This is part of two of a three-part series by Travis Chaney on attracting clients. Read part one here.
HOW DO YOU GET RID OF MICE?
First, do your best not to take them on as clients. If you begin to attract a nest of them and the symptoms of unproductivitis begin to show, I suggest you call the exterminator ASAP to get rid of them. In other words – fire them! Or at least serve them differently so your company’s resources are not tied to them so strongly. Cure your disease immediately or you may never escape the clutches of these tiny critters.
If you conduct thorough research on your ideal client, you can build a positioning, marketing and sales plan to attract your ideal clients, and if executed with great precision and tenacity, elephants will come your way.
ELEPHANTS REQUIRE MORE WORK TO ATTRACT THEM TO YOUR BUSINESS.
However, the financial and psychological rewards are much greater. Ironically, elephants are difficult to acquire even though you know exactly where they are located. For instance, your new business may provide technology solutions for companies. Taking a stroll around town or through the phone book you will locate several potential elephants that could benefit from your solutions. Hunting elephants requires a bigger gun with high powered ammunition. In business, the bigger gun could represent a large menu of services or products versus a smaller lineup. The ammunition embodies the messages you are firing to bring the elephants to you. Superior magnetic messaging will carry the language and solutions that draw elephants to you.
WHY ONLY WORK WITH ELEPHANTS?
Elephants live longer, typically carry larger streams of revenue, and carry a higher lifetime value. Lifetime value is the amount of revenue your clients produce annually times the amount of years you plan to be in business. For instance, if you earn $5,000 per elephant annually and the mouse earns you $250 and you plan to be in business for 20 years, the elephant is worth $100,000 over your career as opposed to $5,000 for the mouse – a 5,000% difference.
Elephants respect your time and seek out your advice. They believe in long-lasting relationships, bother you less and value you more.
REMEMBER: ELEPHANTS ARE SCARED OF MICE AND YOU SHOULD BE TOO.
I know it’s counterintuitive to think you can hold out for the elephants and say no to the mice. However, successful organizations and professionals have no problem with saying no to mice. The quicker you learn to say no to mice, the better off your business will be.