Why do your clients buy your services? Why is someone willing to pay you for your skill set? What are they really buying? To get clients, you need to understand the underlying human psychology at work.

Dov Gordon, from the Alchemist Entrepreneur, helps consultants and coaches find their ideal clients through structure and process, instead of jumping straight to tactics. Dov shares why clients buy, how we get their attention, his 6 step marketing process, and why some people can seem to make any client generation tactic work, while others just can’t seem to get clients.

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Dov shares with us:

Do you ever say to yourself,

“I'm good at what I do, I want to help these client, but I don't know how to get in front of them.”

Too many people think this and then try to figure out the tactics to get clients: LinkedIn, Facebook, SEO, newletters, etc. But every tactic can work and every tactic can fail. The secret is that it is not about tactics or the tools that everyone is teaching, even though it is so tempting to start a Facebook ad campaign because a bunch of articles from a Facebook expert makes it sound so easy, and you are afraid that if you don't do something now, you won't get clients.

“I was running out of fear. I was making decisions out of fear of not being everywhere and not doing everything.”

Not that Facebook ads don't work, they do, or rather, they can. But they will only work if you have put in the time to figure out the underlying framework for you business. You need a framework for what your business is going to look like, including marketing and delivery, then figure out the best tools to use for your goals.

“I would not give a fig for the simplicity this side of complexity, but I would give my life for the simplicity on the other side of complexity.” - Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr

Marketing is complex, but if you try to do the simple things without understanding the complexity, you aren't going to be successful. If you put in the work to understand the underlying foundation of marketing, human psychology, then how and when to use the tools in marketing make sense and are much easier to apply.

Dov's marketing framework has three levels:
3: Tools
2: Processes
1: Underlying Structure

For a heart surgeon, the underlying structure would be biology and anatomy of the human heart which the surgeon must understand in order to diagnose a problem. The surgeon's process would be the surgery plan to fix the problem, such as open heart surgery. The surgeon's tools would be the scalpel, anesthetic machine, operating table, etc.

It's similar for the marketer. The underlying structure is human psychology. The process is a six step guide to answering the fundamental psychology questions of selling. The tools are one or several of the marketing tactics such as LinkedIn articles, landing page, CRM software, email newsletters, SEO, podcasts, authoring a book, etc.

Underlying Structure: Human Psychology

If you want to have a happy client, you need to guide them through the three questions that potential clients have.

1. Should I pay attention to you? You need your messaging to be something that instantly gets the attention of your potential client. People are only interested in: 1. a problem they have and don't want or 2. a result they want and don't have.
2. Can I trust you? To answer this question, you need to prove your expertise in your niche.
3. Is what you recommend right for me? You need to help your client figure out if they need the services you offer. Make it easy.

Everything you do in online marketing is to help your ideal client answer yes to one or more of these questions.

Process: 6 step marketing process

1 | Should I pay attention to you?

1 | Marketing Helium: Two people blow up red balloons. One float up into the sky, the other falls to the ground. The difference? One was filled with helium, the other with hot air. Marketing helium is a deep insight into a problem or result. To get interest, make a list of problems that people have or results that people want. Pick one and that's what you build a business around and that's what you talk about.

2 | Simple Compelling message: Built on the insight you got from the Marketing Helium. Compare two ways of describing what you do: “I'm a leadership consultant” vs. “I help companies solve those problems they have from that employee who is too valuable to fire.” The second description tells so much more about you and also tells the potential client that you really get the problem. They think, “Did you just read my thoughts? This is interesting!”

2 | Can I trust you?

3 | Hand-Raising Free Offer: This is also often called a lead-magnet. It needs to be an extension of your marketing helium and simple compelling message. It is easy to get it wrong, so be careful and consistent. See the resources mentioned for more.

4 | Get Noticed Sequence: This is your tactical sequence. What are you going to do to get your hand-raising free offer in front of your ideal client? This is where you get to the skills and the tools that everyone talks about (email sequences, mailing out personalized packages, etc.).

3 | Is what you recommend right for me?

5 | Elegant Sales Conversation: You need to lay out a process for the sales conversation so you can sell by explaining how you can take away the problem or give them the solution they want. Remember: “Sales is not getting somebody to buy from you. Sales is leadership.”

6 | Easy Yes Offer: Package and send the offer in a way that is easier for them to say yes than no. This can be a proposal.

“Definitions get you all caught up. What you need are clear questions! If you can work backwards from clear, sensible questions, then you know what to do.”

The simple definition of a sales funnel is to get leads and fill the pipeline.

The complex definition is the purpose of a marketing funnel is to help your ideal client answer yes to the question on their mind at just the right time. They only think about question 2 after you help them answer yes to question 1. And they will only think about question 3 after they say yes to question 2. And they will only buy when they say yes to question 3.

Tools

Most people think of tools as only the tactics in step 4: the get noticed sequence. But if you jump to step 4 without working through steps 1-3, and without having processes for steps 5 and 6, then whatever tool you use will probably not work because you don't understand the foundation. It's like doing heart surgery without understanding anatomy.

“You have to master the fundamentals. You have to understand the thinking and the doing. It's not enough to just follow the doing and mimic the doing.”

How do you figure out what tactic to use? You do not have to do everything. What you need is a clear path forward. Ask yourself what could work. Pick 2-3 tactics you thing you would enjoy and explore them. Then pick one and try it. It really doesn't matter what you do. Rough it out, master it, and make it a smooth-running machine.

Closing advice:

If your gut says do it, and your brain is talking you out of it and giving you all the nightmare scenarios, then you have to listen to your gut. If you don't, you will never progress.

“Every time you are given an opportunity to grow, it's going to be scary. And if it's not, then you probably aren't looking in the right direction.”

Resources mentioned:

• Our Manual: How to systematically and consistently attract first-rate clients by Dov Gordon

Find Dov Online:

• DovGordon.net