How many times have you thought “If only I had more clients, all my problems would be solved”?

Most businesses – regardless of whether micro, small or corporate giants – have found themselves believing that all their business problems would be solved if they could just get more clients.

True?

While you’re most likely squirming in your chair anxious to shout a resounding “YES!”, chances are you know me well enough to know the answer is “It depends”.

You see, it depends on whether or not these phantom, soon-to-be-real clients are your ideal clients and whether or not you’re offering ideal products and services.

Let’s break that down. For purposes of this article:

“Ideal clients” are those clients who make you smile when you see their name on caller id or in your email box. The ones who appreciate the value you bring to them, happily pay you on time and refer others to you.

“Ideal products and services” are more than products and services which your ideal clients want and will pay money for. They’re also the products and services which make you money.

Without the right clients (ones you enjoy) and the right products and services (ones which add, not subtract, to your bottom line), simply “selling more” doesn’t matter and can actually have the wrong effect on your business, and sanity.

Make It Real: My Request to You

Ready to figure out where you stand?

1. Write out your ideal client description – who is she (or he)? What do they do? What do they love? What keeps them up at night? Give them a name, hobbies, what do they read? Where do they vacation? Do they have children? What do they spend their discretionary income on? Create a person, find a picture which represents your ideal client and post it where you can see it every day.
2. And now for some math – KNOW, don’t guess, how much PROFIT (not revenue) you make on each and every product or service you offer. If you haven’t done this before, you may be surprised to learn that some of your products or services are actually COSTING you money.
3. Review numbers 1 and 2 above and see where they cross – which of your highest profit (also known as “gross margin”) products and services are ones your ideal client wants and is willing to pay for?
4. Have lower profit products or services that aren’t “loss leaders” as part of your marketing? Now’s the time to either raise the price, bundle them in a different way so they are profitable or let them go.

Once you’ve done the above, you’ll be able to assess whether what you really want are MORE clients or the same clients arranged differently in your funnel.

After all, it’s not about you working 24/7.

For the past 5 years, Sandra Martini has been showing self-employed business owners how to get more clients consistently by implementing processes and systems to put their marketing on autopilot. Visit Sandra at http://www.SandraMartini.com for details, compelling client testimonials and her free audio series “5 Simple and Easy Steps to Put Your Marketing on Autopilot”.

Related Posts

• Solopreneurs: Are You Losing Potential Clients?
• I Should Grow my Business “Geometrically”?
• Smart Clients Are The Best Clients
• Why You’re Missing the Boat with Audio and Video
• Do You Know Who Your Ideal, High-Paying Clients Are?

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 19th, 2009 at 10:46 am and is filed under Client Retention, Solo Entrepreneur Challenges. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

For the past 5 years, Sandra Martini has been showing self-employed business owners how to get more clients consistently by implementing processes and systems to put their marketing on autopilot. Visit Sandra at http://www.SandraMartini.com for details, compelling client testimonials and her free audio series "5 Simple and Easy Steps to Put Your Marketing on Autopilot".