I have always felt some sympathy for those in highly competitive businesses, especially when there are a lot of players. For example Real Estate, Financial Planning and Insurance. 

I recently attended a networking event and, as usual, I was unable to meet all the attendees. A couple of days later I received a very nice email from someone who was there interested in meeting to discuss whether I would like to save some money on my general insurance and how they could help.

This is a common approach I find and often includes information on how long the company has been in business, where they are located, their commitment to customer service, lowest prices in the industry, widest range of products, most unique products and so on. Features and benefits in other words.

The reason I have sympathy for this is that everyone tells me roughly the same thing! All companies seem to have the same features! In the case I cite above there is the added difficulty that I, personally, don’t buy insurance on price. Obviously that’s a factor but it isn’t the predominant one. What is, you might ask?

Well that is what you need to find out! You can do that by enquiring it of me, but that requires a dialogue. I am willing to be though, there are other people out there looking for customer service and a relationship, or other vague terms. As a clue to my situation, here is an attention getting message that woudl engage me:

“Often times my clients work with me because they find buying insurance a real pain. In particular they don’t want to keep track of all their premium due dates and they hate the fact that renewal notices are the only communication they have with their insurance agent. When they have an insurance question they are frustrated that they can’t get a timely and accurate answer from their agent who they may not evern really now”

That talks to me hugely!  What do you best clients say about you? Why do they work with you. specifically? If they say things like “the relationship” or “the customer service” ask them what they mean SPECIFICALLY. What do you do for them that makes them LOVE you? You might be surprised at the answers but if that’s how you help them, that’s probably how you can get the attention of similar prospects.

I know, you may feel that limits your audience. We will talk about that here soon!

What if I told you that most of what you believe about marketing is probably wrong? And what would you say if I told you that tossing out your pre-existing notions and adopting some proven marketing principles would put you on a path to much greater success?

Would you ask me, “How do you know this?”

My response is pretty simple. I know because I was also wrong for many years. But, when I started paying attention to someone who knew what they were talking about, my results began to change pretty much overnight.

I know because every small business I’ve worked with since I started my marketing coaching practice a handful of years ago has been wrong. However, when they’re willing to let go of their flawed pre-existing notions and begin applying some proven marketing principles they begin getting vastly improved results.

Shift the focus of you marketing from you to your clients and prospects and watch your results begin to soar.

What do I mean by shift your focus?

For most small businesses, it’s hard for them to see what they’re doing wrong. They’re usually clinging to their old notions about marketing.

Take a look at some of your own marketing materials. If they’re talking mostly about who you are, what services you provide, and how much experience you have - your focus is all wrong.

Shift your focus to talk about what types of clients you want to help. Help them understand what problems and challenges you want to help them solve. Get clear about what kind of outcomes and results you want to produce for them.

Effective marketing is not about coming up with catchy phrases or sexy messages. It’s about applying proven principles that focus on clarity regarding who you want to help and what you want to help them get done.

Hello and welcome to the Get More Clients Fast Path!

This blog is part of a joint effort between Jerry Smith of Accord Coaching and Kevin Dervin of KPD Marketing.

We started this small business marketing “blog” as a tool to help answer some of the common small business challenges and questions that so many folks have. We’ll share insights and resources that we’ve found useful in our own journey, as well as experience in working with small business owners.

You can be a better marketer! You can absolutely learn how to regularly and consistently attract all the clients you can handle. And, you can do it quickly without having to earn some kind of marketing degree. We want to prove it to you!

This blog space is a place where we’ll make regular entries and share aricles to help you with your own marketing challenges. And, you’ll be able to add your own comments to each posting. So we hope you’ll join us and feel free to participate actively!

If you’re really motivated to take your business to a new level, then join us on the Get More Clients Fast Path. Check out upcoming seminar dates we have scheduled and read all about our eight-week Get More Clients Fast Path program.

Stay tuned for more great information to help you get better results from your small business marketing.

All the Best!
Kevin Dervin & Jerry Smith