Step Three – Communicate Your Core Message To Your Ideal Clients

Once you have defined the clients you want to attract, and the message you want to communicate to them, the next thing to decide is how to get your message in front of your ideal clients.  You may ask, what is the best form of marketing?  In my experience, the best message delivery system (i.e. marketing plan) is the one that comes most naturally to you.

There are a variety of marketing methods, from networking, to writing, to advertising.  Again, however, some introspection is needed.  If you, like me, hide in the corner at a party, networking is probably not the right method for you.  If you love to write, then write.  If your time is limited or you are less good with personal connections, consider advertising.

Exercise 3

Exercise 3 will help you think about the message delivery system that will work best for you.

Plan

Once you have a plan in place, do it, do it well, and keep doing it.  More specifically:

1.         Make a plan

2.         Determine how you are going to measure your plan’s success

3.         Follow your plan

4.         Measure your success

5.         Tweak your plan

6.         Do it again

Website is key

At the same time, in ADDITION to whatever marketing methods you choose, make sure you have a good website.  That website should be designed to appeal to your ideal client and to communicate your core message.  The internet is one of the main ways people locate professionals, and one of the main ways they check out professionals they have heard about through other sources.  If you do not have a website, or your website is lacking, you give the impression that you are not very professional.  While it can take some money and effort to build a good website, it is still one of the best marketing bargains out there.  For a free tutorial on how to build a website yourself without knowing any programming, see my friend’s website pjcoaching.com.

What if I am not a lawyer?

From the back of the room I hear someone asking the question – “That sounds fine for attorneys, but I am not an attorney.  I get my Collaborative cases by referral from the attorneys, so how does this help me?”  While I believe that other Collaborative professionals can and do also generate new Collaborative clients on their own, you may want to look at attorneys as the primary audience for your core message.  Anyone who is working on a referral basis, and that includes attorneys, can apply the same principles to their referral sources.  That means you still need to determine who your ideal clients are and what your core message is, and communicate that to your referral sources.  The difference is that you can be more explicit about who your ideal clients are.

Say you are a new coach and you want referrals from attorneys with Collaborative cases.  You do not want to be just another coach in the crowd, you want to find out what is special about you and what clients you work best with and communicate that to the attorneys.  That improves the odds that when a case comes along that is particularly suited to you, the attorney who has that case will seek you out.

Another piece that deserves mention is the importance of developing strong relationships with other Collaborative professionals.  Bringing a few cases to Collaborative colleagues is an important part of getting established in the Collaborative community.  We all know that Collaborative practice is rich in meetings.  Use those meetings to meet other professionals, and pick a few to meet individually.  Having mentors with whom to discuss problems is also essential to rapidly developing competence in Collaborative practice.  As you develop strong relationships with other professionals, they will think of you when it comes time to put together a team.  Remember that this is a two-way street, and you are also creating Collaborative cases to bring your Collaborative colleagues on board.