Marketing Your Consulting Services.pdf - epiheirimatikotita.gr

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• Is there a possibility of repeat business?
• Do you have the credibility to be the final choice?
Potential clients who receive six “yes” responses should be your top priorities.
Now arrange these prospects in order of placement in the sales cycle that could be
like this:
1. Everything’s a go except a signed contract.
2. High possibility of project approval within the month.
3. Solid lead, close to closing the deal.
4. Qualified prospect.
5. Initial contact.
How do you prioritize your time with these clients? I have created a half-ofhalves
priority. That means that I start out by assigning 50 percent of my marketing
effort to the number-one clients. The next group gets half of that amount of
time, or 25 percent. The next group gets half of that, or 13 percent, and so on to 7
percent, and 4 percent. This adds up to 99 percent.
Of course, once you have landed the projects for your top-priority clients, you
reprioritize. If you have lots of clients, you may want to write your priorities and
assign the percentage formula on paper. I tend to do this in my head. It is just a
way to think about how you are expending your time. And remember, this is only
necessary when you have too many potential clients.
Be a Realist—Prospect
I have an anonymous quote in my Day-Timer that says, “Consultants should be
realists, not optimists. Optimists always look for the light at the end of the tunnel;
realists look for the next tunnel” (see Figure 7.1). Prospecting is being a realist.
Reality is that you have work. The work will end. You need more work.
Prospecting is the way to obtain more work. You need to be looking for the next
tunnel.
Marketing Your Consulting Services