3 Simple Steps to Get Clients to Call You

As a self-employed professional or small business owner, defining your niche makes acquiring clients much easier. You can position yourself to attract clients, and have a clearer idea of how to target them. It makes it easier to identify the places where your marketing will have the greatest effect. Clarifying this also help you to explain to your contacts and associates what kinds of referrals you’d like to receive from them.

It’s impossible to please everyone, and trying to is guaranteed to fail. By having a clearly defined position, you gain a better understanding of what types of benefits you can provide to your clients. You’ll be able to directly target their unique needs, explaining how you can solve their problems and make their lives easier. By knowing your niche, you can position yourself as your prospective clients’ ideal solution.

Once you define your niche, you no longer have to waste your marketing effort on less than ideal clients who are not likely to work with you in the first place. You’ll narrow the field of who you’re marketing to, which will translate into much larger returns on the time and money you invest in marketing.

Most importantly, when you know your niche, you can present yourself as the expert in your field. Clients benefit by working with you, and most are willing to pay more for your services. Such expertise gives you the opportunity to make more income.

Once your niche is identified it’s time to look outwards, towards your potential clients. The goal is to figure out what results your clients will achieve by working with you. In other words, you must define for clients the benefits of working with you.

When working with my clients, I find that many of them are unclear on the distinction between benefits and features. If you want to draw clients, talking about the features of your business may be wasting their valuable time. In most cases, your features are irrelevant to your client’s needs and struggles. On the other hand, if you can send a clear message about the benefits of your business, potential clients are more likely to say, “Let’s work together!” Clients pay for benefits, not features.

When I talk about features, I mean attributes of your company. These include general statements about your product or service, or factors such as how you work, the size of your company, and so forth.

In contrast, benefits are what your clients gain out of working with you, or buying from you. Anything that answers the all-important question: “What do I get out of it?” is a benefit for your client.

For example, with regard to my own business, here are some features and benefits.

By defining your niche and the benefits of working with you, identifying your target market becomes simple. Your target market comprises the people who need, want, and can pay for the products or services you offer. They’re the people who are most likely to do business with you. Your ideal clients are a segment of your target market.

Some of my newer clients have a misconception about marketing: they mistakenly believe that they should be marketing to the whole world. In some cases, they need business so badly that they pull out all the stops and forget to target their marketing. Unfortunately, they end up wasting a lot of time and money marketing to so-called “potential clients” who would never be interested in their products in the first place.

When you identify your target market, it makes it easier to focus your energies on the people who are likely to do business with you. This way, you spend less time with the “tire-kickers”—that is, people who ultimately have no interest in buying from you.

It’s like fishing. Any angler will tell you that you have to know what kind of fish you want to catch. There’s no such thing as an all-purpose net. You have to specialize. Know what type of catch you’re going for, and use the tactics that are best for that specific type. If you’re unsure who you’re targeting, your marketing will be ineffective.

On the other hand, if you know exactly who you want to target, it becomes that much easier to customize your marketing message. This helps you to create a message that’s clear enough to draw your ideal clients toward you. It addresses their unique concerns, and let them know that you can give them exactly what they want and need.

Here are a few additional benefits to knowing your target market:

A critical step in my formula for getting clients, building business, and making more income, is knowing what you want from your business. Knowing your target market is part of this. When you have a good feel for your market, it makes it much easier to know what you want, which makes growing your business and earning income so much easier.

When you identify your target market, it’s possible for you to make projections relating to your business. You can take current events and market trends into account, and change course when necessary. In coaching, for instance, I look at economic news to determine what mood my ideal clients are likely to be in.

All of this lets you create a stronger relationship with your target market, which gives you the ability to increase your Know, Like, and Trust Factor. When you’re aware of who your clients are, you can build a good relationship with them and meet them in a mutually respectful and trusting place. Think about it: If you didn’t know anything about your target market, how could you possibly meet their needs?

Finally, by knowing your target market, you’ll be able to figure out whether it’s economically viable. Can your business thrive by catering to this market? If the answer is no, you can reevaluate your niche and adjust your business.

Know your potential clients. You’ll build relationships with them, and gain an essential insight into what they want and need. It’s an important step in the success of your business.