We are people, not transactions

A client who runs a marketing agency and I have been having an ongoing conversation about establishing the best client relationships. The gist of our discussions has centered on the “old way” of selling versus the “new way” of selling.

Simply, the old way is pushy and presumptive: The client sits on one side of the desk and the seller sits on the other side of the desk. The focus of the seller is on the transaction that he or she is trying to make happen.

The new way is questioning, problem-solving, and consultative: The client and the seller both sit on the same side of the desk, figuring out the best solution for the potential client. The focus of the seller is on the relationship with the potential client.

These excerpts from five posts that recently landed in my LinkedIn mailbox highlight that the “old way” of selling is still with us in a big way.

Can I send you clients?

Hi Lee, I noticed your background in coaching/consulting. Seems like you do phenomenal work.

As you know, getting clients in this business is mainly based on building relationships with important people (CEO’s, executives, etc). If I could get you in the door with some of the biggest names in your target industry to network, would that add value to you?

Not to mention, you don’t pay us anything unless we can generate a significant number of meetings for you, so there’s no risk to try it.

If you’re open to a quick call, here’s our link.

How do they the know the quality of work I do? Why do they think my target is “important people,” CEOs and executives? Is getting meetings my problem? They presume I have a target industry; I don’t.

Getting started can feel overwhelming

LinkedIn is an incredible tool for connecting with potential clients, but getting started can feel overwhelming. That's where I come in. I'm a LinkedIn strategist, and I'm here to make it all simpler for you. Together, we can craft a standout profile, connect with the right people, and start generating leads.

We'll work together to create a strategy that's tailored to your goals. I'll provide ongoing support and guidance, so you can tap into your full potential on LinkedIn.

If you're ready to take your LinkedIn game up a notch, let's connect. I'll walk you through using LinkedIn to draw in new clients, nurture relationships, and expand your business.

I look forward to sharing and learning with you.

Too presumptive. Simplification of LinkedIn is not something I am looking for. I taught business people how to use LinkedIn a decade ago and I pushed myself to the top ranking for “strategic planning.” These days, we are consistently executing a LinkedIn program that involves a variety of posting on a weekly basis.

Between $2M and $20M

We work with individuals, couples, and families with between $2M and $20M in investable assets who seek to grow their wealth.

We are offering a free no-obligation portfolio review and / or personal risk profile. This is a great way to make sure that your portfolio is set up correctly to help you build wealth and manage your investment risk.

Would you like a free portfolio review or personal risk profile review?

Loser from the get-go. I don’t have investable assets anywhere near $2 million. And even if I dd, would I engage knowing almost nothing about you? I think not.

Organizations like yours

We collaborate with organizations like yours to provide offshore recruitment services. So, if you should find yourself in a position where you need talent as your team grows, we can assist you with that. We work from a position of diversity and inclusion.

Also, we offer a 3-day free trial just to ensure that the business we are going to make is beneficial for both of us.

Please let me know if you'd like to know more about us.

Thanks in Advance!

False: You don’t collaborate with organizations like mine because we have no need for off-shore recruitment services. Do your homework! (And if I were a qualified prospect, I can’t imagine how a “3-day free trial” would be anywhere close to the time I would need to see the benefits of doing business with you.)

They don’t apply to me

I’m not sure if any of these below apply to you, but are you currently seeking:

- A New Challenge

- Becoming Your Own Boss

- Living a More Flexible Lifestyle

- Leaving Your 9-5 Corporate Job

- Looking For a New Business Investment Opportunity

- Recession-Resistant Business Ownership Opportunities

I help advise and guide people to new opportunities in franchise business ownership at no cost, ever, for my advice.

I don't work for any specific franchise brand. This makes me neutral when it comes to helping people find a brand that fits their industry & lifestyle preferences.

If you’re open to a brief 15 minute conversation, here’s my calendar link to select a day and time that works best for you.

Why are you knocking on my door? I have plenty of challenges, old and new. I am my own boss (not always the best boss, however). I have a flexible lifestyle. I left my last corporate job 13 years ago. (And since when are corporate jobs 9-5?) I am neither looking for business investment opportunities nor recession resistant ownership opportunities.

Don’t be presumptive!

There are a variety of problems with the barrage of solicitations that I - and likely you - receive daily, including:

• They generally are “push,” in-your-face marketing (“hey, see us?, we are right here, buy from us!”).

• They typically sell on features rather than personalized benefits.

• They basically presume or at least hope that we are in their target market and fit their client avatar.

I imagine the response rate to these presumptive, intrusive, unsolicited appeals is microscopic. That may be OK for the sender if they are delivering to a really large list, so one or a few clients cover the cost of acquisition. But this approach flies in the face of what I know as a career-long marketer to be best practices.

AIDA plus consultative selling

Instead of engaging in a pushy and presumptive marketing and sales process, consider instead using a process built out from what the best marketers have used for years - the AIDA (Attention, Interest, Desire, and Action) model, which addresses the customer journey to purchasing a product or service - combined with consultative (needs-based) selling - focusing on building relationships and creating value with potential customers by recommending solutions based on the customer's needs.

As I teach it, this enhanced marketing/business development/sales process - let’s call it the client (or customer) creation process (which I view as a continuum), looks like this.

1. Raise awareness

Step one is to raise awareness of you (your organization) or your offering (product or service). You do this by announcing your presence, communicating your positioning - where you fit in the market - and establishing your brand - what distinguishes you from other options and the competition, and how you are different, hopefully better, and ideally special or even unique.

There are a myriad of channels and methods for raising awareness, more or less expensive and effective depending in part on the offering and the target market. These range from print advertising and events to social media posting and digital advertising. The banner towed by the biplane flying over the beach in Ocean City, Maryland, might be a great way to announce a new sun tan lotion to beachgoers but it likely won’t be a good avenue for a new business broker to attract business owners.

2. Instill knowledge

Step two is to instill knowledge about you and/or your offerings. This entails communicating your features and more importantly your benefits and strengthening the prospective client’s or customer’s understanding of your positioning and your brand.

For the most part, the same methods and channels for raising awareness can be used for instilling knowledge. However, because more information needs to be transmitted, often messages need to be broken down into shorter segments delivered separately (think brand points delivered sequentially in a series of YouTube videos, digital ads. or landing pages) or the medium needs to accommodate longer messages (think an email newsletter or a webinar or seminar).

3. Build understanding

Step three is to build a deeper understanding of what you offer. The focus switches from the target market to the target prospective client or customer. This involves moving from what in theory your target client avatar is looking for to learning about the prospect, discussing features and benefits, and establishing your generalized value proposition.

With the focus switching from the group to the individual decision maker or consumer, the channels used switch to those enabling personal communications and dialogue, including email, LinkedIn messaging, and phone, video, and face-to-face conversations. Key in this step - and the steps that follow - is real personalization of messaging, starting conversations, and asking questions. This is the time to dig in to really understand the prospect’s wants and needs.

4. Create attraction

Step four, creating attraction, involves learning more about the client or customer, personalizing the benefits to be obtained by doing business with you, and making the value proposition specific to the prospect’s needs.

As with building understanding, effective channels for creating attraction can include email, LinkedIn messaging, and phone, video, and face-to-face conversations.

5. Cause action

In step five, cause action, a decision is called for through an offer that is made to address the prospect’s need.

While offers can be made through almost any channel (from cable television commercials to mailers), when possible and cost-effective, real-time dialogue with the prospect should be sought. That way, the tenor of the prospect’s reactions, both verbal and non-verbal, can be gauged and objections can be effectively addressed.

6. Produce satisfaction

The sixth step is to produce a satisfied client or customer. The core of this step is to deliver the product or service and the promised benefits. Without that, no way is your client or customer going to be happy.

Marketing communications and sales/business development actions accompanying the delivery of what has been promised should:

• Seek to reinforce the wisdom of the client’s/customer’s decision to buy.

• Help the client/customer understand what is being delivered and the benefits accompanying what is being delivered.

• Seek and act on client/customer feedback.

Targeted marketing and advertising can help assure the client/customer that the right decision has been made. but in general the more personalized the messaging to the new client/customer, the better., e.g., “XXX, welcome to the best client/customer experience!” “XXX, here’s what YOU are getting.” “XXX, we want your feedback.”

7. Develop loyalty

Landing a new customer/client takes time and money. Step seven of the client/customer development process seeks to make the most of the client/customer relationship once established.

The goal should be to:

• Continue to deliver value through personal benefits

• Seek and act on client feedback

• Offer added value through more personal benefits (added and/or extended beyond the original transaction/engagement)

• Continually reinforce the client/customer decision to do business with you

As with step six, while all manner of channels and messaging can contribute to developing loyal clients/customers, the more personalized the better.

It’s your choice

If you want to:

• Create and broadcast “salesy” content…

• Unleash a flood of unsolicited emails, LinkedIn solicitations, and/or phone calls…

• Barrage your contact lists with generic messaging….

• Ignore your customers/clients after you have signed them up…

• Or mimic any of the other pushy and presumptive marketing and sales practices that are so pervasive today…

Feel free! It’s your choice.

But if you want to improve the quality and quantity of your customer/client relationships, consider combining the wisdom of the AIDA model with consultative selling in what we outline above as the Client Creation Process.

If you do that, you will stand out in a good way!