Are You Just a Small Fish in a Big Pond?
When potential clients are choosing a speaker for their next conference or a trainer to run some in-house work, are you just like all the other speakers, trainers and consultants? Or does your business stand out because it offers much more than anybody else?
Don't be a small fish.
Most speakers, trainers, coaches and consultants only offer themselves as their product. In other words, they waltz in, deliver their presentation, and run off, leaving the clients to fend for themselves.
If that's all you do, then be aware that you'll be treated just like everybody else. This means that clients will choose you based on one of these criteria:
- Price - That's fine if you're the cheapest in the market, but it's no way to operate a sustainable business;
- Referral from somebody else - This is an excellent position to be in, but could restrict your fees;
- Reputation - This is also a good position, but it only gets you on the short list;
- "Fit" - If all other things are equal, they will choose, say, a female speaker under 40 to balance out their program (even though officially they won't tell you this).
Some of these can work in your favour, but you still face an uphill battle convincing the client to choose you from their list of potential candidates.
What if you stood out?
However, what if you turned things around so that you're not just one of many? What if you stood out, offering far more than anybody else? That would be music to a client's ears!
To do this, you have to sell your value above everything else. Paint such a glorious picture of what you can offer to your client that they can't help but choose you.
To promise value, give value!
The solution, of course, is to deliver value - but in a way that doesn't require you to spend five times as much time as everybody else.
This means that the added value you offer comes in the form of on-going support material. In other words, instead of just walking in and walking out of a presentation, you deliver on-going support to help reinforce the learning and consolidate the message.
For example, most people retain very little of what they learn in a training environment. You can use that to your advantage by offering a 90-day follow-up program (delivered automatically by e-mail, so there's no effort on your part) to add value to the learners.
Use our Fast Forward package.
Our Fast Forward Web site package includes many of the facilities for creating on-going support, including:
- Publish a high-value e-mail newsletter
- Deliver follow-up material after your presentations
- Design self-assessment surveys for clients to monitor their progress
- Provide additional resources in a password-protected Web site
- Sell books, CDs and other support material
