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25 Years Of Marketing
Consulting Experience Bottled Into One Short Hour
This is one of my favorite interviews. It was
conducted in 2004 but it’s just as impressive today. In it, you’ll
hear from a 25-year sales and marketing veteran named Richard, who
also happens to be the founder of the HMA consulting system. As soon
as I met Richard, I knew the wealth of information he held was
different than anything I’d heard before. And after you listen to
this audio, you’ll know exactly what I mean.
The best thing about Richard is: he’s never stingy with information.
He shares knowledge that most marketing consultants would keep under
lock and key. So what you are about to hear is a detailed interview
full of useful tips, techniques and secrets that were collected for
more than 25 years.
Here are just a few of the topics discussed…
• What kinds of businesses are the easiest to close deals with
• What exactly to say when cold calling that will pique interest,
qualify prospects and save you time
• How to form and use alliances to promote your consulting business
-- without ever touching your wallet
• What the number one killer of the consulting business is -- and
how avoiding it can make you thousands of dollars every year
• The steps you should take in the first 30 days as a consultant to
successfully launch your career with no money at all
• The problems with contingency agreements and why you should always
charge a fee upfront
• And much, much more
A little bit about Richard…
Back in 1990, Richard was one of Jay Abraham’s protégés. And since
then, he’s taken that experience and expanded on it to form a
consulting system that works for everyone – even people with NO
money or experience. You see, his HMA system approaches consulting
from a different angle, using practical methods and step-by-step
modules.
So before you jump into the field of consulting, you’ll want to
listen to this audio at least once because it will arm you with a
complete plan for success. And Richard is the best person to provide
it. So sit back and listen to his many years of experience. This is
an hour-long interview, broken into 20-minute segments. And at the
end of the last segment, I’ll have a special offer you won’t want to
miss. Enjoy.
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Hi, this is Michael Senoff with
www.HardToFindSeminars.com
It’s ten o’clock
Thursday morning. I just got off
the phone with Richard a veteran
Marketing Consulting expert.
Richard has been working as a
full-time marketing consultant
for the last 14 years. Now, when
I meet a man who’s out there
still working in the trenches,
still calling up clients, still
active in the consulting
business, I stop and take note.
When I found out Richard was a
Jay Abraham original protégé all
the way back in 1990, then I
knew that I had really struck
gold. I had to talk to Richard.
I had to get inside his head,
and I had to ask him every
imaginable question about how he
operates his consulting
business. I’ve worked with other
so-called marketing consultants
in the past. Consultants that
say they have experience, but
when it comes down to it. Their
experience claims fall short. I
want to learn from an expert
sales professional, still out
there in the field doing
consulting, and that’s why I’m
proud to introduce to you such a
man.
Once Richard and I started
talking, I never knew where the
conversation would go, but by
the time we ended this
conversation, I think I have
captured one of the most
specific, detailed dissertations
on the inside workings of how to
operate and run a marketing
consulting business. I had
Richard take me through every
single step of his process. I
had him use real-life client
examples to illustrate his
points.
You will hear Richard’s system
for getting clients. You’ll hear
how to improve your practice if
you’re a marketing consultant.
You’ll hear what to do, how to
qualify, how to set-up an
appointment, where to meet – do
you meet over breakfast? Do you
meet over drinks? Do you meet in
is office and why? – the
questions to ask. You’ll hear
about a PowerPoint presentation.
You’ll hear his Opportunity
Analysis Worksheet, how to
charge, and most importantly how
to close a deal.
We went into so many specifics,
and I learned more in this
conversation with Richard than I
have with any other marketing
consulting trainer. I absolutely
know you’re going to be thrilled
with this conversation. The
recordings are in three
20-minute sections. Please stick
with it until the end, because I
have a free gift for you, which
you’ll hear how to get at the
end of this transcript. I know
you’re going to benefit from
this valuable information on.
Enjoy!
Richard: The minute we got the
owner’s unique selling
proposition integrated into the
sales pitch of the five
salespeople, we increased our
closing rate from 20-40 percent,
and increased their revenues
from $60-$90 million dollars.
Michael: Wow.
Music
Richard: It was phenomenal. You
have no hard costs. The
consulting business and
marketing consulting including
is the highest profit margin
business out there. I mean, I
meet these business owners
everyday, and there you can buy
on ten percent, 15 percent, 20
percent gross profit. Marketing
consulting gives you 90-95 gross
profit.
Michael: So, let me ask you this
– You went through
Jay’s marketing system in 1990.
It’s 14 years later, and you’re
still actually out there having
someone telemarket for you, set
up appointments. You’re calling
to confirm. You’ve actually been
doing this for this long.
Richard: Oh yeah, and I’ll tell
you why because the number one
killer of the consulting
business and marketing
consulting included is you stop
marketing. The minute you stop
marketing, you’re dead because
you’re start to get lethargic.
You start to get lazy. You get
clients and you think you’re
busy enough. So, you don’t keep
marketing. I throw out this rule
right now and that is anyone
serious about getting in the
consulting business better
always be willing to market 25
percent of their time.
Michael: So, this isn’t a land a
huge client, get a good
contingency deal, make several
hundred thousand dollars, and
retire for the next year.
Richard: You’ll only find those
if you keep doing what I’ve
described to you to do. You
won’t find those by a science.
You’ll run into them, and I’ve
run into a couple of them. So,
I’ve had a couple of client
relationships that have given me
the big bucks for the short
period of time, but there far
and few between.
Michael: Now, let’s talk about
it. You said for a short period
of time. Was this contingency
relationship?
Richard: Both fee and
contingency.
Michael: Do they want
contingency relationships?
Richard: Contingencies are hard
to make last.
Michael: Why?
Richard: There are several
things. One is you’re in a
partnership with the business
owner. You’re now relying on his
honesty and his trust and his
capability of doing business,
but it’s not always in your
control. It may not always keep
working the way you want it to
work.
Michael: Does it change the
relationship between the two
people?
Richard: It absolutely does.
That’s why I don’t recommend a
contingency basis to begin with.
I will always charge a fee
first, and then as I work with
the client and they work with
me, and we find out that we’re
working well together, it can
evolve into a contingency
opportunity.
Michael: If you were dropped off
in the middle of an unknown town
or city with no money, no
credentials and no more
knowledge about business than
your neighbors pet dog, and you
were given just five days to
make $10,000 as a marketing
consultant, what would you do?
What steps would you take? What
mindset would you adopt? And how
successful do you think you will
be and why?
Richard: I would immediately
find information that would act
as a model or I would find a
mentor. I would find someone in
that community or on written
material or a book. I’d go to
the library. I’d go on the web,
and I’d find the best marketing
consultant out there, and I
would read and I’d study and I
would find out what he did or
what she did, and I would then
distill that into an approach
and go immediately and begin to
approach small businesses and
find ways that I could leverage
what the small business had
already been doing and quickly
generate cash for the business.
If I was penniless at the time,
and I didn’t have to have
pennies right away, I would
probably do it on a contingency
basis where I would get a
percentage of the increase that
my marketing efforts would
produce. So, that’s what I would
do. I would find knowledge. I
would find information. I would
find a way to help start me, a
way to jump-start me.
Michael: Now, is that what you
did with your marketing
consulting business?
Richard: I have done it, yes,
and I have done it several
times. I’ve done it both on a
fee based level as well as a
contingency based level.
Michael: Who was that expert
that you modeled to start your
business?
Richard: This is Jay Abraham.
Michael: Can you tell me about
that?
Richard: Jay, back in 1990, was
looking for a thousand protégés
to train. So, he sent out some
advertising and I read his ad in
Entrepreneur Magazine. He took
about a 27 page ad in the middle
of Entrepreneur Magazine, and I
was on an airline flight at the
time and read it, and decided
that then I would take what was
my background which again in
outside sales, combine it with
his marketing expertise and I
was intrigued then to start my
own marketing consulting
practice. So, I invested $15,000
in Jay, and went and spent a
week with him as well as about a
hundred others. I came a way
with all of the information that
I needed to combine with my own
skills where I had been to that
point in my life, and started
marketing consulting.
Michael: Do you think your sales
skills as an outside salesperson
gave you an advantage over
someone who didn’t have the
sales expertise in being a
marketing consultant?
Richard: I think it did with
regards to my training from Jay,
as Jay didn’t supply any of that
in his training. Jay was
strictly marketing. So,
fortunately for me, I was able
to supply what Jay didn’t give
me. now, since then, I have been
able to document the whole
process from what you say to a
perspective business client all
the way to closing and servicing
that client in a way that
someone wouldn’t have to have
that strong a sales background,
but for me it was important that
I had.
Michael: What were you selling
in outside sales?
Richard: I had worked for a
couple of different companies -
one selling educational books to
the public, another company
selling software to trucking
firms. I was with an auto racing
firms selling auto racing
brokerage services. So, it was
pretty varied that I had had up
to that point.
Michael: Some of the stuff was
pretty high tech – the trucking
software?
Richard: Yeah the software was
$30,000 software, and then spent
some time also selling
timeshares as well. So, it was a
fun background.
Michael: Here’s a question from
Marty. Can a person who has no
money, no credit, and no job, go
out and do this thing? Or is
this some kind of pipe dream
being a marketing consultant?
Richard: Well, they have to have
a few innate characteristics.
They have to enjoy working with
people. They’ve got to have some
passion. They’ve got to have an
ability to communicate well with
the business owner and enjoy
working with the business owner.
Those are the required. You can
have no money. You can have all
of the other stuff that you
mentioned, but you do have to
have at least what I just
described.
Michael: Here’s a question from
Ken. Let’s start with my
favorite question, the numbers
question. You can afford $500
per month to start marketing
your practice. What medium would
you spend it on and what would
your message be?
Richard: I would use the phone
and I would save the $500 and I
would get on the phone and I
would be contacting small
business owners and my scripting
would be, “Hello, Mr. Business
Owner, my name is Tom, and I
have a way that I can increase
your sales for your business
without spending any more money
on advertising. Could I take
15-20 minutes and tell you a
little bit more about it?”
Michael: Is this what you use
even today.
Richard: You bet. Versions of
that we still use even today.
Michael: Have you tried other
versions and found this to be
the one that produces results?
Richard: This one is one what
sets me apart from everybody
else.
Michael: How’s that?
Richard: Well, these small
business owners are getting
contacted constantly by
traditional media, traditional
advertising mediums like the
newspaper, the radio, direct
mail, coupons, the Internet, and
when the approach is on the
phone saying, “I’m going to be
able to increase sales for your
business without spending more
money on these traditional
advertising approaches” it
catches their ear.
Michael: It is totally opposite
to what other calls are.
Richard: That’s right.
Michael: Have you quantified
this? How many calls does it
take to get an appointment?
Richard: We have found that
talking to ten business owners,
in other words making contact
with ten decision makers will
get you an appointment.
Michael: How do we identify? How
do we get that decision maker on
that first scripted call?
Richard: Two ways. One is the
market that I recommend a
marketing consultant to begin in
especially are the smaller
businesses with sales between a
half a million and three
million, and the reason for that
is the business owner is the
contact person. They’re still
the one trying to do everything.
They usually still don’t have a
marketing director or a VP of
Marketing, or they still don’t
have anyone on staff qualified
to handle marketing. So, it’s
the business owner trying to
runt he whole thing, and we’re
coming in to help him. Now, once
we get to about a five million
dollar sales level, you begin to
have different decision-making
layers, and so someone else will
probably answer the phone and
you’ll have more difficulty
getting to the business owner.
Michael: Where do you get your
leads from to make the calls?
Richard: Well, there have been a
couple of sources. You can get
the Yellow Pages out or you can
begin looking at companies that
invest a lot in their yellow
pages. There’s one source of
lead.
Michael: What does that tell you
when you see a huge ad in the
yellow pages?
Richard: It tells you that
you’ve got a business that’s
spending a lot of money on
traditional marketing. It may
not be working very well. So, I
might have a built in need
already and he might be
frustrated with his yellow page
ad. He may be getting a lot of
calls but not converting them.
So, he’s still not making enough
profit from his ads. You can
also pick up magazines in your
local area, and look through
those and find companies that
are spending money on
advertising. Go through your
local newspaper. Begin to build
a little database of your own
leads so you don’t have to spend
money on a list. That’s another
source. You can call a list
company and you can get lists of
companies in your area that have
sales between $500,000 and three
million, who give you the
business owners name, their
phone number, their address, how
many employees they have. You
can decide if you want to
eliminate certain kinds of
businesses, and you have a list
that you can buy from a list
broker.
Michael: If I’m going to go
through your training and become
a marketing consultant, is this
something that you’d recommend I
do at the beginning myself or
can I hire this out to a
telemarketer or someone working
part time?
Richard: That’s a great
question. If you feel that you
don’t have the skills, then
outsource because I have. I’ve
always rather gone to someone or
some company that does it
already and pay them to make
those calls. However, early in
my career, I was making those
calls. I recommend that in
starting that you make the calls
because you’ll have that
experience. It’s even hard for
you to train a caller to do it.
Michael: I was talking to a
friend of mine, and I didn’t
realize that he was from Israel.
He wanted to get into some sort
of marketing consulting, and he
would always want to meet me
face-to-face, and I never really
thought about it, but he was
insecure and didn’t have the
confidence to be on the phone
because he thought his Israeli
accent would hinder him from
doing whatever he needed on the
phone. But, he had the
confidence meeting someone
face-to-face because he could
express more, more than just his
voice to communicate. But, there
are a lot of people here in the
United States and really all
over the world where they feel
their accent gets in the way of
them doing that telephone work.
So, by farming it out, that’s
not going to keep them from
getting appointments.
Richard: Right.
Michael: Here’s a question from
Rose. Rose wants to know how do
you succeed in promoting
products and services when you
have no money at all?
Richard: The best way to do that
is to find individuals or
businesses that could promote
them for you. So, what you do is
you take a look at your products
and services that you have, and
you’ll ask the question, “What
other businesses might have
customers that want my product?”
So, you’re tapping into or
you’re forming alliances with or
you’re becoming a partner with
another business who’s already
paid the money, who’s already
invested the marketing dollars,
and they’ve generated a customer
base, but you haven’t. You don’t
have the money to do that, and
so you’re bringing your product
and service in a way they can
add value to their customers,
and give you a piece of that.
So, that’s the best and fastest
way to get something launched if
you don’t have the money.
Michael: Here’s a question from
Scott. Richard, what would you
do in the next 30 days to get
started and ran your first
client?
Richard: Get on the phone. The
phone is the most underutilized
marketing asset that’s out
there. It cost nothing, and yet
you can take the time to contact
enough people to find someone
interested and go see
face-to-face. So, if I had 30
days I would combine phone with
in-person visits. “Let me show
you how I can increase your
sales 25-100 percent without
spending more money on
advertising.” And, I’d take my
phone pitch that I just said a
few minutes ago. I would also
examine what relationships I
might have developed in my
community. For example, if I
worked at all with the local
printer or my accountant, these
are two businesses or entities
that have businesses as clients,
and I would immediately go them
and say, “Could I offer a free
consultation to your client?”
So, it’s a service that my
accountant could offer to his
small business owners without
spending any money, but it’s
good for the accountant because
if his businesses increase
sales, he’s going to be doing
more accounting. So, those are
the two things I would do
rapidly for 30 days. I’d be on
the phone. I’d be out in person
meeting businesses, and then I
would be leveraging any
relationships that I could find
and that I could partner with.
Just like we described in your
previous question, if I had not
money and I’m just getting
started, how do I take my
marketing service and start to
make money with it, and I
recommend that you form
alliances and partners. So, I
would do that as a marketing
consultant, which I did. Early
in my career, I got leads from
my accountant. I got leads from
a local printer. I went to the
local Chamber of Commerce and
starting joining a couple of the
lead clubs that cost zero to
join.
Michael: Were they happy to
share the leads with you?
Richard: Absolutely.
Michael: Do you have to pay them
money for them?
Richard: No, they just exchanged
leads. They let you get up and
give a little presentation, two
minutes or so, about what you
do. So, all of those are
workable ways to generate leads
quickly.
Michael: Your favorite is the
phone and face-to-face
presentations.
Richard: That’s my favorite if I
don’t have those relationships.
If I have those relationships,
those are my favorite. The
consulting business, and
marketing consulting included,
is the highest profit margin
business out there. I mean, I
meet these business owners
everyday, and there you can buy
on 10 percent, 15 percent, 20
percent gross profit. Marketing
consulting gives you 90-95
percent gross profit. You have
no hard costs. It’s all
intellectual services. So,
you’re packaging your expertise.
So, you should see profit
immediately. You should see
profit from your first fees if
you can generate a fee.
Michael: Here’s a question from
Carl from Phoenix. Hi Richard,
the question I have is the
marketing consulting market
saturated here in the United
States.
Richard: It is very crowded, no
question, and it’s getting more
crowded in the sense that you
now have Internet marketing
consultants who are out there,
so the ecommerce and dot-comes
of the world, and the website
designers who now have come
along, and that is why it’s even
more critical that you
distinguish yourself from all of
those. That’s why you take the
approach to marketing that I
have in a way that says, “Mr.
Business Owner, I know you’ve
been hit with all these others,
but I’m different, and here’s
how I’m different. I’m going to
take what you’ve already got,
and create more cash flow for
you. I’m going to increase your
sales and your net profits, and
I’m going to help you find more
working capital because we may
stop spending on some of these
other marketing or advertising
approaches, and we’re going to
help you see a way to do it
without any of that. Now, we
might still do some, Mr.
Business Owner. I’m not saying
that these other approaches
don’t work.” But, this is how
you get in the door. This is how
you separate yourself from the
others. So, it doesn’t matter
how many others there are, as
long as you are perceived and
have something different, you’re
going to be okay.
Michael: Here’s a question from
Rick. Richard, let’s say I’m a
marketing consultant
cold-calling for potential
clients with no previous
mailings or anything like that.
They don’t know me from Adam.
I’m just cold-calling the yellow
pages by phone looking for
potential clients. What do I say
to get interest and to get an
appointment?
Richard: “Hi, my name is Rick.
I’m with XYZ Marketing Firm. I’m
in your area helping small
businesses increase sales as
well as net profits anywhere
from 25 to 100 percent in as
little as 60-90 days without
spending more money with
advertising. Can I take 20
minutes of your time and tell
you a little bit more about what
I do?”
Michael: All right, and what if
he says yes, what are you going
to say?
Richard: “Great. I’m available
Tuesday or Thursday at two
o’clock. Will that work for
you?”
Michael: Sure, where do you meet
him, at his place?
Richard: Yes, I’ll go to his
place of business.
Michael: Do you ever find that
there could be distractions
there when you’re trying to have
that 20 minutes or 30 minutes
with him?
Richard: Sure there are
sometimes the distractions, and
that’s the nature of the small
business owner that you simply
deal with those, and there have
been times when I’ve rescheduled
and come back. There’s been
times where I just sat patiently
and waited until the
distractions passed.
Michael: Have you ever tried
getting them outside of their
business? Maybe meeting at a
coffee shop or somewhere close?
Richard: Yes, we’ve done that as
well. So, that can work. I don’t
recommend that on a first visit
in that I think it’s critical
that the consultant kind of see
the place of business, see what
the business owner’s going up
against, but it’s worked the
other way as well.
Michael: That’s a good idea. So,
you can get in there and get an
idea if this is someone you even
want to work with.
Richard: Right.
Michael: You’re not going to
want to work with everyone you
get to meet with, right?
Richard: No, and that’s a great
point because you could spend a
lot of energy and waste a lot of
time which is money to the
consultant by working with some
clients that you really
shouldn’t be working with.
Michael: We qualify them
somewhat in the mailing list or
through the yellow pages, but
are there other qualifying
questions that your telemarketer
would do or that you would do
before you meet them to
alleviate that wasted time?
Richard: Absolutely. In my
marketing consulting training
system, we take the philosophy
that it is better to qualify
heavily upfront to find the
right clients because just to
save time, and so there are some
other qualifiers. The critical
qualifier is, and I will say
this sometimes after a
telemarketer sets an appointment
or I’m calling to confirm the
appointment. I’ll say, “Now, Mr.
Business Owner, let me just
confirm. Do you really want to
grow? Is that right? Are you
ready to grow your business?”
Because you’ve got some business
owners who don’t really care
about growing, and so you don’t
want to waste time telling them
they ought to be growing because
there are some that are happy
where they’re at. They’re happy
right where they’re at. So, I
need to make sure that Mr.
Business Owner, are you ready to
grow? Do you really want to grow
this business some more? Are you
ready to do that? Second, I
might qualify them as to how
long they’ve been in the
business because my marketing
system is not really built and
systemized for a new start-up
because when you make a pitch to
the business owner that you’re
going to find ways to help them
grow without spending more money
on advertising, you’re going to
be doing it through his customer
base or his staff or his sales
people or his relationships with
other businesses. Well, if he’s
a brand new start-up, he doesn’t
have very much of that.
Michael: And, that’s not someone
you even want to go near.
Richard: That’s right, and they
usually don’t have the money to
pay you. So, leave them alone,
and let them build their
business for a few years. Our
target client is the one that’s
been in business three to five
years or more, wants to grow his
business, and then probably the
last qualify question that I
might ask is, “Now, Mr. Business
Owner, this investment could be
anywhere from $4-$10,000 over a
period of three to six months. I
don’t want to hurt your
business. Is that something that
you could handle if this is
something you wanted to do?”
Now, I should qualify that
qualifier because I’ll say that
now after several years in the
business, but you may not say
that as a beginning consultant,
but boy, I’d rather even get
that out on the table because if
he doesn’t have any money, if he
doesn’t believe in investing in
marketing, if he doesn’t really
want to grow, if he hasn’t been
around for a better so that I
know that there’s other ways to
find growth for him, then let
him stay in the market for a
while and let him change his
attitude through the market. I
don’t have time to change it.
Does that make sense?
Michael: Yes it does. Let me ask
you this. You’ve got your
telemarketer setting up
appointments. They set the
appointment say a week ahead. In
your experience, let’s say when
you first started compared to
what you do now, were you the
person calling back to confirm
the appointment? When would you
call back? If the appointment
was on a Friday, what day would
you call back to confirm and to
ask these qualifying questions?
Richard: I’d usually call back
on Thursday, back a day before
the appointment. I’d say, “I’m
just calling to confirm our
appointment for tomorrow at nine
o’clock. Is that right?” They
said, “Yes. I’ve got you on the
calendar.” Great, and then
depending on how I felt, I might
ask some of those other
qualifying questions.
Michael: Then based on their
answers you would decide either
keep the appointment or not keep
it. Let’s say that you find that
this probably isn’t a prospect,
what are you going to say to
them?
Richard: That is a great
question because I just had it
happen. I just had the caller
set up an appointment for me
with a small business owner, and
I called him back to confirm,
and he said, “You know, I’m so
glad you called because I have a
service appointment I need to
make in the morning at
eight-thirty.”, which was when
our appointment was set. That
gave me time to talk to him a
little bit more, and I said,
“Well, tell me a little bit
about your business.” And, he
told me a little bit about his
business and I could tell from
his attitude that he probably
wasn’t ready to meet right now.
So, I said, “Listen, maybe next
week I’ll give you a call
sometime.” So, that freed up my
whole morning. I didn’t go waste
it with someone I just didn’t
feel was quite ready for me.
Michael: So, let me ask you this
– You went through
Jay’s marketing system in 1990.
It’s 14 years later, and you’re
still actually out there having
someone telemarket for you, set
up appointments. You’re calling
to confirm. You’ve actually been
doing this for this long.
Richard: Oh yeah, and I’ll tell
you why because the number one
killer of the consulting
business and marketing
consulting included is you stop
marketing. The minute you stop
marketing, you’re dead because
you’re start to get lethargic.
You start to get lazy. You get
clients and you think you’re
busy enough. So, you don’t keep
marketing. I throw out this rule
right now and that is anyone
serious about getting in the
consulting business better
always be willing to market 25
percent of their time.
Michael: So, this isn’t a land a
huge client, get a good
contingency deal, make several
hundred thousand dollars, and
retire for the next year.
Richard: You’ll only find those
if you keep doing what I’ve
described to you to do. You
won’t find those by a science.
You’ll run into them, and I’ve
run into a couple of them. So,
I’ve had a couple of client
relationships that have given me
the big bucks for the short
period of time, but there far
and few between.
Michael: Now, let’s talk about
it. You said for a short period
of time. Was this contingency
relationship?
Richard: Both fee and
contingency.
Michael: Do they last
contingency relationships?
Richard: Contingencies are hard
to make last.
Michael: Why?
Richard: There are several
things. One is you’re in a
partnership with the business
owner. You’re now relying on his
honesty and his trust and his
capability of doing business,
but it’s not always in your
control. It may not always keep
working the way you want it to
work.
Michael: Does it change the
relationship between the two
people?
Richard: It absolutely does.
That’s why I don’t recommend a
contingency basis to begin with.
I will always charge a fee
first, and then as I work with
the client and they work with
me, and we find out that we’re
working well together, it can
evolve into a contingency
opportunity.
Michael: That working
relationship is really a
qualifier whether he’s honest,
whether he’s interested in
growing his business, and
whether there’s potential. If
that’s going good, is there any
reason why he wouldn’t want to
do a contingency?
Richard: There really isn’t, and
if it’s going good, he’s paid me
my fees on time like I’ve asked,
he’s been happy to pay them, and
we’ve built up a good
relationship, he knows what I’m
going to do for him in this
contingency relationship, I know
what he’s going to do for me in
this contingency relationship,
and then it’s much easier.
Michael: What about Jay
Abraham’s thing? You went to the
training in ’90. I remember it’s
“If I Could Bring Your Business
A Dollar, Would You Be Willing
to Pay Me 25 Cents for the
Increase of The Business?”
What’s wrong with that model?
What did you find was wrong with
that model? Did you believe in
the model at first?
Richard: Oh, I did because
that’s what Jay trained us. So,
I came home, and I ran an ad of
that very nature, and I got
phone calls and I put it out
there into a small business
magazine that was being
distributed to businesses, and
it said that very thing. It
said, “If I could make you a
dollar, you pay me 25 cents.”
And, I got several phone calls.
Then, I found out the problem
with starting it that way. Jay
was able to do it because he had
already made hundreds of
thousands of dollars and had
hundreds of thousands of dollars
in the bank, and so he could
afford to do a contingency, but
many of these contingency
clients take a lot of time to
make work and before you see the
sales, and it takes money to
make the marketing work, and
they don’t have the money.
That’s why they called you to do
it on your commission. Those are
the obstacles I found. I found,
“Oh man, this is going to take
too long and I’ve got a mortgage
to pay.”
Michael: Do you remember the
first client that called you?
Richard: Yes.
Michael: Who was it?
Richard: They were producing a
family unity tape set. They were
kind of a non-profit type of
entity. So, they didn’t have a
budget for marketing. I guess
part of the answer to the
question is where are you at
when you take the training. If
you already have money in the
bank, if you already have a
career that you’ve built up a
retirement and you can afford
six to twelve months to make a
contingency work, good for you.
Michael: Yeah, and you would
invest your own money in doing
it.
Richard: And your time.
Michael: Okay.
Richard: If you are like most of
us, and you have a mortgage to
pay, and you have bills that
have to be paid every third day,
then you probably don’t have the
time to give that to a
contingency. So, that’s why in
1990 when it wasn’t working well
for me, I created my marketing
consulting system which is based
on a fee-based system because
immediately I saw that I needed
to change the way I was
approaching these small business
owners. I couldn’t do it right
then the way Jay Abraham taught
me, and so I had to change it to
a fee-based structure, and
that’s the way it is.
Michael: You didn’t have the
assets to do what he did.
Richard: That’s right.
Michael: He was just teaching
the best way he knew how from
his experience and from where he
was.
Richard: That’s right, and so I
don’t blame him.
Michael: You’re teaching it from
where you were.
Richard: That’s right, and where
I think most are.
Michael: Right.
Richard: And, that’s why I think
it’s the most successful system
out there. I’ve had competitors
who have been out there. They
were trained by Jay, but they
still have not figured out how
to go to a perspective business
owner, present him value, and
charge a fee, and then present
him the next value and charge a
fee, and present him the next
value and charge fee. That’s
what’s unique about the system.
It’s so systemized from
beginning to end.
Michael: How long did it take
you to put this system together?
Richard: At least four or five
years.
Michael: Here’s a question from
Peter. As you may be aware
Michael, I spoke to Richard a
few weeks ago about his
marketing system. I’m intrigued
by his concepts and program, but
I’m not in a position to
consider the training until I
finish my move from Boston to
Florida. In the meantime, here
are a few questions. What advice
would you give someone with
previous business experience who
is interested in getting into
marketing consulting? And, what
is the quickest way to start
attracting clients?
Richard: Well, the first thing
then that I would do is I would
look at my business background
and my business training and I
would find relationships in that
business world that I’ve been
in, and these relationships I
would cultivate with those who
sell something or offer
something to other businesses,
in other words, the same kinds
of clients that I want. So, I
would leverage my business
relationships the best I could.
My marketing consulting system
recommends you charge fees that
range anywhere from $1,500 on a
low end to $4 or $5,000 on a
high end, and really varies with
the size of the business that
you’re visiting with and the
amount of work that you’re going
to have to do, and we teach you
all of that in the training.
Michael: Now, is that per month?
Richard: That’s right, and you
might have a client for anywhere
from four to seven months that
you’re retaining and working
with, and you can work with
anywhere from ten to twelve,
fifteen clients at a time. So,
you’ve got to kind of determine
how much time it’s going to
take, how large the business is,
and their ability to pay and
then your ability to create the
value. So, there are no set
fees. We teach you more how to
determine those fees based on
the circumstance you’re in.
Michael: Let me ask you this.
It’s Tuesday, November 9th,how many clients are you
currently working with right
now?
Richard: Ten.
Michael: You have ten clients
you’re working with, and how
much time are you spending on
each client per month?
Richard: My marketing consulting
system is built and documented
in such a way that you’re
probably sending between two and
four hours per week per client.
Now, I’ll have to tell you, I’m
spending less time than that
right now because you’re only
getting faster, you’re only
getting better, you’re only
getting more experience each
year that you’re in this
business, and so my per hour
compensation has gone up
dramatically from when I started
because two things have
happened. One is I’ve been able
to increase my fees as I get
better. It’s just like Jay
Abraham. I remember early on he
was charging one or two thousand
dollars per hour on the phone.
Now, he’s getting four or five
thousand dollars.
Michael: Yes, when demand goes
up, price goes up.
Richard: That’s right.
Michael: And, when your
confidence goes up, price goes
up.
Richard: Yes, and so starting
out, the way I remember when I
was sweating out trying to
charge any fee at all. So, we
want to help you avoid that
start-up learning curve, and
give you the training and the
confidence so that right off the
bat you begin asking for the
fees because you can as a
trained marketing consultant,
tap into the system that’s been
around for 14-15 years. So, it’s
produced phenomenal results for
clients. So, you’re not a
start-up. You’re actually
participating in part of a
system that’s been around for a
long time, and that should help
you in setting those higher fees
from the beginning as well as
the training and the confidence
it gives you to set a higher
fee.
Michael: Here’s another question
from Peter, how do you get
passed the gatekeeper to talk to
your prospects or to get that
meeting with your prospect? And,
what is the best way to track
your results with a client that
is not very open with his books?
Richard: I haven’t confronted
the gatekeeper issue a lot
because of the target market I’m
recommending you go to. When we
make phone calls to the target
market we’re in, we’re usually
getting the business owner on
the phone. So, that’s one way to
avoid that problem is by
sticking to the target market
that you’re equipped to take
care of. What you have to kind
of do sometimes on the other is
maybe you send him a postcard or
you send him a newsletter or you
send him part of a book you’ve
written, and that helps to get
past the gatekeeper because
you’re mailing it right to the
business owner, and then you
follow-up with a phone call.
I’ve never really had to also
get into the books with a
company because what we teach in
the system is the marketing that
you do you’ll be able to track
by the results of the mail piece
or the results of the ad or the
results of the letter. How much
money that makes, and how much
profit that means has been less
of an issue than how much in
sales it’s got. Does that make
sense?
Michael: Yes.
Richard: So, you’re more
concerned with tracking the
sales, and when you create the
pieces as you will be trained
how to do in my marketing
consulting system, you can track
that pretty well.
Michael: Here’s a question from
Dino. Richard, I’m in the UK,
and I’ve got a question for you.
Why is it that over 80 percent
of the people who set out to
become a marketing consultant
fail to make more than $10,000
per year?
Richard: Because they are not
persistent in their own
marketing. It’s because they get
into a trap that is so easy for
consultants to get into, and
that is they’ll get a client and
so they think now that they’re
busy and so they stop marketing.
They stop promoting themselves,
and when you do that you’ll dry
up and die. So, that’s why most
will not make it. That’s why a
big part of the training is how
to grow your practice and how to
get clients and we teach them
multi pillared marketing
approach where they’re teaching
you several ways to get clients,
not just one or two ways to get
clients. You have to do for your
marketing consulting practice
exactly what you advise clients
to do for their business, and if
you’re not, the same thing
that’s going to happen to your
client, that is dry up and die
and get beat by their
competition, is going to happen
to you and your practice. So,
I’ve published a book. I have a
seminar material, and included
in your training you’ll get all
of that – how to put on a
seminar and teach the marketing
system to businesses, and you’ll
always get clients that way. We
teach you how to use the phone
to get clients. We teach you how
to use the mail to get clients.
We teach you about setting up
alliances and partnerships to
get clients. So, we teach you a
multi-pillar way to get clients
because we don’t want that to
happen to you, but if you are
not persistent in the marketing
then your risk is that you’ll be
done. Most consulting
opportunities don’t cover that.
Jay didn’t. I spent $15,000 for
Jay Abraham. He didn’t teach me
how to go get a client. I had to
go figure that out myself, and
I’ve seen competitors out there,
other marketing consulting
groups, that might have great
content, but what they didn’t do
is what I did, and that’s spend
time on the street for years
learning how to identify,
present and close a client so
that 14 years later, now, it’s
still happening.
Michael: Can you make the
business work without having to
meet a client face-to-face? Have
you ever done any consulting
that way using the Internet to
send the forms and the phone to
do the interviews and stuff like
that?
Richard: Well, it’s good you
asked that because part of
getting trained in my system is
that you’ll have access to an
Internet based coaching system.
So, yes, we’re aware that that’s
going on, and so we’ve put the
entire marketing system on the
Internet, and you can take a
business through the system that
way now. Have I done it a lot?
No, and I’ll tell you why. Most
of the clients, the small
business owners, get up in the
morning and they’re at their
shop and they’re working all
day. If you’re going to reach
them, they don’t have a minute
during that day that they’re
pausing to get on the Internet.
They’re meeting payroll. They’re
buying inventory. They’re
figuring out ways to sell more.
So, they need to be met
face-to-face. So, you’re going
to have a few, but I don’t want
to give you all the impression
that that’s going to be a way to
generate all of their income.
Michael: That’s fair enough.
Here’s some questions relating
to credibility, and it seems
like several people are
concerned with that. One from
Dave – how can a rookie
consultant cover up for his lack
of credibility if he still has
no paying clients to give him
testimonials?
Richard: Then he uses the
testimonials of my marketing
system that are already out
there. I have more then you’ll
need. When you go through the
training, you’re going to be
able to tap into that
credibility. So, they’re not
only getting the system, they’re
getting the 14 years of
performance. That’s one way he
can cover that up. The other way
is when I got started, I had
been in the outside sales arena
and I had performed. The
prospect is less concerned about
what you’ve done in the past,
and more concerned about how he
thinks you’re going to solve his
problem, and so as a consultant,
you need to be concerned more
with how you’re going to be able
to listen to, understand and
present a solution to that
business owner’s problem. If you
spend your time doing that, he’s
not going to worry about your
credibility. If he has the
confidence that you can solve
his problem, and so I used
stories from my sales
background. They weren’t at all
connected with the marketing
system that I was using. So, I
would also caution someone in
trying to cover up, and I would
rather say explore what you do
have that you might be able to
throw out there as some
credibility.
Michael: Now, can you think back
in all your face-to-face
presentations when you’re
meeting with the clients, how
many can you think of that said,
“Tell me about why I should?”
Richard: It’s really not a big
issue and that’s because when
you go in with my marketing
system, it’s overwhelming. The
business owner goes, “Oh wow,
this make sense.” When you
deliver a proven system that he
can’t debate with, why is he
going to say, “Prove it to me?”
You already have.
Michael: Without giving away too
much, can you talk about the
Opportunity Analysis Worksheet –
what it does, how it’s used, and
what the purpose of it is in
your system?
Richard: You bet. Where my
trained consultants separate
themselves from everybody else
is the ability to go into a
small business and identify what
the system refers to as “hidden
marketing assets”. The
opportunity worksheet is simply
a systematic way we train the
consultants how to identify
those assets, and so there’s a
series of questions that the
opportunity worksheet guides the
consultant through so that he
doesn’t miss any of the assets
because the proposal then that
you’re trained in solving the
business owner’s problem is
leveraging those assets into a
marketing system. That’s why
it’s so different from anybody
else. Any traditional advertiser
or traditional marketing
consultant doesn’t care about
the business’s hidden marketing
assets. They just want to sell
more advertising, and they want
to sell more direct mail or they
want to sell more coupons or
they want to sell more billboard
space or more radio or more
newspaper ads. You’re going in
and saying, “Hey, you don’t need
any of that, but I do need to
take you through a series of
questions to see if you have
what I call marketing assets.
Then, I’ll take those assets and
I will systematically leverage
them into a marketing system to
create increases for you.” So,
that in a nutshell is what
separates our consultants from
everybody else.
Michael: From your experience,
how long have you found it takes
you for that initial meeting
when you take that business
owner through the opportunity
analysis worksheet?
Richard: It’s about an hour.
Michael: Do you need a laptop to
take them through that system or
can you do this all on paper?
Richard: It’s all on paper.
They’ll need a laptop. What you
do then is take the information
gathered from the opportunity
session and create an outline of
marketing steps that you’re
recommending for the client.
Michael: You’ve got a sales
background. This opportunity
analysis worksheet is a well
thought out sales system. Would
you agree?
Richard: Yeah, that’s why it was
created is I knew that if
someone else who wanted to be a
marketing consultant might not
have the sales background that
we’d have to create an almost
word for word presentation, and
that’s in the opportunity
analysis. So, it’s there almost
word for word if they want to,
and in fact early on, I did.
Early on, I had to take it, what
I had been writing down and
actually say, “Well, Mr. Owner,
excuse me for a minute, I’m just
going to go through a sheet here
that I have to make sure that I
cover everything.” They go, “Oh
sure.” But, really what it was
for me was a cheat sheet.
Michael: And, you have this
script of exactly what to say
from the time you get in there?
Richard: That’s right.
Michael: And, you just read it
off of the paper?
Richard: That’s right.
Michael: Here’s a question from
George. What do you find is the
numbers on objection people have
to hiring a marketing
consultant?
Richard: I’d say there’s a close
tie between two. One is the
feeling that “Oh, I’m doing
fine. I can do this myself.”
And, then second, “I don’t want
to invest the money.” So, those
two are probably your top.
Michael: Now, if you’ve got a
guy that says, “I don’t want to
invest the money.” You’ve got a
sales background. Do you have an
answer for that or do you pretty
much know that if this guy
doesn’t want to invest the money
it isn’t going to happen?
Richard: It’s one of the
purposes of the opportunity and
the questionnaire that we train
you is to show him the money.
Before you ask him to invest,
you’ve got to show him where the
money’s going to come, and part
of that hour presentation you’re
illustrating for him ways he can
make more money. So, that at the
end, if he doesn’t see the small
investment he’s going to pay you
isn’t going to bring him the
returns that you’ve described,
then two things. One is you
haven’t made the sale or you
really didn’t show him the money
or he doesn’t have the money and
doesn’t want to spend it
regardless of how much you could
show him.
Michael: And, you’re using his
numbers to come up with the
figures, right?
Richard: Absolutely.
Michael: Is that a challenge
when you’re asking him for gross
sales?
Richard: No, they’re usually
very open with that.
Michael: Those have those
numbers pretty much down.
Richard: Maybe, Mike, this would
help illustrate. Let’s say I’m
talking to a business owner, and
I ask him a question. I say,
“Well, you have two sales
people.” And, he says, “Yes.”
“What is their conversion rate
or how many people are they
closing right now?” And he says,
“Well, I think they’re closing
about two out of ten.” And, I
say, “Well, that’s great. If my
marketing system that I’ll help
implement into your business
could raise that from two to
three out of ten, can you see
how much more money that would
make you?” And, he says, “Yeah,
that would be great.” “Well,
that’s what that marketing
system will help you do. It will
help you raise that conversion
rate from two to three and you
can see how that might make you
another $100,000 a year. Does
that make sense?” And, he says,
“Yeah, I can see that.” So, see
I’m showing him how he’s going
to be making a lot of money.
Michael: So, it really shouldn’t
be an objection if you’ve done
your presentation right.
Richard: You’ve got it. That’s
right.
Michael: How many can you close?
Give me some numbers. You set up
100 appointments, how many
appointments are you going to
end up seeing? How many are you
going to close? And, how many
are going to stick with it?
Richard: Out of ten
appointments, my closing rate
right now is about five out of
ten. So, I have about a 50
percent conversion rate.
However, early on, in the
beginning, I would expect that a
beginning consultant should hold
about a 20-30 percent conversion
rate. So, if you’re seeing ten
appointments a week, then you
should pick two to three clients
a week. Those two to three
clients you should be servicing
for four to six or seven months
if you’re doing your job. So,
you’ll keep a client that long.
Well, that means then, that at
the end of four or five months,
you’re going to be finished with
a client, and you better have a
replacement. That’s why, again,
the emphasis on marketing 25
percent of your week all the
time. Then people say, “Well,
Richard, then you’re going to
get full and you don’t have
enough.” I can tell you from
experience, you’re never full
enough. And, if I am by chance,
then I simply tell a client, I
can’t start with them right now,
but I could at X-date. Or, if he
gives me the luxury of saying,
“I can start with you now, but
the fee will have to be X.” And,
I raise my fee. You see? So,
consultants somewhat have to
create the demand that then
would generate and justify a
fee.
Michael: Well, one of the
attractive benefits that other
business and marketing
consultant opportunities are
offering is a residual income,
and from what you’re saying is
contingency isn’t the focus on
your program, but you did say
there is an opportunity for
that. So, a question from Larry
from Florida is how do you
develop the residual income from
your marketing consulting
practice?
Richard: That is a great
question, and there are a lot of
different ways to develop. In
fact, one of our consultants in
the Chicago area, Steve is his
name, he took my training and he
immediately began to work with
small businesses and he charged
a fee to begin with, and then he
began to take part ownership of
the company.
Michael: How did he do that?
Give me an example of what he
did.
Richard: What he did is he went
in and said, “Okay, if I’m going
to go ahead and lower my fees to
get my marketing system in your
business, I would like to work
out a percentage of ownership in
the company.” So, here’s a
consultant then that’s taken
some ownership in companies and
he’s told us that it’s created
his retirement.
Michael: And, it’s a lot safer
than some contingency deal?
Richard: Exactly. He’s got
ownership, and he said just the
other day that he’s actually
created his retirement. So,
residual opportunities are
there. It’s just I think each
consultant mindset. How do they
want to use the system? Do they
want to use it with a few
clients and get heavily involved
and maybe even become part
owner, or maybe find some
contingency opportunities? So,
the system is such that I think
that the personality of the
consultant can be a driving use
of the system.
Michael: Here’s a question from
Lee. How could you make more in
consulting fees with less
paperwork and report writing? Is
there a lot of report writing in
this?
Richard: There really isn’t. My
system teaches you how to
generate of course an outline or
I don’t like to use the word
proposal. One thing that we
teach you is you’ve got to be
able to go in to the client and
then respond back in your
proposal to the client directly.
You can’t come back with a
generic proposal. You’ve got to
come back with a system outline
that hits the points that you
uncovered in your opportunity
analysis. So, that’s why every
outline is going to be different
for each prospect. So, there is
that. After that, you’re getting
paid to service the client, and
any other writing or any other
report generating is going to be
paid for as part of the system.
Michael: And, you have these
outlines in the system?
Richard: That’s right.
Michael: Here’s a question from
Dave. By giving the prospect
good value through educating at
your first meeting with the
agenda you’ve created through
the answers the prospect gave in
response to the questions that
you had gone over in the
opportunity analysis worksheet,
how do you not give them enough
information so that they would
tend to want to do it on their
own?
Richard: One of the marketing
principles that Jay taught me
that I’ve seen come true is you
can tell a prospect a lot of
things to do, but it all comes
down to execution and he is not
trained to execute. In fact, if
I were to say the number one
reason clients will retain a
marketing consultant. It’s less
for what he told them he’s going
to do, and more for that he’s
going to do it. In other words,
the execution, the marketing
content in the system is really
not new. It’s been around and
used successfully for years, and
so they know a lot of this
stuff. The business owner
already knows he should be doing
this. He hasn’t been doing this.
So, by coming to him with a
system, and your ability to
execute, that’s what he’s going
to buy.
Michael: Yeah, you’re going to
do it for him.
Richard: Yes, because he’s
probably bought books before.
He’s probably maybe hired
someone before that he thought
would do it and it’s still not
done.
Michael: Here’s a question from
Bonnie. Richard, do you deal
with clients who won’t take your
advice? In other words, they
hire you because you’re an
expert and they need your help,
then when you advise them on
what to do, they disagree and
think that their way is better.
Should you just fire them or
compromise or do what they want
because the customer is always
right?
Richard: Part of the upfront
psychological contract is what
I’ve heard it referred to. “I’m
going to recommend certain
marketing steps, Mr. Business
owner, and I’m going to make
sure that we get them executed.
I do need your total support
behind that, otherwise my
guarantee is void. I’m
guaranteeing to you that the
system will perform, but unless
everything is done the way I say
it should be done and in the
manner that I recommend it
should be done, I can’t
guarantee my performance. So, if
you want to change it, if you
want to do something else, or if
you say, ‘I don’t want to do
this.’, then it just voids our
guarantee. Is that okay?” Cover
all of that ahead of time. Now,
certainly there’s going to be
cases, and I’ve had them. I’ve
had clients who have paid me and
some of the marketing hasn’t
worked, and yet the reason they
know it hasn’t worked is they
haven’t done their part. So, I
still fulfilled my guarantee,
but the results didn’t
necessarily happen yet, the
recognized it’s because they
didn’t do their part.
Michael: Do you have a specific
script or format that you use
when asking for referrals and if
so what is it? Do you have
different approaches when
seeking referrals from
non-clients as opposed to
clients? At what point in the
relationship do you start
asking? Now, this would be for
building your marketing
consulting practice.
Richard: The point that you
might ask for referrals is going
to be different with every
client. Sometimes my clients are
so excited after step one that I
can ask for referrals. Sometimes
it takes three or four months
before things start working and
start generating that I can ask
for referrals. Really the right
answer that it’s kind of
whenever the client gives you a
buying signal. And, that might
be at any point in the steps.
Michael: How would you do it?
What would you say?
Richard: I would say, “Listen,
I’m excited that this is working
for us. You feel like it’s
working for your business.” And,
they say, “Yes.” And, I will
especially ask for referrals
from a client who has other
small businesses as clients, and
I’ll say something like, “Well,
would it be okay if maybe we
sponsored or if you’d like to
sponsor a little workshop for
some of your clients that I can
share these marketing ideas with
some of them?” So, I’ve done
sponsored workshops as a way to
generate referrals.
Michael: So, they’ll send out
something to their list a letter
or a mailing?
Richard: Yes.
Michael: And, you’ve got that in
the system.
Richard: Right. So, you can
generate referrals through a
seminar or they might give you,
“Do you have one or two business
associates that you think this
might work for and that I can
use your name in approaching?”
And, that might give me one or
two referrals.
Michael: How much are you using
referrals in your consulting
practice?
Richard: I probably right now I would say that 80
percent of my income has come
from referrals because I’ve
built up enough relationships
where I get referrals. These are
with groups and associations
that we have trained to do on
how to set up some of these same
relationships.
Michael: Give me an example of
one of the workshops you did.
Richard: Elko, Nevada is one
good example. We did a workshop
there and it ended up selling
both one on one consulting
services as well as selling some
of the web coaching services.
So, that was fairly successful.
I’ve also done a lot of the
workshops for Chambers of
Commerce who has these
luncheons, and they sponsored me
as a speaker. Almost always I’ll
get clients from those
workshops. So, the seminar and
you get all of this in your
training is very powerful
because it’s a good balance of
teaching and not giving them too
much. It always intrigues them
enough that they want to
follow-up with a consultation.
Michael: Here’s a question from
Mike – where do you see small
business growth in the future,
and where will a small business
marketing consultant be seeing
the biggest area of growth to
tap into – specific areas,
niches, markets or services? Any
ideas on that?
Richard: Well, the Internet
definitely is a big area. I see
that growing. I see more and
more of my own clients over time
are getting involved in the
Internet. So, I’m having more
opportunity with them, as they
build their business models or
change their business models to
accommodate the Internet. What’s
great is that my system works
whether it’s with a brick and
mortar company or on the
Internet, it still applies. So,
all steps of the marketing
consulting you can do, you can
do either with a web-based
company or a brick and mortar
company. So, I see that as a big
one. Retail is struggling, and
so retail is an opportunity. The
small Mom and Pop retail stores
are getting beat up by Wal-Mart.
They’re getting beat up by the
big Home Depots and all of those
big box companies are
threatening them. So, they’re
looking for answers. They’re
looking for help. I think
another big opportunity is going
to be more and more small
business owners are starting
their own businesses. They’re
buying franchises and sometimes
the franchise has all the
marketing laid out for them, but
sometimes they don’t. I’m
working right now with a
franchise client that just
doesn’t feel that he’s getting
any help from headquarters. So,
there’s going to be a lot of
people getting into business by
themselves being that that whole
sector is growing. So, those are
the opportunities that I see.
Michael: Here’s a question from
Margo. Although no two
businesses are exactly alike,
generally speaking what are the
three surest methods of
immediately increasing profits
in a small business?
Richard: I would say the three
are number one, creating a
really good unique selling
proposition and then integrating
that into all of their current
marketing processes.
Michael: Give me an example.
Richard: I worked with a client
that was in the employee leasing
business. He was the owner, the
sole owner, and he five
salespeople. Well, the sales
were not doing as well as he
would’ve liked, and so he hired
me as a consultant to create a
Unique Selling Proposition. So,
we did that, and part of that
process is asking the owner what
he really thinks his Unique
Selling Proposition is. So, I
got that from the owner. Well,
in step two, you go about
integrating that Unique Selling
Proposition into all of the
sales process.
Michael: What did he come up
with as his Unique Selling
Proposition?
Richard: He said, “Richard, I
don’t sell life insurance. I
don’t sell health insurance. I
save a small business owner time
and energy in complying with all
of the legal rules of business.”
So, really you’re not selling
product. You’re not selling
payroll services. You’re selling
time, and energy and liability
for the business owner. You’re
taking away all of these things
so he doesn’t have to deal with,
and he said, “Yeah, that’s why
my USP is.” Well, I went and
asked his five salespeople what
they sold, and they were not
selling that. Instead, they were
selling health insurance or
401(k) s or payroll service.
Well, the minute we got the
owner’s Unique Selling
Proposition integrated into the
sales pitch of the five
salespeople, we increased their
closing rate from 20 to 40
percent and increased their
revenues from $60 to $90 million
dollars.
Michael: Wow.
Richard: It was phenomenal.
Michael: And, that’s just one
thing.
Richard: That’s just one thing.
So, to answer her question
there’s number one and that is
getting a good, unique selling
proposition from the very
beginning and getting it
integrated. A second way to see
money real quickly is improving
the sales performance of sales
people, and that’s done by
giving them a good unique
selling proposition, and then
maybe doing some basic sales
training. A third quick way-
Michael: Do you cover sales
training in your system?
Richard: Yes, in fact we have a
module in there that is a sales
training module that they can
use as part of their consulting.
Michael: And, I don’t have to be
an expert at it? All I’ve got to
do is follow along?
Richard: Just follow the
outline. The third way that
would be fast is the customer
base. I’ve seen a lot of money
raised quickly be reactivating
inactive customers.
Michael: Give me an example.
Richard: I had a doctor who was
in the weight control business.
In other words, he would advise
patients on how to lose weight,
and he had his own product, his
own protein drink and cookies
and things that were used in
helping his patients lose
weight. Well, he had about 500
patients that he had taken care
of over the years, probably
50-100 that were active at any
one time. I said, “Well, what’s
happened to the other 400?” He
says, “Well, I don’t know.” So,
we put together a little simple
letter to reactive those
patients, and his revenues went
up 25 percent in 30 days. So,
that’s a big and fast and can be
a very quick way to make money.
So, those are your three.
Michael: Would you be willing to
share with my listeners the
series of 15 or 20 case studies
that you’ve experienced in your
consulting business?
Richard: Oh, you bet.
Michael: We’ll save that for
another recording. I really
appreciate you taking the time
and handling all these questions
from all my subscribers. I
really appreciate it.
Richard: Thank you, it was a
pleasure.
58 Minutes
Questions Answered About The
Marketing Consulting Business
Interview By Michael Senoff
58 Minutes Of Relentless Nonstop
Q&A From Existing HMA Marketing
Consultants And Potential HMA
Consultants. Part One.
Part One
Presented & Published by: JS&M
Sales & Marketing Inc. H |
