How do you go from marketing to a deal?
It has a lot to do with the speed and degree with which you build trust.
Lou, an estate attorney in solo practice, has always gotten most of his business through referrals. When Lou gets a referral, he finds it fairly easy to convert that prospect into a paying client, even though selling is not his strong suit.
Why?
Because when someone refers a potential client to Lou, there is already a lot of trust built in, and that trust is automatically passed along from the referrer to Lou, just by suggesting that they work with him. In effect, the deal is almost closed before they even meet Lou, often, all he has to do is not blow it when they meet.
In the book “Professional Services Marketing” Mike Schultz & John Doerr point out that there is a only a small gap between the amount of trust a referral brings with it, and the amount of trust needed to win a sale from a referral. In contrast, a much larger trust gap exists when trying to win a sale from a cold call. But referrals are not the only strategy that brings with it a significant amount of trust, “strong marketing” does as well.
In marketing professional services, strong marketing starts by understanding your ideal clients and their problems really well. Identifying your competition, and pinpointing what makes your services different and better. Positioning your firm as experts in your field. Creating a strong value proposition. Developing a compelling message and getting that message out to your ideal prospects on a consistent basis to generate leads that act like referrals.
Susan Martin, Marketing Coach
