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Creating a Reputation
by Marcia Yudkin
Want to shorten
the sales cycle for your professional services?
Want pre-sold prospects who need fewer or no
face-to-face meetings before hiring you? Create
a reputation.
Recently a room full of consultants agreed that
you had to meet with potential clients at least
twice - better, three times - before winning the
business. "Then how do you get business
outside the area?" someone asked. The
consensus: Forget it.
Yet I've been hired by companies in Australia
and elsewhere without even phone calls, much
less a face-to-face. Like nearly all my most
congenial clients, they weren't choosing
candidates to compare with one another. They
weren't shopping, weren't engaged in a
systematic search. If hunting, they stopped when
they found me. Or they hadn't thought of
spending money on their problem until my
reputation gave them the idea.
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Publishing books, as I've done, is just one way
to establish a reputation that pre-sells
prospects on what you can do for them. For image
consultant Mary Lou Andre of Needham,
Massachusetts, a reputation-building tool has
been her Web site. In addition to descriptions
of her services, her site at http://www.dressingwell.com
chronicles the media publicity she's received
and highlights her approach to fashion through
profiles of prominent individuals and
corporations that she's helped.
"Last fall I closed a national retail chain
that found us on the Web and e-mailed us in
June," says Andre. "When I told them I
was about to give birth, they said they'd wait.
In September, they signed the contract. We never
met face to face! They modeled the entire
project after the work I did for Bose
Corporation, which is featured on our Web site.
I firmly believe our reputation (and Web site)
closed the deal."
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For translation industry consultant Sarah
Pilgrim of Wilsall, Montana, a
reputation-building tool has been a half-page ad
she's run for years in a trade journal for
translators. A signed testimonial in it from
someone in the business and a credential of
having been in the business herself for 20+
years gives her high credibility with her target
market.
"When translation agency owners read my
bio, they recognize the name of the translation
company I founded and sold, which has a good
reputation," Pilgrim adds. "When they
call to find out more, they can tell I know the
business. And therefore when I've gone to visit
clients it's always been as a paid consultant,
with the client footing the bill."
Whether you use publishing, the Internet,
advertising, promotional newsletters or media
coverage to build a reputation, it takes time.
Each piece of visibility reinforces previous
effects. With a reputation, you get more
inquiries like "Do you do...?" and
fewer along the lines of "We're looking for
a ___ who does..." With a reputation,
pre-sale meetings drop to one or zero. E-mail or
phone exchanges can suffice. Powerful stuff!
Copyright 2000 Marcia Yudkin.
All rights reserved.
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