How to truly connect with your clients

Smart Gets Paid Podcast Transcript
Season 1
Episode 10

Intro (00:02):
You're listening to the Smart Gets Paid Podcast with me, Leah Neaderthal. I help women land higher paying clients in their B2B consulting and coaching businesses, but I've never been a sales person. My background is in corporate marketing. And when I started my first consulting business, I learned pretty quickly that it's about a thousand times harder to sell your own stuff than it is to sell someone else's. So I taught myself how to do it, and I created a sales approach that feels comfortable, makes you feel confident, and it works consistently. And now I teach women how to land higher paying clients in their B2B consulting and coaching businesses. So whether your client contracts are $2,000 or $200,000, if you want to work with more of the clients you love, do more of the work you love, and get paid more than you ever imagined. Then you're in the right place. Let's do it together. Welcome to Smart Gets Paid.

Leah (00:54):
Leah here, and thanks for joining me for this episode of the Smart Gets Paid Podcast. So there's a woman I learned about recently named Tamika Swintt and she's a stylist based in Chicago, and she also teaches how to do hair. And if you're a stylist, of course, for your business, you can have a salon. You can do hair for your clients. You can make a good living. And if you teach people how to do hair, you could have a YouTube channel. You could teach other stylists. You could teach individuals. All of those are expected things that you can do, but Tamika chose something different because at Tamika salon, Styles for Kids, she teaches white parents how to care for the natural black hair of their children. Some of the parents she teaches are a white parents of adopted black children. Some of them are parents of biracial children, but for all of them, Tamika wants to empower them with the skills and confidence to do their child's hair.

It actually makes me kind of, teary-eyed just thinking about it. And I was thinking about Tamika when I was prepping this episode, because her story really speaks to this question of what's expected versus what you truly want to do and how the answer to that question might be more personal than you might think. So this call that you're listening in on today starts fairly innocently on the topic of “how do I find and attract my clients on LinkedIn”. But as you'll hear the answer opens up an even larger question about who this woman truly wants to serve and why. This session was a one-on-one coaching call. That's part of my Pack Your Pipeline LinkedIn course. So I want to say a special thank you to the student for allowing me to share this conversation with you. I also want to just point out that the client I'm talking to today is a native German speaker. And we're talking about her LinkedIn profile, which is written in German. So you'll hear that she has to translate it for me. Take a listen. And at the end, I'll come back and share how you can apply a lesson from this call to your business.

Message from Leah (02:41):
Hey, before we dive in, I want to invite you to something special as a listener of this podcast throughout this season, you've heard me mention the Pack Your Pipeline program. My program to help you stand out as an expert and bring your ideal clients to you using LinkedIn. And you've actually listened in on a few calls with some Pack Your Pipeline students. And now, because you’re a listener of this podcast, I want to invite you in and give you something special. The next live class of Pack Your Pipeline, what we call the Pack Your Pipeline Accelerator is starting on June 14th.
You get to work with me and an amazing group of women who are serious about growing their consulting, coaching, and service based businesses. And we're going to put the Pack Your Pipeline system in place in your business in 21 days. We're going to make your profile amazing and sound compelling.
They're going to learn how to position yourself as an expert in just a few words, you'll learn how to get on their radar and get seen by the clients you want to work with. And you're gonna learn how to help those people who see you take the next step to work with you. All without sending a single pitch message. So if you're tired of clicking around on LinkedIn without a strategy, and you want to follow a proven system that works and works quickly, join me in the Pack Your Pipeline Accelerator starting on June 14th.
And as a listener of this podcast, you get something special. You can save a hundred dollars on your registration using the code PODCAST01. Just go to smartgetspaid.com/linkedin-accel, accel short for accelerator and use the code PODCAST01 to save a hundred dollars, but don't wait too long. This early registration offer just for podcast listeners expires on May 16th. So if you wanna work with me to start using LinkedIn, to get clients into your business and you want to save a hundred bucks, go to smartgetspaid.com/linkedin-accel, accel short for accelerator and use the code PODCAST01, and be sure to do it before it expires on May 16th. All right, I'll see you there.

Guest (04:36):
I would like to pick your brain a little bit. What I'm doing is I'm helping entrepreneurs with storytelling and science psychology.

Leah (to reader) (04:47):
Hey there, Leah here, just letting you know that what she's saying here is sales psychology.

Guest (04:52):
To build funnel structures and all of that. Today, I just launched my Facebook and Instagram ads course.

Leah:
Oh, congratulations!

Guest:
So basically, yeah, I started LinkedIn because a friend of mine said, “you need to be on LinkedIn!” I just purchased your course. Did it, started with an already had some very good context. So what I would like from you, maybe one or two strategies from there to go? What I'm struggling with is I'm very good with pixel, Facebook and Instagram, but with LinkedIn, I kind of feel still a little bit lost with who I really wanted to approach and who not. And I think I'm very confused. So I just opened my LinkedIn. So what do you need to see?

Leah:
Tell me what your headline says.

Guest (05:58):
My headline says how entrepreneurs get in contact with heart-brain and purse on the internet with storytelling and sales psychology to grow. That's what it says.

Leah (to reader):
So that was “Online entrepreneurs, get in contact with heart, brain, and purse on the internet with storytelling and sales psychology to grow.”

Leah:
Okay. Talk to me a little bit, just at a high level about what you're saying in your about section.

Guest (06:13):
Okay. It says, unfortunately it's not true that it is not so easy to start an online business online nowadays anymore. The good thing, we can use this for our advantage and then telling yes, it's true. The technical stuff's getting more, more easy, but you know, if something's very easy, a lot of people are doing it now. It's a lot harder to get the attention of people out there. Now the good news, you can do this with storytelling, sales psychology, blah, blah, blah.

Leah (06:44):
So I think this is great. I like that you sort of set up the problem, you know, and in a way that feels very approachable. You're not saying you're doing something wrong. It's just like, this is the way it is, you know. On your headline, talk to me about “heart, brain and purse”. Because where I feel like it maybe stops short of a very strong outcome is if you do that, if you get heart, brain, and purse, then what happens for their business?

Guest (07:19):
What I'm saying here is using storytelling and sales psychology in order to grow.

Leah (07:25):
Okay. So sometimes grow, like this phrase “grow”, can feel so big and so conceptual that it's hard for people to feel any particular way about it. And what we want them to do is read it and be like, “Oh my gosh, yes, I need this”. Right? So what we want to really illustrate for people is helping people, you know, address heart, brain and purse with storytelling and sales psychology to do something. To turn audience members into loyal customers. Right? Exactly. Do you see how it's like, just a little bit more specific? So people will be like, I want to turn my people into customers. Right? So that, that might be one way to just tweak that a little bit.

Guest (08:11):
I know what you try to do. I wasn't happy with the growing part as well.

Leah (08:16):
It just feels so loose, you know? And I see this from so many people, but I know it's there.

Guest (08:21):
That’s why I said heart, brain and purse, just to make it really clear that it's logical. It's emotional. And yes, it's about the money. Yeah.
Leah (08:32):
Of course it is! Right, I know.

Guest (08:34):
Um, okay. I just need to delete this word, grow. I just think about it. I just cannot

Leah (08:43):
Take a second to think about it. That's fine. Okay. I mean, I think that, that, I think that what you've done here is really strong. So when you say about “how do you reach your people?” Talk to me about you say you're really good at it on Facebook, because that is your, that is your world. Tell me, where are you might be getting stuck here.

Guest (09:01):
I’m getting stuck. I don't know, really know how to grow my audience here. I have clients that are more from the company side. Like, I have a client who builds whirlpools. Yeah. I have a lot of coaches as well. Like, so I have a very broad audience. What I would like to have more really entrepreneurs, people that are more in the business world. And that's why I started with LinkedIn. That's why my friend said, Oh, you have to go to LinkedIn. They're kind of like middle class companies I started to work with. And I enjoyed a lot because they don't really know so much about the digital world right now, but they need it. I would like to get them. And I have no clue how to get them on LinkedIn. I don't know.

Leah (09:45):
So I'm hearing two things. It's the entrepreneurs who are not coaches, right?

Guest (09:51):
People starting businesses or established businesses that want to bring their structure into the digital world.

Leah (10:00):
Yes. So it's hard sometimes because you know, you look at the universe of LinkedIn and it's like, how on earth do I find these people? Right? Yeah. So we have to sort of start somewhere. And one of the things that I think about is, you know, looking at the people that you have worked with, that you like. You know. So this Whirlpool company, for example, what if you had 50 more of those?

Guest:
I would love that.

Leah:
Exactly. So let's look at what might distinguish a company like that. Tell me more about this company.

Guest (10:36):
You would consider it a small business. He builds the whirlpools himself. And there was another person, he's making doors. And I just loved him, he just loved his doors. They are just craftsmen. They really know what they do, but they have no clue about the digital world.

Leah (10:57):
Hmm. I love that because you really are working with people who are so into that thing. Right? Whirlpools, doors, these things that, you know, you have to be really a special person to, to like get super into doors.

Guest:
Yes.

Leah (11:13):
Okay. So if you had 50 of more of these guys, right. I can see it in your face. I can, I can hear the excitement. So when we think about how to, out of all the universe of LinkedIn, how to start attracting, how to reach these people. We do it in a couple of ways. The first is we do it through signaling. Right now, the way that you've written your profile, it's sort of speaking to a general entrepreneur. We all know that you can get out there in digital marketing, but it's very hard to get your stuff seen, right. That sort of speaks to a broad type of person or a broad type of. So in order to really reach the people that you want, it's really about signaling that person. And so starting to talk directly to them.

So here's how that might work for this. Let's just talk to sort of this craftsman person, the level of craftsmanship you put into all of your stuff is so, you take such care. You know, this is me making this up, right. I'm just sort of spitballing here. I just, I might get it wrong, but this is sort of where we're going. And you bring such craftsmanship to the products that you make. And you know that people would still appreciate them if you could just get them out there more. Right. You know, that digital marketing works for some people, but you might not be sure if it can work for you. But you know, it totally can. And I help companies like yours or craftsmen based companies, or what have you, really start to use digital marketing to do XYZ, right. Instead of outcomes that we do. Because when you can do that, when you really start to talk to them, instead of just like general terms and when they land on your LinkedIn profile, then what we really want them to feel like is like, Oh, thank God. I found her! Now in order to do that, we have to put a stake in the ground.
You're going to talk to craftsmen and really speak to their specific issues. You know, from your marketing work, that if you go more specific and you really talk to that client that you want, it actually makes it easier for them to say yes. So it's not about, you know, you're not like cutting off all these opportunities because right now you might get some of the people that you don't want because you're not talking to the people that you do want, does that make sense?

Guest:
Absolutely.

Leah:
So I would think about really starting to signal in your profile, the people that you want to work with and speak directly to them saying things like you've been in this business long enough to know XYZ, right. That would indicate somebody who did not just start yesterday, you know, or who didn't get their coaching certification last week. So we sort of really start to talk to them in the profile.

And then we also apply that to the content, right? The home feed posts, because instead of sort of talking about general marketing stuff, which you could talk about all day, you start to talk directly to how it applies to those people. Let's think about your whirlpool guy. Something like you might not even realize that if you're doing durable goods, like a whirlpool or washing machine or whatever, that digital marketing could work for you. You could open up a whole universe of content just around that. So that's how we do it. That's how we start to make sense of every single person on LinkedIn. How do we reach the people that we really want to reach? What sort of comes up for you as we're talking about this?

Guest (14:34):
I think I really need to consider who I want to work with. I think that's the point. I mean, this is all my favorite clients. I just love them. I mean, I grew up in a household like that. So they also know how they think.

Leah (14:52):
What does that mean, you grew up in a household like that?

Guest (14:52):
I grew up in a craftsman household, so, and you know.

Leah:
What did your family make?

Guest:
My father didn't do it. No, he sold stuff to craftsmen. So he was, I don't know how you say this in English, the things you put on roofs, he's sold that. So people that put things on roofs, that's what the people I was growing up with. But so, and it's a very special way of thinking.

Leah (15:20):
You know, I think that puts you in such a unique position. First of all, it's no wonder that you feel so passionately about serving this audience and really helping them. But also you have such unique insight. You're not an outsider looking in and saying, sell more roofing stuff. Right. You know, you really understand it.
So you could say something that's so unique to them. I mean, again, I'm just making this up, but it's like, you could come up with something like, you might not think that when you're hiring your first apprentice, that that person could blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Right? I mean, this is, this is the language that you have a really particular grasp on, which is great. And you can talk directly to them. So use it, you know, don't try to go so broad and serve everybody, you know. Really serve the people that you want. And they'll know you, when they see you.

Guest (16:15):
Do you think the course like Facebook and Instagram ads, I just sell it to everybody more or less. So do you think I can go on LinkedIn more with this craftsmen people and still do my Facebook and Instagram with this broader approach? Or you wouldn't do that?

Leah (16:31):
That's a good question. You know, what I hear in that question is, can I still serve everybody?

Guest (16:37):
Thing is I've worked very hard just to build that audience with Facebook and Instagram. So.

Leah (16:45):
I get it, that is legit. I'm not going to dispute that.

Guest (16:47):
But if I really think about it, the people that I really want to work with, I don't have enough of them. So I'm thinking, how can I do a transition, but I'm not there yet.

Leah (17:01):
Right? Well, I think that you have a lot of tools to work with. I would think about what it would take for you to like, from a revenue perspective, what would it take for you to make that transition? To be able to say, okay, this is really where I want to be. But I'll tell you, you know, when you say that this new audience isn't making you money, it's not making you money yet. All right. Makes sense. I'm excited. I think that the way that your face changed when you talked about this new audience, I can tell that that's the one that really brings you a lot of joy.

Guest (17:34):
Yes. I just love those people, I guess so hardworking people. And I just love them and they just miss out all those opportunities that are out there. They miss out. And I really would like to lift them up.

Leah (17:50):
Hey there. So there's a lot to play with here, but I want to just call out one key point that you can apply to your business. So in this session, you heard the difference in how this client sounded when she was talking about who she tends to work with and who she really wants to work with. And I know that in your business, there are clients who, if you got five more or 10 more or 50 more of them, you would be so happy. I call these your light you up clients, because they just sort of light you up. And yet I talked to so many women who, when I asked the question, what types of clients do you want to work with? Instead they tell me the types of clients they have worked with. And then when I say, all right, but who do you really want to work with? I get a totally different answer. And that answer just like you heard in this call, it sounds different. It feels different. So I want to encourage you to really think about who those clients are for you, those light you up clients. How does it feel when you think about them? How does it feel when you talk about them? And then of course, I'd say focus on getting more of those, because if you're going to spend your precious time on your clients and your work, shouldn't they be the clients you truly want.

Leah (18:58):
So after this episode, there are just two episodes left in this first season of the podcast. And this podcast is something totally new for me, which is actually why we started with just one season. And if you're enjoying it, if you're learning from it, then I want to continue it. So if you like this podcast, if you've learned something, if you'd like another season, let me know by leaving a rating or review wherever you're listening to your podcasts and share it with other women who would benefit from what we're talking about here. If you're in I'm in, thanks.