PoSITIoNINg YOUR CoNSULTANcY AT EVERY cLIENT ACqUISITIoN ENgINE STAgE

When you've dedicated time and effort to define your consultancy's unique positioning and differentiation, it's pivotal to ensure these hard-won advantages are reflected at every stage of your client acquisition process.

Properly leveraging your unique position can transform the effectiveness of your marketing and sales activities, setting you apart in a competitive market.

Launching with impact

The initial launch of your consultancy's offer is a critical moment that can generate significant buzz. It's tempting to cast a wide net by deploying your message across multiple marketing channels. However, focusing your efforts on a single channel initially can help you create a consistent, powerful impact.

This concentrated approach ensures that your target audience receives a clear and impactful introduction to your offer. As you gain traction, you can begin to scale up by extending to other marketing channels, such as email marketing, content marketing, and social media posts, to broaden your reach while maintaining message integrity.

Building a client acquisition engine

The next step is to build a client acquisition engine that leverages your unique offer and complements it with a high-converting customer journey. This strategic blend includes your newly crafted language and irresistible offer, supported by a marketing strategy designed to maximise your creation's potential and guide potential clients smoothly from discovery to decision-making.

Follow these steps for a complete client acquisition engine:

1. Promotional email: Initiate engagement with targeted emails that highlight your services.
2. Lead magnet landing page: Direct potential clients to a landing page to collect their details in exchange for a valuable resource.
3. Lead magnet thank you page: After they opt-in, guide them to a thank you page that confirms their interest and direct them to additional resources or next steps.
4. Automated nurture sequence: Engage further with a series of value-added emails that nurture leads towards engagement.
5. Triage call or demo: Offer a call or demo to discuss needs and solutions in detail.
6. Diagnostic: Conduct an in-depth diagnostic to understand client challenges and demonstrate your approach.
7. Authority amplifier: Share a brief video to showcase your consultancy's value and establish authority quickly.
8. Sales call: Convert nurtured leads into clients with a sales call that addresses their specific needs.

Through this approach, you can practically reverse-engineer your marketing to achieve your sales and revenue goals. This setup allows for precise tracking of performance, helping you identify and resolve any bottlenecks.

Consistency is key

Maintaining consistency in your messaging and positioning across all points of contact with potential clients - be it through email marketing, social media posts or direct interactions - is crucial. This consistency helps reinforce your consultancy's identity and ensures that your ideal customer receives the same compelling experience at every touchpoint, enhancing brand trust and recognition.

Six strategic tips 

1. Enhance your sales script

Introduce a script that contrasts the desired result with the current reality and the roadblocks preventing the ideal state. This not only clarifies the need for your consultancy's services but also positions your offer as the solution.

Start with: “You’d like [Result], but right now you’ve got [Reality], with [Roadblocks] in your way.”

At this point, describe your un-turn-downable offer in full, including the structure of the programme or solution, any risk-removal strategy you employ (such as a guarantee), and how the next steps would pan out, were they to agree to work with you.

2. Include an authority amplifier

An Authority Amplifier is essentially a short video, typically around 10 minutes long, that serves as a prelude to deeper engagement with potential clients. This video can be as simple as a screen share recorded on Zoom, where you explain more about your consultancy’s proposition. By presenting quantifiable results tailored to specific personas and using proof elements and invalidation statements, this video helps establish your authority in the field. Not only does it build trust and connection before you even ask for business, but it also saves crucial time during the sales calls by addressing key points upfront.

3. Create a resource library

Develop a comprehensive library of marketing and sales assets. This not only streamlines your operations but also ensures that all team members are using tools that reinforce your consultancy's differentiated messaging and positioning.

4. Optimise your landing pages

Utilise landing pages as a focused entry point for potential clients. These pages should be carefully crafted to reflect the differentiated assets of your consultancy, designed to convert interest into actionable leads.

Essential to the client acquisition engine, your landing pages should be meticulously crafted to align with your consultancy's positioning and differentiation strategy. HubSpot’s features like smart content, trackable URLs and automated workflows after form submissions can seamlessly integrate into these pages to boost effectiveness.

 To enhance conversion rates:

• Simplify the user experience: Implement a single, clear call to action (CTA) that stands out with a contrasting colour, avoiding any competing CTAs that can confuse potential clients.
• Focus the visitor's attention: Remove the navigation bar to minimise distractions, ensuring visitors are focused solely on the key message and action you want them to take.
• Reflect your unique proposition: Design each landing page to echo the differentiated assets of your consultancy, thereby reinforcing your unique market position and enticing prospects to engage further.

5. Incorporate case studies

Showcase your success stories through detailed case studies. These are powerful proof points that demonstrate the effectiveness of your consultancy's approach, making the case for your unique value proposition compelling and credible.

Testimonials and quantifiable results can be incorporated at multiple touch points throughout the engine, for example, in your sales deck, on landing pages, or under your email signature in any automated communications.

6. Continually optimise your engine

From tweaking email marketing campaigns to refining content marketing strategies, regular optimisation ensures your efforts remain effective and responsive to market changes and client feedback.

Conclusion

By integrating these strategies into your client acquisition process, your consultancy can not only attract but also retain the right clients, ultimately driving growth and success. Remember, each interaction with a potential client is an opportunity to reinforce your consultancy's unique value and strengthen your market position.