Want wealthier clients? Go to them or let them come to you

Commentary September 01, 2016 at 02:16 PM
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To move your business up market you need to look at two approaches. Either you identify and cultivate wealthier prospects, meaning you go to them, or you insert yourself into their world and meet them socially, gradually converting social relationships into business relationships.That's the "they come to you" approach.

Let's start with the first approach, you going to them. You could start by identifying high-paying professions in your market. If you do an Internet search for "Bureau of Labor Statistics, along with the word salary and your city, you should find a report it issues on what different professions pay in your market.

Next, visit a website like searchsystems.net, which is a clearinghouse for about 55,000 public access databases. You can look up professional licensing information by state. Here's why this works: Many years ago, about one in 20 professions required a license. Today it's about one in three. In most states you can easily get a list of the people in your area licensed to work in one of those high-earning professions you just identified. You can market to these names, run them through LinkedIn to determine who knows who or just show names to clients employed in the same field and ask for an introduction. 

The second approach, where you become part of their world, is to pick the cultural organizations they likely support and get involved. Join. Become a worker bee. Attend events regularly. If you join four groups, attend an event a month and meet six new people each time. You will have met 288 in a year. Even if only a third have the potential to become clients, you have about 100 new friendships that might transition into business.

Taking your business upmarket isn't free. You will need to spend money as you get involved in groups.

Remember:

  • When using the Internet for prospecting projects, always read and respect legal and privacy notices.
  • Only use websites for the purposes originally intended by the site.
  • Get approval from your compliance manager before starting on protecting or research projects involving the Internet.

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