If your business hasn’t been attracting the right clientele lately, we’ve got great news for you. Marketing Consultant Ken Conklin has a few pieces of advice on how you can begin reeling in the right clients so that you can focus on truly serving the world at the highest level possible, rather than continue dealing with those who don’t truly appreciate what you do.
If you aren’t already familiar with Ken Conklin or his company, Gravel to Castle Accelerator, know that they are one of the few best kept secrets in the marketing space. Ken has worked behind the scenes for a number of years as the brains behind the online marketing for many well-known speakers and consultants, and he sometimes teaches his best strategies at masterminds and conferences.
Ken has recently transitioned to serving companies generating at least a million dollars per year by helping them dominate their positioning online through PR, but his strategies certainly can apply to every business whether they are just starting out or already absolutely crushing it.
We got the opportunity to hear his top three pieces of advice for the entrepreneurs who want to begin attracting a higher-end clientele.
1. Deliver way more value than your competitors, and charge more than what they charge
Key says that what most entrepreneurs get wrong when they create their offers is they aren’t looking at how they can be better than the competition in every way. Clearly, being the best at something takes quite a bit of time. But Ken believes that it’s crucial for those in business to spend a mass amount of time of their day figuring out how they can keep improving their quality of service.
“It’s not enough to simply just be good, for there are plenty of people in the marketplace who are just that. The way to stand out is to be phenomenal, and you get to that point by putting you time and energy to become that. This will take time for sure, but once you do, you’ll be able to charge a lot more because you are now selling the outcome of getting the job done right the first time,” Ken says.
2. Dial in your positioning, for how other people see you is crucial
One reason a business may be struggling to attract the clientele that they are looking to attract is because they might not be communicating their true value online. One way to change that is by showcasing plenty of case studies or testimonials on whatever touchpoint someone interacts with your brand on (website, funnel, social media, email, etc.).
“If you aren’t showcasing the results that you are bringing your clients then you are messing up big time,” Ken mentioned.
“People need to hear from others about their experience working with you, but it is your job to make that happen. Go reach out to the last ten people you served (who you hopefully did a great job with), and ask them to record a simple review video that you can showcase online. Once you’ve collected a handful of them, go leverage those videos by showcasing them everywhere that your ideal clients meet you at. Then once they see the results that you’ve brought other people, hopefully it will increase the likeliness of them wanting to work with you, as well.”
3. Always overdeliver, for that’s how you create repeat clients
“I’ve had a handful of clients who repeatedly hired me for new projects or ventures of theirs simply because of the fact that I always make sure to go above and beyond,” Ken mentioned. “One of my clients named Christine McDannell, who currently is on the opposite side of the globe doing some amazing work in the tech space. Back when I first met her, I began doing some basic marketing work for her luxury car company. That turned into taking over the social media for her spa, and then soon enough I basically became her go-to for anything that she needed done website/marketing related.”
Ken has worked with Christine on now three ventures of hers, and he says that he gained a ton of referral business from her, as well.
“When someone is happy with what you deliver, they’ll never not use you. You will become their go-to, and they will always tell their friends and colleagues about you. That’s the power of delivering more than what others pay you for.”