A Stylish Approach to Attracting Clients

Posted in: Blog, Public Relations, Style Corner by Ms. Ayo Fashola on August 8, 2011 3:14 pm

Regardless of the state of the economy, opportunities still exist. You just have to be alert, aware and open to them. Do you want to increase the amounts of leads you get on a daily basis? Do you want to attract more people to your business so you can share what you do with them? Do you want to immediately brand your business as creative, competitive and cutting-edge? The key lies in the compliments. I feel and believe this is where women business owners have an advantage over men. Women quicky compliment each other on either an article of clothing or hairstyle. Isn’t advertising all about getting a person’s attention? Why not use that as an opportunity to engage. Here is what I mean.

Here is the common way most women handle compliments.

Old Approach

Scenario 1

Woman walking into a restaurant with her daughter

Prospect: “Oh, my I love your jacket. It’s so beautiful.

You: Oh…I can barely fit into this thing. My daughter gave it to me because she was going to take it to Salvation Army. This beat up old thing. I’ll be surprised how many wears I’ll be able to get out of this thing.

Prospect goes on to dinner with her daughter and you never see this woman again.

With this approach, YOU immediately communicated a lack of confidence.  Confidence is about feeling comfortable receiving and giving. She did not feel comforable receiving, so she deflected the attention away by finding negative things to say. This approach doesn’t instill confidence in a prospective client. In addition, YOU did not maximize the moment and the opportunity.

So many people are sent our way to GRACE our paths, but if we do nothing about it, that moment, that opportunity is gone. We can complain that the economy is bad or our bank accounts are dwindling, but there is not magic formula. You need relationships to make money and you cross the path of potential relationships everyday. Every moment is an opportunity to connect. Your job is to CREATE more of those opportunities and when they present themselves, i.e., in a compliment, a conversation, a connection, YOU run with it.

 New Approach

Here is a new approach and at the same time an awesome way to grow your business

Scenario 2

Woman walking into a restaurant with her daughter

Prospect: “Oh, my I love your jacket. It’s so beautiful

You: Thank you so much. My work allows me to pay attention to details and notice color, so it’s easy for me to spot great finds like this jacket.

Prospect: well, what do you do?

You: I help women create beautiful homes. I am an interior designer with….and you? I’m Sarah by the way and you?

Prospect: I’m Jackie and this is my daughter Morgan. I’m actually looking for an interior designer. My current one changed fields.

This is approach shows that YOU were ready. You were in the moment, alert, present, and aware. You allowed yourself to immediately build on a connection. Whether this relationships goes anywhere or not is not entirely up to you, but you build and demonstrate confidence by showing and knowing that you did your best to take FULL ADVANTAGE of the moment. Preparation always meets opportunity. You looked the part, now it was your job to show IN THAT MOMENT, you could be part, and you did. YOU gave it 100 percent and you delievered.

The Moment is Now

See how that works. The hardest thing, like putting yourself out there, connecting with others, live and in action, is usually the thing that brings us the biggest and greatest results. Your job is to bring your all in that moment. Opportunities present themselves to you every day. Are you alert? Are you open? Are you aware? Its so easy to get caught up in our day to day lives that we miss those moments. I say that if 10 people aren’t complimenting you on a daily basis, your advertising isn’t working. Get 10 compliments a day from women and you just got yourself 10 new leads. Instead of looking for outside resources to save you, why not look in your closet. All the imagination and creativity you need is inside of you. Why not use it to grow your business?

 

Related posts: