The Proven 10-Step Process for Providing Marketing Services

There's no question that as many ways as there is to market services and products, there are even more ways to structure the way in which you attract and convince interested leads in paying for those same services.

I myself have based most of my marketing knowledge on a few key people, with my biggest influences coming from Frank Kern (Mass Control 2), Eben Pagan (Get Altitude and Print Persuasion) as awell as the amazing Dan S. Kennedy (Tons 'o Products)

It's interesting seeing how similar their marketing funnels are (most likely based on DKs trainign) but I've adapted my own marketing funnel around a similar style as theirs (if it aint broke...then use it so you won't be broke either! =)

So here's the 10-Step Process I use for closing prospects, and I'm curious to see what others are using as well, will make for a great resource for any offline consultant to develop their own systems based on what they like!

This process can be used whether you are promoting your SEO, Article, Video Marketing, Backlinks etc. service to individuals online, or local businesses offline, it's the process not the product that I'm talking about =)


The Process:

Step 1) Get the Word Out About Your Solution

This one is pretty common sense, but before anyone can pay you...they have to be able to know you exist! Whether you decide to do this using free resources, or paid services, you need to create and deploy marketing materials that will advertise and promote your products and services.

Step 2) Generate Leads

The focus of your marketing, or anyone's marketing for that matter, should be to generate leads for you to sell your solution to. If your marketing is not generating leads, then why would you bother spending time and money on still using it?

No leads = no money!

Whether you are doing marketing services for someone else, or your own, analyze and review all marketing materials to make sure that they have some sort of call to action that says to qualified leads "do ____ now to get _____" whether it is call, email, visit a website...have some sort of way to identify who the "true" leads are from your marketing.

Step 3) Capture Lead Information

The money is in the list, there is no doubt about it, but a list of untargted / unqualified leads will do you no good either, so since your marketing will be bringing in targeted leads (who have shown they are interested in what you have to offer) then the next logical thing is to have some sort of way to follow-up with those leads.

This doesn't matter if your a small one-man operation, or a full blown corporate company, if you aren't following up with targeted leads then you are leaving money on the table.

The best way to capture lead information is to give them an incentive for providing their information. This can be in form of a short report on how they can get results now for solving their problems, or a content entry to win a discount or prize of some sort etc.

Of course the best reason for your leads to provide their information is to request more information specifically on your advertised solution, so make sure to make it easy for them to make such a request.

Step 4 ) Position Yourself As An Authority

Now that you have the interest lead(s) on your list, it is time to develop a relationship with them by providing them with useful information on how they can solve their problem that they came to you for.

This is also the time to showcase why you are the best solution for them, whether it by sharing press releases and articles you have written, videos you have produced on the problem they are dealing with, awards and certificates you've been provided with, book you have written etc.

Let them see that you are the person that knows what he's talking about for what they are dealing with, but also be sure to display that your time is valuable, that you don't work with just anyone and that if they are serious about solving their problems they need to act now or they might not be able to have access to you in the future. (urgency angle)

Step 5) Initial Meeting / Needs Analysis

Once you have developed an initial relationship with your lead, and they know that you know what you're talking about and are "in demand," then it is time to get together with them to discuss how you can help them with their needs.

This meeting can be done in person, over the phone, or via the internet using webinars etc.

Essentially the purpose of your initial contact with a lead needs to be to identify their problems and existing situation, with as much detail as possible, so that you can follow-up with a solution that fits their exact needs.

This is where a lot of marketers, and consultants, go wrong. You can not go in to this initial meeting with plans of what you assume the lead will need and/or want. If you do this then you will come across as a salesperson, probably without meaning to, because you will subconsciously be trying to convince the lead on your pre-determined solution, without truly listening to what they need.

The secret of this step is clear your brain, and just ask lots of questions, have a giant notebook with you to just take down all the comments, answers, and questions that arise from just asking questions about where the lead currently is in their situation, where they would like to be in the future, and what they feel is preventing them from this goal.

i.e. Your lead says that currently they don't feel their business is getting enough exposure in their market, and they would like to be able to bring in 5 - 10 new customers a week to their location, but feel that their marketing strategy is just too disorganized...

Now you need to dive in deeper into the above statements, identifying how many clients they currently bring in, what the value of each client is, how the current marketing strategy is structured etc.

or another example:

Your customer says they are looking to increase sales of their eBooks, and would like to generate 5 - 10 more sales a week, but don't think that they are ranking for the right keywords....

Now you need to diver in deeper and find how what market they are currently in, what the competition is doing for marketing, how many sales do they get currently, are they building a list of visitors that come to the site, what keywords are they ranking for now etc.

Now remember the goal is to just ask questions, this is not the time to provide what you believe to be your solution. If you are too quick in providing the solution, then either you come across as providing them a cookie-cutter solution or that you are just in a hurry to close a sale.

Instead, let them know you will review all the answers and statements they provided, and will return with a solution that is customized to their specific needs. This shows that you are putting time and energy into helping your leads...even if in the end it is a "pre-made" solution that you know will work for their situation.

Perception is everything!

Step 6) Follow-Up

So now you have identified their problems, you know what the best solution(s) to get them results are...only thing to do now is follow-up with them as soon as is practical to share this information with them.

Once again you don't want the follow-up to be too soon, as you want your leads to at least perceive that you have spent time developing a solution for their needs, but don't delay the follow-up too long as to allow the competition to sneak in and steal the deal from you.

Step 7) Finalize and Accept Changes

After the follow-up you should now have a general understanding of what the prospective client does, and does not, like about your solution, and any suggested changed should have been adapted into a revised solution.

When everything has been accepted in concept, as to what will be required for getting the prospect to their desired goals, then it is time to get verbal confirmation from the prospect that no further changes will be required and also agree on the fee structure that will be associated with the solution.

Step 8) Papers and Payment

This step is pretty straight forward, you will simply be meeting with your client to have them sign-off on a written agreement of who will be required to do what responsibilities by what time period, what you will not be responsible for doing, the agreed payment schedule and also the collection of the first payment from the client.

Step 9) Deliver The Solution

Now you just need to provide what was promised to your client, but to truly make sure the client is impressed, and further increase your chance for a rush of referrals, you should do your best to deliver your solution faster, or with more, than you initially stated.

For example if you are doing content creation services, website design etc. then you will want to finish those tasks ahead of schedule, and possibly with additional beneficial features or resources that the client was not initially expecting (as they weren't charged for such).

Most people will enjoy a positive surprise, especially one of the true value, and that excitement will lead them to naturally want to tell people about you.

Imagine if you went to a mechanic, and afterwards they came out and said that one of your engine parts was found to be very worn down and would cost $100 to repair, but they went ahead and fixed it along with the other parts that needed to be fixed at no additional charge.

How happy would you be? Think you would tell people about that experience?

Well now apply that to your marketing business, and you'll see the same results!

Step 10) Track Results and Collect Testimonial

Sure you could argue these are two separate tasks, but essentially what you are doing is tracking and measuring the results you obtained for your client, and then following-up with them to ensure they were happy with those results (as per their desired goals)

When your clients state how happy they are with the results, and how excited they were about getting the solution(s) faster, or with more, than they had expected...you simply ask them if they would mind if you used them as a testimonial in your marketing efforts to help others get great results.

You may also want to explain to your clients (if dealing with a business for example) how such marketing also helps to promote their business as well.

Then you take those testimonials (ideally in video format, but written works as well) and apply those testimonials into your Step 1...

Rinse, Wash, and Repeat! =)


Does anyone else have a marketing funnel/system that they use for their clients?

Questions, Comments, Feedback? Post them below!

Cheers,

~Dexx