Five Tips to Gain Clients

BY MELANIE BARR

She Built It™ Family! I was recently asked on our She Built It™ Social - “I know communication and confidence are key in business development...I can lead them to water but I can’t make them drink!?” We love when you reach out with questions, one of our favorite things to do is share our knowledge and answer them. 

I love business development, developing a plan, coming up with creative potential client ideas, and pitching, but I get it, not everyone loves business development, and making an “ask” can be extremely intimidating. I completely understand you might want to focus on the part of the business that you're passionate about and that comes easy to you. The truth is in order to grow - especially if you don’t have a sales and business development team working with you - you have to make time to perfect your offerings and “ask” in order to grow revenue and profit.  Even if you do have a business development team, there are still times when you will need to win over a fun new client, collaboration partner, or other larger piece of business. Maybe you have an e-commerce business that sells through social platforms. There will still be times when your business development or pitching skills - whatever you prefer to call them, will pay off for you. Early in my business development career one of my favorite things to do on my long drive home on the 110 or 405 through LA was to look at the tall buildings I was driving by and think - if I could have any client, who would it be? One vivid moment I remember is driving by Staples Center and thinking I wanted to gain them as a client. Six months later, I did. I didn’t start out loving business development - it took time and dedication but the time and effort are so worth it, and learning the skill of taking an idea, finding ways to help make someone's life or business better so they become clients….is something I never will regret taking the time to develop and perfect. 

1. Get Specific 

If gaining clients or the thought of pitching a person or business the product or services you offer seems daunting, start small and get specific. Take a minute to think and dream about who you would want as a client or to collaborate with? Choose two or three and write them down or add them to your favorite organization app. 

2. How Can You Make Their Business Better

Once you have decided on two or three specific possible clients, partnerships, or collaborations, start listing the ways that your products or services can make their lives and businesses better. Business Development is really just that - how can your products and/or services make the lives or business better for someone else. Thinking about business development and gaining clients in this way can make going through the process so much easier. 

3. How To Reach Them  

The next step is determining how to reach your target prospect. We are all bombarded daily with so many emails, DM’s, offerings, advice, etc.  Think about ways you can cut through that clutter to reach them so that you are remembered. Lead with what you genuinely like about their business and what they do, then transition into how you and what you are offering can help to make their business or life better.  Make it personal - send a video to them telling them who you are, why you are reaching out, how you can make their business and life better, how you have helped other businesses, and why they might want to choose to work with you. 

4. Make The Ask 

Early in my career, I gained a large client by taking them to a Dodgers baseball game (at the time I didn’t know I’d later go to work for the Dodgers) I chose baseball for a reason. I knew that baseball was slow-moving, not too distracting and that I would have time to talk with a bit of undivided attention. I love baseball so between watching the game and idle chit chat, I wove in questions and found out who they were currently working with, what they wished that particular company was doing differently, what services they were not getting from their current company and an overall sense of what was going well and what wasn’t.  By the end of the game, I had most of my answers to prepare a pitch that I was fairly confident they would accept. I knew I could help the client make his job easier running his company, I knew the services I could offer to make his business run smoother, and I knew the additional offerings I could provide from my company that was above what my competitor was doing. After making my pitch, I didn’t press too hard. I’d reach out occasionally saying hello, offering useful information, and letting the potential client know my company was there if it was needed.  It took a few months of following up, but my offer was accepted and I gained a large client as a result. 

5. Use Momentum 

You might have an e-commerce business where you sell products to hundreds, thousands, or millions or you might be a coach selling your services to individuals. I’ve done both and it is always a good idea to take a one-on-one business development approach. Being able to take an idea and see it all the way through the process, from inquiry to acceptance, benefits you in all areas of your business. It’s also incredibly fun and addicting in such a positive way when you start gaining clients regularly.  It takes a lot of no’s to get to yes, but once you master the process and the yes’s start coming your way, the rest gets so much easier. 

Go through this process with one specific potential client. Start slow, gain confidence, expect no’s, and don’t let that stop you. Remember, no one knows everything, and every successful person has failed many times. If you keep trying, developing plans, and perfecting your pitch each time. You will get to yes and soon you will have the clients list you were wishing for. It will happen. We’re with you, and you've got this.

ABOUT MELANIE BARR

Melanie Barr is the Founder + CEO of She Built it™. She’s an Entrepreneur, Podcaster, Community Creator, Twin Mama, Wife, & Optimist. 

The She Built It™ Collective comes together to empower you to "experience the life and business that you crave." We make meaningful member connections and share knowledge and resources that inspire you to make your next leap - big or small. Melanie launched She Built It™ in 2015 after selling millions in products and services for Fortune 500 companies and entrepreneurs - Marriott Hotels, AT&T, the Los Angeles Dodgers, and Millennium Corporate Solutions to name a few. She led Boards and assisted organizations with female-focused missions such as Step Up and Women’s Initiative Network (WIN) an organization at the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Melanie is grateful for her twins, family, friends, tea, wine, bingeing on a good show after a long day to wind down her creative mind, and the She Built It™ Collective and Family. She earned a BA in Marketing from Loyola Marymount. Melanie and her husband - Jonathan Levey and their seven-year-old twins, Parker and Elliott, live in Los Angeles, California.