I run a management consulting business specializing in a very small discrete industry segment. We have had extremely good results through me personally visiting the CEOs or other senior executives. However, although I believe it is important for me to meet with these prospective clients early in the sales cycle, it is proving too time consuming a process to continue to employ for lead generation. I would therefore like to implement an alternative system that will assist me to make better use of my time. Because of the small size and professional nature of both the target market segment and our services I believe traditional advertising or direct mail may detract from our quality image. Are you able to assist with any suggestions?
Lead generation is where your clients and customers are first exposed to your business. In lead generation you are attracting attention, creating impressions, and setting the tone for your relationship with your customers. Hopefully, your efforts are met by a response from your target market. The response? The SALE!!! Now, to get to the sale, much thought and work needs to go into selecting the appropriate methods to attract your target market, which is accomplished through channel selection. Lead generation channels are the means through which you disseminate your message (e.g. print advertising, radio, direct mail, etc.). Once you have carefully chosen the appropriate channels, you need to leave a strong, lasting, positive impression through your messaging. This is no small task and must be taken very seriously. Poor channel selection could result in your target market never being exposed to your carefully crafted message.
Channels answer the critical question of how you are going to get your messages to your target market. Carefully consider what vehicles you are using now, and why. Are you using the Internet? Newspapers? Yellow pages? Face-to-face? And, have you been quantifying the results that have been achieved through each of your channels? From your question, I gather that you’ve done some preliminary quantification of the results that you’ve achieved through face-to-face interaction. But, are your really sure that your target market responds best to face-to-face interaction in order to make a purchase decision? If your efforts prove to support your theory, you must bust through the assumption that it’s you that your target market wants; otherwise you are building a people dependent business as opposed to a systems dependent business. The most important task you can do now is to review what channels you are currently using and decipher which channels are giving you the best results for the least amount of cost. Then and only then can you begin to create a plan and strategy for how and when you will use these channels to drive your sales.
There are literally thousands of lead generation channels to choose from; with new ones popping up all the time. By using a systematic approach you can choose channels that will yield the greatest response. It is vitally important that you choose channels that reach the largest amount of individuals in your target market at a cost that can be justified. Face-to-face contact, as you are currently using it in your business, is a one-to-one relationship. Frequently, one-to-many relationships are a more efficient use of your lead generation resources. Have you considered using sales seminars in your lead generation process? This might be something worth exploring...
Once you are reaching your target market you must be sure that you are using a channel that is attractive to them. You are correct in thinking that you must use a channel that will be attractive and respected by your target market this is powerful strategic thinking that will drive your business to success. The image that you are trying to portray could get lost through channels that are not reaching, or respected by, your target market. This could result in precious time and money lost. Determine your positioning in the market, based primarily on customer preference, and stay true to who and what you want the business to represent. Another determining factor in choosing lucrative channels is cost. You must determine the cost of the channel by two benchmarks: efficiency and effectiveness. Hand in hand with cost is the frequency that someone in your target market is exposed to your message. How often do they come into contact with this channel? This is another way you can justify cost. Determining the strongest channel will allow your carefully crafted message to be heard and seen the way you had intended it to, by the people most interested in hearing it.
After finding your most beneficial channels, you now need to create a message that will be magnetic; that will draw people to you through carefully chosen words, images, and sensory elements. What is it about what you’re saying that draws your client to your business? What are you saying? What is your sensory package? Keep in mind that your message is conveyed in ways other than the words you use. As you stated, face-to-face interaction is your strongest channel at the moment, so as important as it is to craft a magnetizing message, it is equally important to pay attention to the appearance of that channel as the message is being delivered. What is the sensory impact of the channel your message is being delivered in? What are you wearing? How do you smell? What is so impactful about you and your appearance?
After you discover your strongest channels, construct a clear message, and consider the sensory impact of that message and channel; you can determine the when’s of implementing all your hard work and construct an implementation plan. Through consistency and clarity you will get the desired results every time. Take the time do this important strategic work, it is too critical to the health of your business not to.
I also have a small consulting firm with a narrow specialty in the design of sales compensation plans. I am considering hiring one or two staff consultants. I already have a W-2 assistant (which was a scary decision when I first hired her over a year ago, and is now clearly worth every cent I spend on her). And I employ 1099 affiliates from time to time as their expertise bears on an engagement and/or I am out of capacity.
The intriguing question for those of us who sell our technical expertise (and who know many of our clients are buying our own personal expertise and service quality) is to compare the leveraged build-a-business philosophy of e-Myth to the Million Dollar Consultant philosophy best espoused by Alan Weiss. Most of us who are reading these posts know the basic e-Myth tenets of working on the business, keeping the technician in check, building replicate-able processes, and creating "leverage" (a consulting-world word, not one I find widely used in e-Myth circles).
I would love to hear the thoughts of a few people who are grounded in e-Myth principles and who have also read Weiss' book/s. Weiss provides a wealth of principles and tips for marketing, selling, executing, and leveraging a consulting practice area to build value for clients and wealth for the consultant without hiring almost any employees. And he makes a compelling case for remaining a sole practitioner. For Weiss, leverage comes from packaging the expertise into products (books, seminars, web community subscriptions), and creating world-class expertise in a very focused area so that fees for consulting engagements yield a very high daily return (though he would never condone billing in time units). Generate the wealth, invest it well, forget the eventual sale of the business, and retire wealthy -- and avoid all the hassles that go with hiring and managing employees, increased administration, etc. Though he doesn't say it quite this way, there is a sense of being a steward of true focused expertise: the expert serves him/herself and the world by being the ultimate technician, and avoiding the distraction of running a business. (The technician in all of us loves to think that's true.)
At the moment, I am planning to hire those staff consultants, well aware of the distraction and risk they represent. I will do this because my biggest challenge at the moment is that I can't keep up with the demand for my services and stay sane. Quality hasn't slipped yet, but my personal life is suffering. And I'm not worried about others taking what I teach them and competing with me -- if I can make capable technicians out of them and provide them with a great work environment and fair compensation, they'll stay for the collegiality and to keep their own personal risk level low. And if I do generate a few terrific competitors over the long run, then welcome to the market -- there's plenty of business out there for all of us.
I have the sense that most of the participants in these forums are not consultants to management. But for those of you who are, and especially those who have read Weiss, I am eager to hear your thoughts on his suggested approach compared to the e-Myth way.