In business, as in life, you’ll always find yourself in one of three places. You either have your mojo workin’ … you’re stuck in neutral … or you’re losing ground. In other words, you’re trending up, sideways or down.
I want to map this trend model onto your client acquisition and retention efforts and do two things. Examine what your success … or lack thereof … can mean to you professionally and personally. And look at what you can do to make it easier to be successful.
If you’re bringing in new clients and the folks you have are happy to stay right where they are, great. Give yourself some credit. You’re doing something right. But stick around. You may still be working too hard for the results you’re getting.
If you’re struggling to just hold your ground or you’re actually losing clients despite your best efforts, it’s time to take a hard look at how you’re going about marketing and client retention. Because if what you’re doing is taking a whole lot of time and effort and straining you to the max, you’re at risk of burning out.
I hear it from so many people. They’re giving it all they’ve got, working long hours and sacrificing a lot on the personal side to keep themselves in the game professionally. And it takes its toll.
It’s easy to become chronically stressed. And chronic stress leads to illness as sure as fire burns things. It’s a subject we covered in our last two blog posts here and here.
And no one wants to feel as if they’re struggling professionally … spinning their wheels … just to stay where they are. It can be depressing.
So, what’s the solution? What’s the key to doing less, struggling less, and getting better results?
Being systematic.
What does that mean? Three things:
1: Employing a marketing and client retention system that works … one that covers every base and has been proven to produce results.
2: Working it systematically and religiously a certain number of hours a week.
3: Sticking with it long enough for it to produce results.
What I see over and over again, instead, is people engaged in random acts of marketing. They try a little of this, a little of that and then move onto something else.
THAT DOESN’T WORK. It wastes your time. It wastes your money, and it stresses you out, because you don’t get the results.
When you approach your marketing and your client contact efforts systematically, you get results. When you get results, the pressure comes off. The strain is reduced.
Life might not become a total cakewalk, but you’ve got your mojo working and momentum on your side … and that feels good.
The bottom line: Don’t wing it when it comes to marketing and don’t just skim an inch deep. Figure out what works. Come up with a plan … and then diligently work the plan. Doing anything less will become an exercise in frustration.
To end on a positive note, you have a lot to offer. The only thing you have to do is make more meaningful connections with the right people … the folks in your target market. It’s not that hard to do.
If I can help, great. It’s what I do. It’s why I’m here, but whatever you do, make sure you’re working a system and not just throwing stuff at the wall to see what sticks.
That’s what gets your mojo workin’ and keeps you on that upward curve.