Posted on May 15, 2009 in Sales, Money

Small business advice on attracting paying clients

Author: Allison Babb
Allison Babb is an author, speaker and Small Business Coach to solo entrepreneurs. Allison publishes the "Small Business Success" weekly Ezine on how to create a steady stream of clients for your small business at: www.GreatSmallBusinessAdvice.com

photo by BotheredByBees

Small business owners often ask the question of "How do I attract paying clients?" The ones who you never need to chase after or wait forever to get payment after you deliver your services.

If "slow to pay" clients have been an issue for you, I'll tell you that some of the suggestions I'll make below will take some guts. But then again, you're a gutsy "dare to start my own business" entrepreneur anyway so this may be a piece of cake. Here they are:

Define who you want to work with

When people tell me that their clients don't want to pay, one of my suspicions is that they have not clearly defined who they want to work with. So they end up attracting the wrong crowd.

For example, if you are a virtual assistant and on your web site, you define your ideal client as "very successful established solo entrepreneurs" then that's exactly what you'll get. Visitors to your web site will self-identify. Struggling entrepreneurs or those with very limited budgets are unlikely to call you after reading that description. So my questions for you are: "Where are you defining who you want to do business? How can you choose wording so that people (who can afford your services) can self-identify, and those who cannot don't bother knocking on your door?

You're the boss

It's your company and your business. You're the owner. You're the CEO. If you are in complete control over how you do business, you also get to decide how you get paid. So here's the new you... Take a deep breath. :-)

Require payment up front

Yes, I know, you will probably tell me that no-one in your industry does that. And to that I would say "Dare to be different." Then you may tell me that you'll never get any customers. And I'll say "Not so." Stay with me on this. You can indeed require full or partial payment up front. Here's how....

Guarantee your work

Instead of saying, " I'll do the job and if you're happy with it, I'll send you an invoice. " Instead say " Full payment up front and if you're not happy with the results, you get all your money back ." Takes guts right? But guess what, the fear is most likely in your own mind. We should be so sure that we can deliver high value and high quality work that a money-back guarantee isn't scary. If you're delivering high value, unless your client profile is of questionable integrity, you'll rarely (if at all) get money-back requests.

Now for some services (those that depend on action from the client), such as coaching services, guaranteeing results may not be appropriate because you cannot guarantee that the client will take action. However, you can guarantee what they will discover from working with you, insights they will gain, new tools they will have for their businesses or lives, etc. You can guarantee prompt response, prompt delivery, thorough service, etc.

I remember when I was doing leadership workshops for managers, I was probably the ONLY Executive Coach that provided a written money-back guarantee for my workshops. I had a 100% money-back guarantee. I required the check up front. Then the guarantee was: At the end of the workshop, if your managers aren't completely thrilled by what they learned, if they don't view it as incredibly valuable, I'll hand the check back to you. I never did a refund. And by the way, most people think Corporate clients won't pay up front.

Use the power of testimonials

Ask for testimonials from previous clients and show this to new clients along with your pricing. Testimonials are powerful and they are far more convincing than your own words. Ask clients what results they achieved from working with you (not just how nice or friendly you are). The results speak for themselves. This may be the place for you to start. Start gathering up a lot of testimonials. You can never have too many. When you have a few, include it with your pricing. As my mentor, Dan Kennedy says " What others say about you is at least 1000 times more believable than what you say about yourself."

Speak your pricing with complete confidence

I am able to look someone in the eye and say "You get all your money back if you don't get the value and results you wanted or expected" And I mean it. I also know the quality of my products and services and I'm confident about it. I'm completely confident in the results I can help my clients achieve and that unshaken confidence makes my clients confident as well.

Price your services in packages

Instead of being paid by the hour or by the month, eliminate that option and offer a 3-month or 6-month package. Or if your work isn't hourly/monthly, have packages based on what your clients want "basic package", "premium package" etc. You get two benefits with this approach - the client pre-pays for a specific period of time or a specific set of services. And secondly, because they are experiencing a "complete package" they are much more likely to experience better results from your work, which then leads to great testimonials.

Your industry may not be as different as you think

Having been in many entrepreneurial groups, I've seen up front payments implemented in countless industries where others think it's just not possible.

From dentists to chiropractors, coaches, CPAs, corporate trainers, consultants, photographers, fitness instructors, you name it. So I no longer believe it's impossible to require full payment up front. I used to believe that until I saw my peers confidently breaking that self-limiting belief and achieving enormous success.

It may be that your new pricing starts with new clients only and keep the old clients on the invoicing plan. Try it, you might just be amazed at how easily your clients accept it.

Allison Babb is an author, speaker and Small Business Coach to solo entrepreneurs. Allison publishes the "Small Business Success" weekly Ezine on how to create a steady stream of clients for your small business at: www.GreatSmallBusinessAdvice.com