Are You Playing Checkers or Chess?

When you think about how to attract more clients for your professional services, are you playing checkers or chess?

You're playing checkers when you...

* Attend a networking event and expect it to generate business

* Invest thousands of dollars in direct mail and expect prospects to eagerly call about your services

* Treat your vendors poorly by not paying them on time or not communicating with them in a timely manner

* Misunderstand the differences between advertising, PR, and promotion - and what they can and cannot do for your professional service firm

* Underestimate how important it is for your to address your clients' PERCEIVED need (i.e., what THEY think they need) vs. what you know they need

You're playing chess when you...

* Understand that there are right clients and wrong clients for your firm, based on where you want your firm to be in one year, two years, five years - and that your definition of "right" will change over time

* Consider what the right kinds of clients look like for your firm and then carefully develop a roadmap for all marketing activities that align with your definition of "right"

* Use a combination of carefully crafted "touches" to move prospects through your relationship pipeline from Stranger, to Acquaintance, to Friend, to Lover, to Loyal Partner. Are looking six moves ahead, instead of at the next move. Whether it's developing your website, deciding what committees or networking groups to join, if you should invest in a particular piece of marketing collateral, or where to publish your next article...chess players see the connections between today's marketing decisions and their impact months and years ahead.For a game plan to avoid checkmate, try these things:

* Consider where you want to be in 6 months, 12 months, 18 months and 36 months. Identify the big steps to get you there. I organize my actions by "theme of the month." For example, within 6 months, I want to be well into developing an online platform to launch subscription-based marketing tools. So January and February are Research Months. I'm attending two related conferences to quickly assess the latest approaches, make some good contacts, and scope the competition.

* Your time is precious, so why squander it on marketing activities that don't fill your pipeline with the right kinds of prospects? Decide how or if to invest time in a particular action (networking, developing a brochure, sending thank-you notes, writing a newsletter, giving a talk) based on how it aligns with attracting attention from the right kinds of prospects. I've recently joined a Steering Committee because, in addition to loving the cause it supports, I'll be exposed in a leadership capacity to my target audience.

* When following up after an initial contact or introduction, you're nowhere near making the sale. The game is just beginning. Make your goal one of learning more about the other person's condition so they feel comfortable you're tuned into their needs. Moving from Stranger to Acquaintance to Friend to Lover takes several "touches," including telephone conversation(s), face-to-face meeting(s), email, sending them to your website to dig around (because you've stocked it full of valuable freebies), seeing you in action as a speaker, or reading about you in the press. Put a predictable system of "touches" in place and run everyone through it.

* Set a huge, "unattainable" goal and then connect the dots to reach it. In 2005, I have my eye on penetrating specific major organizations and creating partnerships for national distribution of my marketing education programs. I'm envisioning what these relationships look like in the end and am taking much smaller, practical, "doable" steps now to get there. These include attending conferences where I can meet key contacts that I've already identified (and where I'll get the lay of the land to speak at next time), putting the wheels in motion for a series of books (the ultimate business card!) to build credibility and exposure, experimenting with local prototypes (where the sales cycle is shorter and there's not a lot of expensive travel involved to make the sale), and building a solid relationship slowly with VIPs before jumping the gun.

Ready to play chess? Your move!

(c) 2004 TurningPointe Marketing, Inc. All rights reserved.
Marketing educator, Kelly O'Brien, is creator of the "Create a
TurningPointe!" Marketing Bootcamp. To learn more about this step-by-step
program, and to sign up for FREE how-to articles and 20-page marketing
guide, visit http://www.turningpointemarketing.com

---

Direct Mail Marketing Generates Sales Leads: Heres How

1. Personal Unlike an advertisement in a trade publication, which... Read More

Dont Think Like A Package Designer - Think Like A Customer

Some of the most successful package introductions have come from... Read More

How to Market and Protect Your New Ideas

The intellectual property transfer market is now estimated to be... Read More

How to Add Warmth, Color & Texture to Your Advertisements

"?A powerful agent is the right word?" --Mark TwainAnd what... Read More

Fundamental Strategic Marketing Mistakes to Avoid

This is a pretty tough global economy and it is... Read More

Eleven Reasons Donors Stop Responding To Fundraising Letter Appeals

Donors will stop responding to your fundraising letter appeals for... Read More

Key Marketing Strategy - You Need To Stay Visible!

If you want to get consistent results from your marketing,... Read More

Marketing: Can I Trust You?

We live in an unprecedented era of communication. Because of... Read More

5 Tips to Help You Identify WHO To Market To

If you have your own small business, it's important to... Read More

Getting Personal ? Innovative Marketing for Small Business Owners

The small business marketing strategy you can't afford to miss... Read More

Business Cards and Business Etiquette

One of the very basic conditions of being a successful... Read More

Unique Selling Proposition - Your Competitive Advantage!

To capture a larger market share and be viable, sustainable... Read More

How to Avoid Giving Away Free Consulting

After spending 30 minutes in a coffee shop with a... Read More

How to Critique Your Own Yellow Page Ad

Forget what you know about your business Your goal is... Read More

Service Marketing - A Relationship Building Approach

Can we imagine a place in the world today without... Read More

How to Take Your Law Firm to the Next Level

How to Take Your Law Firm to the Next Level... Read More

The Mighty Marketing Brochure

"Brochure" is French, and it comes from brocher, meaning to... Read More

Why Do They Buy?

A recent issue of Entrepreneur magazine included a marketing story... Read More

Beyond Repair: The Fixed-price Model

Don't get me wrong. I certainly don't think the majority... Read More

The Marketing Secret Every Child Knows

Little Kids Ask Until They Get What They Want.Mom, Mom,... Read More

What Our CAT Taught Me About Marketing!

Toby is one of our two family pets (both cats).... Read More

Doing it with Class!

Doctors do it, hair dressers do it, and salespeople can... Read More

The Importance of Interpersonal Communcation Skills

Interpersonal Communications is the transmission of information from one person... Read More

Promotions That Build Profit

Promotions are everything you do to let your customers know... Read More

The Value of a Good Sales Letter!

Regardless of how many forms of promotional material you create,... Read More

Business Cards That do the Business

A business card makes a statement about who you are... Read More

Marketing - The One Marketeer

I'm regularly asked to speak to people, that have either... Read More

Networking the Media

The media is a business's absolute best friend. It is... Read More

Boost Your Business With Testimonials

When used correctly, testimonials can boost your response dramatically. They... Read More

Youre Halfway There!...Or Not Part 2

Now that you have had a chance to create a... Read More

Marketing Mimics Life

Clichés. We've all heard them...and hear some of them so... Read More

Connect to Your Customers with Superb Sales Letters

In the age of e-newsletters and e-mail, you may not... Read More

How to Win a Price War

Any economics student can tell you that price is a... Read More