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The Secret To Consultant Marketing

This article is more than 3 years old.

Do you think business development for a consultant is an expense or an investment? Your answer can have huge ramifications for attracting high-paying clients.

Many people, including your competitors, try to spend as little as possible on their marketing because they view it as an expense.

But a little arithmetic might change your mind.

“When you shift your mindset to seeing it as an investment you open up a new world of possibilities,” says Michael Zipursky.

Zipursky is the CEO of Consulting Success and author of the book ACT NOW. He has advised organizations like Financial Times, Dow Jones, RBC, and helped Panasonic launch new products into global markets, but more importantly, he’s helped over 450 consultants from around the world in over 75 industries add 6 and 7 figures to their annual revenues.

“You can invest into more and better marketing, find new ways to create and deliver value for your ideal clients and create an experience that they want to be part of,” says Zipursky. “In a study we did we found that people who invest more into their marketing have higher revenue and incomes than those that spend less on marketing.”

Does the thought of spending thousands of dollars on marketing excite you?

“If you're like most business owners, you shudder at the thought of spending anything on marketing,” says Zipursky “However, this mindset is holding you back from attracting high-value clients, creating an advantage over your competition—and ultimately, winning more business.”

The problem is that you're treating marketing like an expense instead of an investment. 

“The best way to change your mindset is to understand your Customer Lifetime Value (CLV),” says Zipursky.

Here's a three-step exercise to figure out your CLV:

Step one. Calculate how much does a client spend with you on an average engagement/project. Example: Your clients pay you $5,000 on a monthly retainer. 

Step two. Determine how long your clients typically work with you. Example: You typically work with clients for 18 months. 

Step three. Multiply your average engagement value by the amount of time you work with your client. Example: $5,000 x 18 = $90,000.

Over their lifetime, clients like this are worth $90,000 to your business. That's your CLV. 

If you don't charge a monthly fee, then use the average price of your project. Then, multiply it by how many times the client invests that amount to work with you over a 24-month period, or longer if they typically stay longer.

The next calculation is to determine how much you are currently spending on marketing or business development. Be honest, don’t include those expenses you hide in marketing like client entertainment and tickets to sporting events.

Marketing is what you do to get the attention and interest of your ideal clients so they want to have a conversation with you. 

“If you know that your CLV is $90,000 how much are you open to investing to attract and win a new client?” asks Zipursky. The key work is invest. “Stop looking at your marketing as an expense.” 

How much are you currently putting towards your marketing? Knowing your CLV puts in perspective how much you can actually invest in your marketing.

Most people hesitate to spend on marketing. But when you’re clear on your CLV you’ll not only feel more confident, but excited to invest 5%, 10%, even 15% or more into building a robust pipeline of qualified prospects.

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