For lazy operators who want to automate their client acquisition
When I started my DFY (done-for-you) consulting business, I messaged everyone who I thought was a fit. I may have even messaged you!
I used to spend hours on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn, sending thousands of messages in the hopes of getting just a few sales calls on my calendar.
I used to claw and wrestle, desperate to sign new clients every month. The desperation was palpable to these prospects. The more “nos” I received, the more I messaged people.
The team over at Meta was probably thinking..
This guy is insane! Should we block him?
And they did. Many times over. And that’s precisely why I’m writing to you today. There’s a better way. The method I will be describing to you will do the following:
- Allow you to scale effortlessly
- Relinquish the need to wrestle prospects desperately in the DMs
- Build up your brand equity rather than destroying it
- Have inbound clients chasing you for solutions to their issues
With all that being said, I will never go back to doing cold outreach myself. To be completely candid, cold outreach worked. It was just extremely demoralizing.
My ultimate mission for my content is to show you that there’s a better way that allows you to work with perfect clients while maintaining your sanity.
Without further ado, let’s jump in, shall we?
Know Your Customer
To successfully implement this strategy, the first step is to deeply understand your customer. You must know them intimately. This goes beyond basic demographics. It’s about knowing their pain points, desires, and daily challenges.
For example, many potential prospects for SaaS businesses are “lookers,” meaning they are not in buying mode. They aren’t problem-aware, solution-aware, or product-aware, making direct sales pitches ineffective.
Here are the stages of awareness:
- Unaware of their problem
- Subconsciously aware of their problem
- Aware of their problem
- Aware of solutions
- Most aware — buying now
As you go down the line, the less your market is active. For example, there’s only about 3% of your market that is most aware, buying now. Stages beyond the 2nd your prospect will not believe claims, that’s why we want to offer them something for free.. more on that later.
Imagine your target is small business owners who struggle with financial management. They might be managing their finances using outdated methods, causing them significant stress and inefficiency.
Perhaps they stay awake at night worrying about payroll accuracy or dread tax season due to disorganized records. These pain points are not always explicitly stated but can be discovered through thorough research and interaction with your audience. This is how you win.
Here’s how we develop a buying persona to intimately understand our audience:
John is a small business owner in Idaho with a plumbing business. He makes $300,000 a year but spends too much time managing finances, something he dislikes and finds stressful. He wishes for more time with his family and hobbies but feels trapped in administrative tasks.
Understanding these specific details about John’s life allows you to create targeted messages that speak directly to his experience.
It’s also important to note what solutions they might have already tried and why those solutions failed. This could include outsourcing to a financial provider with no success or using generic software that doesn’t meet their specific needs. These are your customers’ obstacles and doubts.
When you address these issues in your messaging, you demonstrate a deep understanding of their struggles and position your product as the tailored solution they’ve been searching for.
This approach not only attracts leads but also ensures that the leads are high quality, as they feel genuinely connected to what your product can offer them. Thus, building brand equity.
In essence, knowing your customers inside and out enables you to control the conversation and guide them through the customer journey more effectively.
This is the foundation of a successful client acquisition strategy that goes beyond cold outreach, creating lasting relationships and higher conversion rates.
Create the Perfect Bait
Once you’ve identified your target customer’s biggest problem, create a valuable free item that addresses this issue head-on.
This could be any of the following:
- eBook
- Checklist
- Toolkit
- Webinar
- PDF Report
Or any content that provides a tangible solution.
The idea is to offer something that your potential clients find genuinely useful, something that alleviates a significant pain point and builds trust.
For instance, if your customers are overwhelmed with payroll management, offer a guide titled “5 Ways to Simplify Payroll Management Without Hiring an Accountant.” Feel free to steal this headline framework!
This guide could break down simple, actionable steps that they can take immediately to reduce their stress and improve efficiency.
By offering a specific, practical solution, you are not only helping them solve a pressing issue but also positioning yourself as a knowledgeable and helpful resource.
Your free item should not only solve a problem but also highlight a larger issue that your product can address.
In the example of the payroll management guide, while you provide immediate tips, you can subtly point out the broader challenges of financial management that many small business owners face.
This sets the stage for presenting your product as the ultimate solution that can handle not just payroll, but the entire spectrum of their financial needs.
Consider this process as an opportunity to introduce your brand and its values. The content should reflect your understanding of their struggles and your commitment to solving them.
Moreover, this free item acts as a gateway, opening the door for further interaction. When prospects find real value in your initial offering, they are more likely to trust you and explore what else you have to offer. This is particularly effective when you target a problem that many potential customers face but haven’t found a satisfactory solution for yet.
By providing immediate value, you initiate a positive relationship with your audience, making them more open to your future communications.
Practically speaking, I’d recommend using a landing page to offer this free resource in exchange for contact information. This way, you can build a database of potential customers who have already shown interest in your solution.
Spoiler alert, this is what we do for our clients. Nothing new here.
Follow-Up Relentlessly Through Automation
After capturing leads with your free item, it’s crucial to follow up consistently and effectively. Automation is your best friend here, enabling you to maintain regular contact without manual effort.
Set up a sequence of emails or messages that nurture these leads, providing additional value and building trust over time.
The first email should deliver the promised free item and be tracked for engagement. This initial contact sets the tone and ensures that your leads receive what they signed up for promptly.
Follow-up emails should offer more tips, case studies, or insights related to their problem. For instance, if your free item was about simplifying payroll management, subsequent emails could include success stories of businesses that improved their operations.
Use this as an opportunity to provide tremendous value via long-form modalities (videos and articles).
Each touchpoint should aim to deepen the prospect’s understanding of the problem and how your solution can help.
Remember, it typically takes multiple touchpoints — between 8 to 15 interactions — for a prospect to convert.
This consistent engagement via automation helps to build a relationship with your prospects, establishing you as a reliable and knowledgeable resource. While saving you loads of time.
By the time they are ready to make a purchase decision, your product or service will be top of mind.
Moreover, automation allows you to segment your audience based on their interactions and behaviors. For example, leads who opened your initial emails and downloaded additional resources can be moved into a more targeted sequence that encourages them to take the next step, such as signing up for a free trial, scheduling a demo, or booking a consultation.
This personalized approach increases the likelihood of conversion and ensures that your messaging remains relevant to each lead’s specific needs and interests.
TL;DR
To efficiently and effectively acquire new clients without chasing prospects with cold outreach, follow these key strategies:
Understand Your Customer
- Know their pain points and daily challenges.
- Craft resonant messages based on this understanding.
Create a Valuable Free Item
- Address their biggest problems.
- Use it to capture leads.
Check Out our Free Training
Follow Up Relentlessly Through Automation
- Set up email sequences to nurture leads.
- Provide consistent value and build trust over time.
Strategic Follow-Up Drives Conversion
- Deep customer understanding and automated follow-up enhance lead acquisition and conversion.
By implementing these strategies, you can rid yourself of the endless hell-cycle that is cold outreach and obtain a systematic growth engine. Thus, creating a more efficient, effective, and scalable client acquisition process.
As always, thanks for joining me on my mission to change the scammy narrative behind advertising and help small businesses use it efficiently to drive growth for services that materially change the world for the better.
