3 Unexpected Ways To Get More Perfect Fit Clients

Last week I wrote an article on how to explore what makes your business different. I also posed a question: Once you clearly identify what makes you unique, how do you get more perfect-fit clients to naturally gravitate towards you without having to chase them?

Here are 3 unexpected ways to get more perfect-fit clients to come and eventually buy from YOU.

1) REALLY know your perfect-fit clients

Who are your perfect-fit clients? This question may seem obvious at first pass. When I ask this question, I usually get a few responses such as: “I like working with successful professionals,” or “I work with people from 30-65 who make over 100K,” or “I enjoy working with anyone I can help and who can afford my products.” Those answers are not very specific. Here is a way to identify specifics regarding your perfect-fit clients if you’ve been in business for at least 2 years, followed by a process for those under 2 years.

Over 2 years

Take an inventory of all the clients who purchased something from you over the past 2 years. Pick out your 5 top-paying clients. Ask yourself a series of questions:

• What specifics do they have in common? (For example: Gender? Industry? Personality? Income? Circumstances? Title or role within an organization? Physical location?)
• What specific needs, wants, hopes, and dreams, (that you or your service addressed) did they have in common?
• What specific products or services did they purchase, and what are the similarities?
• What did you enjoy about working with these individuals?
• What were the challenges of working with these clients?
• Would you eventually want at least 85% of your business comprised of clients just like these 5?

After you have gone through the questions, if you get to the last one and your answer is no, do some soul searching (and some sound market viability research) and figure out what you think your perfect-fit client should be.

Less than 2 years

For those of you who are less than 2 years in the business, now is the perfect time to start tracking these types of trends. I recommend narrowing your focus to working with 2 or 3 specific markets. (Again I cannot stress the importance of doing sound market research to help you choose which ones might be viable.) Review your clients in the same manner as above once a month. Give yourself a specific time frame (duration) within which you will collect your data before you ultimately decide which market makes the most sense for you to pursue. Pick a time frame that will be long enough to collect data that takes into consideration unexpected opportunities and setbacks, yet short enough to force a decision to prevent analysis paralysis. For some people it may be 3 months; for others more than a year makes sense. The point is for you to figure out whom you enjoy working with, market sustainability, and whether or not you could you make a good living if 85% of your clientele was comprised of these types of clients?

Now that you have identified your perfect-fit client, learn how to clearly describe them in a concise manner (because this is the ideal type of referral you want).

Use the formula “I work with (industry, position, gender, etc.) so they (the results of using your service or product).”

Here are a few examples from some of my clients:

– Disability Insurance Agent: “I work with doctors so they still get a paycheck if they break their hands.”

– Security firm: “I work with domestic trucking companies so they never have to worry about the bad guys.”

– Paycheck firm: “I work with GM’s so they don’t have to freak out when it’s time to do payroll.”

2) Be an expert, then eventually be THE expert

When my mentor (yes, that’s would be Will Turner) said, “When your loved one gets diagnosed with an unpronounceable brain disease, would you want them to get the best possible care?” I responded, “Of course!” “Even if you could barely afford it, wouldn’t you want to get them seen by someone who is an expert in their field?” “Without a doubt!,” I said.

It’s important to realize that the expert you’re looking for wasn’t always an expert. She worked very hard to become a doctor, and after many more years, she eventually became an expert in understanding the inner workings of the brain. How did she do it? She went through specialized training, took classes, and did her own research over the years. This was followed by being published, and maybe several speaking engagements, and she eventually developed a legitimate reputation for being THE expert in her field.

Imagine a physician who is GENERALIZED (think of a regular doctor you would go see for a checkup). This person has less specific training and is less well-known. Do you think he makes more or less money than the person who is an expert at, say, brain surgery?

Last and very important question: Would it be relatively EASY if you did a little market research and asked around to FIND that expert brain surgeon, and possibly even arrange to speak with her?

Isn’t that what you want in YOUR profession? To be known as THE expert that everyone wants to see?  It starts with choosing where you would like to specialize, then developing expertise in that field by reading, researching, training, and taking classes. After a while you may go from being one in a thousand people who do what you do, to being just one in a hundred. As you develop more specialized skills and gain notoriety through writing and presenting, you become one of a handful. When that happens, you have transitioned from being AN expert to THE expert. It doesn’t happen overnight; it happens with a lot of hard work, focus and effort.

What can you do to become an expert in what YOU do? What classes can you take, what books can you read, what can you start researching, what can you start writing about, what can you make a video about, what can you start speaking about? How can people start to learn that YOU are becoming an expert at what you do? Because who DOESN’T want to work with the expert?

3) You have to TURN AWAY business to get the right business to come to you

WHAT??!? That’s right! I said turn away business. If you’re focusing on finding and working with perfect-fit clients, you have to decide who you WON’T work with as well. Now I’m not suggesting when you’re first starting off that you don’t eat! I’m saying once you have enough financial leeway to do so, start being selective and figure out who IS NOT a good fit client. One way that helps is creating a screening process.

How many times have you taken on a client who wasn’t a good fit? What was the PITA* tax for making that decision? (*Pain In The Ass) Despite doing all that you could, did you give them the results they were looking for? Probably not. So what do you do when you’re faced with such a client, and you make the decision to not work with them? Where will they go after your conversation? The better question might be: Where can you send them?

Let’s explore this question.

If you take the time to really get to know this person through a detailed screening process, you might come to the conclusion this person was not the best the best fit for you. What if your next thought is: “But I know who is perfect for them.” A few things just happened:

• The prospective client feels you are truly acting in their best interest by NOT taking their money.
• The prospective client is now a raving fan even though they bought NOTHING from you.
• The associate to whom you’ve referred the prospective client thinks you’re AWESOME and is more likely to RETURN the favor!!!

It all starts with asking yourself 2 simple questions with EVERY potential prospect:

#1 How can I help this person?

#2 Who is the right fit to help this person EVEN if it is not me?

#2 is called creating a strategic alliance network. Get to know other people in the community who do what you do. (OMG! competitors!) (Yes, but they don’t have to be your competitors for long.) Hand-select people you enjoy working with, who have integrity, and are becoming experts themselves. For example, I work with several coaches. Some are life coaches, others are wellness coaches, and some are business coaches. One coach specializes in coaching women through life transitions, another specializes in helping small business owners with their speaking presentations. Those are things I DO NOT do well. Luckily, I have relationships with a wide variety of coaches, social workers and therapists, so there’s always an associate to whom I can refer a poorly-matched client. Even if someone is looking for my particular services, if I sense I wouldn’t enjoy working with them based on a potential personality clash, there are other coaches in my personal network who do what I do and I would refer that prospect out. Over time, I have developed these alliances as far south as Florida!

Sometimes these relationships are a two-way street. I give a referral to a strategic alliance and eventually I get a referral in return because my strategic alliance knows EXACTLY my perfect-fit client and I know theirs. Sometimes I know not to expect a client in return, and that’s ok. (In some professions due to regulation, it can be unethical and illegal to formalize an exclusive referral association.) If, however, a strategic alliance relationship becomes extremely one-sided, you can always have a conversation with that individual and figure out how that person might better help you, or you can choose to find another strategic alliance.

By creating my own strategic alliance network, a full 80% of my clientele come from these referral sources. To show you the eventual power of this way of networking, Will Turner has a 95% close rate because the prospects sent to him already know he is an expert and they know what he charges because 100% of his referrals come from his strategic alliance networks…and who doesn’t want that?

Three things to remember if you want more perfect-fit clients to come to you: Figure out who they really are. Work very hard at developing your expertise, and strive to become an expert. Lastly, develop strategic alliances within your community — (don’t forget virtually as well) — even if you initially perceive them to be a competitor.  Over time the phone will start ringing for YOU and the person on the other end is the kind of person you love: A perfect-fit client.