Work smarter, not harder!

Work smarter not harder Do you like the sound of that? If so, then you need to get smart when it comes to your communication with potential clients in EVERY situation. Why? Because if you don’t, you are leaving money on the table. Let me give you an example of just how this may be happening for you since it is happening with most all the solopreneurs I know. It’s a true story – I just changed the name. Sally is a stress management coach and she is giving a free talk at her local hospital to a group of 30 employees. She gives them an information sheet with her website address and contact details on it – she got a round of applause at the end of the talk and a queue of people who wanted to speak to her and thank her for her help. She thinks she has done a good job and waits for the phone to ring. It doesn’t. What went wrong? She didn’t make them a concrete offer or give them a definite call to action. It’s the same as giving out free tasters at the supermarket and then not having the product there for them to buy. It just doesn’t make sense. If she had offered 10 free breakthrough sessions to the first 10 people who signed up there and then, she would have had potential clients to speak to. It would be the next natural step to take for a person who received value from the talk. So if you aren’t giving your potential clients a definite call to action whenever you communicate with them, then you are missing out on golden opportunities to further the relationship and get clients. This is where having a great business model is really helpful because you will be moving them through it naturally and know what the next step is for them – you can read about how to create a business model in my blog post “The A-Frame Ladder to Business Success” In marketing terms it is what is known as up-selling. Here are just a few ideas on how you can up-sell from a free talk. 1. Free breakthrough session – be sure to create urgency by limiting the number and/or give deadline date. No urgency means no action. 2. Free gift – your free gift on your website/blog that answers their biggest challenge or desire where they opt in and become part of your mailing list and you have a continued relationship through your newsletter and more calls to action 3. Free teleseminar or in person class or Meetup group 4. Paid for class 5. Paid for programme 6. Paid product you can sell there and then e.g., CD, books, home-study kit The type of up-sell depends very much on the context of the situation. And here’s a bonus tip: do not have more than 2 choices – one is optimum – because a confused mind always says no. So now think about all the opportunities you have to up-sell – your newsletter, your blog, your teleclasses, your Meetup groups, your programmes, your e-book, your book, your products, your free sessions, and the list goes on. Don’t waste another opportunity to up-sell – work smarter, not harder.