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The Client Experience

4 Strategies That Will Help You Book MORE Of Your Ideal Clients

October 14, 2019

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I'm candice!

I'm Candice, your new tell-it-like-it-is BFF (and purpose cheerleader). Are you ready to grow and scale a profitable business with purpose–and one that gives back to your meaningful life? Thought so!

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Do you know who your ideal clients are? Do you really know who you're talking to? Would you like to learn how to book more ideal clients? I thought so! 🙂

I have a question for you and I am willing to bet this is true for you: have you ever thought to yourself, if I could just book the right clients, everything would start to fall into place? I’d make more money, I’d serve the right kind of people who appreciate my work, and work would be so much easier?

These 4 strategies will help you book MORE of your ideal clients.

That’s what today is all about. I’m on a mission to get YOU in front of your ideal clients and it requires some strategy and work on your part, but once you know who you’re talking to, it becomes a lot easier to work with the kind of people you’ve dreamed of working with.

In today’s episode on how to book more ideal clients, I walk you through:

  • How to understand your ideal client's problems & challenges, so you can be the solution
  • Know what they value and what motivates them and make sure it aligns with your values and motivations
  • Get connected with people in front of your ideal clients
  • Know who you’re talking to and then start talking

Thanks for tuning into today’s episode of The Power in Purpose Podcast. I want to know — what was your biggest takeaway? Head to my Instagram to join the conversation!

Candice Coppola (Host)

You're listening to Episode 27, four Strategies to book more of your ideal clients

Welcome back to the Power and Purpose podcast.

It's me, your host Candice, and it's good to see you here. I'm grateful to have you as a listener today. And I've got another solo episode for you all.

And today we're talking all about booking more of your ideal clients. So if you've been wondering how the heck do I book more of my ideal customers than this episode, my friend is for you.

All right. Let's dove in to today's episode. I have a question for you, and actually I'm willing to bet that this is true for you.

Have you ever thought to yourself, if I could just book more of the right clients, everything would start to fall into place? I'd make more money. I'd serve the right kind of people who appreciate and value my work, willing to pay for what it is that I provide and work would be so much easier.

That's what today is all about.

I'm on a mission to get you in front of your ideal customers, and it requires some strategy and work on your part.

But once you know who you're talking to, it becomes a lot easier to work with the kind of people you've dreamed of working with. Now, this episode is full of strategies. No matter if you're newer to business, you've been in business for a little bit or you've been in business a while. And in fact, if you've been in business for over five years, I have a spoiler for you. Your ideal customers have probably changed. So I want you to hang on and listen to today's episode, because these four strategies are things that you can implement in your business today.

And I promise you, you'll start to see a return on your efforts. You will start to book more of your ideal customers. So before I share my four strategies, I want to share a statistic, a statistic that breaks my heart. And also I.

I nod my head because I believe it to be true. So 80 percent of businesses fail, 80 percent of businesses fail in the first year. That's eight out of 10 businesses that fail. Only two businesses out of ten survive. So what's up with that? That sucks. Why does that happen?

And there are many, many reasons why businesses fail. And it's mostly due to money problems.

Businesses just don't make the kind of money they need to make in order to sustain themselves. And so that's the number one reason why businesses fail, but it's a symptom of something greater. And I think as business owners, we can all sympathize with those businesses who don't make it past the first year or past the three first three years.

They say if you've made it past five years, you're good to go.

Well, most people don't. So the key to unlocking business success and being financially stable, it boils down to numbers and something else. The truth is your customer, your ideal customer holds the key to being the 20 percent of businesses that make it past the first year. Understanding who your ideal customer is is literally everything. And that's why I think this episode is so important today.

And that's why I'm so excited to share with you four strategies that will help you book more of your ideal customers. And these are strategies that I use in my business. These are strategies that I used in Jubilee events, the team and I to book more of our customers.

So let's start off with the first understanding their problems and challenges so that you can be the solution. So here's the deal.

People with problems are looking for solutions and they're not always focused so much on the problem itself, but rather where they aspire to be so problem free.

That's where their focus is with a solution on hand to fix whatever problem they have. My question to you is, are you the solution to your ideal customers problems?

Seth Godin talks a lot about this. And one of my favorite, favorite quotes from him that illustrates this perfectly is that people don't buy paint, they buy painted walls, they don't buy the problem. They buy the solution. And even more so, the finished product, what the solution provides to them. Another way to say this is that people don't buy drills, they buy holes. I don't know about you, but what I'm shopping for a drill.

It's not because I can't wait to get my hands on a new drill. It's because I have a need to put a hole in something and I need to find a utensil or instrument to do that.

I'm buying the hole that I need. Now, he's been saying this for years and years and years. If you haven't already, I want you to go and read his book where this quote comes from.

People don't buy paint, they buy painted walls. It's called Purple Cow. It was, I think, published in two thousand seven.

It's an oldie, but the principles still ring true.

And in fact, I feel as though Seth is always five years ahead of everybody else. So these principles are even more true now than maybe they were then. But here's the thing. People are buying solutions to their problems.

So what problems does your customer have and are you solving their problems? If you don't know what your ideal customers problems are, then how can you position yourself as a solution?

So one thing we're guilty of, me included, is assuming we know what our client's problems are. We built a business, a service or a product. And we think that whatever we've built is the key to solving their problems.

And when no one buys it, we're like, what the hell? Why is nobody buying what I'm selling? I know it's so good. I put so much energy into it. I know it can help people.

And what we're not drawing a connection to is that what we've built doesn't solve our audience or ideal customers problems.

So you have to understand what your cost, what your client's problems are so that you can provide a solution.

Having a deep understanding of your client's problems will help you unlock how to attract your ideal customers, because once you know what challenges they're facing, you can position your business and your message to be the solution. So here's what I want you to do. I want you to take the advice of Zafira our copywriting expert from Episode twenty four.

And I want you to do a postmortem of some of your best customers that you've had in your business over the last two years and ask them what problem did they have when they came to you and how did you solve it for them?

I also want you to take a look at your inquiries, whether they booked you or not, and whatever they sent over to you through your contact form or via email in your back and forth chats or just their initial inquiry, if that's all you have, because people go to everybody nowadays.

So you may only have. One instance of communication, I want you to take a look at that and see if there are any problems that they mention in those emails. And finally, another great place to look for how you solve clients problems is to look at your testimonials. So dig up those thank you cards, go back through your inbox and look for those thank you emails.

After you've finished a job or you send off a product or try to recall conversations you may have had and look to see what they said, because often in a testimonial, people will highlight what resonated with them the most and what problems you solved for them.

And that can be the key to unlocking future ideal customer's problems and how you can create a message to be the solution.

All right. Number two, know what they value and what motivates them and make sure it aligns with your values and motivations.

So we all purchase based on specific motivations we have and what we value.

Me personally, knowing a lot about values and motivations and purchasing habits, I tend to buy specific things based on what it can do for me, what problems it can solve, but also how it can elevate my status.

So that's why you see me walking around with, you know, designer bags and designer shoes and anything else that I feel like elevates my status and most people purchase on status.

I'm going to link a few articles about status and how people purchase to elevate and raise their status in the show notes, because it's a really fascinating topic and understanding, it will put into perspective a lot of how you sell and market your services. So I'm going to link some articles in the show notes. So I want you to uncover what your customers value and what motivates them to purchase whatever it is you're selling your service or your product.

But I want you to dig a little bit deeper and I want you to try and understand what your ideal customer values, not just about your service, but what some of their core values, our principles are in life or in doing business or whatever it might be, try to understand what they value and make sure that it aligns with your values and motivations. So when you are building your business and you're coming up with core values inside your company, and I believe we talked about this in Episode 23, five things a business plan can reveal about your business.

I talked about core values.

When you're developing core values for your business, those core values are for your team. They're for you, and they're also for your customers. Because when your customers know what your core values are, whether that be integrity or authenticity or honesty, whatever the core values are for your company, when they see those things, those words and those descriptions, that will deeply resonate with your customer because it's something they value too. So knowing what they value, not just in the product or service you offer and what motivates them to purchase something from you, but also understanding some principles and cornerstone values that they have will help you to build core values for your company and also help you to sell to your ideal customers better.

Here's the thing about human nature.

We all have specific values and we're constantly seeking out other people who share our values, who share what we value, whether that's hobbies or principles that we value in life or constantly looking for connection points with other people that value the same thing.

And when you proclaim what you value, you're going to start to attract people who have similar, if not the exact same values.

That's why values are so important.

They really do matter. We're all looking to be a part of a community that values something or that places an emphasis on something. So declaring what it is that you value will help to attract like minded people who value the very same thing.

Number three, get connected with people in front of your ideal customers.

Now, this kind of goes without saying. Right, and it's super easy, but it's really overlooked, especially in this era that we're in right now, which is I'm too busy to meet, I'm too busy to chat.

And so many of us have let our networking suffer.

If you're not in front of your ideal customers or you want to be in front of more, you need to seek out big.

Businesses and people who already are and you need to start creating a meaningful relationship with those people, and I'm going to underscore and highlight meaningful because this is not a license to cold email a bunch of business owners, introducing yourself and talking about how amazing you and your product or services that this is not what that is. That is actually one of the worst things you can do is called email people out of the blue and talk about how great you are or how great your service is and how it's going to be great for their ideal customers.

Because in this era of too busy to chat and too busy to meet, you're just going to get deleted.

I know this from experience, not because I have sent out these emails, because I have been on the receiving end of I'm only in it for me emails for 12 years and the emails that I respond to follow my golden rule of networking.

So instead of called emailing people and talking about yourself, I want you to use my golden rule. It's not what someone can do for me. It's what I can do to help someone else. If you approach networking, whether online or in person with an open hand, one where you're coming to the table and offering your help, offering your support, offering your encouragement and saying, hey, what can I do for you?

Is there anything that you need help with? This is my expertize or this is my product. I'd love to get it in your hands or I just love to help you. You're going to get a vastly different reaction from a business owner or a person than if you just walked up and started talking about yourself.

And I love to use the example of being in person. So when you're cold emailing businesses, think about the conversation you would have if you were face to face.

The truth is, as you probably ask a lot of questions and you try to get to know the person and you after that conversation, you go into your research and you'd reach out to that business owner or that person.

Having understood a bit more about who they are, you wouldn't just stand there and talk all about how great you are and how they should hire you or recommend you to their customers.

So I want you to go out and start networking with people who are in front of your ideal customers and lead with my golden rule of network, my golden rule of networking, tongue twister.

It's not what someone can do for me, but what I can do to help someone else.

Now, remember, there are a ton of businesses in your industry that are killing it, that are out there in front of your ideal customers. And they have the opportunity to refer to you. And when I walk my students through creating their ideal client avatars, one of their avatar categories is B2B.

So consider what businesses you could target as even an ideal customer.

And those businesses have the opportunity now to refer business to you.

Networking is so overlooked these days. We're all so busy, but it truly makes all the difference. When I started my business Jubilee events, the first thing I did was I researched people who were in front of the people I wanted to be in front of my ideal customers and I reached out to them and I offered to help.

I offered whatever it was I could offer. I got to meet with them.

I got to create relationships with them. I mean, some relationships that have lasted 12 years.

So it just goes to show you that there is still power and networking and networking matters. No. For know who you're talking to and then start talking.

Everything becomes easier once you know who you're talking to.

So if you're struggling to come up with a caption for your Instagram and you end up just throw it up a generic message with a bunch of hash tags, then my friend, you don't know who you're talking to.

If you send out a canned email response to every inquiry without asking questions first, you do not know who you're talking to.

If you spend time on a consultation talking about how amazing you are and how amazing your services are, instead of asking questions and listening, then you do not know who you're talking to. Once you know who you're talking to, you can easily market because you know what to share and what to say.

Not only that, but, you know, the Ibai, as you've heard me say this before in marketing. So you know what images will resonate with your ideal customer, what kind of style they're looking for or what kind of message resonates, what's going to stop them on their scroll and pause to look at what?

Every picture you've posted and whatever message is attached, once you know who you're talking to, you can advertise in all the right places, the places where your ideal customer is hanging out, whether that's a local spot or an online directory, you know where and how your ideal customer consumes information.

And then you make it a point to pay to be in those places. If you don't know who you're talking to, then you don't know where they're hanging out and you're likely just investing in advertising with a hope and a prayer. Fingers and toes cross.

It's amazing to come across it and book you, but if you know who your ideal customers are, then you know how they consume information, what social media apps are on, how often they're on, how they consume information, where they look for trusted information, whether that's something like Angie's List or style me pretty, whatever it might be a directory.

If you know what they what they value and where they place trust, then you're going to want to pay to be there.

So once you know who you're talking to, you can truly sell what you do because you'll understand what problems they have, what they value most, and you'll be able to position your product or service as a valuable solution that they need to have in order to solve their problem.

So that's the four strategies that you can implement in your business today to book more of your ideal customers. Now, let's make this actionable.

I love when we can make things actionable in the podcast so that you can take what you've learned here today and put it into action in your business.

I want you to walk away from today's episode, taking action on at least one strategy that we talked about so that you can book more of your ideal clients.

So first things first, I want you to go and register for a webinar. I'm going to be teaching so that you can discover who your ideal customers are if you're really unsure or kind of unsure as to who you should be talking to. So head to Candice Coppola, dot com slash webinar register for the webinar. It's legit. I'm actually going to teach you how to discover who your ideal customers are. I'll also have a special opportunity for you at the end, but I'm literally going to share with you the ideal customer blueprint that I've developed over the many years of being a business owner.

I developed a way to understand who our ideal customers are. I call it my ideal customer blueprint, and it's not only helped us, but it's helped dozens of businesses that I've mentored over the years to attract the right people. So this webinar, it'll be on October.

Twenty third. It's going to walk you through. If you've attended any of my webinars in the past, you know, I don't joke around. I actually teach things that you can do and implement. And I'm going to help you discover who your ideal clients are. So go to Candice Coppola, dotcom webinar to register. I hope to see you there.

And now I want you to take a few minutes this week to go back through your inquiries and see if you can uncover where potential customers noted their problems, their challenges, what motivates them or their values.

And if you want to get really crazy, you can send out a quick questionnaire and ask some of your previous customers what problems you solve for them and what they valued most about your product or service.

And in fact, one of our previous podcast guests, Christine Blubaugh, has an amazing template for getting the best testimonials ever from your previous customers.

She actually walks you through what questions you should ask. I use this to ask my previous mentees for testimonials about what I have helped them to do in their business. It's awesome. I'm going to link it in the show notes. Use some of these questions and ask your previous customers these questions. It will reveal to you their problems, their challenges, what they what motivated them and what they valued most. Also, Zafira in Episode twenty four. It's a great episode.

Also, a copywriter talks about surveying your customers. So if you have even more questions about doing that and how it can relate to your message, go and listen to Episode 24 of the podcast and heed Zafira's advice is really good. And lastly, I want you to reach out to two new people who have the capability of referring their customers to you.

I want you to introduce yourself and I want you to lead with my golden rule of networking. I want you to think, what can I do to help this person and not how can this person help me?

I also want you to reconnect with two people you already know who have already referred to you. And I want you to check in on them. I want you to nurture those relationships. Ask. What can I do for you? How are you? How's business? Do you need more customers? Can I refer more customers to you? Have things changed for you?

How can we continue to maintain this connection? And is there any way that I can help you remember?

The key to networking isn't what someone can do for you.

It's what you can do for them. If you enjoyed this episode, I'd be so honored if you leave a review for the show, it helps our show get noticed by people who are just cruising around on iTunes or whatever app they use to listen to podcasts.

It would mean so much to me if you could leave in a authentic review of the show and if the show has helped you in any way in your business, gotten you to think differently or helped you discover your purpose. I would so love for you to leave us a review. You can do that right now, Apple podcasts or wherever you're listening to this podcast.

And remember to sign up for my webinar. Let me help you define who your ideal clients are using my proven blueprint. I've been doing this a long time and I've got it down to a science and I want to teach that to you so that you can book more of your ideal customers. All right. That's it from me.

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