The Action Plan Marketing Model5 min read
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When we think about marketing our professional services, we usually think about all the things we need to DO to get clients.
But that is usually very limited because marketing has numerous components and also processes. Plus, marketing has outer and inner aspects.
To be successful at marketing, we need to take all of these into account.
The Action Plan Marketing Model above attempts to capture all of these. It’s quite simple, but has infinite depth.
Let’s start at the very center of the model with FOCUS. Ultimately, the focus of every business is helping clients and customers get what they want and need.
The focus needs to be on service and effectively filling those wants and needs.
What exactly is your business Focus?
The three aspects of the Green Triangle represent the qualities necessary to realize that Focus.
The base of the triangle is INTEGRITY. Integrity is the state of being whole and undivided.
This means that your marketing is a true reflection of what your business is all about.
What do you stand for and how do you deliver it?
The left side of the triangle is VALUE. Value is what your clients are looking for, and your job is to both communicate and deliver that value.
Value always addresses the eternal question: “What’s in it for me?”
What can your clients expect and what will they actually get if they work with you?
The right side of the triangle is HEART. And, of course, heart means loving every aspect of your business.
When you love everything in your business, your experience of working in your business is one of joy and fulfillment.
What will it take to love your business?
FOCUS. INTEGRITY. VALUE. HEART.
“What is my true FOCUS? What does my business stand for? Is it expressing that stand? Is it making a difference? Is it brining joy?”
These are questions to reflect and meditate upon. There is no one right answer for each.
But those questions will lead you to the answers.
The Red Pentagon represents the activities and process of marketing your business.
Each is a separate activity and they all fit together into one seamless process. We start with…
MESSAGE. This is the simple, clear, and powerful articulation of what your business stands for and delivers.
The best messages communicate the measurable and important Outcomes your clients are looking to achieve.
So, a great marketing message both tells what you do, who you do it for, what the client gets, and the spirit in which all of that occurs.
My message is the following:
“I help self-employed B-2-B Professionals attract more of their ideal, high-end clients with passion and fun.”
Can you articulate your marketing message so clearly?
Give it a try!
H.E.O.B. Stands for a High-End, Outcome-Based program or service. This is the actual thing your clients engage in with you.
They engage in being consulted, coached, and trained.
And that consulting, coaching, and training has a definite form, duration, interactions, work, and intended outcomes.
Ultimately, as B-2-B professionals, you help businesses of all kinds, shapes and sizes do better.
You help your clients make more profits, be more productive, attract more business, and make a bigger difference.
You also may help your clients experience their business as more fulfilling, rewarding, and satisfying (for themselves and all those connected to their business).
My H.E.O.B. program is the Marketing Action Group, an intensive 9-month consulting/coaching/training program on how to attract more ideal, high-end clients.
What is your H.E.O.B.?
Think about it deeply. With work and time, it will emerge and take form.
CONNECT means connecting and communicating with prospective clients for your service.
Obviously, there are endless ways to do this.
The question is, “what are the best, most effective ways to connect and communicate with my prospective clients?”
Social media? In-person networking? Advertising? Skywriting? Email?
In 1997 I discovered the power and ease of using email to connect and communicate with prospective clients.
Nothing has worked better for me. It gets a lot of response for virtually zero expense and minimal time.
I’ve communicated to those on this list, that is YOU, for 24 years – once a week, like clockwork.
And ALL my clients come from my list.
My list started with 50 people who had heard of me, met me, heard me speak, or worked with me.
And I simply share ideas for attracting clients that have worked for me and my clients.
That’s how I CONNECT.
What are you doing to connect? What are you willing to try?
EXPERIENCE means giving prospective clients a taste of your business – a taste of your program or service.
Everyone wants a test drive, a sample, an experience of what your program or service (H.E.O.B.) is all about.
This can be a presentation, a demonstration, a keynote, a workshop, a clinic, a class, or a webinar.
The best experiences are live and interactive.
You want your prospective clients to get a deep sense of what you are offering as well as who you are.
Marketing Experiences are all about “What you see is what you get.”
For years I’ve been giving talks, teleconferences, and webinars.
That’s how I deliver EXPERIENCES.
What can you do to give an experience to your prospective clients?
Who needs a taste of what you do?
CONVERT means turning a prospective client into a paying client.
You convert a prospect, not by manipulation, but by first connecting, communicating, meeting, and offering experiences.
Then, at the right time, you have a conversation to explore whether or not what you are offering is right for your prospect.
Conversations work so much better than what we think of as selling.
Selling connotes pressure to buy something people don’t want.
A conversation is simply an exploration of possibilities.
I never tell a prospective client they should sign up for my program.
I simply ask them how they might benefit from participating.
That’s how I ultimately CONVERT prospects into clients.
What is your conversion process? Could it be easier and more effective?
Well, that’s the whole Action Plan Marketing Model.
The Inner aspects of marketing: Focus, Integrity, Value, and Heart.
The outer aspects of marketing: Message, H.E.O.B., Connect, Experience, and Convert.
Print this out NOW. Read it a few times. Let it sink in.
This Action Plan Marketing Model is your blueprint to develop an effective, holistic approach to attracting your ideal, high-end clients.
Cheers, Robert
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