Client Breakthrough

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WHO IS THIS FOR? AND WHY? But when it comes to marketing and selling ourselves, most of us
feel uncomfortable.
Let’s get straight to the point.
We’re not really sure which marketing strategies actually work
This report is for consultants and coaches who want to get for our specific niche and services.
more clients.
We’re not consistent in our marketing and business
If you want to escape from the constant worry in the pit of your development. We flit from networking to direct mail to doing
stomach over where your next client is coming from - then presentations. And we stop completely when we have client
you’re in the right place. work on. As a result we live in a constant “boom-bust” cycle.
If you want to build a thriving consulting or coaching practice While we’re often great at building relationships with our paying
where you’re able to relax, knowing your “marketing machine” clients - we’re poor at nurturing those relationships after we’ve
will bring in a regular flow of high quality leads - then you’re in finished our work with them. And we’re even worse at building
the right place. relationships with prospects who aren’t ready to buy quite yet.
If you want to attract and win the kind of high-end clients that And although we’re great at discussing clients’ problems and
allow you to do interesting, innovative, high margin work - then solutions with them - when it comes to closing sales we feel
you’re in the right place. neither confident, nor competent.
Most consultants and coaches are great at what they do. They Above all, what we’re lacking is a system. A clear set of processes
deliver real value to clients, and establish highly productive and and methods to tell us what to do and when to succeed at
mutually beneficial relationships with them. marketing and business development.
www.clientbreakthrough.com Ian Brodie Questions? Feedback? Email me on [email protected]

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The Client Breakthrough System will give you that. implementing effective marketing and sales principles for a
consulting or coaching business.
It’ll teach you how to identify and target your ideal, high paying
clients. It’ll show you how to build a deep understanding and
connection with your ideal target clients. Which marketing
It’ll show you how to find them. How to communicate and
approaches and lead generation tactics will work for you. How
engage with them. How to nurture your relationship with them
to nurture leads so they’re ready to buy, how to close sales, and
so that they’re ready to buy.
how to manage all this week-in, week-out
And, of course, how to close the deals to bring them on as
Ultimately it will show you the steps to getting more clients,
clients.
more quickly.
Most importantly: it’ll show you how to do this in a systematic,
Of course, no book, system or course can cover everything and
repeatable way. A system you can work day-in, day-out. Week-in,
every situation. But it will give most consultants and coaches
week-out. A system that will give you confidence, knowing you
what they need to set them firmly on the growth track.
have a steady stream of prospects and clients flowing in to your
business. But a report or training course alone can’t grow your business
for you.
How to use this report
You will need to put the lessons from the report into place. And
This report and the accompanying video series will take you
that will require three things:
through a structured approach to to developing and

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1. You will need to set aside time to properly digest and work competitors will continue to change and evolve - and so must
through each section of the report. You’ll need to gather you. It doesn’t need to be every day, but at least quarterly you
information, to complete the exercises thoughtfully, and to must review whether your selected marketing and sales
reflect on your answers and in many cases keep coming back to approaches are still working or whether you need to revisit and
them until you fully “crack” the right strategies and actions for update them.
you.
Why did I develop the Client Breakthrough System?
My suggestion is that you print out a copy of the report and Well, primarily, it’s because I’ve been there myself.
keep it with you. Make notes in the margins, re-read important
sections regularly and keep working at the exercises. Although I make my living today helping other professionals
grow their marketing and business development skills - I’m far
2. You’ll need to actually put the strategies and actions you
from a natural salesperson myself.
develop into practice. None of the approaches in the report will
require significant expenditure: but many will require significant When I first became a consultant in the early 90s I was a fresh-
effort. Some will also require you to adopt new thoughts, new faced MBA whose experience of business had all been in
ideas, and new ways of working. And this will feel uncomfortable
technical roles. I knew that I wanted to do high end strategy
at first. But always remember, if you keep doing the same things
work for the biggest and best names in the business - and I was
as you’re doing today, you’re going to keep getting the same
sure I had the skills to do it.
results as you’re getting today.
3. Finally, you’ll need to keep “sharpening the saw”, to keep looking But what I had no idea about was marketing and selling. It came
at and improving the way you market and sell your services. as a huge shock to me to find out that if I wanted to progress
Your clients will continue to change and evolve. Your and do the kind of work I was interested in I would have to sell.

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Luckily, through study, experience, and having some of the best contact me in the UK on 0161 408 0984 or email
“rainmakers” in the field as my mentors, I learned what it takes [email protected]. You can also find out more about my
for even the most reluctant of professionals to become highly consulting and coaching services here.
effective at selling.
But that's more than enough about me – let's get on to figuring
I had a similar shock when I first set up my own business over out how to get you more clients.
three years ago. I discovered that marketing and selling for a sole
practitioner with no brand name or support team to rely on is a Ian Brodie
whole new ball game. Once again, I had to learn “what works”
for my new situation.
So believe me, if you’re currently feeling uncomfortable or even

overwhelmed by the challenge of bringing in new clients - I’ve
been there.
And partly the reason for creating the Client Breakthrough

System is that I'm confident that for every reader of the report
a certain percentage will decide they need my help to progress
even faster, even further in growing their business.
If, after reading the report and working through the planning and
preparation you decide you're one of them, then you can
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CONTENTS 1. Who is this for? And why?
2. Contents
N e w s l e t t 3. e r Breakthrough System
The Client
4. Business Development Strategy
5. Core Business Development Processes
6. Management Systems
7. Taking Action
8. Who am I, and how can I help?
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N e w s l e t t e r
THE CLIENT BREAKTHROUGH SYSTEM

Above all else, the Client Breakthrough System is simple.
Simplicity works.
A simple system is a system that gets used. And the key to Figure 1:The Client Breakthrough System Core Components
winning clients is not clever tactics or complex procedures. It’s
The first is your Business Development Strategy.
doing the simple things that work. Doing them consistently well.
Doing them week-in, week-out. For consultants and coaches, your business development strategy
is about your choices in three primary areas:
There are only 3 components to the Client Breakthrough
System. 1. Which clients you focus on.
2. Your value proposition to those clients.
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3. How you position yourself in the marketplace. And your sales approaches (for example an initial diagnostic
meeting) are the way you turn prospects who are ready to buy
Your Business Development Strategy is the thinking component
into paying clients.
of the Client Breakthrough System. You typically revise this on an
annual basis. After that, the key is execution.
N e w s l e t t e r
The final component of the Client Breakthrough System is your
Management System. It’s the way you track progress and ensure
The second component is your set of Core Business
you’re doing the right things every week to maximise your
Development Processes: Lead Generation, Lead Nurturing and
Selling. chances of winning clients. It’s where you plan in the next week’s
activities to make sure you’ve got the right balance of Lead
These are the day-in, day-out processes that win you clients. Generation, Lead Nurturing and Selling.
Your lead generation approaches (for example: getting referrals, That’s it. Three simple components.
direct mail, using the web) are the methods you use to bring you
But if you get them right. If you focus on the right clients, with
into initial contact with high potential prospects.
the right value proposition. If you pick the right business
Your lead nurturing approaches (for example an email development approaches and execute them well. If you manage
newsletter) will keep you front of mind with those prospects not tightly and keep on track.
ready to buy yet - so that when the time is right, you’re the first
Then you’ll have more clients than you can handle.
person they turn to.
Let’s look at each component in turn.
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This means identifying and targeting clients with a strong need

for what you have to offer, the money to pay for it, and the
desire to make improvements.
Without those elements, you’ll be “banging your head against a

brick wall”.
So how do you find those hungry clients? The key is to know

what they look like. And that means focusing your efforts.
BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY
FOCUS YOUR APPROACH
Strategy in business - as it is in war - is the art of concentrating
your forces where they will have the most impact. Only the very largest firms can afford to position themselves as
This ability to focus is even more important for consultants and being "all things to all men". Smaller firms and sole practitioners
coaches where your most precious resource is your time. Since need to be much more focused in their approach if they want
their marketing and business development efforts to have bite.
most professionals have to deliver client work and often manage
the firm in parallel with winning new business, it’s crucial that This is an area where many consultants, and coaches struggle.
every business development activity is high payoff. Many have a very general market position. They provide a broad
The most important factor in ensuring this high payoff is to focus range of services to a broad range of clients. They fear that by
your efforts on a “hungry market” - clients with a high being "too specific" in their marketing and lead generation they
propensity to buy.
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will miss out on potential business from prospects outside the If your marketing messages focus on their particular industry
narrow specifications. niche, or on the specific problems or opportunities they face –
then they'll listen.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
Not only that, but specialisation implies expertise. Who would
CLEAR FOCUS STRENGTHENS YOUR MARKETING
you rather have as your accountant, for example: a generalist, or
The reality is that by being too generic, you significantly weaken someone who specialises in working with consulting firms? Most
the impact of your marketing efforts. of us would prefer to deal with a specialist. We assume that they
will better understand the specific of our business – the
Our clients are bombarded with marketing messages from all economics of consulting firms, the typical forecasting horizons,
angles – and they filter most of them out. To get through those etc.
filters your marketing needs to grab their attention. But that
doesn't mean you should be using the aggressive, shouting And we're not the only ones. In Raintoday.com's How Clients
headlines so beloved of low-end copywriters. Instead your Buy study, "experience in my industry/business" and "experience
marketing needs to resonate with the issues and concerns of in my specific area of need" were the first and third most listed
your clients. factors when buyers of consulting and other professional
services were asked what most influenced their selection of
The primarily filter clients use to decide what to pay attention to service provider.
is: “is this relevant to me?”
That's not to say the generalist can never win. But the specialist
has the advantage.
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% of Buyers Ranking Factor as a Top Influencer reality is that clients don't have the time to get that deep into a
relationship with all the potential service providers they meet.
Experience in my industry/ business 75%
They filter early, and only get into deep interactions with
Overall cost 74% consultants whose focus resonates with their needs.
Experience in my specific area of need 68% Sales training, for example, is a commodity. Sales training for non-
salespeople, sales training for the complex sale, sales training for
Overall Value 59%
financial advisers – these are all niches which tell potential clients
Variety of Services Offered 47% that you understand them and have something specific for them.
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% FOCUS SPURS ACTION AND HELPS BUILD YOUR BRAND
Figure 2: Most nominated highly influential factors in selecting a professional service
In addition, specialising simplifies planning and spurs action. In my
provider – Source How Clients Buy Survey 2009 from Raintoday.com
many years in marketing & sales consulting I've worked with a
Think it through from your own experience. At the last chamber number of different industries. But once I started specialising in
of commerce meeting or networking event you went to, how working with consulting and other professional firms I found it
many marketing consultants or business coaches were there? much easier to focus my efforts, to develop high value tailored
services and thought leadership, and to quickly identify target
Probably quite a few. clients to pursue.
And while each would argue that once clients got to know A further advantage of specialisation is that it allows even small
them, they would see how they were different and better, the firms to build strong brand reputations. When I was managing a
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major multinational client account for consulting giant HOW TO IDENTIFY YOUR NICHE
Capgemini, we lost a huge piece of supply chain work to a tiny
outfit called JCIT (now DemandPoint). How you narrow your focus is
dependent on the clients you
Despite the fact that we had about ten times the number of primarily serve and the services
supply chain and lean manufacturing experts as JCIT, it was only you deliver. Typical specialisations
one of many areas we covered – whereas it was their entire might include:
focus. As a result, they had built up a powerful reputation based
on investment in a unique methodology, a published book, and ‣ Industries or client types: financial services firms, female
executives
an appearance on the front of Fortune magazine. All driven by
their specialisation in one specific area which they became ‣ A functional area: finance, procurement, online marketing
famous for. ‣ A specific client situation: new start-ups, post-merger situations,
Within my own niche of business growth for consulting and companies approaching bankruptcy
other professional firms, I've been able to use a blog and regular ‣ The sorts of problems you help clients solve: dysfunctional
newsletter to build an international reputation. More locally, teams, turnaround situations, cost reduction
because of my specialisation, I get asked to speak and run ‣ New trends, technologies and "hot topics": social media, RFID,
seminars by professional groups who wouldn't dream of inviting visualisation technologies
more general marketing & sales consultants. This raises my
In fact, most professionals will focus on a combination of these
profile with potential clients and gives me a significant head start
areas – procurement cost reduction for manufacturing firms;
when it comes to winning business.
RFID implementation for retailers, for example.
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The area you specialise in then determines many of the other group he was running a seminar for therapists and he'd get
components of your business development: the services you multiple referrals. A few months later he was running a campaign
offer, how you position them, the messages you use to for financial advisors and again, the referrals flooded in. But back
communicate with clients, and which lead generation approaches when he'd been running events for the more general category
you use to reach and engage with them. of small businesses, he'd struggled to get even one or two
referrals. Small businesses were simply too broad a category.
Of course, it doesn't mean you'll never do work outside that
Members of his networking group knew literally hundreds of
specialist area. It's quite common for clients to ask specialists
small businesses – but they couldn't feasibly pass on all the
who they know and trust from working in one area to help
names. Without any way of discerning who the event was
them out in areas outside the specialism. Especially if, once
particularly appropriate for, they referred him to no one.
engaged with the client, you demonstrate your broader business
knowledge. However, it does mean that you'll focus your pro- This clear, specialist focus will form the heart of your approach –
active marketing efforts to new clients in your specialist area. so you need to invest time to get it right.
It's also possible to do "temporary specialisation". Focusing on When deciding on your area(s) of focus, it's important to
one specific niche for a period of time before moving on to consider not only which areas are potentially the most profitable
marketing efforts for other niches. or in-demand from clients, and which you have the most
expertise in; but also which areas you are most interested in and
A colleague of mine who's a successful business coach found he
have the most passion for..
was able to generate many, many more referrals using this
temporary specialisation than he ever got as a generic coach for
small businesses. One month he'd announce to his networking
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If you're going to invest in building a reputation, developing In my case, rather than marketing to "owners of medium sized
thought leadership and tailored service offers it absolutely must consulting firms" I think of Barry.
be an area for which you have a passion.
Barry is 45, and married with two
Your selected niche(s) will form the foundation of your business children. He runs a 15 person
development system. But they're not cast in stone. As you get consulting firm based in the
out in the field and actively market your firm you'll find out what Midlands, specialised in
works and what doesn't. And you'll get feedback which will allow manufacturing process
you to refine your niche. improvements. He founded the
firm 5 years ago, and it's grown
DEVELOPING PEN PICTURES reasonably well based on repeat business and recommendations
from satisfied clients.
Effective marketing requires you to really understand the needs,
wants, motivations and situation of your target clients. The better But Barry is now beginning to think of the future – and he
you understand your target clients, the better you’ll know how knows he needs to grow the business much faster to get where
to connect with them and how to communicate with impact. he wants to be (and to be able to retire comfortably in 10 years
One of the best ways of doing that is to develop "pen pictures" time). He's read lots of material on marketing and spoken to
of typical client profiles. many people who all advise him to do different things. He's not
really sure what will work for his business and doesn't want to
Take each of your target segments and try to visualise a typical
risk a lot of time and money until he is clear what is going to
potential client in each segment.
have the biggest impact on growth.
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By drawing this pen picture (and the full one is a lot more BUILDING A POWERFUL VALUE PROPOSITION
detailed) I'm able to really "get inside the head" of my potential
clients. To understand their hopes and fears in a way that "owner In marketing, circles you’ll often hear heated
of a medium sized consulting firm" just can't do. discussions about the importance of having a
USP - a Unique Selling Proposition.
And that lets me do more compelling marketing. When I write, it
resonates with them. When I talk to them I'm able to speak in In my experience, this search for
language that's meaningful to them and hits the right buttons. uniqueness is misguided.
For your business you'll probably have to develop 3 or 4 pen It starts from the wrong point.
pictures for the typical clients you serve. You can even base them Proponents of the USP approach
on existing clients. agonise over how to position their business as being unique -
completely different from any other business.
Don’t get overwhelmed. Start with one profile. You’ll quickly see
how much richer your marketing will become as a result. But do your clients care if you’re unique?
Your clients primarily care about whether you’re bringing them

value. Whether you’re solving their critical problems or helping
them achieve their greatest ambitions.
Whether you’re the only person who can do that is very much
secondary. It means you’ll have no competition when it comes to
selection time.
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But you know what? I rarely have much competition anyway. By A powerful value proposition is one which resonates. It
the time I’m speaking to a potential client, their choices are addresses the big issues which your clients worry about.
usually to hire me, to try to do it themselves, or to do nothing.
And it’s also one with proof.
it’s rarely a head to head battle with another consultant or
coach. The nature of consulting and coaching work is that anyone can
make bold claims about how great they are and how much value
I bet it’s very similar for you too.
they bring to their clients. Effective marketing for consultants
My experience is that if you focus intensely on the value you can and coaches is about demonstrating and proving - not just
create for your clients, and if you have a tightly defined niche - claiming.
then you rarely have to worry about what makes you unique.
So you must understand how you can prove your value in
A great way of clarifying this value is to create a Value advance. Through thought leadership, testimonials and
Proposition. guarantees, for example.
Now creating a value proposition is not about wordsmithing. It’s To develop your value proposition, start with the pen picture
not a cleverly polished statement you use in your external you’ve developed of your ideal client. Then review their critical
marketing. A value proposition is simply a concise statement of business issues, needs, challenges.
why a client should hire you.
Flesh out the value, benefits, and end results they’ll get from
It’s used to clarify your own thinking and guide your marketing. addressing those issues (for example, having a more profitable
Not as a sort of “mission statement” you frame and hang on the business may result in more financial stability for them and their
wall. family).
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Now describe your solutions and capabilities which deliver those Benefits • Significant cost reduction - up to 40% in printing, 25% in
results - and elaborate on how specifically they deliver them. freight, etc.
• More control, more predictability
• Visibility and knowledge of competitiveness of supplier pricing
Finally, collect the evidence to “prove” you can deliver. • No disruption or extra work needed from core business
Pull those together. Review and rework. Read it from your ideal Solutions and • Initial assessment, analysis and recommendations
Capabilities • Supplier consolidation and renegotiations
client’s perspective. Rework it again until the real value that your • Ongoing management of contract
client will feel in their gut jumps out from the page at you. Proof • Examples/testimonials from previous clients
• Case studies/benchmarking results
Then you’ll have a powerful value proposition. • Previous “Poacher” and “gamekeeper” experience
• Pre-existing relationships with suppliers
Here’s a worked example for a procurement consultant: • Results of initial assessment
Target Clients • UK based manufacturing companies with a turnover of >5m POSITION YOURSELF AS AN AUTHORITY
and an estimated spend on indirect procurement of >500K
• Limited in-house indirect procurement expertise (likely to be
Now we’ve identified our target clients, understood their needs
focusing on raw/direct materials)
and clarified the value we’ll deliver to them we can decide how
Business Issues • Excessive spend on purchased overheads (travel, stationery,
printing, etc.) to position ourselves so that we’re seen as a highly attractive
• Costs fluctuating, unpredictable and feeling out of control
partner to work with.
• Feeling at mercy of suppliers - unable to negotiate effectively
• Not wanting to divert energy from core business to
overheads There are many viable market positions you can take - being a
low-cost provider, the strength of your relationships, the quality
of your service delivery..
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But in my experience, the most effective position you can take is

to establish yourself as as the expert or authority in your field.
As the authority in your field you’re the natural choice for the
big, important issues your clients have to deal with. It’s those big,
important issues that clients are prepared to pay a premium to
address.
Becoming an authority takes work. But you don’t need to CORE BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT PROCESSES
become the world’s leading authority. Just the authority in your Now you’ve established your client needs, value proposition and
world. In other words, with the clients you target, and in ideal market positioning, you can select the business
comparison with the competitors you come up against. development approaches which will turn prospects into clients.
Becoming an authority requires you to invest in developing your There are three main steps in acquiring clients for consultants
thought leadership - and in making that available to potential and coaches.
clients. And it means that your marketing and lead generation
activities should be biased towards those that establish your Firstly, you must generate leads. In other words you must make
reputation. initial contact with prospects to bring them into your “pipeline”.
The output of your lead generation activities will usually be face

to face meetings or telephone calls with potential clients. If
you’re taking a heavily online approach to business
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development, it could also be that a lead is a potential client who It’s rare that they’ll make that decision after just one interaction
signs up for your newsletter and automated business with you. It usually takes multiple interactions over time before
development emails. Or perhaps even someone connecting with they gain the trust and confidence in your capabilities needed to
you on Linkedin. feel comfortable hiring you.
In every case though, you will have established permission to In addition, because most consulting and coaching services are
actively communicate with them (either in the meeting/call and discretionary and aren’t needed all the time - with most lead
follow up - or via email or Linkedin). generation approaches you can’t be sure that you’ve contacted a
client at a time when they have that need.
This is absolutely crucial. I can’t stress it enough:
Depending on your type of service, it’s typical that between 70
The goal of your lead generation activities is not only to make
to 90% of the time, when you initially contact a potential client -
contact with high potential clients - it’s to get permission to
even one who otherwise is highly qualified - the time won’t be
proactively communicate with them.
right for them to hire you right now.
Why am I putting so much emphasis on this?
But the majority of them will hire someone like you in the next
The nature of consulting and coaching services is that they’re few years.
almost always costly, complex, intangible and high impact.
What that means is that in order to be top of mind when they
In other words - it’s a big deal when clients hire a consultant or are ready to buy., and in order to ensure they’ve built the
coach. necessary confidence and trust in you by that time - you must
communicate with them on a regular basis.
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And that’s why I say it’s crucial to get permission to LEAD GENERATION
communicate proactively at that first contact point. Because if
you don’t, you’re relying on luck to get that regular My advice to clients is always to
communication. use a portfolio of lead generation
approaches.
You have to hope they come to your next presentation.. Or that
you see them again when you’re out networking. Or that they By that I mean three things:
remember to come back to your website.
‣ Firstly, different clients respond
to different types of approaches.
But if you get permission to proactively communicate, you can
call them, write to them or email them to keep in touch and ‣ Secondly, some clients are inherently more valuable than
nurture that relationship. others. With higher value clients you can use more time-
intensive approaches.
Then your relationship is in your hands.
‣ Finally, some lead generation approaches work well to broaden
your circle of contacts - others work well to convert existing
contacts into leads.
You need to select lead generation approaches that meet three

key criteria:
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1. They have a high probability of connecting with your target 5. They need to know you have the capabilities and experience to
clients. It’s no use going networking to events that you’re help them address those issues.
clients don’t attend, for example. 6. They must be sure they can trust you and that they (or their
team) will be able to work with you effectively.
2. They allow you to demonstrate you meet the criteria clients
will use when hiring a consultant or coach. More on this in a Now these factors aren’t easy to prove in a short interaction.
second. That’s why it will usually require multiple contacts over time to
nurture your relationship.
3. They’re methods you’ll be able to do well. It may be that
running seminars and doing presentations would be the And in terms of your lead generation approaches - the initial
perfect method to attract your ideal clients - but if you shrink contacts you have with a potential client - the most effective
in fear from the very thought of speaking in public, it’s unlikely methods are usually the “face to face” methods which allow you
to be a method that will work for you right now. to get these factors across.
In terms of demonstrating you meet the criteria clients use Survey after survey has show that the approaches clients prefer
when hiring - the exact details will depend on your clients and to use, and that consultants report work best for gaining new
your pen pictures are the best guide to this. business are these face-to-face, personal approaches. For
example:
But generically, clients are looking for three things when hiring a
consultant or coach: ‣ Previous work with, or personal reputation of the consultants
4. They want to be sure that you understand them and the issues ‣ Referrals from people clients trust
or challenges they face. ‣ Seeing the consultants in action at a presentation or seminar
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It's those personal interactions (or personal recommendations) Websites, articles, sales letters and cold calls may not have as
that allow clients to make a judgement on whether the high a hit rate as the in-person tactics – but they can reach more
consultant will understand their problem, have the capabilities to people, and they do not require so much face-to-face time. In
solve it, and whether they will be able to work well with them. addition, they can often be great approaches to lead-in to more
face-to-face activities. After all, how does a potential client get to
For any consultant or coach, developing relationships and
know of a seminar the consultant is running? Often by direct
expanding business with existing clients, pro-actively getting
mail or email, promotion on a website, or good old-fashioned
more referrals to target clients, and using speaking engagements
PR.
and seminars must be at the top of the list their lead generation
approaches. Following is a list of potential lead generation approaches.
Review each approach and score them on a simple High,
However, although these approaches have the highest impact,
Medium and Low basis on how likely each is to allow you to
they are also amongst the most time-intensive. They also have a
reach your target clients, how much each one will allow you
lower reach: developing relationships with clients and referral
demonstrate the capabilities your clients are looking for, and on
partners happens one client or partner at a time. In-person
how competent you are at each approach.
seminars and presentations reach only as many people as are in
the room.
So for a balanced portfolio of approaches, you also need to put

more "scalable" tactics into the mix.
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Ability to Demonstrate Ability to Demonstrate

Competence Competence
Approach reach targets capabilities Approach reach targets capabilities
(H/M/L) (H/M/L)
(H/M/L) (H/M/L) (H/M/L) (H/M/L)
Existing Client Website

Development
Social Media
Referrals
Other: __________
Networking
Other: __________
Public Speaking &
Seminars Other: __________
Direct Mail
Make sure you document the logic behind each choice too.
Cold Calling
In video 3 of the free video training series you get with this
Hospitality/
report I’ll be giving tips on when each approach is most
Sponsorship
appropriate ing through each approach in more detail -
Traditional highlighting the pros and cons and how to make each one work.
Advertising
Articles But for now, base your initial assessment on what you already
know.
Research Project
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For most sole practitioners, you’ll want to have 3 or 5 few months are "qualified out of the pipeline". And qualified out
approaches in your portfolio. Larger firms can afford to do more means dropped – usually with no further attempt to follow-up
- but be wary of spreading your message and your expertise too or keep in contact.
thinly across approaches.
The end result is that the consultant or coach finds themselves
Once you’ve selected the best approaches, the secret is to constantly hunting for fresh leads with urgent needs. Whereas if
execute them consistently. We’ll cover that in the Management they’d nurtured their "not so hot" leads over time, they’d not
System section of the report. only have hot leads – but would have been able to build their
credibility and trust over time to position themselves more
LEAD NURTURING effectively for a win.
As we’ve already said, almost no Lead nurturing is all about turning a one-off interaction into an
one buys high value consulting or ongoing relationship. And in particular, a relationship which grows
coaching services after their first deepen and stronger over time.
interaction. You need to have
multiple interactions with them It needs to be a planned, systematic activity. Some of the things
over time to build their trust and you will do will be one-off, specifically tailored activities for high
perception of your capabilities. value potential clients. But mostly, you will be executing pre-
planned nurture strategies.
If you don’t do this, you’ll end up in the trap that many
consultants and coaches find themselves in. They focus only on LEAD NURTURING IN PRACTICE
short-term leads. Potential clients not likely to buy in the next
In practice, there are two phases of lead nurturing.
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Immediate Follow-Up Once you’ve started the dialogue by sending the report, you can
then either keep communicating with them via manual emails
The first is the immediate follow-up phase. For each of your
(perhaps sending further thoughts, asking for feedback, etc.) or (if
selected lead generation approaches think through what a
you ask for permission) subscribe them to your email newsletter.
natural follow-up would be that could initiate an ongoing
communication between you and the potential client. One of the simplest follow-up tactics is via email – but it's so
easy to get this wrong. Frequently after meeting someone at a
For example, if you use seminars and presentations as one of
networking event I'll get a standard "Nice to meet you, if you
your main tactics then rather than simply giving out copies of
ever need our services…." email. Not surprisingly, I tend to hit
your slides at the event or getting the organiser to send them
the delete button pretty quickly.
out; write a more detailed report and ask for people to give you
their business card if they want you to send them a copy. But what would happen instead if someone took the time to
think about what we spoke about at the event and refer to it?
By the way: a quick tip here. If you want more people to give
Or maybe suggest a useful link or resource for me. Or at least
you their business card, ask in the workshop “I have a detailed
say they'll keep a look out for whatever I said I was interested
report available with more information and practical tips on this
in. Then I may well email them back and begin a relationship.
subject. Raise your hands if you’d like a copy. OK, drop me your
business card at the end and I’ll email you a copy”. Most people Personally, after every event, I type the details of the interesting
raise their hand – and by raising their hand, they’re more likely to people I met into my contact management system myself. When
give you their business card at the end. I do that, I recall what we talked about, and I think about what I
might be able to do to help them. And I then drop them a short
email with something relevant in. it's a good habit to get into.
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You need to figure out what the right follow up to each of your Every week I review that list and think through: is there
main lead generation activities is. After that initial follow-up, you something I can do for them this week that will deepen our
bring the potential client into the second phase of lead relationship? I might be able to source a useful article for them,
nurturing: your ongoing relationship building programme. or put them in touch with someone useful or invite them to an
event that would be valuable to them.
Ongoing Relationship Building
Simply reading the list and actively thinking about them is enough
Your ongoing relationship building programme is a planned
to put them in the front of my mind so that if something
sequence of activities you carry out with potential (and existing)
relevant to them pops up during the week I'll notice it. For my A
clients over time to strengthen and deepen your relationship
clients and prospects I'll try to make sure I'm contacting them in
with them. The objective is to build the client's perception of
some form at least every 2-3 weeks. For my B clients and
your capabilities so that when a need for your services arises,
prospects it's 4-8 weeks. And for the C category it's every
you're the first on their mind.
quarter.
It could be as simple as a regular email newsletter. And some
More sophisticated still: you can pre-plan a whole sequence of
consultants are masters at keeping in touch and furthering
"nurture funnel" activities designed to gradually build your
relationships with a simple phone call.
relationship. In the online world, this is often done with email
In other cases it can be more elaborate. Personally, I keep a list autoresponders. After a potential clients signs up (for example to
of my top current and target clients (whom I've initiated contact download a free report) a sequence of timed emails is initiated.
with). I classify them into A/B/C depending on their potential for The first may thank them for subscribing. The second might ask
long term, profitable business relationships. for feedback or highlight a section of the report you recommend
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they study thoroughly. The third might showcase a case study of autopilot" – you don't need to think of the next step at every
work you’ve done with a recent client - and gently suggest the stage, it's pre-planned.
prospect gets in touch to discuss further. The fifth might run
They build the relationship by adding value over time.
through a specific coaching service you provide in the area
covered by the report. They culminate in an offer. In other words, you’re not just
developing the relationship to make friends, you have a clear
But while these planned sequences are mainly found online,
business objective in mind.
there's no reason why they can't be done offline too. After
attending your seminar, you might send a potential client a copy In practice, the sequences could be shorter – or much longer.
of a related article you've written one week. Maybe then a call And they are likely to continue well beyond the initial offer.
to see if they found it useful. Perhaps you follow that with a
guest invitation to a networking event you regularly attend which The key is that they deliberately develop a relationship in a
they might find useful. Maybe the next step is to post them sequence of small steps – rather than trying to jump
clippings of useful articles in their field. And then maybe a letter immediately from an initial meeting to a sales offer in one go.
or call to ask if they'd like to meet up to see how you could help Automation
them.
Smart business developers have always nurtured client
Both offline and online nurture funnels share three key relationships – whether formally planned, or just something they
characteristics: did naturally.
They're time independent. Whenever you make a new contact
you can start the sequence with them and it will work "on
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However, nurturing activities have traditionally been reserved for Semi-automation increases the efficiency of traditional lead
the very highest potential clients. It requires a big investment of nurturing and because of this allows you to do it for perhaps
time to do all these activities manually and tailored them to each double the number of potential clients as before.
specific client.
Full automation means that you can nurture almost all potential
Thanks to the internet, and the increasing capabilities of contact clients since it's happening automatically. Of course, you can only
management and CRM products, nurturing can now be do it when the client opts-in to the approach – so you need an
extended to even more clients. incentive for that. And it's not as effective for very high potential
clients as when you tailor your nurturing activities to the specific
Semi-automation – is where sequences of activities are
client.
automatically planned once a potential client is flagged in your
system. For example, a task to call the client or mail an article But it works. Surprisingly well.
will be sequenced and appear in the consultant's to-do-list a
Sophisticated clients realise it's a pre-planned automated
certain number of days after the client has been entered as a
sequence. But as long as each message is adding value and
new contact in the system. Some of the activities (usually emails)
building the relationship it works anyway. With email, somehow
may be done automatically by the system, while manual tasks
we forget. We read it and if it's well written, we respond like we
appear as to-do items for the relevant team member at the right
would to a human being.
time.
Some consultants have said to me "I don't want to send a
Full automation – is where the relationship begins online (for
standard sequence – I want to uniquely tailor and personalise it".
example when a potential client signs up for a free report) and a
sequence of emails is initiated via an autoresponder service.
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And that's great – a personally tailored interaction will have of the most critical areas of their business. Before they buy they'll
more impact than a standard sequence. need a high degree of confidence that their challenge is worth
addressing, that you understand it, that you know what you’re
But you can only personalise for a small number of potential
doing, and that they'll be able to work with you.
clients. So they'd better be your best ones.
That confidence won't come from the pushy tactics of the
The real choice for the remaining clients is not between a
typical salesperson.
standard sequence and personalised messages – it's between a
standard sequence and no messages at all. It will only come from a constructive dialogue with a
knowledgeable professional who puts the client's best interests
SELLING at heart.
Most consultants and coaches feel But that doesn't mean you need to become a "pushover". An
uncomfortable in sales situations. effective professional is a peer level partner to their client. And
And it's no wonder; the dominant that's the role you need to adopt when selling. You will need to
stereotype we have of salespeople set the agenda and challenge your client when needed.
is of aggressive extroverts. Pushy,
manipulative Ricky Roma types. Clients will make major judgements about what it will be like to
work with a consultant or coach based on their experience of
But that type of selling just doesn't work for consulting or them during the sales process. They want someone who will act
coaching services. You can't push or manipulate someone into as a trusted advisor and partner to them, and so you must
buying a highly expensive service which is likely to impact some behave in that way right from your initial meeting.
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In my experience, most consultants and coaches need to work Often the answer is not only Yes, but the consultant or coach
in three areas to improve their sales capabilities: often insists it would be their duty to point it out.
1. They must develop a positive mindset towards sales. "And if they didn't really understand, or see it as a big problem –
would you feel it was OK to discuss it with them and demonstrate to
2. They need to develop their “intelligent questioning” skills.
them how important it was?"
3. They need to grow the confidence and capability to close.
Again, they almost always say it would be their duty to do so.
DEVELOPING A POSITIVE MINDSET
"And if you knew someone who could help them fix that problem –
Many consultants and coaches view selling as manipulative, and would you see it as wrong or unethical to recommend that person?"
they're uncomfortable doing it.
"Of course not" is always the answer.
For them, a little mental exercise can help overcome this. I
"So why is it a problem if the person who can help them fix the
sometimes ask people who express this view to play a little
problem is you?"
game:
It's not an infallible method. And for consultants or coaches with
"Pretend for a moment you don't get paid for consulting. You're an
a deeply ingrained dislike for selling it takes a bit more to
expert in your area, but you make money some other way.
persuade them.
Let's say you meet a business person and you talk about his
business. If you spot an area where he could significantly improve his
business – would you feel OK highlighting it to him?"
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But a simple conversation like this can begin to get them thinking But questioning is about much more than finding out
about their attitude to selling and whether it's really helping information:
them.
‣ Smart questions which focus in on the key topics establish a
There are other negative attitudes to selling, of course. Some consultant's knowledge and credibility much more than any
view selling as somehow "beneath them". They worry about their claims or monologues could.
image as a professional and what others (including clients) will ‣ A question-based approach shows the client you are interested
think of them if they engage in sales activities. Others fear the in them and their issues. It shows you'll try to understand them,
inherent rejection that comes with sales. and develop solutions tailored to their needs rather than
shoehorn in canned answers. The number one complaint clients'
Some of these beliefs are harder to shift than others. But almost have of consultants and coaches is that they just don't listen to
always, it's possible to work with the consultant to help them them.
overcome their particular mindset issue.
‣ Asking good questions brings new insight to the client. It
INTELLIGENT QUESTIONING shouldn't feel like a grilling. They should come out of the
meeting with you inspired with new ideas and fresh thinking. In
Without doubt, the key to selling for consultants and coaches is essence, you're giving them a free sample of what it would be
questioning. like to work with you.
Through smart questions, the professional learns about the Perhaps the most important thing questioning does from a sales
client's problem or opportunity, is able to clarify the size of the perspective is motivate the client to buy.
issue, and finds out enough to propose a compelling solution to
the problem.
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For most consultants and coaches, their #1 competitor is not When you’re planning for a sales meeting (and yes, you must
another consulting firm. It's simply the client not doing anything, plan every sales meeting!) you need to develop a series of
or trying to muddle through themselves. questions to ask which will allow you and your potential client to
jointly discover:
Why do they do this? Because although they know they have a
problem or opportunity, they're not convinced it's big enough to ‣ The priority issues they have
warrant hiring an expensive consultant or coach to address it. ‣ The full business impact of those issues
Typically this happens because as soon as the professional hears ‣ What a potential solution might look like
the client talk about their problem or opportunity they jump
‣ The potential barriers to a solution
straight to the solution they can provide. It's an almost Pavlovian
reaction. Talking about their solutions, their methodologies and ‣ The reasons why they need you to help
their results is comfortable and safe ground for consultants and In addition, for larger, more complex sales, you need to ask
coaches. And it feels like they're adding value and demonstrating questions to help you understand how to navigate the client’s
their expertise. buying/decision-making process.
But if they do this before they've explored with the client the full GROW THE CONFIDENCE AND CAPABILITY TO CLOSE
scale of the impact of their problem or opportunity then the
Most salespeople try to close too early, too often, and too hard.
chances are that the client won't see just how big it is. And that
means they simply won't buy. They've read too many "27 Surefire Closing Secrets" type books
and have come to believe that by using clever language or
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manipulative methods and attempting to close at least 5 times in Effective closing is much more than something you tag at the
a call they can somehow win more business. end of a sales meeting. To close effectively at the end, you need
to make sure that through your whole sales discussion, the client
In fact, for anything other than small sales, trying to manipulate
is building confidence that their problem needs a solution
people into signing-up backfires. If people aren't yet convinced
urgently, that you understand them, that you know what you're
that they really need a product or service, and they're not sure
doing, and that they will be able to work with you.
that your particular one is right for them; then using closing
techniques like asking if they'd like delivery on Tuesday or I advise consultants and coaches to follow three-phase process
Thursday will push them further away. for closing:
The evidence on closing is clear. The optimum number of closes 1. Set the stage for a positive close through the whole sales
per meeting you should use is 1. process:
However, for consultants and coaches, the challenge is a different ‣ Confirming agreements through the discussion.
one. ‣ Addressing client concerns as they arise rather than
"steamrollering" through to the next point.
Where product salespeople try to close too often, most
consultants don't even attempt to close once. Some get so tied ‣ Ensuring you drill for impact – it's understanding the full
up in the client's business problems that the meeting overruns implications of the issue which will motivate the client to buy.
and they end weekly. Others feel that asking for the sale or next 2. Close first at the Concept level (i.e. first get agreement on
step would come across as pushy. Others simply don't know what the client wants to achieve):
what to say to progress to their target next step.
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‣ Summarising the client's priority needs, the impact of the issue process. And if there's an RFP or formal presentation stage you
and the outline of what they are looking for. won't close in the meeting. But the key phases leading up to that
‣ Reviewing your solution - what you propose to address their still apply.
needs and how it will deliver the outcomes they’re looking for.
At the end of the day, selling is simply building a relationship with
‣ Checking for any outstanding concerns – and addressing them. a potential client. It’s working with them to identify their
‣ Proposing the next step – usually to move on to agreeing the potential issues and challenges, to figure out the impact of those
practical details. challenges and whether it’s worth fixing them, and agreeing a
path forward together.
3. Then move on to Close at the Practical level (i.e. get
agreement on what you will do). This may need a second Relax, and treat it just as you would if you’d already been hired
meeting and some further work from you to prepare an and you were just figuring out how to best help them.
outline plan. But it's crucial that you and your potential client
work together to finalise the scope and plan.
‣ Jointly discussing and designing the approach to the project/

engagement – but remembering that you are the expert.
‣ Checking for any outstanding concerns – and addressing them.
‣ Proposing moving forward together.
Of course, that's a simplified representation – more complex

sales situations require a more complex, multi-stage sales
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The truth is that the first time you try out your new strategies
and tactics, some of it will work and some of it won't. And some
of it you just won't be able to tell for a good while.
In order to keep momentum and to adjust the approaches that

aren't working, you need to put in place the final piece of the
jigsaw – a robust management system.
MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS Like many things in the Client Breakthrough System, I advise
Right at the start – a whopping 30 or so pages ago – I said that simplicity.
the underlying issue for a great many consultants and coaches is Firstly, you need to create plans to implement any “startup”
the lack of a clear and rigorous system for developing new activities you need to do to get the system up and running.
business.
For Lead Generation, these might be to investigate high potential
So far, we've looked at the components of such a system. The networking events, or to create the material you need to do a
strategies and processes that will deliver a consistent stream of series of presentations or seminars. Or to update your website
new clients and sales for your business. and produce thought leadership for it.
The greatest trap you can fall into now is to treat this as a one- For Lead Nurturing you might need to review your recent
off exercise. To launch a programme, focus your approach, beef contacts and create a high potential prospect nurturing list. Or
up your lead generation, nurturing and sales – and then step to buy and set up an email marketing system.
back and expect it all to work.
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And for Selling, you may need to put thought into the structure ‣ Progress vs Lead Generation targets (e.g. how many sales
of a typical initial sales meeting and the questions you;re going to meetings have you booked?)
ask.
‣ Progress with Lead Nurturing (e.g. how many contacts did
Create actions plans for each startup task. Then do them. Don’t you make with your A/B/C clients and prospects - and
overcomplicate and aim to create perfection - just get some what was the outcome?)
basic processes up and running in each of the three areas.
‣ Progress with Sales (e.g. how many sales meetings did you
Once these plans are underway and you’re beginning to have? What was the outcome of the meetings? How much
implement your Lead Generation, Lead Nurturing and Selling business did you close?)
processes you need to move into steady state management.
‣ Identifying any shortfalls and gaps in your pipeline - do you
I recommend a simply weekly planning and review session, need more lead generation? Or to convert more leads
focusing on: into sales meetings?
1. Reviewing progress with your recent activities: 2. Planning for the upcoming week’s activities:
‣ Progress vs your action plans (e.g. have you developed ‣ What are the key Lead Generation activities you need to
your seminar material? Have you run as many seminars as perform?
planned? Did you get as many attendees as targeted? Was
‣ Looking at your A/B/C clients and prospects and planning
the feedback good?)
in activities to nurture the relationships.
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‣ Confirming timing of sales meetings and planning in

preparation time.
Rigorous implementation of this simple management system is

the key to the Client Breakthrough System. Even a weak initial
plan and faltering execution can be corrected by a good
management process.
But lacking that process, even the best start will come off the
rails.
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! !
Come back to it a day or so later and review again. This time

prioritise and highlight the areas you need to focus on.
Over the next few days I’ll be sending you a series of short
training videos going into some of the key areas in more detail.
If you follow the steps in this report and in the videos you'll be
up and running in a few weeks.
TIME FOR ACTION
And you should be able to see a significant difference in your
We've concentrated so far on strategising and planning. But now business within a few months.
you need to take action.
I promise you: implement this system and you will see results.
As consulting guru Alan Weiss is fond of saying:
If you want to go faster, or you need someone to coach you
"Imperfect action beats perfect conceptualisation." through setting up the system then I provide consulting and
Your first step is to go through the system step by step and take coaching services to help you and your business. You can read
notes. Print it out and don't be afraid to scribble ideas in the more on the next page.
relevant sections.
Then sleep on it.
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! !
WHO AM I, AND HOW CAN I HELP? And if you feel you need a little
more hands-on help
My name is Ian Brodie, and I specialise in helping consultants, implementing the ideas you’ve
coaches and other professionals to attract more clients and win read, then do get in touch. I
more new business. provide face to face and
telephone coaching services to
For the last 16 years, I’ve been working with some of the world’s
help consultants, coaches and
leading corporations to help them with their marketing and sales
other professionals get more
challenges. For the last 3 years I’ve focused exclusively on helping
clients - fast.
small and independent consultants, coaches and other
professionals. If you get in touch, we can have
a brief chat to see whether working together would be a good
I wrote the chapter on “Selling for Independent Professionals” in
fit. There’ll be no pressure, and no hard sell. Just an exploration
the recent Amazon bestseller Mastering the World of Selling
of your needs.
(published by John Wiley).
You can call me in the UK on 0161 408 0984, email
And my website at www.ianbrodie.com was recently named as
[email protected] - or click here for details of my services.
one of the Resources of the Decade for professional services
marketing and sales by Raintoday.com. Best of luck!
If you’ve enjoyed this report and found it useful - then please

drop me an email - it’s always great to get feedback.
P a g e 39

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www.clientbreakthrough.com Ian Brodie Questions? Feedback? Email me on [email protected]

www.clientbreakthrough.com Ian Brodie Questions? Feedback? Email me on [email protected]

www.clientbreakthrough.com Ian Brodie Questions? Feedback? Email me on [email protected]

So believe me, if you’re currently feeling uncomfortable or even

And partly the reason for creating the Client Breakthrough

CONTENTS 1. Who is this for? And why?

4. Business Development Strategy

5. Core Business Development Processes

8. Who am I, and how can I help?

THE CLIENT BREAKTHROUGH SYSTEM

2. Your value proposition to those clients.

This means identifying and targeting clients with a strong need

Without those elements, you’ll be “banging your head against a

So how do you find those hungry clients? The key is to know

Your clients primarily care about whether you’re bringing them

But in my experience, the most effective position you can take is

The output of your lead generation activities will usually be face

You need to select lead generation approaches that meet three

So for a balanced portfolio of approaches, you also need to put

Ability to Demonstrate Ability to Demonstrate

Existing Client Website

‣ Jointly discussing and designing the approach to the project/

‣ Checking for any outstanding concerns – and addressing them.

‣ Proposing moving forward together.

Of course, that's a simplified representation – more complex

In order to keep momentum and to adjust the approaches that

‣ Confirming timing of sales meetings and planning in

Rigorous implementation of this simple management system is

Come back to it a day or so later and review again. This time

Then sleep on it.

If you’ve enjoyed this report and found it useful - then please

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