Yellow Dog Consulting

Sales & Marketing Consulting for solo-preneurs.

Balancing Expectations

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Last week I had one client apologize that they weren’t going to meet a deadline (that we created), and another client say that they were avoiding emailing me because they hadn’t replied to another email I sent.

So, that makes a girl feel good…Actually, it was a good reminder that I need to be clearer with my clients about expectations and timelines that we make up.

I find that setting goals and timelines is helpful to create some structure with sales and marketing efforts. The reason people usually hire me is that they’re tired of saying “we should do that, we should try that” they want to START doing and trying new marketing efforts. But these are timelines and goals that we have setup and decided on together, I’m just the reminder and maybe enforcer (see Nagging Wife)

You want any consultant you are working with to help push you forward but don’t hide from them, it won’t do anyone any good. If a client is taking a lot of your time right now that’s OK!  Be clear with the person you’re paying that you need to push a project out a week. Don’t avoid them.

Are You Comfortable With It?

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Hank in his typical stateI was meeting with a client last week and discussing their elevator pitch and messaging. The client kept asking if it should be one way or another- does it have to be positive? Do I talk to the pain or to the solution? Will they know what I mean? Do I know what I mean?

Here’s the short answer – tell the truth, and say what’s comfortable. Every time we tweaked the pitch I asked “does that sounds good to YOU” “are YOU comfortable with it?” You can’t sell your product or service if you aren’t comfortable with what you’re saying.

So, practice. If you aren’t getting the response you were hoping for while networking, tweak it. You know your message, your target market , what makes you unique, and there’s a way to say all of that without sounding pompous. I promise.