“I just can’t get any traction selling the X-Ray program.”
This is a typical concern I hear voiced often. You may have even said it yourself.
My first very honest response to this is to ask the person ‘what have you done in the past to grow your business?’ If you are already running a successful business, you have existing clients and you know how to market and you know how to sell.
You have just added another tool to your toolkit, so your first step is to let your existing customers know about this new tool. If you haven’t been working with CEOs, but have been working with HR people or managers, introduce the 7 Stages of Growth to them. They already ‘know, like and trust you’ – this should be an easy conversation. Then ask them if they would set up a meeting with you, the HR person or manager and the CEO and introduce the CEO to the 7 Stages of Growth.
The concepts in the model work. IF the business owner WANTS TO GROW and IS A LEARNING CEO. Your existing clients have already bought something from you, so you know they meet these two criteria. With your existing clients, have you asked them for referrals? Who better to refer you than someone who already ‘knows, likes and trusts you’.
However, IF you’ve already introduced the 7 Stages of Growth to your existing clients and are looking for ways to introduce prospects to the model, read on.
Here are 5 critical steps I believe are necessary in order to integrate the 7 Stages of Growth into your business in order for you to start making money from programs like the X-Ray and the Profit Zone.
Step One:
Commit. You have to wanna make something happen. What have you done to identify your target audience? The easy answer is ‘business owners with fewer than 500 employees who want to grow their business’. Another answer may be ‘business owners with 1 – 57 employees who want to grow their business.’ If you are clear around who your target audience is, your next step is to find your target audience and find opportunities to get in front of them. The X-Ray and the Profit Zone programs start with the CEO so your prime target are CEOs.
Step Two:
Exposure. Where does your target audience gather? What conferences do they attend? What networking events do they attend? What resources are available to tell you who these business owners are? Does your newspaper publish a Book of Lists? Does your Chamber of Commerce provide a membership catalog listing all of their members? Do you have Peer-to-Peer CEO Advisory groups in your area? Are there groups you could join so people can start getting to know who you are and what you do? Can you offer Lunch N Learns? Work with strategic alliance partners who work with CEOs – banks, CPA firms, Attorneys – and offer to do a free 90 minute presentation if they’ll bring the customers.
Step Three:
Integrate. Utilize the Membership Site to create your own marketing messages. To identify ways of positioning the 7 Stages of Growth. To position the X-Ray or the Profit Zone. All this work has been done for you. Yes, there is a lot of information, but you don’t have to ‘figure it out’ on your own. I’ve already identified key marketing messages. They are in ALL of the materials on the site. Have you listened to these 3 videos:
- Marketing Tips for the Growth Curve OR
- Understanding the 3 Faces of a Leader OR
- Understanding the 3 Gates of Focus
ALL of these videos highlight MARKETING MESSAGES you can use in blog posts, on your website, in your own marketing materials.
Have you listened to:
How to Position an X-Ray to a Prospect ….. from the video you’ll walk away knowing how to start a conversation with a CEO that helps you introduce the concepts from the 7 Stages of Growth. I give you Features and Benefits for your marketing materials to position the X-Ray. I give you specific SOLUTIONS the X-Ray provides. AND I outline a bunch of Differentiators for the 7 Stages of Growth and the X-Ray process. All you have to do is apply them to your own marketing materials.
Have you looked at the resources under the Marketing Tab and read the article I wrote called:
Predicting How Your Company Will Grow Starts with Understanding the Stages of Growth
OR
Read through the Special Reports OR the articles that identify the non-negotiable rules for each stage of growth.
Begin the process of integrating these concepts into your existing business.
http://www.gcspecialists.com/member-dashboard
Step Four:
Knowledge. Don’t let your lack of confidence be the reason you aren’t converting prospects into clients. Get out there and TALK about the Stages of Growth.
Make a goal of taking five people out for coffee every week so you can explain the concepts to them. Your goal is to find people who could connect you to other people and the more they know about the 7 Stages of Growth, the more likely they are to recommend you the next CEO they run into. What can you provide them to help them remember who you are and what you can do to help CEOs succeed?
The more you write about these concepts, the more confidence you’ll gain. Are there business journals looking for articles? Can you submit articles to trade publications?
Where can you speak about the 7 Stages of Growth? In every community there are networking groups looking for great topics to share with their members. Find out where these groups meet, who is the group leader and get invited to speak to their group. The more you TALK about the 7 Stages of Growth the more confident you’ll become. For every audience you engage, there is also a chance to be referred out to another group.
Step Five:
Repeat. You have to talk, write, engage with the 7 Stages of Growth often. Don’t get discouraged if one networking chairman turns you down. Find another one that will say yes. Don’t get discouraged if one CEO isn’t interested. Find another one that is. Remember, marketing and sales is an ongoing process, not a singular event. Create marketing materials you can hand out when you are in front of a CEO audience. Write articles you can submit to social media.
You’ve invested time and money into learning about the 7 Stages of Growth. This is a program that WILL differentiate you in a very crowded marketplace. Start today to create the traction you need to make the 7 Stages of Growth a part of your growing business.
Your success. My passion.
Laurie Taylor, FlashPoint!
P.S. We now have six CASE STUDIES on organizations that have experience with the 7 Stages of Growth. All of these Case Studies are designed to help a prospect read about the value these business owners have experienced from this model. Don’t ignore this valuable marketing tool. You can find them under the Resources Tab, under the 7 Stages of Growth Tab, Under the SubHead: Case Studies
