Would you like to find new clients without feeling like you’re tearing your hair out? As I talk to entrepreneurs about what they do, I often hear statements like these:
- I help women who want to feel better
- I help new moms get organized
- I build new websites for people
- I am a realtor; I help people find a new home
The problem with every one of these statements is that they are too broad. They don’t call to anyone specifically. Let’s take the first one as an example. If I met someone at a networking event and she said to me, “I help women who want to feel better” I’d probably think “well, that’s nice.”
Learn to find new clients easily in this mastermind
We’ll be honing your “what” statements in my 6-week small group mastermind, which starts on Thursday. Here’s the link to find out more: https://confidentmarketer.com/bys-mastermind-program/.
Before that, though, let’s see how these four entrepreneurs could make finding their clients a lot easier.
Find new clients who want to feel better
So, how could this person interest me in doing business with her? What if she said, “I help women who have arthritis feel better without taking more medications.” That might make me stop and think, “Wow, my next door neighbor has arthritis and she hates taking medicine. I should tell her about this person!”
What if she said, “My thing is helping women who have chronic pain feel better so they can be more active. I’m expert at helping women who have had bad joint replacement experiences get going again.” I would think, “Really? That’s me. I do pretty well but I wonder what she recommends that maybe I don’t know about?”
Find new clients who want to get organized
How about the woman who told me, “I help new moms get organized?” Your brain probably responds with, “Yes, saving time and getting organized is hard for new mothers.” What if that woman said, “I help first time new moms get their nursery super-organized in a specific way so that they can pick it up quickly and clean it easily.” Do you see how that specifically calls to one type of mom, and to one particular problem?
This doesn’t mean that the professional organizer will never help with anything else. But helping first time moms with the nursery is her entree – next she’ll be helping that same new mom organize her kitchen.
Find new clients who need websites
“I build new websites for people” is an awful way for a web designer to find new clients. If someone said that to you, you’d probably think, “Yeah, you and a hundred other people I know!” Web designers who are experienced usually have a particular type of clients they like to work with, or have experience with a particular type of website.
What if the web designer said, “I design websites for people who sell a lot of different products, and need a website with an online catalog and a shopping cart.” Your mind would immediately run through your business associates and either come up with someone who needs that or not. With that statement the web designer is attracting what she does best and repelling those who do not sell a lot of products and don’t need a shopping cart. Good “what” statements both attract and repel!
The web designer could say, “I specialize in small websites for beginning entrepreneurs like coaches, nutritionists, and trainers. I make sure the website has great SEO and helps a new business owner get traffic right away.” Do you see how you immediately know who she can help?
Find new clients who need a home
What about the realtor who told you, “I am a realtor; I help people find a new home.” That’s a waste of time for the realtor to say, it doesn’t call to anyone specifically.
The realtor probably prefers to work with a certain type of client. What if she said, “I’m a realtor and I help couple who are cash buyers find a home to renovate and make their own.” That would immediately help you call to mind specific people you know.
She could say, “I’m a realtor, and I’m expert at helping single women who want to quit paying rent and find a home to call their own.”
Do you see how easy it is to change your “what” statement and use it to make it really help you? Prospecting and marketing becomes so much easier when you are specific.
Join my 6-week mastermind group and we’ll find your discerning statement – it will help you find new clients much faster and more easily than you are right now! But hurry – it’s limited to 6 people and it starts Thursday!
Sue, I think you made a great point about how important it is for you to make sure to define what kind of clients you’re looking for. It makes sense why problems occur when you stick to using broad terms. I think it’s probably good to start with a broad idea but then start narrowing it down until everything has been refined.
Hi Becca,
Thanks so much for your comment. Yes, I agree, start with the broad term and narrow it down from there!
Sue