~by Haley Lynn Gray~
Most of my clients want one thing: more clients or customers. They feel like they don’t have enough clients or customers in their businesses, and I certainly know how they feel, having been in their shoes myself. I’ve had to learn a few lessons the hard way on my journey to getting more clients in my businesses.
1. Not following up
This one has killed me on more than one occasion. You make the first or second call, but when the person you’re calling isn’t immediately interested, you drop off and go elsewhere, and then, just maybe, you don’t bother to follow up with that client or prospect anymore. That’s great if you already have clients beating down your door, but that’s not the case for most businesses. It’s a pain to follow up with people when it feels like they’re never going to buy from you, and some percentage of people may never buy. I guarantee that you will get lots of clients this way, though, since 50% of all customers close after the fifth contact.
2. Not delivering a consistent message
It can be really tough in business to deliver a consistent message over the course of time, but it’s absolutely imperative that you do this. Maybe you try something for a couple of months, and if it seems that it’s not working, you try something else. I understand that putting your efforts into something that doesn’t work is no good, and that you should bag things that aren’t working, but if you change your business and your messaging every 3 months, no-one will know what you do. The other piece of the consistent message is that you need to use the same themes and colors, and the same kinds of words in your message to be consistent all the way through. Tell the same story over and over until you’re blue in the face so that people will remember it. Strangely enough, it may feel that you have said the same thing 300 times, and that people should remember by now. But really, people have the attention span of goldfish, and really aren’t paying that much attention to you. So keep repeating that message until they get it.
3. Not putting yourself out there
Women in particular don’t want to put themselves out there for fear of appearing pushy or obnoxious. So they don’t put themselves out there and tell people about their businesses. They lurk in the shadows, hoping that someone will notice them and do business with them. Only, it doesn’t work that way. You have to tell people about your business in order for them to be willing to do business with you.
4. Not putting the work in
I had a client at one point who spent an entire week organizing her desk. That’s a lovely thing to do, but unfortunately, it’s not going out and getting clients for your business. Think about it this way, if you don’t do the work, you’re not going to have the business. I’m not saying that you need to work a million hours a week, but if this is your job, you need to put in the time and put consistent effort into it. Stop finding reasons to avoid working.
5. Getting distracted
I’ve heard the saying too many times “It’s not that I have ADHD – Oh look, a squirrel!”. The reality is that when you’re working on business, you need to first be focusing on getting clients and keeping them happy. If you don’t have clients, you don’t have a business. Learn to focus on the things that are the most important for your business and that you most need to do, which will involve getting clients. Setting up the next beautiful process isn’t going to do that for you. Avoid shiny object syndrome and focus on the things that you have to do in your business to bring in clients, and you will do well.
There are lots more mistakes that I see, but these are the big ones that I see most often.
What about you? What are the most common mistakes you see in business?
Meet the Author: Haley Lynn Gray
Haley helps female entrepreneurs create a strategy plan for their businesses – so they can make enough money to spend quality time with their family, pay for their children’s dance lessons, pay bills – and not worry about where the next client is coming from.
Haley is a serial entrepreneur and founder of Leadership Girl. She helps other entrepreneurs build their businesses by sharing the benefits of her business education and experience through Business Coaching.
Whether you want to get a new business off the ground or expand an existing business, Haley can assist you.
Connect with Haley:
- Work with Haley
- Facebook Page: @Leadershipgirl
- LinkedIn: Haley Lynn (Wilson) Gray
