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Prospective clients turn to you because they have a problem they want you to help them solve. Show them that you understand their problem and have the expertise to solve it. Rather than present them with a list of the services and products you can provide, walk them through the process you will use to produce the result they are looking for.
In this podcast, Erin talks with Kate Norton, founder of High Peak Growth, which provides strategic business guidance to help companies boost their sales and exceed their revenue targets. Her philosophy of serving clients rather than selling to them has been proven to drive significant bottom-line results. Her clients include Fortune 100 businesses as well as fast-growing entrepreneurial businesses.
Kate said that her approach to marketing and selling had been influenced by Donald Miller’s book, Building a StoryBrand. Miller draws on universal elements of storytelling, such as the hero or heroine who is helped in their quest by an expert or guide, to create a different approach to engaging with prospective customers.
Like the hero or heroine of a story, customers, too, have a problem they need to solve. Because they cannot solve it themselves, they seek out an expert or guide who can help them. The guide explains to them the process by which they can solve their problem and accomplish their goal.
Kate has found great success using a similar approach when working with customers or when counseling business owners and executives on how to improve their sales. Identify the problem the customer needs help solving. Explain to them why you are the right expert to solve their problem. Walk them through the process of how you will produce the result they want.
Rather than think about selling or promoting your services, instead take the approach that what your are offering is serving and solving.
Showing the customer empathy, that you get and want to help with their problem, and giving them confidence that you are uniquely qualified to be the expert they need are key to this approach. “Our job is to make prospective customers aware of how we are the experts and how we can help them solve the problem,” explained Kate.
Central to demonstrating that expertise is the process or plan you have created to provide the solution they are looking for. It doesn’t have to be completely original, but it needs to reflect your strengths and your perspective. Once you’ve created it, give it a name. “If you can name your proven process, then it starts branding it,” said Kate.
Erin and Kate also talked about current methods of marketing and top marketing strategies for interior design businesses. Along the way, they touched on how to use AI to enhance your marketing efforts. For those insights and more, listen to the entire podcast.
If you’re listening on your favorite podcast platform, view the full shownotes here: https://thepearlcollective.com/s7e6-shownotes
Mentioned in This Podcast
To learn more about Kate and her firm, go to the company website at highpeakgrowth.com.
The book Erin and Kate referred to is Building a StoryBrand: Clarify Your Message So Customers Will Listen by Donald Miller.