I am of the belief that the best businesses have a diversified client mix. When I think about my own business, I know a large portion of my success is because I work with more than just individual entrepreneurs. And, as a business coach and mentor who helps tons of business owners from micro to massive, I am clear that having a strategy in place to ensure your company can serve various types of clients is huge.
I also remember when I made the transition myself. Honestly, when I first started my business it was easier to work with individuals. I mean after all, the sales cycle is significantly shorter. But making the transition has been a welcome activity in my business. That’s why when Patricia’s question came in; I couldn’t wait to answer it:
“Hi Darnyelle. For the past 20 years I’ve worked as a psychotherapist and have been currently operating a private practice for the past three years. My goal is to transition to corporate seminars and workshops specializing in stress management. My question is how to get noticed in this area when there are already thousands of large, established companies flooding the corporate offices.”
Check out my response to Patricia’s question in this week’s episode of Incredible Factor TV:
When you are ready to transition your Incredible Factor and serve a new ideal client, first and foremost, remember that regardless of the type of client you endeavor to serve in your business, the background work will be the same. You have to answer the following questions:
- Who do you want to help? What qualifying characteristics do they demonstrate consistently? Why them?
- What is the problem they have? Is the problem a top of mind problem that is widespread and costly?
- How can you solve their problem?
- Why should they consider hiring you to solve the problem?
And, once you can effectively answer those questions, here are a few tips to get you started toward working with corporate clients:
1. Get clear on the types of Corporate companies you want to work with. Do they have 250 employees? 500? 1000? Will your work with them vary based on the number of employees? Where are they located? What industries do they represent?
2. Create your HOT list. A HOT list is the list that denotes if you had the opportunity to work with ANY company, these are your first choices. You want to make sure you do your due diligence on each company that you add to this list. As a part of this process, you want to identify who you know who works there. Bonus Tip: Check your LinkedIn connections – is anyone that you know connected to someone at one of your hot list companies? Look especially into people in HR, Corporate Communications or Employee Development these are probably the best places for you. Be sure to visit their websites and maybe even set up a Google alert to see what they’re up to.
3. Look for reasons to start a conversation. What I mean is, what is happening in your hot list companies to create a reason for you to be able to have a conversation with them? This is why Google alerts and knowing what is happening in their industry is HUGE. This is a game changer and will help you to stand out from the crowd. The bigger the reason to have the conversation, the greater the chance you’ll get a meeting.
So, Patricia, these three tips should get you started toward adding corporate clients into your client mix. Need help making the transition? We’d love to assist you!
So, what say you? What’s your two cents? Have you recently transitioned your ideal clients? How has that process been? Have you learned anything that you can share with Patricia? Are you thinking about making the transition? What do you feel you need to be ready? We’d love to hear from you. Share your two cents as a part of the Episode after party below! I can’t wait to read your comments!
©2013 by Darnyelle A. Jervey. All Rights Reserved. Darnyelle A. Jervey, MBA, The Incredible Factor Speaker, Business Coach and Marketing Mentor, is the founder of Incredible One Enterprises.com, Incredible Factor University® and the Leverage Your Incredible Factor System®, a proven step-by-step program for more clients, more income and more leverage in your business. For more information and a FREE audio CD “7 Critical Mistakes Entrepreneurs Must Avoid When Unleashing Your Incredible Factor So You Attract More Clients, Make More Money and Gain More Leverage” just fill out the form below.
