No Leak Marketing: Plug the Holes in Your Business Bucket

Do you have customers that you are currently working with who are NOT your Dream Customers? Do they demand extra time? Do they treat you with disrespect? Are they unprofitable?These customers are holes in your Business Bucket. They drain your time and your energy. They prevent you from having the time you need to market and provide service to your DREAM customers.

Here are some simple questions to answer to see if your Business Bucket leaks:

- Do you currently have unprofitable customers?

- Are there any customers you would like to have off your plate?

- Are you spending too much time trying to "close the sale" and convincing people to buy from you?

- Is it hard for you to convert prospects into customers?

- Are you getting a lot of repeat business from your existing customers?

- Are your customers referring others to you?

- Are your customers loyal or are you scared they will shift to your competitor on a whim?

- Are customers seeking you out for your expertise?

If you answered "no" to any of these questions, your business bucket is leaky. It's time to implement a No-Leak Marketing Strategy so you can get the absolute maximum impact from all of your marketing efforts.

The first thing you have to learn is the word "NO." Don't be willing to accept money from just anyone. You want to get into the habit of "cherry picking" your customers. The ones who aren't a good fit are unqualified and you are wasting your time with them. You will spend too much energy on these types of customers and you will often lose money.

Another thing you shouldn't be doing is spending a tremendous amount of time and energy trying to convince a prospect that what you offer is of value. Instead develop a method to find out if people are a good fit for you in the first 10 minutes of your conversation with them. This will greatly decrease the time you are spending with unqualified prospects and your sales closing ratio will go up. If your gut says "no" and/or you see red flags early on in your conversations with a prospect, then make sure you listen to these signals.

ACTION ITEM: Take the time to list your customers who you have worked with, but were NOT a good fit. Describe why they were a bad fit. Review your "horror" stories. What types of people cost you too much time, energy, and profits? What strategies can you implement to "cherry pick" your DREAM customers?