Читать книгу How to Win Client Business When You Don't Know Where to Start - Tom McMakin, Doug Fletcher - Страница 38

Over a cocktail at a dimly lit bar, I'll confess that I've spent more time than I care to admit thinking about where clients come from and how we can get more of them. Reflecting upon my own experiences and on hundreds of stories from others, I have discovered that clients arrive via seven predictable pathways:

1 Repeat business (from a satisfied client)

2 Referrals (from a satisfied client, trusted colleague, friend, or acquaintance)

3 Inquiries (from someone you know)

4 Inquiries (from someone you don't know)

5 Warm prospecting (with someone you know)

6 Warm prospecting (with an introduction)

7 Cold prospecting (with no introduction)

These client pathways are ranked by their relative success rate. The first pathway, repeat business, has the highest success rate. The last pathway, cold prospecting (as in Molly's example), has the lowest success rate. Those pathways in between are arranged in an order of descending success rate. (See Figure 3.1.)

Why does repeat business have the highest success rate? As we discussed in the previous chapter, clients hire people who they know, respect, and trust. If we've done great work for a client in the past, there is a much greater chance they'll hire us again in the future or recommend us to others.

If you're cold prospecting, the prospective client doesn't know you, and has no reason yet to respect or trust you. They may eventually choose to work with you, but you'll have to allow time for the client to move through the milestones of the client's buying decision journey.

For some of us, a prospective client may not know anything about what we do, or how our service is remotely helpful. Thus, we've got some work to do and this will take time. It doesn't mean that prospecting doesn't work in our lines of work. It can work when done right. It's just that the success rates will typically be lower and the sales cycles longer.

In a market survey my firm recently conducted with professional service providers, the data aligns with my experience and observations. As illustrated in Figure 3.2, referrals and inquiries represent roughly two‐thirds of all new client business.

FIGURE 3.1 The Seven Client Pathways

FIGURE 3.2 The Seven Client Pathways Pie Chart