3 Ways to Make Sure Potential Clients Know You Exist While You Learn Even More About Them
Every week I drive my daughter Parker to ballet. As soon as I enter the parking structure, I see the right lane for “car wash clients only.” Every week I think, “Hmmmm, should I have them clean the car?” I am confident that soon I will turn right instead of driving straight, pull in for a car wash, and become one of their repeat clients.
I love this set up. The car wash people know that you have time on your hands, you will literally bring your car here no matter what, and they know they will probably have a good hour to clean, wax, vacuum, and detail your car. Talk about being exactly where your customers are. Given the demographics of the neighborhood and the retailers at the center where the dance school is, they can reasonably sense that a portion of the folks driving in — primarily families with younger children — are too busy to bother to wash their own car and have messy vehicles to boot. Not to mention, I see many luxury vehicles in addition to midrange Volkswagens like I drive, hinting at available disposable income .
I understand that you may not set up shop in a hospital if your target audience is nurses or doctors; however, it may not be the worst idea since they are time-crunched and could easily stop by for advice if you were on site. I do have a longtime 1:1 coaching client who does just this — part of her value proposition is on-site financial planning for the type of firm she serves. While not all of her business is conducted in her clients’ offices, she distinguishes herself with this service.
In lieu of a physical presence, you do have options through social media and other online outlets to show up where your clients are:
- Identify 4-5 blogs that have the same target audience that you have. Read the posts regularly, comment on the content, share the content, review the comments and see what your audience cares about.
- Find and follow 20 Facebook pages of influencers to your target audience. Read the comments, see what’s “liked.” Join in. Here you will uncover more of the lifestyle and day-to-day concerns and aspirations that are trending with your clientele.
- Join LinkedIn Groups of your audience. This does not mean solicit business from the members — it means listen to the conversation and add value. Share your knowledge with intent to help the person, not sell them. Comment on your fellow group members posts, share, and like. Be sure to acknowledge milestones like promotions and anniversaries. All of this can be done through the LinkedIn Groups app.
Are you showing up where you ideal customers are? How do you add value in the conversation? What other places do you recommend for advisors to participate?
Kristin is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional. Managing her own firm, she grew it from zero to six figures in less than three years, completely from scratch. In 2014 Kristin transitioned full time into training and coaching, where she now helps independent financial advisors to grow their firms.
Follow-up note: My husband took Parker to dance this week. He had not seen my blog post and he says to me, “Oh! I got the car washed! Right at ballet. It was $20 more (than the standalone place where you have to drop off the car) and worth it!”