How to Be a Great Resource to Your Clients

As you build your consulting practice you’ll constantly be looking for ways to stand out from the crowd.

A powerful approach that can help you is to become a resource to your clients. To become a resource you’ll need to expand your circle of influence, education and investment in the market you want to be known in.

Now imagine how your clients will feel and think about you when they know that you are the go-to person? That’s right, you’ll be their resource and trusted advisor.

The benefits of becoming a resource are:

• You are the first one clients go to for help and advice
• Your clients refer you to others more often
• You get asked to speak at events
• People want you to write for their publications
• Your name becomes associated with your specialization

The benefits of this are clear. Your business will grow and you’ll make more money. So how can you achieve this?

You can become a resource in several ways:

• Read the latest industry news and publications
• Share the most relevant information with your clients
• Attend networking events in your industry
• Write articles for print and online publications
• Keep a blog that you write for consistently
• Connect and get to know other professionals in the industry

The last point is more powerful than most people think. To truly become a resource for your consulting clients, you’ll want to reach out, connect and get to know other professionals that serve your clients marketplace.

I’m not talking about competition. Though there are benefits to that as well. You should think about all the services and products that your clients use that are relevant to their industry.

Getting Detailed

For example, if you’re serving the boating industry (a boat inspection consultant) you’ll want to connect with mechanics, manufacturers, sales reps, designers, retail stores, marinas, and so on.

Why? Because if you’re connected with all of these people and know how their businesses work you’ll be in a much stronger position to make recommendations to your clients. When they need help in one of these other areas that you don’t cater to, you can put them in touch with the right people.

Now imagine how your clients will feel and think about you when they know that you are the go-to person? That’s right, you’ll be their resource and trusted advisor.

More Benefits

If that wasn’t reason enough…if you’re a boat inspection consultant and are well connected with others in the industry that you serve, who do you think all of those other professionals will refer and mention when one of their clients’ needs their boat inspected? That’s right, you!

The benefits that come with being a resource are huge.

Questions

What can you do to become a resource in your industry?

Who should you connect with right away to benefit your clients and your business?