How to Get Paid While Using Introductory Sessions to Attract More and Better Clients

Are you willing to get paid while delivering introductory sessions that attract and convert more and better clients? It's a big paradigm shift for coaches, consultants, therapists, counselors, healthcare providers, and other independent professionals Now more than ever, when I ask service professionals what they need in their business, the answer is almost always the same: more clients! If you’re like most independent service professionals, you know you’re good at what you do and you're committed to changing people's lives and the condition of our planet. But that alone doesn't bring in clients who are well-suited for you and are willing to pay for the value you offer! With mixed success, you may have tried networking, speaking, blogging, Twittering, sending emails, writing articles or joining referral groups, and still… …you're looking for more clients, customers, and patients. Have you started to wonder if this will ever change, or if this is just part of being in business? At some point, all of your marketing and promotional efforts may have led you to offering “free introductory sessions” or “complimentary consultations” to build your business. While you may have gained clients this way, there's a good chance that this process has left you frustrated, drained, and discouraged. You see, while free sessions and complimentary consultations can and do produce results, there’s one big problem: you can attract a lot of "tire-kickers" -- people who book a session with you because it's free, with no interest in going any further. Let’s face it - unless you have a way to weed out the tire-kickers, you’ll burn up time and energy and have no new clients (or customers or patients) to show for it in the end. But what if you had a way to: <ul> <li>Eliminate the "tire-kickers”?</li> <li>Select only the best clients to work with?</li> <li>Markedly increase your conversion rates?</li> <li>Get PAID while you qualify prospective clients, customers, and patients!?!</li> </ul> Would that make a difference in your business? Of course it would! So consider this: What if you could attract and work with only the clients who are a good fit for you, avoid wasting time with "window shoppers," dramatically increase your conversion rates to longer-term and better paying clients, and, get appropriately compensated for it all at the same time?" Does this challenge your beliefs about what's possible? At this very moment, you may thinking to yourself: "Sounds great, but that won't work for my business?" If you're willing to put all that aside for a moment, just accept the possibility that it's possible. And, simply put, the way to do it is to: "SIMPLY CHARGE A FEE FOR YOUR INITIAL SESSION." You see, when you charge a fee for your initial "introductory" session, you screen out the people who are interested in doing a session with you only because it's free. Moreover, since they are expecting to or have already paid for their initial session, they've identified themselves as someone who is motivated and interested in changing something in their lives. And people show up for your session with a higher level of expectation of what they're going to get, so you'll be working with a higher-calibre of clientele who are more satisfying to work with and who are value-conscious (as opposed to price-sensitive). All of this leads to better conversion rates and people you'd love working with. A double bonus! But if it's so easy, why aren't more people doing this? Admittedly, it's not always as straightforward as tacking on a fee to your existing "free" or "introductory" session. Though, it could be as simple as that. (In fact, recently, I coached one of my private clients to revisit an introductory process that she had "mothballed" and feature it as her paid introductory session. Within a couple of weeks, she was getting paid to begin exploring possibilities with new clients, some of whom turned into longer-term clients. And, on top of that, her new approach led to a referral to a lucrative client engagement and increased her cashflow significantly. All of this increased her confidence and boosted her optimism for the future.) Realistically, it takes a shift in one's perceptions and beliefs about what is possible. It takes overcoming one's fears and concerns, quieting the "little voice" that says: "this doesn't apply to my business," or "you can't do that." Beyond that, whether you use free or paid introductory sessions (or a mixture of both), the key to more and better clients lies in understanding how to provide tremendous stand-alone value during your initial session with them... value that the client knows is well-worth paying for because they've just experienced it. So, challenging economy or not, strongly consider developing and honing your approach for having potential clients pay for their initial session. Compared to what you're doing now, there a good chance that you'll turn a higher percentage of them into better paying and more appreciative clients, customers, and patients. 2009-09-10T01:46:54Z

2009-09-11T15:20:33Z

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how-to-get-paid-while-using-introductory-sessions-to-attract-more-and-better-clients

2009-09-11T08:19:03Z

2009-09-11T15:20:33Z

For service-based professionals and businesses, using free introductory sessions to introduce buyers to your products and services is commonplace. While this approach can work, consider adding another gear to your engine: introductory sessions that clients gladly pay for.

How to Get Paid While Using Introductory Sessions to Attract More and Better Clients

2009-09-11T15:20:33Z