Comment and Be Entered to Win a Free Coaching Call

Our monthly group coaching calls have been great! Here are the topics we’ve covered so far:

  • Marketing Your Services
  • Defining Your Ideal Client
  • Networking Creates Word of Mouth Referrals

The next call will be on June 1, 2010 and the topic is Converting Prospects to Clients.

Today I’m announcing a special promotion. Anyone who provides a meaningful comment on any one of our blog posts here at Chief Virtual Officer between now and May 30, 2010 will be entered into a random drawing to win the next coaching call on June 1, 2010 free!

Learn more here about the call on June 1 on Converting Prospects to Clients.

4 Website Marketing Makeover Tips

Your website is one of your greatest marketing tools. Has it been around for a while? Are prospects intrigued by your website or does it drive them away? It may be time for a makeover. Here are 4 website marketing makeover tips:

1. Professional design. Ask a couple of trusted colleagues to review your site and give you their honest opinion as to its attractiveness and professionalism. You don’t have to spend thousands of dollars to have an attractive, professional looking website. However, you do want a website that shows you are a professional. An obviously ‘home-made’ website turns prospects away.

2. Targeted, clear marketing messages. Ask these same trusted colleagues for their feedback on the marketing messages on your website. If it’s unclear what your services are or they seem unfocused, prospects will look somewhere else for what they need. Your website messages need to clearly show prospects what it is you can do for them.

3. Concise content. Short, punchy sentences and bullet points work much better than long rambling paragraphs. Your content should let visitors know why they should do business with you. You may want to get some assistance in writing compelling copy for your website.

4. Call to action. Is it clear and obvious what you want your visitors to do? How can they contact you? A clear call to action is vital to convert prospects to clients.

Additional tips for your website can be found at an earlier blog post.

Do You Want to Buy from Me? (How to turn off prospects)

Everyone wants more business. We want more prospects to become clients and buy from us. We attend networking events hoping to find good leads. As we meet new people, we tend to come right out and ask, ‘do you want to buy from me?’ Do you like it when someone approaches you at a networking meeting and tells you all about how they can help you but never asks you about your business? Of course not! This is a great way to turn off prospects.

Instead of approaching people at networking events with the idea of pushing your business, attend with the thought of getting to know other people and their business. You start to develop relationships that build to a point where you can know what the other person actually needs and if they need your services.

We’ll talk about this in greater detail in our group coaching calls in May. Learn more at the Chief Virtual Officer website.

Refine Your Marketing Message

Everyone I’ve talked to recently says they need help refining their marketing message. They want prospects to pay attention and aren’t sure why they aren’t attracting their ideal client.

Your marketing messages should be clear and full of value. If all you do is say, ‘hire me’, your message is vague and does not offer your prospects any reason to find your services valuable.

Examine each marketing message your create and include these 4 items:

  1. Your ideal client should find your messages appealing
  2. Describe the challenge your prospects are facing
  3. Describe the solution you will provide
  4. Include a story of how you’ve helped someone else

Once your prospects can see that you are talking to them, understand their challenges, can provide a workable solution and can back it up with a story of how you’ve helped someone else, they are much more likely to pay attention and ask you how you can help them.

I’m Not a Salesperson!

Many of us hear the word salesperson and think of a pushy car salesperson. We don’t like to be sold to and so we hold back from selling our services because we don’t know how to do it without feeling like we’re being another pushy car salesperson.

If you’re in business, you’re in sales. So let’s think about how we can sell our services the right way. Here are 3 things to consider:

1. Diagnose – How can you make a recommendation to your prospect about how your services are their solution when you haven’t yet diagnosed their problem? And how can you diagnose until you’ve come to thoroughly understand the prospect’s situation?

2. What do they want? – Just because you and your prospect agree on the problem does not mean you agree on the desired outcome. Find out what they want the desired outcome to be so you can then offer the solution that will result in that particular outcome.

3. How will you provide what they want? – Explain in as much detail as possible exactly how you will provide their desired outcome. Be specific in what they will get, how you will work with them, what will happen. The more they know, the more reassured they will be that you can provide the desirable outcome they want.

This requires communicating with prospects. Listen to them, understand their situation and needs and desired outcome. Explain clearly how your solution will benefit them. Give your prospects solid reasons to work with you. Then invite them to get started!