By Andrea Higginbottom, AVN Practice Growth Expert
Older readers might remember the talent show Opportunity Knocks, hosted by Hughie Green and later Bob Monkhouse. If you’re too young to have watched it, contestants with a particular talent auditioned, the audience voted for their favourite and at the end of the show a winner was announced. I guess this was the forerunner of such shows as Britain’s Got Talent.
So why start a post with a talent show from the late 60’s?
Well … actually the show got it wrong. Opportunity doesn’t knock; it has to be found and investigated. So if you’re hoping that your next big client will just ring up or walk through the door, unless you are very lucky, they won’t.
Your next right client
Getting the next right client takes patience and timing. On a talent show, the judges will see hundreds of contestants before they decide on the right ones and they will have a process that they use to identify the right potential artists. My question to you is: what is your process for identifying the right clients? And do all of your team know how the process works?
It works the other way round too, when business owners are scouting for a new accountant. What do you do when you are the contestant in this talent show and talking with prospective new clients? What would the talent scouts say about you? How do you position yourself to be different from all the others out there? What would help you progress through the process?
What value can you provide?
This isn’t about fees or costs; this is about bringing something unique. What are your selling points? What can you offer that others cannot and how can you showcase this? Does your literature, website and online presence support your brand and your skills?
Take time to look at your business objectively and work out what kind of clients you want and what value you can provide to them.
Remember, opportunity doesn’t knock; opportunity is there for the taking, but first you need to find it.
Image by Pierre Rosa from Pixabay