Focus on the "Low Hanging Fruit"
Following up on leads is 90% of the game, right? At least
that's what we hear. You spend all this time networking,
marketing yourself, making cold calls, looking for the right
client, but what's the point of it all if you don't follow up on
the leads you DO have?
This was a major obstacle for one of my nutritionist clients
this week and a shift got created when I shared the Low Hanging
Fruit List with her.
Let's think about Low Hanging Fruit on a tree for a moment,
as it relates to its counterpart higher up on the tree. The
Low Hanging Fruit is heavier, probably riper and because of
that, easier to pick. Think of your warm prospects, those that
have already expressed an interest in working with you, as this
type of fruit. Ready for the picking.
Yet, many of us focus a lot of our energy on the higher
fruit, the harder-to-reach fruit or prospect. We spend a lot
of time working on far-fetched Client Attraction projects, when
we really could be spending the time contacting and closing the
deal with people who've already said they'd like to work with us
but haven't been turned into clients yet. Logically, this
doesn't make much sense, does it?
Well, starting today, you're going to change that by putting
more focus on Low Hanging Fruit, while you continue to
market your practice as a whole. Here's how...
Your Assignment:
Have a Low Hanging Fruit chart on your desk at all times.
It should have several columns:
1) name
2) phone number
3) email address
4) referral source
5) that client's particular concern
6) status/when to contact them next
Leave this sheet on your desk at all times, in a place where
you can refer to it several times per day.
Go through your mental Rolodex or past potential-client notes
to see who in your network has expressed interest in working
with you over the last 6 months to a year, but hasn't been
converted into a client or patient yet. This could have been
either in passing ("Oh, I should work with you one day" to "I
want to work with you, but I'm not quite ready yet") or more
intently ("Let's set up a time to talk about working together"),
via email, verbally, or third-party referral.
Please list all of these people on this sheet. This can
also include those who you met with for an initial consultation
but who never signed up, for whatever reason.
This will be one of your more important documents you'll use
for getting clients and you should plan on using it for the long
haul. This method of keeping track of people who are closest
to becoming clients (and then following up with them regularly)
is somewhat deceptive because it's so simple, but the good
things usually are.
The bottom line is, when my clients use this list, they
enthusiastically report they convert more prospects into paying
clients. When they stop using this list briefly, prospective
clients slip through their fingers. That should tell you
something.
If you're not sure where to start attracting prospects in the
first place, everything's laid out in the Client Attraction Home
Study System