Ah, those magic words – "Attract Clients". Virtually every professional I know loves the idea of attracting clients, and would be even happier if there was a "magic formula" for accomplishing it. Well, actually there is a formula that works like magic for attracting clients to you. And I’m going to reveal it – right here, right now. (OK, to be more specific, it’ll be at the end of the article. But no cheating! You need to read through the article for the formula to make sense.)

First of all, this isn’t about simply "getting" clients. It’s about attracting them to you. It is the concept of building a business without chasing prospects, dogging down purchased leads, or operating a "quote mill" – turning out quote after quote hoping to have the lowest price. Unfortunately, many professionals are either trained or take it upon themselves to uncover prospects "at arm’s length". It seems that either intentionally or inadvertently, companies often train their team to build their business by pursuing prospects. Although many companies and managers praise the benefits of "attracting" clients, when it comes time to meet production quotas, all the methods which "pursue" clients are the ones encouraged. By the time "meeting production quotas" become an issue, drastic measures are called for.

The solution, of course, is to avoid being in that place of "catch-up" to begin with. By learning how to attract clients and by applying those methods consistently, you side-step the need to pursue clients altogether. Virtually every professional who has a sizable, growing business – characterized by high retention and a steady flow of client referrals – does it by attracting clients rather than pursuing them.

There are two key components to successfully attracting clients. The first key is to understand that people will be attracted to you by WHO YOU ARE, rather than by WHAT YOU DO. While there will be a small group of people who will do business with you strictly based on your depth of knowledge, most people – in fact, the majority of people – will do business with you because of who you are. Having good knowledge of your products, services, and industry is important. And having strong technical skills is useful and important as well. It’s just that being knowledgeable and skillful isn’t sufficient.
Let me offer some proof. I’m willing to bet that we’ve all known one or more professionals who were an absolute fountain of knowledge regarding product and service info. And yet, they went out of business due to lack of clients. In contrast, I’m also willing to bet that we’ve also known professionals who really weren’t all that sharp when it came to understanding the details. And yet, these professionals built and sustained large businesses. The reason, of course, is that clients were attracted to them for who they were, more so than what they knew.

So, how do we maximize "Who We Are"? We maximize and amplify who we are by continually improving our communication skills, our social skills, and our integrity. In short, "who we are" is defined by our people skills. When we have good people skills, we:
• Communicate clearly and cleanly
• Are relatable
• Do what we say we’re going to do
• Are professional in attitude and manner
• Have a positive attitude
• Take an interest in others
• Treat people with respect

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