How to convert more clients at the first consultation? The magic staircase

Convert more clients

Build a brilliant product staircase for your business

Does it ever happen to you that you had a nice consultation with a client, you spent some time with them but they didn’t sign up for your services or products? There could have been several reasons why they didn’t sign up. They might have not been ready to buy your full service or product yet. They might have not been aware of the problem that you’re solving. They might have not been at the same stage as you are. At this point, a product staircase could come into the picture.

In this blog post, I’ll show you the product staircase. What it is and how to build one for your business. (See my video about the topic below the article).

Basically what you do in business or in marketing is that you take the prospective client by the hand, at the bottom of the staircase and you walk them up, step by step to the top which is the point you are making the profit, making them a happy customer. There is not just one grade in the stairs but there are several. You have to take every single one of them seriously.

So we are starting from the bottom of the stairs;

Awareness

This is the stage where you have to make them aware of the fact that you are actually. If you tell them to buy something at this stage, the response will probably be “No thanks.” You usually need a cheaper entry-level product or even better, something for free. This is the stage that those products will be webinars, PDFs, events on one niche area. A service which will give them a taste of what you do. But be careful, this is not a simplified or poorer version of what you do. This should give them a high value. They should see this: Even for the free product, you are giving them something valuable. What is good with webinars and publishing a book, is that you can talk to groups easily. It’s very easy for them to step up at this stage. If they don’t sign up, and this may happen, it means that they don’t really need it, so no worries.

Consideration

Now, they have seen what you can do, they have seen the problems and their solving, your service. This is the stage where they are not fully committed to buying your service but getting familiar with it. If you offer them something that would be so easy to buy, like free trials, you can give them something to say “Yes” easily. At this stage, your product is an entry product so make sure to keep the price low. Also, keep this in mind, they can easily refer you at this stage. Which is a perfect advantage for your business.

Purchase

By this stage they will understand what you do, understand how you are different so they won’t ask you the price-related questions because they already know the answer. They can see the value you are offering to them. It means that it is time for the core product. Complex and profitable.

Advocacy

Ok, they are now clients. Many clients will want to buy more from you, be a VIP or premium version of what you do. Create a product just for them. We would like to call this a premium product, with the highest profit. Around 20-30% of your clients will be ready to step up. You can give them even better service or something extra and they will pay you more.

What are the common mistakes?

So the fact is, many businesses make the mistake of not having Awareness and Consideration stage, which means the clients are not ready to jump up to the Purchase stage. They will lose clients and generally, the lost-clients will directly go to the competitor. Skipping the Advocacy stage is also a common mistake. Many of the businesses don’t have premium products. Therefore, make sure to have all these stages. One step further is a membership. One step further is a client. One step further is the highest profit. Never think you don’t need it. You need all these steps.

Pricing?

Once you are ready with these stages then you think of the pricing and products. Marketing doesn’t start with communication. It starts with the right product staircase, then communication. So it’s time for organic and paid commercials. Don’t be mislead, even if your product is a service you should be able to productise what you offer. Think of your product staircase, how you can meet your prospective client at where they are at not where you are. Think with their heads and you will get this done!

This article was written by Timea Kadar, Chief Marketing Strategist of Francis Cooper based on the thoughts of other professionals duly quoted. Timea has 21 years of experience in marketing working as a marketing lead at large corporations and a marketing mentor at smaller ventures and start-ups. If you’d like to know the marketing strategies for your business, contact her at tk@franciscooper.com

LEAD LinkedIn Strategy [video + article]

LEAD LinkedIn Strategy

That brings you business

What are the main LinkedIn user types, what to do to be seen as a leader on LinkedIn and to get leads out of it, how to build a strategy that you can easily follow? In this post, we are going to answer all these questions for you to make your LinkedIn experience worthy. (Below the article, you can watch my video on the topic.)

4 types of LinkedIn users

Sales Pitcher

This type of users is reaching out for you to sell their services from messages, sending you sales pitches or some quick call all the time. Sometimes they are even chasing you and we are all overwhelmed by this type of users. Aren’t we?

Ghost

This type of users is connecting with you on LinkedIn and then disappear. They never comment, they never post, you can’t engage with them because they are not there.

Social Butterfly

This type of users is closest to the best, we can say. They are posting, they have an opinion about everything, they post about everything not only their businesses. You know they are there however, they don’t think of the main goal of LinkedIn. They don’t have a strategy and that is the problem.

LinkedIn Strategist

This type of users is aware of what they are doing. They don’t spend too much time to search for what to post, how to comment. Because they already have a strategy and this is so rare.

You should think of LinkedIn as a platform to grow your business. Therefore, the things you need to do on this platform shouldn’t be different from your real-life business strategy. For example, if you go to a networking event, would you go and directly talk about yourself? You should build a relationship with people on LinkedIn who either become your client or lead you to that. And generally, vice versa. So let’s dive deep into the LEAD LinkedIn Strategy.

If you want to be a LinkedIn Strategist

Look at the 30-day LinkedIn Challenge here. A self-service one-month course to get you into the habit of using Linkedin and have business out of it.

LEAD LinkedIn Strategy

Link to connections

Engage with your audience

Assist others

Develop the relationship

Link to connections

There are 2 types of connections you need to have on LinkedIn. The first one is just people you know. Even if they are not your target audience, even if they can’t become your clients they know people who know people. So if you are in front of them they may refer you. But make sure your profile is ready to connect!

The second one is your target audience. In this group, you can build a strategy to connect with your clients or people who can lead you to them. Be mindful and strategic and connect with those who will be good for your business even if you don’t know them.

-Engage with your audience

So you have already connected with the right people, now it’s time to be in front of them. Which means, to post. You don’t have to and you should not post every day. We recommend you to post once a week or two. Let them see you. You can also set up events on LinkedIn, you can run webinars, you can set up your group, a page so they can engage with you easily.

-Assist others

You can start by commenting on other people’s posts so you can build a relationship with them. By doing this, you are also in front of their connections. Also, you can write a recommendation about your connections, which may be so helpful while you are building your relationships.

-Develop the relationship

You are doing a business on LinkedIn so don’t be shy to act like it. Set up a meeting! Meet with those people you have already built a relationship with. Get to know each other, develop your relationship further.

Content Cube for LinkedIn

Educate your connections on any subject
Tell a story
Offer something that will make your connections closer to you
Testimonial

Divide your month into four, so basically choose one of the contents above and post each of them for a week. 4 weeks, 4 contents. Set your monthly calendar and stay committed to it. Use text, photo, video or slides. We promise you will get the results back shortly.

The article was written by Timea Kadar, marketing strategist and trainer. Timea has been running LinkedIn courses for over a year and has helped over 500 business owners use it strategically and have consistent business out of it. If you want to build your LinkedIn strategy one task at a time, look at the legendary 30-day LinkedIn Challenge here.

Four steps on how to book high-profile people to be your clients, speakers, partners

Book high-profile people

To be your clients, speakers, partners

In this blog post, we are going to touch these points:

What you can achieve by booking high-profile people
The method I used to get in touch with Apple, Tesla, Forbes, Economist
The four steps of the process

Watch my 40-min talk on the subject here. (You can read an extract below the video.)

What can you achieve?

Clients

You can have clients; big clients at big companies. London Marketing Academy is an example for them. I reached out to them, I didn’t sit and wait for them to reach out to me.

Partnerships

I had events with the London Marketing Club at Apple, Tesla and Hay Hills. I didn’t pay for these events it was a partnership and it was a perfect experience.

Speakers

I had fantastic speakers from Adidas, Google, Uber.

Press

Yes, you can also get into the press even if you don’t pay them or if you don’t have a PR. If you have a good story it means you can be published in the press. I or my clients were published in Forbes and Economist.

The four steps of the process

Mindset
Preparation
Contact
Follow up

Mindset

Without the right mindset, it won’t happen. Never forget this: as human beings we are equal. Some of the people have a higher reputation but they are still human. So it doesn’t mean you can’t reach out to the directors or people who have achieved something good. You have to believe in your proposal. You have to believe that you are at the same level as human beings. Also remember, never apologise for reaching out. Be confident. Don’t miss the opportunities while you’re thinking they won’t get back to you. Because they will. When you have a big name it’s easier to reach out to others.

Preparation

Simply, copy-paste emails won’t work. You should know these people’s perspective. Imagine how many emails they receive and try to fit in there. Try to see their needs, their wants. Also, buy from them. In some cases, it can really help that you can approach them based on something that you have already tried. If you can’t, then at least read, watch, listen from them. The most dishonest thing is when somebody is telling you they love everything you share but never engage with it. It should be visible that you are supporting them. A fantastic way is to attend conferences. Always easier to reach out with this opportunity, highlighting something from the conference and complimenting on that.

Contact

Cold E-mail

Don’t start it like everybody else. When you want to grab attention, cliches won’t work. Don’t be too formal, not too chatty. Write as you speak. Start with telling them briefly who you are and why you want them. Be honest. Make a value-led proposal. Don’t forget these are all companies and they all want clients. If you find out how they get clients, how they get business and how you can help them with that it will help you with this process. Keep this in mind: High profile people want to be in front of people and you are offering them this. You can add an optional CTA at the end of your e-mail. In some cases, it would be pushy but offering some options may also be good.

The Trojan Horse

I’d like to call this a Trojan Horse but of course, we are not being the enemy here. You can always invite those people to an interview. Tell them who is listening, what are topics, why you want them. You can ask them to speak or contribute to a book. If you want to approach specific job title like HR directors you can ask them for research or ask them for their insights to validate your product. Always think with their head.

Follow up

You have to follow up several times. People are busy. Lots of emails got forgotten. You can reach out to them again and it won’t hurt anyone. Refer to potential bad timing, ask them to confirm what they think about your invitation. You can also tell them how you proceed. Ask for contact or tell them to refer you the right direction.

You shouldn’t invite people just for the brand. The audience is always first.

This article was written by Timea Kadar, Chief Marketing Strategist of Francis Cooper based on the thoughts of other professionals duly quoted. Timea has 21 years of experience in marketing working as a marketing lead at large corporations and a marketing mentor at smaller ventures and start-ups. If you’d like to know more ways to find high-profile people and invite them for your business, contact her at tk@franciscooper.com