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consultingrevenue · 2 years

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#010: How To Craft A Killer Offer Your Market Will Buy Part 2

How To Craft A Killer Offer Your Market Will Buy Part 2

Welcome - this is a follow-on from creating a killer offer part 1 which you should read here if you have not already [click here to read on LinkedIn] Here I show you how you can start to link peoples motivations to the outcomes of the product or service and why they should buy now - not tink about it later.

*note: Pt1 explains more about this is a real life offer I created for Consultants some time back. See if you recognise yourself in the details. If you do let me know in the comments. Take the headlines and thought process and address it to your Ideal client avatar and offer.

What objections might they have to purchase a product like mine?

Too expensive

Time-consuming

Something in place already

Going to focus on inbound marketing

It won’t work for our specific type of business

Don’t believe the results are achievable by them - others can do it but not them

Indifference - don’t feel the urgency to act now - review it later

Don’t trust me or no rapport with me personally

Want a done-for-you system rather than doling it themselves

What other options do they have to solve their problems?

Inbound marketing – blogging, commenting, podcasting

Paid advertising and funnels

Referrals

Cold calling

Outsourced telesales companies

Their own trial and error

Stay where they are

Linkedin prospecting

What do they need to believe about my product/service in order to buy now? * Readers - this is a big one that you have to consider when creating an offer.

That they can make it work themselves

That it’s a proven methodology

It works and it will work for them quickly

They can see an achievable ROI

What do they need to believe about the problem they’re trying to solve in order to buy my product/service now?

That it will only get worse with no action

That their competitors will gain the upper hand – there are deals there all the time. If you don’t get them your competitors will and slowly dominate the marketplace, take the best staff, be the ones who sell out at big profits…

It will cause significant pain in their lives if they try to do it themselves

What do they need to believe about themselves as it relates to the goals my product/service can help them to achieve, in order to buy now?

That they’re 100% capable of making it work

That even technically challenged people can make it work easily

That they will be able to leverage themselves once they learn the system

That they won’t be doing it themselves forever

They don’t need in-depth sales training to make it happen

They don’t need to pretend top be someone they aren’t to make it happen

It’s not beneath them to do it

What three common situations are they likely to be in with respect to the goal they’re looking to achieve?

Little or no clients

Doing too much delivery because of peak delivery of their consulting and not doing any lead gen which leads to peaks and troughs in revenue

Actively seeking to scale and win new business

What are their fears with respect to going for their dreams?

Fear of failing

Being shot down by gatekeepers and decision makers – fear of rejection

Having to waste time and effort on a system that doesn’t work

That they aren’t good enough to be successful

What are the past failings that have thus far prevented them from realizing their dreams?

Burned by a telesales company

Sold overpriced leads

Damage to brand/personal reputation from sleazy sales tactics

Confusion on where to start

No step by step system

No belief in themselves

What are their suspicions about the people they must deal with to solve their problems, achieve their goals, get their questions answered, and pursue their dreams?

Reputation

Telling the truth?

Do they understand me?

will they judge me?

A Detailed Avatar:

Doug is actively seeking to scale his business but the only problem is he is getting little to no clients to sell his services to. In most cases, he spends most his time doing fulfilment during the peaks of his consulting practice and not doing enough lead generation.

Because of that he’s his own worst enemy at times. He knows he’s not doing what he should be doing when he really should be doing it. Since Doug’s consulting practice is inconsistent, so is his personal life.

He’s got no deal flow and he has trouble getting in front of the right prospects. His revenue is completely unpredictable and considering the deal size he’s used to, the peaks and lows are just too much of an emotional roller coaster ride for him and it wears on him.

Doug wants to avoid these peaks and the traditional cold calling method used to get these deals at all costs. He’s just not the type to hammer phones all day and maintain a bulletproof mentality. It’s not that he can’t handle it, he just doesn’t want to do it because it’s such a soul sucking way of doing business. At least that’s what he thinks.

If he had a magic wand and he could have anything he wanted, he would want nothing more than having a predictable revenue stream and deal flow.

Doug’s under the impression that you must outsource outbound lead generation to telesales companies and other experts. He knows inbound lead generation is possible but he knows that outbound has been proven to be a very quick and efficient way to get new business.

He’s to the point where he thinks it’s damn near impossible to connect with senior people in an organization without dealing with a lot of bureaucracy. He has the hardest time getting past gatekeepers.

Doug actually thinks gatekeepers are purposely put there to stop him from getting to the decision maker he needs to get in front of. He also believes cold emailing people is equivalent to SPAM. He believes it’s way too time intensive and it’s just not the best way to build consistency into his business.

Doug also believes that if he tries the emailing route that he will just create more work than he will benefit from. It just seems to far outweigh the potential results in his mind. On the other hand, he sees it as a quick, easy, and efficient way to connect with people because it fits with the modern communication style used by today's top performers.

So there is some hope in Doug’s mind. When Doug goes looking for solutions that show him how to finally gain some consistency and deal flow, he feels absolutely overwhelmed. He has no idea whose methodologies will work hand in hand with his specific problem. He just doesn’t want to commit to taking action with a method or course that isn’t 100% certain in alignment with his goals.

Doug’s weary about the client getting training industry because he knows sharks exist that are just out for a quick buck. He can’t risk making the wrong decisions anymore. He needs certainty in his life. He does know that people are getting success with courses and different products though.

He needs something that brings results. He’s jaded with the empty promises. There is hope though as Doug sees the value in a course that condenses everything he needs to implement in his business into a single actionable system rather than conventional overpriced theory.

He needs to know the training is applicable and can be implemented right away. Doug’s pride lays in the reputation and size of the clients he deals with.

Doug’s secretly doubts that he’s not cut out to do this whole prospecting thing. He envies his competition and that increases his self doubt even more. He’s not 100% convinced he’s cut out to handle large companies. As a matter of fact he doesn’t really think he’s good enough.

Doug needs to know that the products he looks into will work for consultants and not be too broad as to who the products are for. The more substantiated the claims are the more likely he’s willing to part with his money for a product that has potential to help him gain consistency in his life.

Doug’s frustrated not getting the financial reward he knows he deserves and not getting the desired recognition by bigger clients. He’s extremely frustrated because he knows a breakthrough in his consulting practice is near but he just isn’t quite there yet.

He absolutely hates taking on clients that he just doesn’t like to deal with just to bring in an income.

He fears more than anything having to lay off employees and go out of business. It literally keeps him up at night. He wants a work life balance and it’s killing him to work so much. He doesn’t want to keep on working with such little pay anymore.

Doug dreams of more freedom with his life and to finally be recognized as the professional he’s become thus far in business. He ultimately just wants more control in life.

Our product will help Doug get immediate first time conversations with senior executives, immediate bigger deal sizes, and more qualified leads.

The top problems standing between Doug and his goals are a lack of time to implement and his own perceived lack of knowledge.

His biggest objections are that the product is very expensive, it’s time consuming, he has something in place already, he’s just going to focus on inbound because that’s what he keeps seeing pitched in the marketplace, and that this just won’t work for his specific type of business.

If he doesn’t take action he’ll end up staying where he is.

In order to buy our product now, Doug needs to believe that he can make it work himself with our guidance, he also needs to know that it’s a proven methodology and that it has worked for other people just like him - that he can make it work.

In order to buy now, Doug needs to believe that his problem will only get worse and that the more he waits and doesn’t take action, his competitors will gain the upper hand on his potential client base.

Doug needs to believe that he’s 100% competent enough to get the results with our product and that even technically challenged people can make it work without struggle. He also needs to believe that he won’t be doing it himself forever and that he will be able to leverage himself once he learns the system.

Doug’s past failures include being burned by telesales companies, being sold overpriced leads, and a damage to the brand and reputation he’s worked so hard for by sleazy sales tactics used by outsourced sales methods.

The people he buys from must have solid reputations and he has to have a strong sense of honesty about them.

His biggest challenges in following through with a product like this is sitting down, watching the content, and implementing the tactics, methods, and strategies.

MORE DETAIL ON HOW I SOLVE SPECIFIC CHALLENGES

Problem Faced: Frustrated by not enough leads

How I solve:

Provide a step by step system to deliver predictable leadflow. Because it is based on scientifically proven processes and can be measured at every step of the way it is possible to clearly link inputs to outputs. What that means to you is you can either scientifically predict the number of leads based on inputs or determine your required number of leads and create the required input levels. Because of this, it is infinitely scaleable and can access the 85% of the market that is not currently searching for your solution. I give certainty

Problem Faced: Frustrated by the quality of leads from inbound and other methods. Information seekers. In many cases they have already made a decision and looking to rationalise it. Influenced by other sellers.

I give you the tools to get a meeting and create a meaningful conversation with senior decision makers way before they evaluate other options. This means you can educate them on your service and position yourself as the logical choice to help them achieve your goals. Which means you don’t waste your valuable time dealing with lower level prospects who CAN’T make a buying decision.

Problem Faced: Not speaking to or engaging the decision maker at the VP or C Level

Most people are told ‘speak to the top people in an organisation’ or only deal with C level BUT no one gives you the process and tools to enable you to do that. Until now, that is. I give you a proven formula and the tools and templates to quickly and easily get a meeting with ANY senior decision maker without getting blocked by gatekeepers.

Problem Faced: Not predictable enough

Cold calling has always been unpredictable. If you do it yourself you have to fight between delivering your service and making time to call. Because you don’t like it it's the first thing to be dropped. If someone else is doing it for you then you are reliant on their skill and human frailty.

Problem Faced: No process to follow up on responses to cold email

A few people are showing you parts of a system on how to use cold email but I am the only one that has a comprehensive, step by step process, complete with scripts, to turn every single response into a first conversation. This process can deliver 50% conversion on every response - Including the dreaded “I’m not interested”

Problem Faced: No process to scale their efforts

Most parts can be easily delegated to an assistant, admin or even a VA

Problem Faced: Cold calling not working and increasing cost, people sick of being interrupted, hardly anyone answers their phones anymore,

Success rates of cold calling are plummeting and the cost is skyrocketing. I show you a process to quickly, cheaply and easily use the most effective communication method - email - to open up new conversations. This channel can be 1/10th of the cost of cold calling, and can be delivered by you or largely ‘unskilled’, non sales people at a fraction of the cost and set up time of any other outbound methodology. - with at least 10 times the reslt

Problem Faced: Don’t know how to target and get contact details of their ideal prospects

I show them 15+, easy to use and low cost list building tools that help them pinpoint highly targeted prospects with direct email addresses. Most of these are so easy to use they can be given to an admin assistant or VA and they are so accurate they take little to no extra admin dealing with bad data. Traditional list brokers have a bounce rate of between 30 - 40% and some of these tools are providing bounce rates as little as 5% AND i show you how to turn every bounced email into an opportunity for new business

Problem Faced: Wasting time with prospects with no intention of buying

I show you how to target the exact ideal prospect with laser accuracy and craft messages that can get upto 80% response rates from perfect prospects - at the C-LEVEL. Stop struggling to ‘convince’ bad prospects to become clients and target the ones you really want and will enjoy working with.

Most people fail at this first hurdle and never target the right people which means they have effectively lost before they start.

Problem Faced: No brand awareness

I have a unique process in the system that will show you a step by step way to build instant brand awareness in any marketplace or sector and will allow you to show your marketing message REPEATEDLY to those laser targeted Ideal Prospects for pennies so you can educate them and position yourself as the logical choice as the expert provider.

Problem Faced: PPC and SEO are volatile, open to rapid changes and unpredictable

This is a system you can control. Google, linkedin and facebook- whether SEO or PPC can change overnight. If you are relying on them to provide business then your whole lead generation effort could collapse overnight. Outbound lead generation is the only process 100% under your control to bring predictable and scaleable results.

Problem Faced: Target market don’t respond to google ads and facebook ads

CEO’s, Ce-level and VP’s don’t hang out on facebook, linkedin and google PPC so these mass market approaches don’t work and are hard work and too mass. I show you how to pinpoint the right executives, message them and get into conversations in days.

Problem Faced: Tried cold emailing before and not getting the response levels i.e. less than 5% response and very few positive ones. Tested lots of approaches and don’t know where to turn next.

This is because you did not have the benefit of the these steps from my system.

1. Create value in your sales process. Before you do any cold emailing you have to create value. You have to determine the right choice of prospect outreach system based on our 3 levels of prospect outreach methodology and then the right messaging based on our proprietary M3 model.

2. Once you create value you have to build your unique ‘sales pulse’. This is the perfect number of contact points for your ideal prospect and the right timing between each one. If you have sent just 1 email it is understandable you are getting low results. Multiple contacts structured in the right way can double, triple and even quadruple the %age replies you get from the same data and therefore the number of highly qualified leads you get. I give you the highest performing ‘sales pulses’ and show you exactly how and when to use them.

3. Building your outbound process - Once you have created value and built your pulse then we show you 2 processes to rapidly increase response rates before you even send an email. 1) Highly targeted data - most peoples data sees a minimum of 30% bounce rates on outbound emails. This means your responses are actually from around 70% of the data as 30% is bad. We show you how to clean your own data so you get few if any bounces and at least 15 different ways to easily source data with an average of 5% bounce rate. This means that your responses will dramatically increase just by being able to send to 95% of your target and not 70% 2) Build your outbound system using technology that can take an email template and make every email and make it highly peronalised to an individual with little time spent handwritten emails - this significantly increases the response rates

4. How to write high performing emails: Most of what is being written about cold emails is wrong and will kill your conversion. We have templates, processes you can use to build your own and also show you how to avoid the most frequent response skillers. These allow you to see responses rates of around 20% on mass emails, 80% on named account and up to 95% on trigger based emails.

5. No one is teaching a process of how to deal with responses to cold email. I provide you a complete process complete wirth all scripts that show you exactly how to deal with every single response - even the dreaded ‘I’m not interested’ and ‘send me information’. The process means that you can convert a higher % of all responses to first meetings.

Problem Faced: Not in control of the sales process

The system is step by step and walks you through how to build a step by step sales process where you are in control every step of the way and where you are adding massive value to your prospect. You are in control at all stages, it flows seamlessly and the prospect thinks it ‘just makes sense’ and does not feel any sales pressure.

Lack of confidence in their own ability to find and engage with ideal prospects

The entire step by step system is laid out in a clear and easily digestible and Implementable form which will inspire you to new levels of confidence that, yes, you can achieve the results you are looking for.

FEATURES AND BENEFITS AT DIFFERENT STAGES OF AWARENESS

My PRIMARY LF8 Desires to influence:

Survival, enjoyment of life, life extension

Freedom from fear

Comfortable living conditions

To be superior, to keep up with the joneses

Care and protection of loved ones

Social approval

Secondary:

· Desire to be informed

· Curiosity

· Efficiency

· Convenience

· Dependability/ Quality

· Economy/profit

· Bargains

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Here endeth Part 2 of the offer sequence I went through to create an internal offer. If you're interested I can probably make this a 3 part sequence where next week I'll transition into how all this knowledge and research formed the creation of the marketing for this program.

And, if you are enjoying this newsletter, the best compliment you could pay me would be to share it with one person who you think would benefit from it.

Also - if you don't want to leave notifications of future episodes of this newsletter to the Linkedin algorithm then you can get good old-fashioned email notifications if you subscribe here. I recommend you do :-) -

If you want me to personally coach you on this strategy to make sure it gets done then schedule a coaching call here: https://consultingrevenue.com/coaching

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consultingrevenue · 2 years

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How To Craft A Killer Offer Part 1 replug.link/4bf2d0d0

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consultingrevenue · 2 years

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𝘾𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙪𝙡𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙨 - 𝙃𝙚𝙧𝙚'𝙨 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙙𝙤𝙣'𝙩 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙧𝙚𝙛𝙚𝙧𝙧𝙖𝙡𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙞𝙨 𝙘𝙧𝙞𝙥𝙥𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙞𝙣𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙚 Many Consultants I talk to, wear the fact that they rely on referrals for business as a badge of honour. In fact, it may be crippling your income because... 1) They are unpredictable. You can't, in fact, rely on them 2) The people referred to you have a slim chance of being a fit to your Ideal Client Profile 3) The people referred to you typically believe they have bottomed out their issue, know what the solution is and want someone to FIX that problem. If you've been a Consultant for a while, you'll know they have rarely diagnosed the true problem correctly. 4) There is very little, if any, REPETITION of work. It might be a break from the norm to create new solutions for every client (especially if you love learning) but Consulting wealth is built through repetition rather than constant innovation. 𝘼𝙜𝙧𝙚𝙚/𝘿𝙞𝙨𝙖𝙜𝙧𝙚𝙚 - 𝙥𝙪𝙩 𝙖 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙞𝙣 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙖𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙡𝙚𝙩 𝙢𝙚 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙫𝙚!

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consultingrevenue · 2 years

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Lessons I learned from SaaS businesses I now apply to Consultants: replug.link/b416a890

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consultingrevenue · 2 years

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Lessons I learned from SaaS businesses I now apply to Consultants:

𝟭. 𝗙𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀

Focus is the number 1 lesson I translated from growing SaaS businesses to Consultants. This can mean many things but for now, let's highlight the FOCUS of OFFER.

A while back, a B2B cold email business I was involved with had built a very structured way of creating lists to feed into their outbound cold emailing.

We were in conversations with an Enterprise client that required data to be built in a different way.

The prize was in excess of £5k monthly recurring revenue. The founders were experienced SaaS entrepreneurs and had already excited 1 business and had built this one with the intention of scale.

They declined to work with the client in a way that deviated from the standard system they had built.

Which meant they walked away.

They knew that to build a new system, manage it and test and measure the results was a disruption to their laser-like focus. It was also a major time suck. The attention and time that it would take when applied to their core offer could very easily bring in 3 or 4 clients that would surpass the revenue of this one. All within their standard system.

𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝗜 𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗹𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘀𝘂𝗹𝘁𝗮𝗻𝘁𝘀:

1. Build a repeatable offer

2. Be prepared to say NO. You can be more successful by what you say no to than what you say yes to.

3. Build proactive client generation methods. Referrals are OK but often they come to you based on personal relationships. The client has already decided what their problem is and wants a fix. It's unlikely that the fix fits your repeatable offer.

4. You can create more 𝙬𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙩𝙝 𝙗𝙮 𝙧𝙚𝙥𝙚𝙩𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙣 𝙗𝙮 𝙞𝙣𝙣𝙤𝙫𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣

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consultingrevenue · 2 years

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Lessons I learned from SaaS businesses I now apply to Consultants: 𝟭. 𝗙𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀 Focus is the number 1 lesson I translated from growing SaaS businesses to Consultants. This can mean many things but for now, let's highlight the FOCUS of OFFER. A while back, a B2B cold email business I was involved with had built a very structured way of creating lists to feed into their outbound cold emailing. We were in conversations with an Enterprise client that required data to be built in a different way. The prize was in excess of £5k monthly recurring revenue. The founders were experienced SaaS entrepreneurs and had already excited 1 business and had built this one with the intention of scale. They declined to work with the client in a way that deviated from the standard system they had built. Which meant they walked away. They knew that to build a new system, manage it and test and measure the results was a disruption to their laser-like focus. It was also a major time suck. The attention and time that it would take when applied to their core offer could very easily bring in 3 or 4 clients that would surpass the revenue of this one.All within their standard system. 𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝗜 𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗹𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘀𝘂𝗹𝘁𝗮𝗻𝘁𝘀: 1. Build a repeatable offer 2. Be prepared to say NO. You can be more successful by what you say no to than what you say yes to. 3. Build proactive client generation methods. Referrals are OK but often they come to you based on personal relationships. The client has already decided what their problem is and wants a fix. It's unlikely that the fix fits your repeatable offer. 4. You can create more 𝙬𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙩𝙝 𝙗𝙮 𝙧𝙚𝙥𝙚𝙩𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙣 𝙗𝙮 𝙞𝙣𝙣𝙤𝙫𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣

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consultingrevenue · 2 years

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Use This Simple Framework To Get A Meeting With Anyone replug.link/34a41a60

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consultingrevenue · 2 years

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Use This Simple Framework To Get A Meeting With Anyone

In this latest unconventional consultant edition, I am going to hand you on a plate the solution to prospects not wanting to have a meeting with you or engage in a discussion with you about your services.

When I engage with clients they are very often fixated on low-level tactics such as how do we write a cold email to get a meeting with a senior C Level target for us.

Typically they are asking the wrong questions. And that's OK. Usually, they are very successful Consultants caught up in running their own businesses and can't 'see the wood for trees'.

One of the things we look at and implement - IF it is needed for that business, is a value-based meeting framework.

Instead of looking at the tactical approach, we look at the value they are creating for the person they want to meet with at that meeting. Not if they become a client but very specifically at that meeting.

And here's how to do it...

Oh, and if you thinking about what else you can use this for - it can be applied any time you have an audience of one or many.

Do you hold webinars? - try this model

Do you speak on stage? - try this model

On our planning sheets we firstly look at the main target characteristics:

Segment

Things like size, turnover, stage of growth, local/global/ etc

The last 3 projects we have won and what we learnt. What results did we create?

Then we have a 3 x 3 grid where we identify which one or two boxes we need to fill in:

Either 1 or 2 from the senior, manager or users category. This is important because it forms the frame of reference for the language and content structure. A CEO will not have the same attention span for functional content aimed at a technical user for example. At most the content should be framed at 2 of these at the risk of diluting the messaging. Most of our clients want to engage Senior and managers.

The second axis is their stage in the awareness funnel or if they are even in the awareness funnel at all. This matters because it will frame the lense of your languaging, main content and even if you need case studies or external research pieces.

Once you have filled in one or 2 boxes with the main thrust of your content relevant for the level and awareness stage we move on to the problem identifications section.

PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION:

Pay careful attention to this. This will make you a lot of money. There is a framework that few people use to connect with a target audience that bridges their problems and your content.

Firstly: Identify 3 known problems that your audience will nod in agreement at and openly admit to. When you start with one or more of these you are stepping into the conversation in your prospects head. You are getting them to agree with you and you are building a bridge of trust with them. If you have true, revolutionary thought leadership - this is not the time to say it.

For most people, you have to give them proof that you are with them before you can move them.

Secondly: Here you address a problem they absolutely know about but aren't comfortable admitting to themselves or their business. Here, you are still with them and you are beginning to transition to leading them.

Thirdly: Introduce your thought leadership. This is your groundbreaking thinking that either addresses a problem they have right now that they aren't aware of or that they will potentially face in the future.

If you've done the early stages correctly then you now have their buy-in and you have earned the potential to lead them into this new realm of thinking.

BELIEFS:

This section is vitally important. Ultimately persuasion and selling are about changing beliefs.

You can't change something if you don't know what it is.

Here you should be taking your best, educated shot at articulating what your prospects currently believe about your topic or solution.

For example, many Consultants initially believe that outbound prospecting is ineffective for consultants. If I don't acknowledge and deal with this then I can never get them on board with my thought leadership if this is the area it covers.

So how do you deal with it?

The best way is to not use your point of view which is hit and miss in getting buy-in.

Instead, try this:

Show widely acknowledged (but old) research that shows why you think they believe the way they do i.e you are absolutely correct to have that belief

Now show how the world has changed

Now show new widely acknowledged and totally independent (to you or your company) research that supports your point of view i.e. you were right before and now you should adopt this thought process to still be right

FRAMEWORK

Then take that information and apply it to one of your standard content frameworks. Here's some of ours:

SPARKLING KEY MESSAGES:

And finally, develop your sparkling key messages about how you'll promote and get people to buy into the value of the value-based meeting you have now created:

Recap:

If you want to get people in a meeting then it is your responsibility to make sure you are designing that meeting to give value. The shortcut to do this is to follow proven frameworks.

This is one of ours. If you'd like a copy, leave a message in the comments below.

If you use a framework like this it is not unusual to double the number of ideal potential client first meetings within 24 hours with no additional inputs, costs or resources.

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Please put this into practice and let me know the results in the comments.

And, if you are enjoying this newsletter, the best compliment you could pay me would be to share it with one person who you think would benefit from it.

If you want me to personally coach you on this strategy to make sure it gets done then schedule a coaching call here: https://consultingrevenue.com/coaching

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consultingrevenue · 2 years

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What are your clients buying? A. Time B. Responsiveness C. Thought Leadership D. Results E. Confidence I'm a big believer that consulting clients are buying 𝘾𝙊𝙉𝙁𝙄𝘿𝙀𝙉𝘾𝙀 Let me know your thoughts and I'll go deeper into why in the comment thread

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consultingrevenue · 2 years

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There are 3 Value Statements. 1 is vital for a client and I bet you aren't using it. replug.link/bd9a6a60

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consultingrevenue · 2 years

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There are 3 Value Statements. 1 is vital for a client and I bet you aren't using it.

Selling the value of what you do is one of the most challenging areas for many Consultants and Advisers.

There is so much to consider:

Who is my target market?

What is the proposition that I am offering?

How do I get meetings (Zoom's!) with busy business people?

I’m looking for ways to sell higher and deeper into organisations

How do I break through the ‘SMADD’ disease that clients and prospects have – that’s ‘Sales Message Attention Deficit Disorder’!

How do I get more referrals?

How do I prove our worth to an organisation so we don’t have to compete on price?

How do I get clients to value what we have just done for them?

The good news is that I am about to share with you 3 core components of value that you can use in your business to help you with these business challenges and more.

The best news is that very few consultants or advisers work on the outer ring of the value bullseye I'm about to share with you, let alone excel at the inner ring.

Let me introduce you to the ‘Value Bullseye’:

1) Value Hypothesis:

The value hypothesis is the outer ring of value. This is when you are on the outside of an organisation trying to get in, breaking into new divisions, or trying to create a new project within an existing client.

Here you must use research to determine whether you can potentially create value for them. You don’t know for sure yet because you do not know enough about the organization or the particular business initiative or the business pain that the company is facing.

You have a good idea that you can but you need to determine the specifics.

And if you'd like a little 'tune up' on the elements of value in a B2B sale then Bain have a great research piece exploring 40 separate value creators here

This is not to be confused with an ‘elevator pitch’ which can come across as a trite generalization of what you do.

This is a very specific hypothesis of what value you can specifically add to that organization.

An example could go like this:

“John, you should be capable of reducing your stock holding of your entire widget range by 60% through the ability to use our demand forecasting software to know precisely what inventory is required to within a 10% tolerance rate. This will require an investment of £320,000. Which could be returned within 11 months. We recently implemented a similar solution at Major Corp PLC who achieved a 70% reduction and payback within 9 months.”

At the very early stages of a discussion, this is only a hypothesis because you do not know enough about their business.

Without the right kind of conversation, at the right level, and therefore validation it is only a value hypothesis.

You will rarely win business selling on a value hypothesis.

It is only the start of the process and without the questioning and investigating skills needed to get validation from the client and prospect then it will never be a true value proposition.

2) Value proposition:

This is where your client or prospect, is describing how their business operates, where the dysfunction and costs reside and what their vision is for an alternative way of doing things.

This is what you use to map your capabilities to what you discover to articulate your value proposition.

Executives in large organisations have given feedback that few, if any proposals, make them sit up and go:

“Wow, I really love what these guys are proposing”

….and very few if any actually propose anything.

More they are no more than page after page of price lists and capability statements.

Rarely is there a personalised story that tells:

the names of stakeholders

the challenges they face

the goals they own

an overview of how those tasks and goals will be affected by a new solution.

Senior stakeholders want specifics of the value hypothesis turned into the reality of what can and will happen specifically to their business.

Asked why they feel they rarely see this type of value proposition executives answered...

that consultants are too intent on getting their message across without asking the questions needed to identify the core basis of a value proposition.

3) Value Statement:

The value statement is the single most important part of the whole process and yet very few people do it.

When done correctly this is a huge opportunity for you.

One of the core principles of sales has always been trust.

People don’t buy from people they like, they buy from people they trust.

One of the greatest ways to build long-lasting trust and credibility is to show you have delivered on what you have said you would.

This is even more important when selling to large organisations because research shows that senior executives generally get involved at the project scope phase (value hypothesis) and post project review (value statement).

The value statement is simply going back and proving the value of what you said you would achieve:

“John, we said we might be able to reduce the stock holding of your entire widget range by 60% and now the system has been live for 3 months we have seen a reduction of 75% with a prediction tolerance of 7% . Your investment of £320,000 is on track for full payback in 9 months and not the 11 months we originally planned.”

If you can continually prove the value of what you have done then your credibility will go through the roof.

In effect, you are closing the sales loop or Consulting loop.

So my challenge to you then is

How well do you rate on the three stages of the value bullseye?

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Please put this into practice and let me know the results in the comments.

And, if you are enjoying this newsletter, the best compliment you could pay me would be to share it with one person who you think would benefit from it.

If you want me to personally coach you on this strategy to make sure it gets done then schedule a coaching call here: https://consultingrevenue.com/coaching

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consultingrevenue · 2 years

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There was an almighty bang and the yacht shuddered. And for the first time, I truly experienced the power of systems and teamwork. I was on a racing yacht sailing under a spinnaker with a squall approaching. I was stuck at the top of the mast. We ran 2 ropes at the top of the mast to hold the spinnaker as a backup. It's a great strategy with an obvious downside. If you want to hoist a new sail, I had to go up the mast, get the 2nd halyard and bring it down to attach to the new sail. We saw the squall on the horizon and I attached the climbing harness and shot up the top of the mast. It seemed like no more than 30 seconds from spotting the squall on the horizon to me being at the top of the mast. It was too late. The squall hit hard and the spinnaker exploded into pieces. The yacht shuddered and bucked as it had now lost the 1 thing that was keeping all the opposing tensions at play in check. I was thrown about 20ft off the mast only to come back with a wallop a few seconds later. That hurt. Weirdly, I had a sense of calm come over me as I watched everything unfold below me. I wasn't a priority. Getting the yacht up to speed with a new sail and salvaging the broken spinnaker were the priorities. It was a race - every second counted. I had to cling onto the top of the mast some 65ft up and watch everything happen below me. And it was then I really witnessed the power of teamwork and following a system in action. This was race I had paid to enter. It attracted people from all sorts of backgrounds and with all sorts of skill levels at sailing. When we started we had weeks and weeks of training learning 'the way it was done' on the yacht. For me this was all new. For some they'd been at this for years and had developed their own way of doing things. No matter what we knew (or thought we knew) everyone started at the basics and all learned the exact same systems. Hanging on to that mast I could only watch the team deal with the emergency. To a person, they jumped up on deck. They quietly got on with what needed doing. There was no grand figurehead orchestrating everything. Quickly the damage was halted. A new sail was hoisted. The situation was resolved - including getting me down on deck. For the first time in my life I was in awe of the power of everyone being trained in the same system and working together to achieve a goal. I was reminded of this when working with a new client yesterday. They had worked with consultans before. They had done their own work in the areas we were working on. But still, we went back to basics. We started from zero and worked together as a team to identify their 'way it should be done'. And they embraced it. And I can clearly see they will get amazing results because of it. No matter where you think you are, what work you've doen before or what skills you have on your team. Sometimes you just need to go back to basics and build again. All working together with the same systems.

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consultingrevenue · 2 years

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I made a mistake in my post yesterday about selling to C suite. replug.link/c02c5b70 There should have been a 5th and in many ways, it's the most important. 𝗛𝗲𝗹𝗽 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺 𝘀𝗲𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝘂𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝗸𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗼 𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗯𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀.

#𝟱:

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consultingrevenue · 2 years

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If you want to engage the C Suite. Stop. You must have messaging that addresses 4 key things: + Helping them understand their current issues clearly and the impact + Helping them understand and shape their long-range business objectives + Helping them understand and shape their short and long-range strategy for the entire business + Helping them get clarity on what the future will look like and what their competition is likely to do Clarity on unknowns + Insightful Points of Views = C Suite welcoming you with open arms

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consultingrevenue · 2 years

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How To Build AN Ideal Client Profile For Consultants replug.link/13f80ca0

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consultingrevenue · 2 years

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How To Build AN Ideal Client Profile For Consultants

I've spoken to a lot of consultants in the last 2 weeks who are increasingly seeking clarity on who their Ideal Client is.

It seems to be a recurring theme in this time of change?

To help you [if this is relevant] I have taken my instructors notes straight out of one of my Inhouse workshops I run with Consultants where we promise to get them absolute clarity on who they will work with, what value they provide and very importantly - who they won't work with.

If you are a solo consultant you can run through this process yourself, or get together with a few of your peers. If you're a Consulting team then get everyone together in a room and follow the process.

KICK START HERE:

Q) When you talk to a prospect or a referral how do you communicate what you do?

Give 5 minutes to think about it and write it down. 3 minutes to review. Usually, answers will include: world-class, full service, passion, customer focus, innovation, strategic, cutting edge, quality, exceed expectations, Value add, and market leader. Let them use examples from proposals, web site etc.

Q) What do these words mean? What are you trying to say here?

Give 10 minutes and work in two’s. Get them thinking about: What is it about our value that is most important to convey that describes who we are? How do we think, and what kind of work we do? Get people to say it as a paragraph or statement rather than bullet points.

BUZZWORD – Maybe an ‘air horn’ or ‘BS Indicator’ every time someone says a sales, marketing or Industry buzzword. Use as a Pattern Interrupt.

Q) What’s really different or unique? Why did clients hire you?

To help clarify it helps to ask why people hired you? 8 mins

What was going on in their business?

What challenges were they facing?

What Opportunities were they facing and seeking to capitalise on?

What were they open to?

Q) How did you help them change?

5 minutes. Look for tangibles rather than generality.

Q) What have your clients told you about why they bought/engaged with you?

5 mins thinking through and writing. When getting the group to answer look for ‘flags’ such as “I think it’s because…”

The second stage is to ask “ What have your clients TOLD YOU about why they bought from you, continue to come back and stay engaged with you?

If they haven’t asked – Why don’t you feel comfortable asking your clients why they do business with you?

The bottom line is if you are unsure of value then how can you communicate it? The best way is to ask current clients. How can you do that? Schedule some action points for the next 3 weeks.

Q) What do you think your clients choose to work with you? (not in-depth won deals analysis)

More detailed analysis: 45 mins. 5 mins set up, 5 mins per section, 15-minute review and whiteboard

Audience:

Define who you sell to. What specifically describes their business? Size, geography, revenue, stage of growth,

Pain: What kind of pain are your prospects in when they hire you? What’s not working for them?

Wasted time and money

Need a quick turn around

Project they won is not in their core competency

Opportunity:

What are your prospects looking to achieve when they turn to you?

What opportunities are they looking to capitalise on?

i.e - Helping them win more business from high-profile key accounts

Open To:

What must they be open to if they are going to be a good fit for doing business with you?

What do they have to be willing to do, think, accept, consider in order to be a legitimate prospect?

This is the hardest one that most people miss, is the least used and the most important. Use on web, documents, white papers etc examples are:

I.E They MUST BE OPEN TO:

Sharing their concerns

New ideas

Change and changing their thinking

Managed Risk

Paying Upfront

By being bold and upfront on these you will waste less time with people who don't fit your style of business.

What we are not…

Can be a way of focusing on key value or defining ways to sell your perceived benefits. Get them out early to regain control and the high ground. If you tell them this and it scares them off then it has saved you time and money.

EXAMPLES:

A good fit for start up companies

Do not have the highest profile brand recognition i.e we aren;t a big 4 [what you aren't becomes a positive to the right people]

The cheapest – tell up front and focus on unique value

STATEMENT) We are looking to attract more companies that?

Core principles: 15 mins

Attract what you define

Not new business but the right business

Build up an Ideal client profile – which of the existing clients would you like to replicate?

Define an A-type client. The more you discuss it the more defined through repetition

I am looking to attract “more of….”

Use I am – makes it personal

Be specific – Number of, purchasing volume, size,

Characteristics, open to, etc

Tangible (immediate need less than 3 months etc) and Intangibles (not looking for best price but value)

Expectations we have of our clients…

EXAMPLES:

Either a clearly defined requirement or give us a smaller task to define them

Must accept that we know more than they do about our area of expertise

Q) What are our red flags?

Time: 20 minutes thinking, writing, discussion – 3 mins write up

Now being a little more sceptical about prospects is a good thing because you are no longer “happy to have the opportunity” just to get the business. What are your red flags? What do you need to be on the lookout for? What are the leading indicators that you are not a good fit? That doesn’t mean you won’t engage with them but will be careful about time and energy. Being willing to walk away from bad business is as important as finding good business.

RFP/RFQ – No opportunity to meet or ask questions

Very quick timeline or unclear timeline

Demanding / very impersonal

RFP – More than 3

Cost is the primary focus

Free consulting

What are you tolerating? – Attached to the money and afraid to let go? Downward spiral.

That's a wrap!

Write it up. Stick it up.

Create processes internally where you live by your word and stick to the type of client work you want.

You'll thank me in a few months. I promise.

Please put this into practice and let me know the results in the comments.

And, if you are enjoying this newsletter, the best compliment you could pay me would be to share it with one person who you think would benefit from it.

Also - if you don't want to leave notifications of future episodes of this newsletter to the algorithm then you can get good old-fashioned email notifications if you subscribe here. I recommend you do :-) -

If you want me to personally coach you on this strategy to make sure it gets done then schedule a coaching call here: https://consultingrevenue.com/coaching

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