[Method] Finding, Delighting, and Closing High-Quality Clients

If you are an agency, service provider, or consultant, you're constantly searching for high-value clients. There's a basic idea that you need to understand if you want to see better results. Too many businesses focus so much on closing the client that they forget about something more fundamental —delighting them.

Why It's Not All About Closing

If you browse sales topics on Facebook groups, watch sales videos, or read any of the popular literature on the topic, you'll hear bromides such as ABC: "Always Be Closing" or "Catch Them All." The truth is, you need to do the exact opposite: don't focus on catching them at all. Why?

No Business Can Serve Everyone

When you think about closing, you're looking at it from your perspective. You want more sales so your business grows. However, your clients aren't interested in contributing to your sales stats. They want to know what you can do for them. The truth is, no business is able to serve everyone. People differ in important ways. They have different needs, problems, tastes, and budgets. If your strategy is to close all clients without qualification, you're setting yourself up for disappointment. If this has been your approach, you need a shift in mindset.

The Process for Delighting and Closing the Right Clients

Dee Deng, in his latest Ad World conference speech, outlined a simple four-step process for identifying and closing the most suitable clients.

Step One: Define Them

Don't waste your time and resources trying to close everybody. You first need to target your audience and reach people who are an ideal match for your product or service. You can't afford to skip essential tasks such as market research and defining a buyer persona.

Step Two: Find Them

Once you know who your clients are, you need to find ways to get your message in front of them. You can do this in a number of ways.

• Advertising — Google Ads, Facebook Ads, offline advertising, etc.
• Content Marketing — Blog posts, videos, podcasts, webinars, etc.
• Cold Outreach — Cold calling, direct mail, messaging on LinkedIn, etc.

For all such methods, you always want to make sure you're targeting the right prospects, those you have the potential to truly serve.

Step Three: Delight Them

This is the most important step. Focus on what value your business offers to the prospects you've defined and reached out to. The key here is to not expect them to buy something from you first but to provide value now. Depending on your product or business model, this can take many forms.

• Free trial. This works well for SaaS or any type of service.
• Product sample. In addition to samples of your actual product, it can also help to give away promotional products.
• Education. Providing helpful information, such as in a blog, video, or webinar is a good way to deliver value and to establish yourself as an authority in your niche or industry.

Step Four: Close Them

Only after you've completed the first three steps should you think about closing. At this stage, you shouldn't need to apply heavy-handed sales tactics. You've already identified the optimal audience and provided them with tangible value. By now, the client will see that you're on their side and that you have their back. Closing will be the natural next stage rather than something you need to push for.

Once You Delight Them, Closing is Easy

The mistake made by many businesses is to try too hard to persuade, cajole, and convince prospects to buy something. As we've seen, it's much more effective to make sure you're reaching the right prospects and to concentrate on delighting them. It's not that closing isn't important. Naturally, you want to make more sales and enjoy rising profits for your business. However, if you have closed at the front of your mind when you interact with prospects, you'll be sending the wrong message. If you put the prospects and their needs first, closing will take care of itself.

Credit: article written by me and inspired from Dee Deng