When you’re trying to get clients it can be a frustrating journey. Sometimes you’ll talk to someone who seems perfect but they either don’t get back with you, or they tell you they picked someone else. After all the work you do to qualify your clients, it can be a big let-down. But, there are ways you can get to yes that you may not have thought about.
 

 Understand What “No” Really Means
 
Most of the time, when someone raises objections, they are really asking a question - not saying no. It’s your job to know what type of objections your audience may have in advance and come up with answers and education that explain away these objections. Your sales pages, email marketing messages, and other marketing material should answer most of these objections up front to avoid them later.
 
Be Committed to Getting to Yes
 
Most people just need time to get to yes. If you have someone sign up for your email list, and they are at least opening the emails, you’re part of the way there. If they’re not opening the emails, it’s up to you to figure out why (perhaps your freebie is targeted to the wrong audience) and then move them to a new list so that you can market to them more aggressively. Perseverance wins over a lot of doubters if you keep delivering high quality education.
 
 Host a Webinar
 
Even service professionals can host webinars to discuss something they do for their clients. If you, for example, set up shopping carts for your clients, and keep them running smoothly, you can host a webinar about “making your products stand out” or “100 reasons you should use 1ShoppingCart” if that happens to be your specialty. Then end with an offer they can’t refuse.
 
 Spend More Time on Client Screening
 
If you are getting to the discovery call phase and getting a lot of “no” answers, it may be time to re-evaluate your client screening process. Potential clients that get to the call should be ready and willing to buy. The way you accomplish this is by building up an email list of leads who may become prospects, who will then be more likely to become clients based on the actions they take as you lead them through your product funnel.
 
 Yes - You Need a Product Funnel
 
You read the words product funnel above and maybe cringed. You don’t have one? Well you need to create one. A product funnel for a service-based business is not much different from a product funnel for other types of business. You put the least expensive item you have at the widest part of the funnel, and the most expensive item at the narrowest part. In between you develop educational materials that lead the prospect through the funnel.
 
 Stop Treating Each Prospect the Same
 
Every prospect you have is unique. You need to personalize your efforts for each prospect that gets to the discovery call stage. Learn all you can about them via a client questionnaire that you send to them prior to the call. This will help you narrow down what to talk to them about, as well as help you identify potential issues. Don’t worry about if you find out they are not right for you in the process. You saying no is acceptable.
 
 Hone Your Marketing Messages
 
If you are sending a lot of people to the discovery call phase and still getting a lot of no’s, then you may need to improve your marketing messages. As the person creating the message, you’re responsible for how your prospects hear them. If they’re not hearing what you thought they were, then it’s your job to go through every single message and fix the problems.
 
 Tell Your Story Better
 
When you look at high-priced items compared to lower priced items, they are essentially the same thing. What is it that differentiates the perceived value of the items? Is it really the ingredients? Sometimes, sure, but often it’s all based on perception. It’s your job to tell your story in such a way that your audience perceives your work as worth more than the work someone else does.
 
Getting to yes, and being the chosen one, doesn’t come from luck. It doesn’t come from waiting around. It comes from proactively creating a system that helps pull in your ideal client. The clients who want to say yes, the clients who really want to work with you and is ready to do what it takes to do so.
 
 How do you get clients?  I love your feedback!  I have had so many people contacting me and I truly appreciate it!  Please keep them coming.  My direct email is doreen@doreendilger.com.   Wishing you a productive day! 

One of the hardest parts about working for yourself is the quest to find your first paying client. This is honestly one of the most difficult times in any business, and it’s where some people give up. They underestimate the time it will take to break that barrier. These tips will help you be one of the entrepreneurs who succeed.
 
1. Tell Everyone You Know
This may seem obvious but you would be shocked to learn that a lot of people who start a business don’t tell anyone they know about it. This is a mistake. You want to get the word out to everyone you know, because they may know someone that needs you and tell them about you. Hand out business cards and offer an incentive to get them to send you a paying client.
 
2. Get Involved
Being involved in your local community and online communities, both business and personal, will help you become a known entity. You don’t even have to become a sales person in these associations. Instead, you just be yourself; and when someone asks what you do, be ready with an answer. Be ready to give them a business card - or if you’re online, make sure your profile is amazing and compelling.
 
3. Start a Joint Venture
A joint venture is a temporary partnership in which you join forces with someone who markets to your audience but who is not direct competition. Make sure you have a really good offer; host a webinar teaching your audience something to solve one of their most burning problems. Since you’ll get access to their list (and in exchange you should do all the work for the event), you should get at least one client out of the process.
 
4. Be Social
Make all your profiles on social media compelling and informative. Post a good profile image that shows your face and eyes. It doesn’t have to be a professional shot, but it should be clear and show a good depiction of your personality. Join various groups online, consisting of both your audience and your competition. Get to know people, help people, and let your profile speak for itself.
 
5. Build Your Reputation
Take the time now that you don’t have any clients to work on reputation building. The way you do this is participate in webinars, discussions, and blabs (Blab.im), showing your professional knowledge about your niche and how you can solve problems for them. Write a book, blog, guest blog; develop a freebie (lead magnet) to give away so you can build an email list.
 
6. Optimize Your Website
Your website is the hub of all other activity. Ensure that it works on any device, that it loads fast, and that it is pleasing to the eye. Use keyword-rich titles, appropriate anchor text, and publish informative blog posts. Ensure that you have at least a home page, blog page, about us page, service page and a contact page, and that there is no mistaking what it is you do when someone visits your website.
 
7. Be Your Own Client
One of the best demonstrations of what you can do involves being a bright, shining light that shows the world what it is that you do. If you are a website developer, then your website should demonstrate all the bells and whistles. If you’re a content writer, then the content on your site should be top-notch. And if you are a virtual assistant, then you should demonstrate what you do for others on your website.
Once you get that first client, it will begin an amazing snowball effect. That client will tell other people, and before you know it, you’ll have a full roster of clients and a waiting list.
 
How did you get your first client?  Care to share?  I love your feedback!  I have had so many people contacting me and I truly appreciate it!  Please keep them coming.  My direct email is doreen@doreendilger.com.   Wishing you a productive day! 

​Nothing can feel worse than losing a client. It feels like a personal attack. It makes you question everything you thought was true about yourself and your business. But, the truth is you can bounce back if you know what to do when you lose a client. Don’t think it won’t ever happen to you. It will happen if you’re in business long enough, and it doesn’t even have to be your fault.
 

• Check in One More Time:  Before accepting that the client is really leaving you, you want to get on the phone and check in with them to ensure that there hasn’t been a misunderstanding. If you keep your tone light and friendly, they won’t get defensive. Just let them know that if they can answer your questions, it will help you be better in your business.

If the client is willing to tell the truth about why they are leaving, and it is something you’ve done, you can take this opportunity to fix it. You might actually keep the client. Even if you lose them, at least you tried.
 

• Put Your Grown-Up Panties On:  It’s tempting to act out in a bad way. You’ve likely heard horror stories about business owners who reacted badly to losing a client. The web designer who refuses to hand over the passwords, or claims they have a right to keep the domain name since they bought it, and a lot of other nasty shenanigans. You don’t want to end on this note.

 

• Be Helpful Not Obstructive:  When you are informed that your client is moving on to someone else, instead of reacting badly try reacting kindly. Send them all their passwords, and all the information that they need to transfer the work to the new provider. Along with that, write a letter explaining that you’re sorry the client feels the need to leave, but you’re there for them and the new provider to help with the transition.

 

• Don’t Burn Bridges:  If you knew that there is a chance that a client will come back to you, would you react the same as you’re thinking of reacting? No. So, pretend that you know this client will come knocking on your door within 30 to 90 days and set the road to making that possible by not burning bridges. No matter how rude the client acts when leaving, or why they chose to leave, you can avoid bridge burning by responding well.

 

• Leave the Door Open:  In your response letter, and in your actions, assure the client that your door is always open for them to return. Even if there is a small possibility that you’ll be booked when they come calling, act as if you will be free. You want them to feel as if you’re going to be there when and if they come back. The reason is when a client leaves even though your work has been good, it’s usually about money. If you haven’t cut your prices for them, the new provider likely did. There is a chance that new provider will not provide services good enough to truly replace you.

 

• Prepare in Advance:  Losing a client is especially hard if they were an anchor client. It’s best to avoid anchor clients if at all possible. This is a client who pays you the bulk of your income. When you accept a high-paying client, it’s better to immediately start working to find another client. This may seem strange if you’re booked, but you never want one client to make up more than 1/4 of your income. If you’re prepared by always keeping each client lower than a quarter of your income, you won’t be so frightened when a client leaves.

 

• It’s Not Personal:  When you’re a freelancer, business feels personal. After all, you have to feed your family, spend time away from your family, and you likely pour all your heart and soul into the business. Losing a client feels very personal. But, think of the times you’ve switched service providers for telephone service or cable service. Did you feel as if you were hurting someone? No, of course not - nor does the client who is leaving you. They are simply making what they feel is a good business choice.

 

• Contact Your List:  If you’ve continued marketing for more business even when you were filled up, you should have a good list of prospects built up that you can now announce the opening to. Don’t wait until your notice is up from the client who is leaving. The day you get it, send a message to your list about your rare opening or your “expansion” so that you can fill the spot immediately. You’ll find that the sooner you fill the spot, the better you feel.

 
Finally, take this time to contact all your existing clients and ask them for an appointment to do a review of your services and work. Offering a yearly review to your clients gives them an opportunity to give feedback than can help prevent losing more clients.
 
Have you ever lost a client?  I believe that when one doors closes another opens!  I love your feedback!  I have had so many people contacting me and I truly appreciate it!  Please keep them coming.  My direct email is doreen@doreendilger.com.   Wishing you a productive day! 

​Believe it or not, there is great power in learning and using positive language in all your business conversations. When you learn this technique, you'll find that you’ll be more persuasive in business meetings (and your personal life too), and you’ll be able to work with people a lot better individually and in groups.
 
You might be confused into thinking that negative language works better, what with all the negativity in news headlines and even on YouTube videos. But, the truth is that positivity works better every single time. The best results always come from being positive over being negative. In spite of those horrible headlines, study after study shows that the more positive that you can be, the better.
 
Positive Language Is Real Communication
 
Think about the person in the group who always has some wrench to throw into any plan without giving any idea of what you can do to fix it. They only have negative things to say like “that won’t work”, “that isn’t how it’s done”, and so forth. None of that works to move anything forward. Therefore it’s not even real communication.
 
Positive Language Is Productive
 
Saying things like, “That’s true but if you look more deeply…” will go a lot further than negative language like just saying, “You’re wrong.” Positive language is naturally more productive. Even if you say something negative followed by something useful, most people will not hear it - they’ll only hear the negativity. Always lead with the positive.
 
Positive Language Keeps the Peace
 
If you start any sentence with positivity, you will automatically calm any nerves and keep the peace. However, if you start out with something negative, people will just shut down immediately and it will be hard to get them back. It might even make people defensive and on edge. Being positive pushes things forward and keeps everyone happy.
 
Positive Language Creates Victory
 
Imagine if the moon landing was reported negatively instead of with excitement and happiness? They certainly could have. They could have said something about the expense of the landing or how little time they spent on the moon for the cost. How the astronauts lost muscle mass, or any number of things. No one wins with all that negativity.
 
Practice Positive Language
 
Instead of, “I don’t believe that” say, “Here’s what I believe.” Instead of, “It won’t work” say, “This might work.” See if you can turn some negative statements into positive statements and then keep practicing. The more you can create positivity as a habit and the default, the better you’ll get at being positive in your everyday language.
 
Finally, take some time to understand what the trigger words or power words are within your niche or community. Avoid words like “bad”, “hate”, “problem” and anything that has a negative connotation. Instead try to think of a way to say the same thing without negative words.
 
How do you feel?  Do you practice positive language?  I love your feedback!  I have had so many people contacting me and I truly appreciate it!  Please keep them coming.  My direct email is doreen@doreendilger.com.   Wishing you a productive day! 

​Finding fair compromise can be a daunting task, especially if you’re dealing with a volatile issue. But one thing power negotiators know is that you have to give a little to get a little. Sometimes you have to make concessions when required to reach an agreement. Both of you lose a little, but this is considered a win-win agreement.
 
Before you go into any type of negotiation, it’s important to consider some factors.
 

1. What Are Your Goals? – The only real way to come to any type of agreement is to know in advance of the negotiation what exactly your goals are. In addition, make a point to consider what the other party wants out of the negotiation too.

 

1. What Can You Give? – Before you even go into the negotiation process, it’s important to already have an idea of what you can give up. You don’t want to go in and immediately give those things, but you want to know in advance how far you will go and still be happy.

 

1. What Happens If You Can’t Make an Agreement? – If you can’t reach an agreement, what will happen? Will bad or good things happen based on the agreement that you do come to? If you fail, what will happen? If the other person “wins”, what will happen?

 

1. What Is the History of Your Relationship? – Before going in to discuss the potential negotiation, you need to analyze the history of the relationship first. If you know the person, then you probably already have a good idea of how things will be resolved. If you do not know the person, you need to find out as much about them as possible in advance.

 

1. Do You Have any Expected Outcomes? – What are you thinking the outcome will be before you even start your negotiation? Are there others who are worried about the issue, and do they have expectations too?

 

1. Which One of You Holds the Power Position? – If you hold the power position, then you need to be very understanding of the other person when going through with the negotiations. If the other person holds that position, keep that in mind as you move forward.

 

1. What Are All the Possible Solutions? – Go through a list of all possible solutions that could happen, and how these affect you and others. Write down the different scenarios that could happen based off possible agreements.

 

1. What Are the Consequences? – Determine the costs and benefits of each potential decision. That way you know in advance the ramifications of each choice you make in the negotiation process.

 
If you both feel positive at the end of the negotiation, then you’ve succeeded in making a win-win agreement. Neither of you had to give up more than you wanted, and you both got what you wanted after the end of the negotiation.
 
I love your feedback!  I have had so many people contacting me and I truly appreciate it!  Please keep them coming.  My direct email is doreen@doreendilger.com.   Wishing you a productive day! 

When it comes to home based businesses, there are two types of clients - the right clients and the wrong clients. When you have the right clients the world seems wonderful, work seems exciting, and you don’t dread checking your email. But, if you have the wrong clients, you suddenly start checking the “Want Ads” for jobs. Since you don’t want to do that, and you obviously want to keep working as a freelancer, the answer is to only work with the right clients. But, how can you be sure that you’re attracting the right clients? Hint: It’s not about luck.
 

Determine Who Exactly Your Ideal Client Is:  Write down what your ideal client looks like. What motives them? What keeps them up at night? Are they results-focused on money-focused? All of these questions can help you determine the type of client you want to attract. As a freelancer you should focus on clients who have a specific need, who care more about results than price, and who are willing to hand over the work to you and focus only on deliverables - i.e. no micromanagers.
 
Set Your Prices High:  Instead of trying to compete on price, compete on value. Price your value instead of trying to match your competition or freelancers who want to compete on price. Remember that your prices set an expectation in the minds of your audience. The higher the price, the more perceived value they have for your services. If your prices are currently low, raise them right now. Don’t be scared; you’ll attract clients who are successful instead of struggling, which will give you a much better type of client. 

Do Not Lower Your Prices:  When you get to the negotiation phase, never lower your prices. You can add more value into your work for the price, but don’t lower it. You’re not selling a commodity; you’re selling a specialized skill that took you a lot of time, money and training to be able to offer it professionally. Do not under value yourself. No matter what your competitors charge, you should stick to the value you set at the beginning. Lowering your prices only sets you up for failure and resentment. Let your clients know that you never cut prices or corners.
 
Set Up a Client Screening Process:  Your potential clients need to go through a process that qualifies them before you ever speak to them on a call. Set up a client questionnaire that will not only help determine what type of client they are, but also help them clarify what it is they want from you. Clients who know what they want are a lot easier to work with than clients who have no idea what they want. Plus, if they are willing to go through the questionnaire, that is a good sign they’re going to be willing to use your processes and your systems.
 
 Determine Your Potential Client’s Motivation:  Most business owners literally guess about their clients’ motivation, and due to this are often wrong. When you can figure out what truly motivates your clients, you’ll be able to improve on your client screening process exponentially. The truth is, the only real way to qualify a client is to know what gets their engine burning. Put these into your client screening process and you’ll start figuring it out.
 
Focus on Results:  The more value you can provide, the better. What your clients really want is results. If you can prove the results, your clients will be clamoring for more at any price. Determine a way to prove the results of your work, and then submit that information to your clients on a periodic basis with notes on what more can be done (at a price) to improve these outcomes even more.
 
Place a Premium on Value:  You’ve likely heard the phrase, “under promise and over deliver”. It’s excellent advice and something you should focus on doing. The more you can do that, the more your clients will perceive your work as top-notch and excellent - no matter the price. Each month that you work with your client, always figure out a way to do a little something extra that you didn’t list in your duties just to give them that wow factor.
 
Follow Up 
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I love your feedback!  I have had so many people contacting me and I truly appreciate it!  Please keep them coming.  My direct email is doreen@doreendilger.com.   Wishing you a productive day! 

As a home based business owner you’re in a great spot to really build a brand you can be proud of. You can really narrow down your niche, become a real owner of your niche, and make your mark if you take the time to focus on branding. The best way to do that is to understand exactly what branding is and know what image you want to project - then craft a plan of action to do it. Here are some tips.
 

1. Define Your Brand – Identify the space in the market that your products or services occupy. Determine the emotional as well as rational needs and issues that your customers have. What problems do you solve, and how can that be defined emotionally?

 

1. Understand Your Value – It’s imperative that you know what value you bring to your customers’ lives in terms of how your products and services affect them. When you think in terms of value, think of the emotional aspects of how your product or service helps your customers. For example, do you offer time, freedom, or something else to your audience?

 

1. Put Yourself in Your Customers’ Shoes – The best way to develop a winning branding strategy is to put yourself in your customers’ shoes. You need to be able to understand them enough to think like them, so that you can develop messages that resonate.

 

1. Find Your Voice – As you learn about your customers and realize your value, try to find a voice for your information that speaks to your customers on their terms. Use the words, phrases, and language that bring forth the emotions you desire in them but is authentic to who you want to be as a brand.

 

1. Brand from the Inside Out – Before you can articulate your branding message to your audience, you need to be able to give the message to stakeholders, contractors, employees, and even yourself. If you cannot name the emotion you want to evoke in others, you’re not there yet.

 

1. Know Who the Influencers Are – It helps to know who influences your audience, so that you can observe how it works for them. What words and phrases do they use? How can you leverage the influencers to get your message out to your audience?

 

1. Create a Brand Communication Plan – Start out with perfecting your social media profiles, then actually write down how you plan to communicate to your target audience through blogging, videos, the language you use or don’t use. In addition, determine what sort of imagery you’ll provide to strengthen your message.

 

1. Develop a Plan of Action – Now that you know the message you want to communicate, you need to get everything down into a plan. Decide how and when you’ll implement your plan. For example, if you will need someone else to create the content, you’ll need to add that into your plan.

 
Branding will help define your values to your audience. Anyone who looks at your business should be able to tell what you stand for just by looking. Just like you recognize the famous Facebook “f” anywhere, even without the letters spelling out the word, people can recognize your business too.
 
I love your feedback!  I have had so many people contacting me and I truly appreciate it!  Please keep them coming.  My direct email is doreen@doreendilger.com.   Wishing you a productive day! 

Written by Doreen Dilger, The Home Based Business Coach

​Getting the word out about your brand message and goals needs to be accomplished to let your audience know who you are, but it also needs to be communicated internally. You want to be able to explain to every contractor and every customer exactly what it is that you stand for and what you do for them.

1. Focus – The fact is that in the minds of your customers and the world, as you build your brand you get to be only one thing to them. It’s important to understand this going in. You won’t be everything to everyone. You’ll be one thing to one person. That one thing is your USP. What does your brand provide that no one else’s brand delivers?

1. Remember Your USP – Your unique selling proposition, or sometimes called a unique value proposition, is the thing that makes your product or service stand out from others. The USP makes you different and is what comes into the mind of your potential customers when they think of you.

1. Customer Perception – You have to remember that your customers do not care what you want to be, or strive to be; they only care about you in terms of what you can do for them. It's worth repeating that you need to be just one thing to one customer. Be that one thing in the best possible way and you’ll find that your customers stick with you more. Remember that you can have many different customer personas to work with, so don’t concern yourself with the idea that you might box yourself in.

1. Internal Viewpoint – If you don’t know exactly where you create value, it will be hard for you to explain it in a way that your customer understands. The promises you make about your brand need to be accurate, true, and unique. You need to differentiate yourself in a way that is honest and forthright and possible. Knowing your vision and how to express your vision is of utmost importance internally as well as externally.

1. Marketplace Outlook – Ensure that your USP is clear and concise. You need to stand out in a busy marketplace. It helps to study your competition to find out what is going on in the marketplace and how the others are defining themselves and making themselves stand out from the competition. You can do the same, but make yours different. As long as it’s true, you can move forward.

1. Tell Your Story – Every brand has a story that they can use to convey their message to their audience. Use every medium that you can to get the story out... from social media, to blogging, to press releases, to video. Your story is important to any brand strategy. Customers really do want to know who you are, what your values are and how you’re different from others.

1. Create High Quality Content – One of the ways you’re going to get the word out about your brand message is to use different forms of high quality content. Use text, downloadable content, video and more to help you get the message out to all parts of your audience.

1. Promote, Promote, Promote – Use pay per click, social media and all the methods at your fingertips to promote everything that you do online. You can even send out press releases, have webinars, teleseminars and hangouts to help you get the word out about your brand message and goals.

 
Articulating your brand message and goals to your audience and even internally requires a lot of thought and consideration. You can do that if you know where to place your focus, and understand that you need to be one thing to one person and can’t be everything to everyone.
 
I love your feedback!  I have had so many people contacting me and I truly appreciate it!  Please keep them coming.  My direct email is doreen@doreendilger.com.   Wishing you a productive day!