How to Get More Clients | 058

A profit doesn't happen by chance. It happens by design. Let's dig in. Most business owners, creatives coaches, think that one of the biggest problems that they face in their business is competition. There are too many other people out there that do the same thing. The network, the

the airwaves, are being inundated with the same message. Nobody can hear me. I blend in. There's too many other obstacles out there and and that's why I can't get through That's why no one is hearing me? We blame it on competition, when the actual reason you may not be reaching your the audience that you want

is because you are unclear. What you're saying isn't being heard by the people that you want to hear it. So when you are looking at your business and going, Oh, it's competition, I want you to take a step back and ask yourself the question, is it actually a communication problem? Is it the clarity? Is

it the fact that you can't be understood. So the actual problem isn't competition. The The problem is actually confusion. When someone is confused, they do not buy. When we are talking to our clients, when we're communicating to our clients, to our potential clients, to the world at large,

when we want to say what we do, we have to be really, really clear. And sometimes people tend towards being very, very clever. Being very clever instead of being very clear, can be a hindrance to you. We're in this episode today, we are going to talk about how your clarity can actually turn your business into

a profitable institution, instead of just a confusing mess. Now I know that we don't sit around and go, Oh, my message is so confusing, because we know what we're talking about. And I really wanted to dig into this today, because I know that there are so many business owners out there, there

are so many people that want to make a difference, my coaches, my creatives, even my brick and mortar folks, when we are communicating to our audience, our goal is to be absolutely clearly understood. They need to be able to say, ah, that's me. She's talking about me. That's my problem, and you can help me

solve it. So let's dig in today to clarity and reframe that whole you know, there could be 10 million people out doing the exact same thing that you're doing. If their message is unclear, they are also going to not be heard. And the people that get the clients, the people that are the most successful,

are the ones who are the most clear. So we're going to dig in to this clarity issue today. The reason that I really wanted to do it is because I see it happening so often, and there's a few reasons for it. We're going to get into a few in a minute as well. But the ones that I wanted to talk about

first were are the ones that happen because you are brilliant, your first hurdle to overcome in communicating with your clients is your own brilliance, your passion, your ability to see things so crystal clear for them, we need to turn that around so that we can see things crystal clear from their

perspective. And the first thing that happens to us, happens to business owners, is that we start to talk to them in our language. We talk in jargon. We use words and phrases and ways of communicating that are not accessible to a lot of our clients. Now, I have heard people say, Well, if they don't

understand my language, they're not my ideal clients, and I will I can appreciate that. That is true in some cases. However, you might have an ideal client who still does not understand what you're saying, because they are not on your level. They could be in your sphere. But. Not on your level. Because, let's face it,

you're helping people who are not where you are. There a lot of times where you used to be, right? So we need to be talking to them from the person we used to be, from the person who had that problem. Because whenever we are talking at the level that we serve at in our marketing, then there's a disconnect,

because they're not at the same level. They don't have the as much technological knowledge. Whenever we had our media business, I had to coach my employees a lot of times to say that you can't talk to them in in terminology that has to do with aspect ratio and F stops and, and, and, you know, 1080,

pi, whatever, all of these numbers, all of these jargons that make sense to the expert. That makes sense to the brilliant leader that is in place here do not translate always to your customer. And so we need to be able to step out of that expert mind and think about your clients as where are

they coming in on the spectrum. So if you you can, for the most part, not use the terminology that you think is so special we okay. Here, let me, I'm going to give you a hard truth right now. We have to stop being precious about terminology and ways we talk about things that can be a hurdle to someone who really

needs the solution that you have to offer. It can be a hurdle to them getting to you. I whenever, whenever I hear people, particularly, particularly people in the in the coaching space, talk in very flowery, flowery language. There are a lot of concepts and things that are thrown out, like, you know,

NLP and and I want to help people. I want to help women step into their power. And, you know, we use words like transformation and those kinds of things whenever we are talking to people in that the flowery words of what you know, the expertise you hold, it can get lost in translation,

because, again, the people that you are serving are not generally at the level at which you are providing the service. Otherwise they wouldn't be coming to you. If you were at the same level and understood everything the same, they probably wouldn't need to work with you. So I beg you, take a

step back, take a deep breath

and be okay with changing the way that you say things, because it becomes unclear and muddy in their minds. Another thing that I see business owners do that is causing confusion and lack of clarity when they're communicating with their audience is that they are a little bit confused themselves.

They might not know how to say what it is they want to say, which is why they fall back on jargon. Why they fall back on using the big, flowery phrases and the you know, the the the languaging that is in their head, because they're really not sure, how do I clear up what I'm trying to say? And this happens

everywhere, every single day. I have seen it so often, Whenever someone asks you what you do if you can't answer that clearly in a sentence or two, then you are not clear to your audience. That is a good test to say. If someone asks you what you do, and you tell them in one or two sentences, and they have 16

other follow up questions, and they're lost, trying to figure out what it is you do, then you don't have clear messaging. I met this guy at a conference, and I asked him what he did, and we sat, I do not exaggerating, for an entire half hour with me asking probing questions because I couldn't understand what it

was that he was offering, and he even said, I'm I'm a little confused myself. I'm working on it. This is what I'm working on. I'm working on clearing up that messaging. But if you're sitting with someone for an entire half hour and they still can't tell you what you do, you are not being. Clear. Another test is

when you are around family, because I will tell you, your family does not know what you do. 90% of the families of business owners do not clearly understand what it is that you do. So when you are around the table at a family function, or you're having a chat with a cousin or a brother or even your

you know your parents or your children, ask them, what is it that I do? And see what they say. How are they describing it back to you, and if they can't even tell you what you do, then you know that you are not being clear, even with those who are closest with you. So this is a universal problem. It's

something that most business owners go through, and this is where, when I'm working with my clients, you know, I had the seven pillars of profit, and this falls under the the pillar of the connection compass. How are you finding your way and connecting to your audience? And there's a lot of work that we do

around clarity when we're working on the connection compass. So there are a few other reasons why you are not clear. So I'm going to dig in a little bit deeper. I wanted to hit those because, honestly, those are topics that we don't often hear about. And I wanted to make sure that I want, that

I'm you hear you're hearing me loud and clear, the jargon, the words that are precious to you, the the big vision that you can't boil down, the difference that you're making in the world is amazing. The change that you're bringing about is going to make the world better. However, it can't do that if

they can't understand you. So let's dig into some more reasons why this happens, and there are a little bit more practical reasons. And the first one is trying to help everyone. When you are working on your messaging, when you're telling people what you do, when you're making an advertisement, when

you're posting on social media, when you're doing all of these things where you're connecting out with the people that you can help, you will often say, I can help everyone. I don't want anyone to feel like I'm cutting them off. I'm here to serve. I can help anyone with skin? Well, yes, you might be able to help

anyone with skin. The question is, is everyone with skin buying from you, so trying to help everyone, and having that wide net actually creates a paradox in your languaging, in your marketing, in your communication that keeps you from being heard. It sounds like white noise. It sounds like every what everyone

else is saying. And when you are marketing to everyone, no one is going, oh my gosh, that's me, and that's the reaction that you want from your communication, from marketing, when you're putting your message out there, you want one of two reactions, oh my gosh, that's me, or that's not me at all. And you might

think, oh my gosh, I don't want anyone to self identify as not being my client. Yes, you do. You do want them to self eliminate as being your ideal client, because that enables you to focus on the people who you actually are helping. When I work with people i i see it all the time, they are chasing after

somebody who has skin, and that somebody who has skin doesn't want to buy the product that they're selling, and they're so focused on chasing after everybody that they forget that there's one little guy in the corner going, Oh, I have skin, and I want that product that you're Selling. Or, you know, I

have this problem that you can solve focus, refocus your energy into that person, or persons, that smaller group that actually can buy your product or your service, that you can serve and that you can help. The people whose problem you solve are the people you want to talk to, not everyone else. Stop chasing

everyone else. Stop chasing the tire kickers. Stop chasing the people who are not clearly aligned with what you do and the way that you determine that is to be very clear about who you are and what you do and who you serve. And how you solve their problem, you have to get really strategic and clear about those

things so that the people that you really want to serve, the people that are going to buy your stuff, can hear you and don't go, oh, it just sounds like everything else the second, oh, I are actually this is probably now because I added a couple Another mistake that business owners make, that

founders make, that coaches and teachers and healers that business owners are making is that They are focusing their languaging on themselves. Now, of course, of course, you're supposed to talk about yourself. What are you talking about? Sharon, that's the dumbest thing I ever heard. Why are you saying

that? Well, this is what I'm saying. Whenever you are telling people how you're going to solve their problem, they don't care about how you're going to actually do it. They care you're going to solve the problem. They don't care about how you're going to do it. For example, if I'm selling band aids and

everyone in the world can use band aids, we're going to go back to the previous one. Everyone in the world can use band aids. That is true. However, the people that need band aids are the people who are bleeding, who have cut themselves and need to cover it up to heal, right? Those are

that's going to be the smaller people market that you're talking to now when I am telling you that, hey, I have the band aid to cover that cut, to stop the bleeding that's going to help you heal faster. If I am talking about the adhesive that we use is designed in a way that it's the best cohesive in the

world. Whenever we source the cotton, we get it from sheep over in Ireland. So the cotton is, that's not actually even correct. Sheep told me cotton. Okay, sorry, I got a little off track there. I hope you are amused by me as well as I am. So the cotton is, you're picked in North Carolina. The backing, we

put 872

holes in that, and we're very proud of our 872 holes, because it helped that the skin breathes, and nobody cares about that. They want to know it's going to stick to my finger, it's going to cover my wound, it's going to stop the bleeding, or help in stopping the bleeding, and that it's going to

possibly stay on when I take a shower, or it's going to be a bandage that can be used for multiple days, whatever they're going to what? What about the band aid is going to solve their problem? They don't care what the you know, the adhesive is like now, I will say, you know, down the road, yes, but in the

immediate, in the immediate connection, which is what we're doing, right? The immediate connection, I'm bleeding. I need a band aid. You have a band aid, you will solve my problem. It comes down to being just that simple. We get caught up with it. I have so many certifications. I've been in

business for so many years. We're award winning. We, you know, we use top of the line equipment and what I mean, all those things are important. What's more important? Because that's the second level. The first level of connection is, how can you solve my problem? What are you going to do for me?

What's in it for me? And then after I know you can solve my problem, then I might care about those other things. But in the immediate connection. When you're immediately connecting with them, they have to see themselves in your in your solution. I am that person. I have that problem, and this is

the person who's going to solve that problem for me. So you have to focus on them. You don't focus on yourself. Now, yes, you do need to have authority, but you don't need to have authority in as your first foot forward. We need to get their attention. We need to tell them how we're solving their problem. That is

the the first foot, the first step in your communication. And if you don't get them on that first time they scroll by you on, you know, social media, you might not get back around to them. So you've got to be really clear about what it is you're doing for them. And then the last piece is, you know, a lack

of a real clear identity of who it is you're. Speaking to we talked earlier about speaking to everyone with skin. Right when we say, everyone in the world is our client, everyone in the world can use our products. That doesn't mean like we said, that everyone is going to buy from you. And so you need to get

really clear about who. Yes, everyone could use your product or service. However, who's going to get the most benefit from WHO? For whom will it make the biggest difference? Where are you communicating to them that that your solution is going to change their life in some way, and who are those people that

you're talking to specifically. So being clear on your end about who is your ideal client is really very critical, because, like I said, everyone with skin not an ideal client. That's what a lot of people will say. Everyone can use my service. I do a lot of networking. I hear it all the time. Everyone is my

client. Everyone is not your client, even if you sell filters, air filters for your house. This there's someone that I network with, and he that's what he does. He sells air filters for houses. Every house on the planet could use probably, at least in America, they have filtration systems,

and you need those filters. If you have a house that uses filters, you're my client. Well, not necessarily I am. If I am a person who doesn't want to have that specialized filter, then I'm not an ideal client. If I'm the kind of person that I'm like, I will buy the absolute cheapest thing. I will use a

sheet. If it's cheap, I'm not going to buy any kind of an expensive filter. Then I'm not your client. You got to get really clear about not only who they are, what they do and how you can help them, but are they actually in a position to or willing to invest money in that solution. So that's another

piece that we often forget when we are looking at who our ideal client is, you also need to think about who is capable of buying from you, and will they? So you gotta get really clear in your ideal client. I see that's a piece that people miss frequently when they're talking about their ideal client. Is

that piece where you're like, will they? Will they purchase something from you? There are, I said earlier, tire kickers. There are people that will take every free offer in the world and will never pay for anything beyond that. That's just the way they run their their lives. They are not going to buy anything

from anybody. There are people that are di wires that will never ask anybody for help. I have a friend whose husband will build a house without asking for help, will go to a restaurant and then go to and his wife says, you know, this meal is amazing. This was the best meal I ever had. I'd love to come

back here. He said, No, no, I'm going to figure out how to make it taste just like that at home. Those people are not going to buy from you, and we need to be honest with ourselves and clear about who is this for and who is this not for. That's the piece that is often missing whenever we are looking at our messaging,

and it is critical when we're talking about clarity, when we are talking about eliminating confusion. And another piece of this is sometimes, sometimes especially in the coaching world and for creatives, we as the business owner, as the founder, as the person providing the service. We're not really sure

what we're doing either. We're not clear ourselves. So if a confused mind can't buy, which is what we've been talking about this whole time, a confused founder can't sell. You can't sell, but you don't understand yourself. So if that's you, take that extra step, sit down and get really, really clear about

what you do, what you're what you're putting out into the world, what problem you're solving. And when you get really clear about that, then the ideal client becomes a bit more clear as well.

So we have been talking about clarity. So whenever, whenever you're working on this, let me I want to I've thrown a lot at you. I just realized I'm kind of passionate about this. I've thrown a lot. Of information at you. So let's take a step back and how do you get clear about this thing? What are some steps

that you can take practically to put into your business right now that's going to clear up your messaging. So the number one thing is you need to be very, very clear about exactly what you are selling. If you are selling, you know, these covers for your iPhone, that's what you're selling, a cover for an

iPhone. And then, you know, then, once you're really clear about what you're selling, then you can go to the next step. If you're in a more, you know, it's not a it's not a product, it's more of a service. Get really clear about what problem you're solving and who you're solving it for. And the way to do that,

let me give you the first the wrong way to do that is to sit alone in your office, in your happy place, and dream about what people want from you. The way to get that really clear is to talk to people who could be your ideal audience and ask them, What are they looking for if they have that problem, what

would solve that problem for them? So get really, really clear about the problem that you're solving. Get clear about what you're selling to solve that problem. So get really clear from yourself first. If you're not clear from yourself first, get clear from yourself first. And then you're going to

look at who is your ideal audience and what exactly is the problem that that one thing solves? And even if you do like I have the Seven Pillars of profit, I have a whole framework that runs through your entire business. However, if I talk only about everything that you can resolve in your business,

then people go, Oh, it's too much. It's too much. There's nothing to focus on. But like, when I'm talking to you about clarity and messaging today, then you can go, Oh, she can help me get clear about what I'm doing, how I'm talking about it, and how my audience is hearing it. So sometimes you need to

niche down messages and make your messages very pointed and very clear, so that people can self identify and go, Oh, that is what I need. And then the other piece is, when you are talking about something like, you know, if you're if you can't describe it in two sentences, in in a minute or less. If you

can't explain what you do and how you help people so that someone else can go, Ah, I need that. Or I know somebody who needs that, or I clearly understand what you do, then you need to work on that piece next. So Get really clear about what it is you do, who you're helping, and how you're making

the difference in the world that I know you're here to make. So those are some action steps that you can take if you're curious about your business overall, and you want to go, Hey, I'd really love to hear about not only the connection compass in your Sharon that you help your clients with. If you want to

learn about all seven pillars of profit in your business and how your business is currently measuring up to that, I have a free resource for you. It's called the profit growth audit. It is a self audit. It takes a few minutes to go through and you're going to rate yourself on all the areas of your business,

and it'll give you a report back and tell you, Hey, you're really strong in this area, but this area needs a lot of work. Or these three or four areas are really areas where you need to get a little bit more clear and put systems and processes in place. We know we want that engine of your business to be

creating profit for you, so that you can continue to do what you do in the world, making the difference that you're making in the world, and have that firm foundation of a business that's running itself in the background, so that you can be really successful and you can change A lot of lives. So it's

called the profit the profit growth audit, yes, and I'm going to put it into the and into our portal. It's called profit connectors dot club. That is the website. It is profit connectors dot, C, l, u, B, and if you go to that site, it's free to go there. It will be that gift from me from the episode today, in

addition to all of our episodes are on there and all of the gifts that our guests have offered to you, they're all in the in the club, and you can go there and check that out and get those real goodies as well. And, um. Yeah, so do that go to profit connectors dot club, get your get your profit growth

audit today. And like I said, you can check out all of the other gifts that our other guests has had put into the portal for you. And thank you so much for listening today. Remember, build with clarity, lead with purpose, and I'll see you next time you.