Getting Indecisive Prospects to Become Paying Clients

Getting Indecisive Prospects to Become Paying Clients
By Fabienne Fredrickson

Imagine you’ve worked hard to market your services; you’ve attracted a prospective client, set up a “sales conversation” and gone through the whole sales process. Great job, but sometimes, no matter how hard we try, prospects don’t always sign up on the spot.

Sometimes, a prospect needs some time to make the decision on whether or when they’d like to start working with you. What I’ve noticed over the years is that when this happens, most always, the sale never happens, probably because life gets in the way and what’s out of sight is out of mind.

Often, this means you’ve lost them for good. UNLESS you use the proven method to get indecisive prospects to slide right into your practice, instead of slipping through your fingers.

So I’ve come up with a fantastic remedy for this, which again, helps me close the deal 97-98% of the times that I use it.

If they don’t bite on the sales call, use what I call the “bookend” method. Here’s how it works:

When a prospect tells me they need to talk to their spouse or needs some time to decide, or wants to ideally start in 2 months, I schedule a 5 minute “check-in” call with them (next Tuesday at 3pm, for example) so that we can follow up with each other without having to play phone tag or have to follow up with one another.

The great thing about this technique is that it puts a time limit in the prospect’s mind as to when THEY would like to make the decision, and obviously, you let them choose when they’d like to have that 5 minute chat.

I essentially came up with this because I really dislike following up in this situation. It makes me feel like I’m chasing after them and I don’t feel that this is Client Attractive. So instead, we agree that they’ll call me on set date and 90% of the time they do, and out of those times, they don’t feel pressured, have had time to think about what we talked about, and are ready to make a decision to move forward. It’s a great tool!

If for whatever reason they don’t call during the time of your 5 minute check-in appointment, you can then call them or e-mail them asking if anything went wrong. This usually puts the prospect into a mode where they feel obliged to get back you, as they were the one who missed the appointment. Again, this is much more Client Attractive and ends up saving you a lot of time.

YOUR ASSIGNMENT:
If a client doesn’t sign up on the spot, make sure to bookend another date so you don’t have to follow up on each other for weeks. Use it as a “let’s see where you are in your decision making process then.” It works like a charm.

Having trouble with actually getting the prospect INTO the sales conversation in the first place? You’re definitely not the only one. The good news is, I’ve developed a way to close the sale 97-98% of the time and I share the entire process in my Client Attraction Home Study System™. It’ll help you fill your practice quickly and consistently, Guaranteed. Here’s where you can get your own copy: www.TheClientAttractionSystem.com.

© 2005 Fabienne Fredrickson

Fabienne Fredrickson, The Client Attraction Mentor, is founder of the Client Attraction System™ and www.ClientAttraction.com, the proven step-by-step program to attract more clients, make more m’oney being self-employed, while having more time off to enjoy it all. To receive your F.R.E.E. Audio CD by mail and get weekly how-to articles on attracting more clients, visit www.ClientAttraction.com.

How To MANIFEST All the New Clients You Need

How to MANIFEST All the Clients You Need
By Fabienne Fredrickson

I’m known in the marketplace as someone who takes a no-nonsense, no-excuses approach to marketing and getting clients, meaning, I do what it takes, and create systems for everything so that I’m always marketing. (By the way, my clients now do the same.) In turn, I always have a full roster of clients. That’s what I teach in my private coaching, in my Boot Camps, and in my Client Attraction Home Study System.

One thing though, which only my private clients know about me, is I also throw in a healthy dose of Manifestation, which means focusing on what you want in your life, in such a way that you start attracting what you want quickly. Some might call it “positive thinking,” but I believe it goes WAY beyond just thinking positively about something. It also takes action.

I use “manifesting” for just about everything I want to attract in my life (a certain amount of money, my boat, a new home, etc.); however, for the purposes of this article, let’s focus on attracting clients, lots of them, who happily pay your full fee.

As for just about everything in my Client Attraction System™, I’ve even come up with a formula or system for manifesting clients. Here it is:

1. Figure out EXACTLY what you want in great detail (how many clients, paying you how much, with the best of circumstances).


2. Come up with your BIG GOAL (“My practice is bursting at the seams with 15 clients happily paying my full fee of $_____.”)


3. Each day, write it down several times (I do this at least 9 times), each time imagining how great it will FEEL to sign on these new clients.


4. Go back and read the big goal OUT LOUD (this ‘locks’ it in place).


5. Spend several minutes, eyes closed, imagining your full practice in all its details and glory.


6. Write down one BIG action step you’ll take that day to make this happen.


7. Notice the synchronistic, happy “coincidences” you experience during the day that seem like a sign from the Universe, as they relate to your big goal.


8. Each day, spend a couple minutes writing down how very fortunate you are, what you are grateful for today, and what you would like to attract more of.


9. While you’re at it, write a letter to whatever you call your Higher Power (I call mine “Universe”) and go into greater detail about what you want, asking for it to be done by a certain date.


10. Have faith in the process. Don’t cancel out all your “manifesting” with negative comments or thoughts such as “why am I doing this anyway, it won’t happen, it never does.” If you start thinking that way, you can stop yourself right away and revert back to the big goal, and how it will feel to achieve it. Faith in this process is 80% of the game.

Granted, there’s a lot here and I do just about all of it each day, but you don’t have to. Even if you do only ONE of these things, consistently, you’ll start noticing opportunities coming out of the woodwork, happy coincidences pointing you in the right direction. Take action on these, they are divinely sent! As a result, you’ll start attracting lots more clients. I promise.

YOUR ASSIGNMENT:
It’s a new unusual way of attracting more clients, one that we’ve never talked about here and one that you might not be familiar with. However, that doesn’t mean it doesn’t work. Even if you are familiar with it, perhaps you’ve not taken the time and effort to apply it consistently. Make some time for in your day for this, each and every day, and you’ll start seeing results quickly.

If you like the idea of this and want to try it in addition to the more pragmatic marketing stuff we regularly talk about, you’ll probably enjoy the book “Excuse me, your life is waiting” by Lynn Grabhorn. I did.

Back to “regular” marketing techniques next time. If you can’t wait until then, check out the Client Attraction Home Study System™ for attracting all the clients you need with proven, systematic processes that will help you fill your practice quickly and consistently, guaranteed! Here’s where you can get your own copy: www.TheClientAttractionSystem.com.

© 2005 Fabienne Fredrickson

Fabienne Fredrickson, The Client Attraction Mentor, is founder of the Client Attraction System™ and www.ClientAttraction.com, the proven step-by-step program to attract more clients, make more m’oney being self-employed, while having more time off to enjoy it all. To receive your F.R.E.E. Audio CD by mail and get weekly how-to articles on attracting more clients, visit www.ClientAttraction.com.

You’ve gotta TOUCH your clients more often (to be more Client Attractive)

You’ve gotta TOUCH your clients more often (to be more Client Attractive)
By Fabienne Fredrickson

Every time I speak in front of an audience, whether it’s 50 or 1,200 small business owners, I get the same old question. Then following my answer, I always see a roomful of dropped jaws and gaping mouths.

The question? How often do I need to reach out to my prospective clients and clients?

The answer? A minimum of 25 times a year, preferably 52 or more times a year.

Silence. Jaws slowly creak open and begin to drop. You could hear a pin fall.

52 or more times a year??? I’m not kidding. The comeback I often get is “Are you crazy?!?” Nope, I’m not crazy and I know it works because I do it. Now that you know me a little better, you’re probably expecting that I tell you how to create SYSTEMS around this and you’re right. Read on…

The reason people go into semi-shock is they start to realize their boring cookie-cutter quarterly mailing isn’t cuttin’ it. It gets even worse when I’ve got someone in the front row who’s super-proud of their monthly e-zine, thinking they’re doing “what it takes to get clients” and yet they’re wondering why the pipeline of prospects is not full enough, and their bank account leaves a little to be desired.

It’s because they’re not “touching” their prospects (and clients) enough. Well, one of my clients, Jill Foster of http://www.themortgagearrangers.com/, came up with a brilliant campaign during our coaching to change that. She got her hands on the list of Obscure Holidays (National Punctuation Day, National Poetry Day, National Wear Red Day For Women, etc.) and sends a postcard to her prospects, clients and joint venture partners each month (in addition to all the other ways she reaches her list). In each postcard mailing, she somehow finds a way to tie it in to the mortgage services she offers, while adding high content and high value. It’s funny, irreverent and gives her another excuse to be in TOUCH with her list.

• Sometimes you want to be in touch to add high value and high content (this establishes credibility faster than anything else I know).


• Sometimes you want to be in touch to promote your products and services (this keeps you in business).


• Sometimes you want to be in touch to say “happy birthday” (this shows you care).


• And sometimes you want to be in touch to just say “hi” or “I was thinking of you when I read this” (this shows you’re not heartless).

All these ways of TOUCHING your list build the “know, like and trust factor” that we’ve talked so much about in this e-zine. That’s because people don’t buy from those they don’t know, they don’t buy from those they don’t like, and they CERTAINLY don’t buy from those they don’t trust.

OK, how can you do this without going absolutely bonkers? It’s all about SYSTEMS, my friend, as always. Example: One e-zine per week (like this one). One mailing per month (your Virtual Assistant can stuff the envelopes and take care of the printing and postage). A few personal notes, handwritten. A Hallmark e-card. Etc.

YOUR ASSIGNMENT:
Start thinking about ways to be on your clients’ and prospects’ radio screens over and over again, by bringing high value and high content, or just by touching base to say hi. Create a system for everything.

Not sure as to how to systematize all this and put your marketing on auto-pilot? I show you exactly how in the last chapter of the Client Attraction Home Study System™. Here’s where you can get your own copy: www.TheClientAttractionSystem.com.

© 2005 Fabienne Fredrickson

Fabienne Fredrickson, The Client Attraction Mentor, is founder of the Client Attraction System™ and www.ClientAttraction.com, the proven step-by-step program to attract more clients, make more m’oney being self-employed, while having more time off to enjoy it all. To receive your F.R.E.E. Audio CD by mail and get weekly how-to articles on attracting more clients, visit www.ClientAttraction.com.