marketing calendar. Notice that you can track the dates and the expected costs each month. You can tell at a glance what you intend to do each month, where your focus is, and which months are heavy or light in activities.
Exhibit 5.3 Annual Marketing Planning Calendar
| Marketing Activity for 20XX | Jan | Feb | Mar | April | May | June | July | Aug | Sept | Oct | Nov | Dec |
Dates |
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Cost |
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Total Budgeted Costs |
There is not much to say here. You’ve planned the work; now work the plan. This step is really the reason you put the plan together in the first place. You are ready to implement what you decided to do. Stay on top of your marketing activities. Your marketing may not yield any results for several months. Start now. Don’t fall behind. You cannot go back to fix anything that was not implemented six months ago.
Even though we've been examining a marketing plan, your emphasis should be on the actions you will take. A plan without action is useless.
Although a plan provides you with your best guess at the moment, you may need to adjust at times. For example, you may have focused your business on small companies. After you start, you may find that the demand was there but the revenue was not sufficient. Perhaps you will need to refocus your client mix. You may add some medium-size companies to boost the revenue. This will be a portion of your analysis before you develop your next marketing plan.
There is lots of churn around a one-page marketing plan. If you can create a meaningful plan on one page, definitely do it. The key, though, is to make sure you have all you need to know in one place and that in the end you know what you will do.
Most business schools require their marketing majors to develop full marketing plans. Students usually write plans for the school itself or for nonprofit agencies connected to it. Most would rather write a marketing plan for a real business.
Two things will make this a successful experience for you. First, allow enough time. Writing the plan will probably be a long process occurring over a full semester. You will want to speak with the professor the semester before. Second, stay involved. Your input will be critical. You will need to provide the correct data so that the plan will be based on accurate assumptions. In addition, your involvement will increase the enthusiasm of the students and the professor. Even if the plan is less than perfect due to the students’ inexperience, you may receive good advice from the professor.
Take time to decide how your website and social media fit into your marketing plans.
You will use the web to help attract new clients. Your website is a credibility statement. Most potential clients will either ask for your website or visit it before meeting you. Your website is today’s brochure. (That does not mean that you do not also need a brochure—you do for your clients’ convenience and for folks who like print material.) The business world assumes that, if you are in business, you have a website. You need one. It is a self-serve marketing tool that is open 24/7. I am always surprised when I meet a potential client for the first time and they tell me they have already been on my website. Websites are good for generating more leads as well as qualifying those leads.
In Chapter Four I mentioned that you needed to obtain a domain name. You can either design your website yourself or hire someone to design it for you. You can have lots of bells and whistles for $10,000 or more, or you can hire a freelancer to design a very simple website for you for under $1,000, or you can design it yourself. Heck, if you have children in junior high or high school, they probably have a pal who would design it for you for less. Keep in mind that you still need to know what you want and need on your site. Be sure you are very clear about the purpose.
Donald Miller is my go-to guy for clarifying messages in general, but specifically through websites. In his book Building a Story Brand (2017), Miller suggests that your website should include five things: an offer (above the fold), obvious calls to action, images of success, a bite-size breakdown of what you do, and very few words. I know this doesn’t tell you what you need to do, but it gives you some focus as you are building your website. You can incorporate these concepts in your own words as you sketch out the important pieces and create the pages.
Once it is up, keep your website up-to-date and refresh it with something new at least monthly. How do you generate traffic to your website? The primary way to promote your website is to create valuable content. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the process of modifying web page content to improve the search engine ranking of the page. Since more than 70 percent of people who are looking for products and services use search engines, SEO will increase the number of visitors. Be sure that the signature on all your emails has the powerful tagline that invites the recipient to click on the link and visit your site. Be sure that your website address is on all of your documents, brochures, newsletters, business cards, and promotional materials. You may also wish to write web articles and submit them to article directories. And finally, if you want to bring more traffic and keep people returning, give something of value away, such as free ebooks, articles, games, self-assessments, or podcasts.
Since there are no barriers to entry into social media networks, many consultants join all of them. Don’t join every social media network unless you first determine what your customers use. No matter which you use, they will require time and even money at some point.
Check out the data first. Who is purchasing your services and where are they likely found? I’d say to go with LinkedIn and Twitter to start out. Part of your marketing plan should include the use of social media. Don’t get caught publishing often at the beginning and then running out of ideas at a later time. It is probably better to keep a list of potential blogs, for example, and post them on a regular basis.
Experiment to determine what your audience responds to best: stories, humor, solid content, case studies, or practical tips. Last, but certainly not least, is to determine your goal for using social media. Are you just trying to get a hundred likes or are you trying to generate leads by driving traffic to your website? Identify the influencers in your industry and follow them. Share their content and comment without self-promotion on posts. Be careful of investing too much time. You aren’t likely to seal a $20,000 contract using social media, but you should be able to turn your likes into leads and, when done well, enhance your presence. Include a social media strategy in your marketing plan.
Turn likes into leads.
Keep an open list of blog topics so that you always have a fresh idea.
Need a formula for a blog? Michael Hyatt (2018a) shares his six-step template for writing blogs: choose a compelling title; write a short lead paragraph; insert a relevant image; share a personal experience; write a scannable body; and pose a discussion question. He keeps the posts short, uses simple words, and provides internal links. Using a formula like this to start with can save you some time.
You may not feel comfortable about marketing, but the following thoughts will put you at ease and help you think of more ideas on your own.
The drawback of a calendar of marketing activities is that it suggests that there are certain days of the month that you will be marketing and that there are certain days that you won’t. The truth is that you are marketing all the time. Every experience with every client, every conversation with a colleague, every visit to a professional meeting, every comment to a friend is a marketing event. You are selling yourself. As a consultant, you represent your product or service. People around you are making decisions (subconsciously at least) about whether they can or will use your services.
The time to market is all the time.
“The time to market is all the time” also means that you must religiously complete the marketing activities on your calendar. You may find yourself too busy with a current project to complete the marketing event that you had planned (for example, contacting two organizations in the next city or going to lunch with a colleague). Yes, you must complete the project, but if you tell yourself that you are too busy to complete the marketing as well, you will come to the end of the busy project and not have another project to be busy on! Yes, the time to market is all the time. And the most important time to market is when you are too busy to market!
The most important time to market is when you are too busy to market!
You can do this in three ways. First, you can physically be in their presence. When working on-site, I frequently pop in on the CEO, president, HR director, or the person who hired me with a favorite Starbucks order, even if we were not scheduled to meet. I’m sure some of you shudder at my lack of formality, but it represents who I am. I can get away with this. You may need to schedule meetings. The point is, make time for them. And the other point is that I know what each of their Starbucks brew is—I’ve created a relationship with each of them.
Second, you can keep yourself in front of your clients with permanent, practical year-end gifts. We always look for something unique, something special. We have gained a reputation for creative gifts. For example, one year we sent miniature mugs filled with gold paper clips. They were high quality, useful, and put our logo on everyone’s desk every day.
Third, you can keep yourself in front of your clients by ensuring that things periodically go across their desks—for example, articles, notes of interest, books, announcements, cards, seasonal greetings, or even cartoons! Find a reason. When someone joins our firm, we send a special announcement. For example, when Garland joined our firm, we sent a miniature chalkboard and chalk with the message, “Chalk another one up for ebb associates, Garland has joined the ebb team.”
Well, that certainly isn’t rocket science! True! You must determine the kind of client on whom you will focus. The second step of your marketing plan is critical. Do not skip it!
The purpose of a strategy is to keep you focused. Know what you want and where you are going. And that means that you must also pay attention to it.
When I started my business, I decided to focus on medium- to large-size businesses. This strategy is one of the best decisions I ever made. Many new consultants focus on small businesses as their first targets, perhaps because large organizations are more intimidating. In general, small businesses have smaller training and consulting budgets. Because the decision to hire a consultant may be a small business’s one and only budgeted consulting expense for the year, it may take longer to make the decision.
On the other hand, large businesses make numerous training and consulting purchases in a year. They may feel more comfortable taking a risk on a new consultant. Because this is not their one and only decision for the year, they can make hiring decisions faster. In addition, if you do a great job, you will have a better chance at repeat business with a larger organization. Small organizations may want to have you return, but may not have the budget.
Go for the big fish; you’ll spend the same time baiting the hook.
Don’t let the size of the organization scare you. The people who manage organizations need good consulting, no matter what the size. You will invest the same amount of time marketing your services to a large organization as to a small one. Your payoff, however, may be much greater.
One of the difficulties of being a consultant is being alone and outside the employment loop. Although it is psychologically difficult, it can be financially devastating if you do not keep up with what is going on in your field. What your competition does will affect your marketing plans.
Although you may have a specialty, be aware of the trends around you. How will a surge in downsizing affect what you provide? How will the latest management fad affect your philosophy? How will the changes in technology affect your service delivery?
Keep an eye on your competition. Read your professional journals: Who’s advertising? What are they selling? Who’s writing articles? Attend conferences: Who’s presenting? What are they expounding? What’s the buzz in the hallways? Visit bookstores: Who’s writing? What topics are being published?
If you are not going to lead the profession, you must at the very least stay in touch. Your clients expect that of you.
Junk mail and spam are marketing research gifts. Read them! You can spend thousands to find out what your competition is doing or you can acknowledge the free research delivered to you every day. I often hear consultants complain about the piles of advertising they receive, especially in conjunction with conferences for which they have registered. Instead, welcome your junk mail as the gift it is.
What can you gain from your junk mail and spam? You can develop a sense of the trends in the field. Trends are always changing. Is stress management “in” this year or “out”? Junk mail can spark ideas for your own marketing. Notice that I said spark ideas—not steal them. Spam can keep you informed of new companies that have entered the field.
Don’t bemoan your junk mail delivery. Instead, be grateful for all the competitive information that has just been dumped in your lap. I have been working on a plan for developing consultants online. I registered for one free class on how to develop an online course and now I am inundated by others in the same arena. The first thing I learned is the overwhelming number of people who are out there with a similar gig. It seems to be the latest fad everyone is buying into. The other thing I learned is that the trainers who are promoting how to create online courses are the ones making most of the money! Even better, I am learning all about their marketing ploys! I am amazed! Don’t throw it away! Read it. Study it. Wallow in your junk mail—whether it arrives in your mailbox or your inbox!
Wallow in your junk mail!
The idea is to capture the recipient’s attention so that the envelope is opened. First, just getting an envelope is attention-getting, since we’ve become a society of texts. But when the envelope is lumpy and obviously has a surprise inside, it gains even more attention. You certainly don’t want to think that your envelopes could be placed in someone’s junk mail stack!
Over the years we have mailed dozens of lumpy envelopes. We’ve mailed typical things such as staple removers and holiday ornaments, but we’ve mailed the unusual, too, such as:
When there is nothing to make a large lump, we may add confetti to celebrate a business success or tiny stars to say congratulations. We have acquired a reputation for our lumpy envelopes. Some clients will only open our envelopes over a wastebasket. This marketing tactic has gained us a reputation for being creative and fun. In fact, deciding what the next lump could be is one of the most delightful things I do.
Mail a lumpy envelope.
One of the rules of consulting states that a consultant should not be too close to the client because it prevents objectivity. I intentionally and completely ignore that rule. I want to get to know our clients as people and in doing so celebrate their humanness as well as their professionalism.
I do not do this as a marketing tactic. In fact, when I first started the business, most of my exchanges with clients were very informal and personal. I claimed that we did no marketing, until Ian, one of my clients, asked what I thought I was doing when I sent him a handmade thank-you card. Whether it’s marketing or not, I do believe it builds a strong relationship with my clients and potential clients.
How do we personalize marketing? We send cards filled with confetti to congratulate clients on job promotions. We send birthday cards. We send custom-designed cards to celebrate graduations, births, engagements, weddings, anniversaries, new cars, trips, a new life focus, a new house, a move. Most recently we have discovered singing cards—a bargain at less than $5. We send lots of cards—always with a handwritten message.
We send articles of interest about a favorite subject, hobby, child’s college, vacation site, competitor, or mutual friend. We may send items that have a special meaning, such as Georgia O’Keeffe stamps, job ads, special coffee, music CDs, books (lots of books), pens, photos, good-luck tokens, or stones.
We send many handwritten notes to follow up on conversations. Sometimes items are added. I once had a conversation with a vice president of a large New York City bank about the best training activity he ever saw: analysis of the task of eating a piece of pie. Following that conversation, I sent him a piece of pie to tell him how much I enjoyed our conversation. Another time I had a discussion with a publisher in which we both marveled at the magic of television. I followed up by sending her a children’s book, How Things Work, including the magic of television.
Remember that I do these things because I like people and I enjoy it! Although my approach may be seen as a marketing tool, I see it as a people tool. This may not work for everyone. I do it because it’s who I am and I enjoy it. If it’s not sincere, this kind of contact will backfire. If you are doing it “just to market your services,” do not do it.
Acquiring a new client requires 10 times the effort as acquiring repeat business. There is a saying that “the best way to get clients is to have clients.” This is true for two main reasons: first, if you are producing results, your clients will recommend you to other clients; second, if you are producing results, your clients will invite you back for additional projects.
Acquiring a new client requires 10 times the effort as acquiring repeat business.
Many books written by successful consultants state that you will spend 25 to 40 percent of your time in marketing activities. I probably spent 80 percent of my time during the first months of start-up, but since then I have spent no more than 15 percent of my time marketing, and most of that is of a very personal nature.
The ideal situation for you as a consultant is to find that your clients speak highly of you and recommend you to other clients. Nothing—absolutely nothing—is more valuable to you than a client’s recommendation. You earn that by exceeding your customers’ expectations, adding value at every point, producing the highest-quality results, building trusting relationships, and modeling the highest ethics. In other words, doing a good job. Do good consulting!
Our vision statement says, “Our clients are so satisfied that they market for us.” Although it has taken a long time to achieve that vision, we have. We can trace more than 80 percent of our business back to three of our original clients.
You need business. You need marketing tactics. You want to make a name for yourself, promote yourself, enhance your image, and build your reputation. But you have little money! What can you do? The following ideas will help you start. All will give you visibility and ensure that you stay in business. Some of these are common sense, and you may already have thought of them. Others, on the other hand, may be too unusual for you. All of them should spark your creative thought process. All of them are tactics we have used.
Networking to Market
Basic Marketing
Some Budget Required
Common Sense
The Personal Touch
Above and Beyond
These marketing tactics are just a start. You can think of others. The key is to find ways to promote who you are and what you do—and to have fun in the process! Looking for more in-depth marketing information? Marketing Your Consulting Services (Biech 2003) is another Business of Consulting resource that will answer all your questions.
If you are planning to work within your city or other local surroundings, you can focus on a few “locals only” ideas to inform organizations that you provide consulting.
Many people assume that contacting clients will be difficult and should therefore be avoided. It is easier than you might think.
What is a person’s greatest fear about making cold calls? Rejection. What can positively be guaranteed about making cold calls? Rejection. So create a positive cold-call attitude. I have a friend in sales who lives by cold calls. The numbers he works with are daunting. He says he must make 100 cold calls to find 10 people who will talk to him. Of those 10 people, 2 will agree to meet with him and 1 will purchase his product.
So what if someone says “No,” hangs up, or is rude? Don’t let it ruin your day. You must refocus your attitude. You were not rejected; your services were rejected. The person did not need your services at this time. When you run into someone who frankly cannot use your services and he or she cuts the phone call short, you should silently thank the person for not wasting your valuable time. Rather than feeling rejected, you can feel thankful. Say “Thank you for your candor and have a great day!” Create your own cold-call attitude.
Quite honestly, I have made only a few cold calls in my life. I prefer to make warm calls. Although this takes more preparation time, I believe I have better results, and I enjoy the process more. To start, I warm up the client with a letter—not just any old letter, but one that I have written specifically for the client. This requires research.
Begin your research on the web. Identify a list of 20 to 30 potential clients with whom you would like to do business. Use your favorite search engine to gather as much data as you can.
I target 12 to 16 companies at a time. I start to gather content on the Internet. If I still need more information, I visit the local library. I use the library’s resources, including local business magazines, journals and periodicals, local business newsletters, the newspaper, the city directory, manufacturer and business directories, and any other resources available. Each of these has an index that makes it easy to research the list of clients. I use Exhibit 5.4, the company profile, to synthesize the information I find.
Exhibit 5.4 Company Profile
| Company Name ______________________________________________ | |
| Address ___________________________________________________ | |
| _________________________________________________________ | |
| Telephone ___________________ | Website _____________________ |
| Employees ________________________________________________ | |
| Management Positions | |
| __________________________ | __________________________ |
| __________________________ | __________________________ |
| __________________________ | __________________________ |
| __________________________ | __________________________ |
| __________________________ | __________________________ |
| Products and Services ________________________________________ | |
| ________________________________________________________ | |
| History __________________________________________________ | |
| ________________________________________________________ | |
| Future Plans ______________________________________________ | |
| ________________________________________________________ | |
| Financial Information ________________________________________ | |
| ________________________________________________________ | |
| Organizational Philosophy ______________________________________ | |
| ________________________________________________________ | |
| ________________________________________________________ | |
| Relationship to My Consulting Services | |
| ________________________________________________________ | |
| ________________________________________________________ | |
| Additional Relevant Information ____________________________________ | |
| ________________________________________________________ | |
| Resources Used ______________________________________________ | |
| ________________________________________________________ | |
Enlist your librarian to help in your search. Librarians are a wealth of knowledge. If possible, I also copy articles that I find. I gather information for two key purposes: first, to learn as much as I can about the organization and, second, to have enough information to compose a unique letter that will grab the reader’s attention. An example of a letter is displayed in Exhibit 5.5.
Exhibit 5.5 Sample Introductory Marketing Letter
July 12, 20XX Carl Hansen, President Dear Mr. Hansen: Free, fast, hot delivery has placed Pizza Place a step ahead of the rest. In 14 years you have turned this unique idea into a successful business with over $26 million in sales. Pizza Place has grown from one location to a chain of nine Dane County stores and a successful franchising business. One hundred franchised units in five years is an ambitious goal—one we’re sure you will achieve as one of the most awarded pizza chains in the Midwest. At ebb associates we recognize the important role employees play in the successful growth of any company. Further, we have found that improving employees’ communication skills results in improved productivity and increased profit. Your anticipated rate of growth will require you to be on top of the communication needs of your staff for a smoother expansion. ebb associates presents workshops and seminars that focus on communication for supervisory training, management development, sales training, and customer relations. Our clients, including Land O’ Lakes, McDonald’s Corporation, International Food and Beverage Suppliers, and other food service chains, recognize us for our commitment to excellence in training, customizing to fit individual company needs, and obtaining results. With your plans for expansive growth, talent development is a part of your future plans. Enclosed is a list of the course titles that we will customize to meet your needs. I will call you within the week to schedule an appointment to discuss how we can assist you to meet your expansion goals at Pizza Place. I promise a free, fast, hot delivery! Sincerely, Elaine Biech |
Begin by making sure you are sending the letter to the right person. Double-check the spelling of the person’s name and the person’s title. Focus on the recipient in the first paragraph. Demonstrate that you know what is important to him or her. The second and third paragraphs should connect the recipient’s organization to the need for consulting services in some way and establish your qualifications. Both of these paragraphs must be customized. For example, when referring to past clients, select only those who are related to the recipient by industry, location, or size. If that is not possible, select only a couple of your most impressive clients. In the last paragraph tell the recipient what to expect next. I developed this format over 30 years ago and continue to obtain remarkable results.
I usually find information for 30 to 50 percent of clients on the initial list. After I return from the library, I compose the marketing letters and mail them. I follow the letter with a telephone call on the date that is stated in the letter.
Ninety-five percent of all recipients are interested in speaking with me, and more than half of them agree to a meeting within a month. Of those, about half become clients in less than one year. The rest become contacts, resources, or clients in the future. These odds are much better than for cold calls, and the process is more fun. I enjoy the challenge of the research and the creativity of the letter composition. I particularly like beginning a relationship in this positive way. And a secondary benefit is that I always learn a great deal in the process.
I usually send the correspondence in a letter. However, I know that email can work equally as well.
Exhibit 5.6 provides a list of questions to ask potential clients. You can use these to guide your discussions on the telephone or in person. Do not—I repeat, do not—ask the amateur’s question, “What keeps you up at night?”
Exhibit 5.6 Questions to Ask Potential Clients
|
After you begin to contact clients, you will want to track who you called when, what they said, what you sent them, and when they have asked you to call again. Exhibit 5.7 will help you keep this information organized.
Exhibit 5.7 Client Contact Log
| Organization/ Phone Number |
Contact Person |
Date | First Contact |
FUP* | Date | Second Contact |
FUP | Date | Third Contact |
FUP |
| *FUP = Follow-Up | ||||||||||
Clients who have used consultants in the past will ask many of the same questions. Most will want to know what you do. Know how to tell your story in a 60-second sound bite. I experience the following variations repeatedly.
Know how to tell your story in a 60-second sound bite.
What if the client does not ask questions? Perhaps your client has little experience working with consultants. You will still want to ensure that certain basics have been covered in your discussion. If your client does not ask, introduce the topic by saying, “You probably want to know. …” This puts the topic on the table in an efficient way. The previous list of questions can be adapted for this purpose.
If you have read Peter Block’s (2011) Flawless Consulting (and you should if you are considering a consulting career), you undoubtedly recognize that you are moving into the contracting phase of the consulting process. Contracting is ensuring that both you and your client are as explicit as possible about your needs, wants, and expectations of one another. Contracting is covered more completely in Chapter Seven. The contracting discussion is an important link to writing a good proposal.
Proposals and contracts are two written documents that you will probably use at some point in your career. Each serves a purpose for staying in business.
I use proposals frequently and like them. Often I am asked to submit a proposal as a step in competing for a project. At other times I am asked to submit a proposal to clarify a previous discussion. The proposal will identify who will do what by when and for how much. I actually like to write proposals. It clarifies the project in my mind, and I find myself developing creative possibilities during the process.
A proposal typically includes a purpose statement; a description of the situation as it now exists; a proposed approach that the consultant will take (this may include data gathering, design of materials, content relationships, delivery of services, and implementation); a timeline; the consultant’s qualifications; and the investment required to complete the plan.
I guarantee that you will write the best proposal if you listen to what your client says and take good notes. Do not take this statement lightly. In fact, reread it. Take it in. After reading our proposals, clients often say complimentary things about the proposal, such as, “This is exactly what we need! How did you know?” We knew because we listened and we fed back their exact words. Consultants make a big mistake by putting things in their own words. If the client has requested an attitude survey, identify it that way in your proposal. An “employee engagement survey” may be more meaningful to you and the resulting surveys may have the identical words on paper. Unfortunately, your client will not know that.
You will write the best proposal if you listen to what your client says and take good notes.
Specify an effective date—for example, “The terms of this proposal are effective through April 30, 20XX.” You do not want to get caught by a client who has a proposal that is two years old and for which the budget was just approved. Why is this a problem? First, the fee you quoted may be lower than what you presently charge. In addition, you have most likely grown and improved your skills, so the process you have proposed may be outdated. Finally, an effective date reduces the amount of time a client will keep you dangling.
We like to use the word “investment” (as opposed to cost or price) when we write proposals. It echoes our philosophy that we believe what we do adds value and that it does not just cost money.
Proposals are often written in competition with other consultants. They may range in length from 1 to 50 pages. I’ve written some that are even longer; however, length does not always equate to better. A one-page proposal may be considered a letter of agreement. An informed client will be as interested in the content of the proposal as in the price. You can find an example of a proposal online at www.wiley.com/go/newconsultingbiech.
Don't just send your proposal as an attachment to an email. That's so ho‐hum! Send a memory stick that incorporates a video clip. Perhaps it is of you in action leading a team‐building session. It could be you delivering a message about how you work with the client. It could be endorsement statements from some of your clients.
Contracts are legal documents that bind both parties to the content stated. I personally do not like them because I believe they start the relationship on a trust-questioning level. Contracts usually involve the legal department, which usually holds the project up for a time. Except for our government work, most of our work is conducted on the basis of a clarifying proposal and a handshake.
What should contracts look like? What should they say? No matter how complete we have been or what we have written in contracts, legal departments have always slashed them apart. I recommend that you have the client’s legal department initiate the contract. It will save you a great deal of time and frustration. If you believe a contract will provide you with security or clarity, use it. Quite honestly, I believe a well-written proposal meets our needs better. We use contracts when it makes the client feel more comfortable with the new relationship.
Contracts frequently include terms (effective dates), project scope, deliverables, confidentiality statements, communication expectations, staffing requirements, supervision of the consultant, scheduling, payment schedule, incentives and penalties, termination terms, the cancellation policy, arbitration arrangements, transfer of responsibilities, taxes, and modifications to the contract. Go to www.wiley.com/go/newconsultingbiech to check out a simple version of a contract drawn up by a client.
There will be times when it is better to walk away from an assignment than to accept it. I was once called to conduct a team building for a manager for whom I had completed some previous work. During our second planning discussion, he began to make some unusual requests—all directed toward one employee. It turned out that he really was not looking for a team-building session, but for evidence and documentation that could be used to fire someone on his staff! Needless to say, I turned the job down.
In another situation, our firm was selected based on our proposal and interviews to coordinate a major change effort that would occur over an 18-month time frame. One of our contingencies was a satisfactory meeting with the CEO. When I met with him, I found that he supported the change for all the wrong reasons and that it was unlikely that his support would continue when the going got tough. I ended our conversation with, “It doesn’t seem that you are ready for this change. We will be unable to accept this challenge until you can guarantee your full support.” There was a lot of sputtering and disbelief. He had never heard of a consultant turning down work. I left saying that if he wanted me to help him prepare for what was ahead, I would do so, but otherwise we would not accept the project. He called that same afternoon and I spent several sessions with him explaining exactly what he was getting himself into.
Yes, there are times when you will refuse an assignment, including some of the following:
If a prospect seems to be a bad fit, move on. Be honest early with the potential client when the project isn’t a match to your strategy. You need to be brave enough to say no. the prospect will appreciate your candor. Remember, this is probably one of the reasons you started your own consulting business—so that you didn’t have to complete work that you really did not want to do. You can simply say, “I’m sorry. I don’t think we will be able to meet your needs on this project.
Many things can happen to ensure that you stay in business. Only one thing will ensure that you go out of business—lack of client work. If staying in business is critical, the key will be found in your marketing plan. If you don't like to market, it's not necessary. To paraphrase W. Edwards Deming, “It is not necessary to ‘market.’ Survival is not mandatory.”
Diversify Your Client Base. Yes, it is really exciting to get those first few clients—the ones that helped you get started. If you don't want to become one of the statistics of small businesses that close within five years, you need to expand your client base. It is not only a smart thing to do; it is dangerous if you don't. Your current work will eventually dry up. Be prepared with a pipeline of other clients.
Take a Risk; Send a Surprise. Texting is tremendous. Email is efficient. A phone call can be fun. But if you really want to get the attention of a potential client or to thank a recent client, send a lumpy envelope in the mail. You will surprise them, and if your “prize” has been well chosen, you will delight them.
Market with Your Card. Your business card may be one of the least expensive and most valuable ways to get attention. There are so many unique shapes, designs, and alternatives. And I do not mean the kind you can print yourself. You could use special paper that is firm and has a different color on each side. Business cards can have rounded corners, be die‐cut into shapes, include your picture, have raised lettering, be square, and have content on both sides. The card that I am using today is printed on clear plastic, shaped like a credit card, and yes, you can see through it!