Consultant Tip, April 2006

3 Tips to Grow Your Consulting Practice in 2006
by Rosemary Brisco, ToTheWeb

Prospecting Where It Matters Most

Do you know the most effective way to spend your time and resources to generate new business for 2006? The answer is to look to the past

As the New Year begins, your goal is to fill the sales pipeline with solid leads that are highly likely to result in closed sales. The key is to analyze the patterns in your closed business to determine your most effective lead sources over several years.

In the past ten years, I've used a number of marketing techniques: direct mail, cold calls, seminars, networking organizations, nonprofit work, search engine ads, search engine optimization and traditional media advertising.

At the end of each year, I create a detailed list showing:

• Product or service sold
• Marketing technique that brought in the client
• Revenue per sale

I evaluate this list over a three-year period. This is important, because one's memory can favor the "big score" of the year, even if it was a one-off event that may never happen again. The list tells me which marketing techniques brought in revenue and where I can best focus my resources for the future.

We're all familiar with the saying "I know half my advertising dollars are wasted—I just don't know which half!" In fact, you can know where to best spend your marketing resources by adopting this analytical approach to tracking your lead sources.

Your Website—A Key Pre-Sales Tool

Imagine this typical scenario: a former client refers a prospect to your company. Prior to contacting you, they visit your website (studies show almost 80% of decision makers screen potential business partners this way). Based on how they react to your site, they then decide whether or not to contact you directly. If your site doesn't "speak" to their needs, you may never hear from them. The result is another "invisible" lost sale!

So, how effective is your website as a pre-sales tool for your business? Here are some tips on how to evaluate it:

• Think the way your prospects do. Does your site answer questions and concerns? Prospects first must be convinced you can help them. Then, they want to know about your skills and high-profile clients.
• Use clear, simple language. It's best to dispense with marketing fluff and jargon. We're inundated with it every moment of our lives—no need to contribute more!
• Don't go overboard on flashy design elements at the expense of useful information presented up front. Site visitors shouldn't have to work to find what they're looking for.
• Boost your search engine ranking by writing articles and submitting them to industry websites in your field. You not only get exposure, but you can also request a link back to your website.

Ongoing Training & Development

The pace of technological change continues to accelerate. As independent consultants, we're expected to be the experts. Fortunately, we're used to being self-starters; and with online resources so readily at hand, it doesn't take as much effort to keep up with current trends as it used to.

• Find an online forum to participate in and make a point to read it daily
• Attend seminars and conferences in your specialty—at least once a year
• Set aside a half hour a day to read a business book that other consultants have recommended to you

ToTheWeb creates customer-oriented websites that achieve high visibility in the search engines and generate leads for their clients. Rosemary leads ToTheWeb's project management, sales and marketing team. Her knowledge of how search engines work, coupled with a deep understanding of how prospects interact with websites, ensures that her clients' websites provides long-term cost-savings by driving prospects from the search engines.