Marketing for Consultants: 5 Simple Strategies for Professional Coaches

One of my favorite small business niches to consult are actually other consultants.  Obviously I don’t work with marketing consultants because they already know marketing—well, at least they should—I’m talking about life coaches, executive coaches, diversity consultants, and management consultants.  While many of these professionals have a great eye for marketing, they often do not have the time to do it themselves or they just want to focus on what they do best.

Here are 5 simple ideas I use when marketing for consultants.

1.  Email Marketing

Email marketing is one of my favorite online marketing tactics, and many experts see it as the most powerful internet marketing skill to have.  For a business involved in consulting, the relationship-building nature of this tool is especially powerful (particularly for life coaches).

For most businesses out there, it takes a minimum of 7 contacts to turn a prospective buyer into a customer, and for a consulting business, an industry where them being hired is often up to a board and their high fee rates make it a budget-decision, a long decision-making process is the standard.

2.  Testimonials

I cannot stress enough how important testimonials are for this type of business.  Do not wait for someone to be impressed and volunteer to rant and rave—always ask for a testimony.  Your website should be plastered with them, and executive consultants should cultivate testimonials  from high-profile companies.

3.  Referrals

Every time you take on a new client, the first thing you should do after the contract is signed is ask for a referral.  In fact, create a standardized form with 5 empty slots for names and contact info, and ask them if they’d be willing to fill it out while you slip into the restroom.  Most people are naturally inclined to fill out empty forms because they were trained to do this in school.

Some may not be comfortable with this tactic.  No problem.  Then do the best job as you can for every client, and  ask for referrals after they are convinced of your worth.  Or, if you are starting out, you can take on clients for free or at a discounted price if they promise to give a certain number of referrals after they see results.

4.  JV with Centers of Influence

Centers of influence relevant to consultants are lawyers, accountants, CPAs…people who have constant, direct contact with executives in big firms and are trusted by their clients.  If you can get in good with professionals in these fields, you can do JV partnerships to help each other out.

If you have a decent client list, you have just as much to offer them as they do you.  If you can get in really good with one of these centers of influence, one of the best tactics you can use is an endorsed mailing to their client list.  People trust these professionals sometimes more than their own family.

5.  Host a Seminar

Seminars are a fantastic marketing tactic for consultants.  Find a local banquet hall and you can usually book the room for a few hours at a decent price with meals included.  Send out a targeted direct mailing to executives offering a conference—you can even charge a reasonable fee to cover your costs—and put on a presentation teaching something valuable.

Do not use this as a platform to sell.  If the information you give is valuable enough, people will approach you or contact you after the seminar and inquire about your services.

These are just a small sample of tactics that work wonders when marketing for consultants.  Businesses who offer consulting services are growing in demand these days, especially as companies, from small businesses to big corporations, seek out new ways to stay competitive in this economy.

Are you interested in learning more about savvy marketing for consultants?  The truth is I have kept my #1 tactic—my bread and butter—out of this article.  If you want to find out what it is, contact me about my free marketing consultation.  Or check out my free video about buzz marketing strategies you can put into action to ramp up profits.

Note: My bread and butter tactic has nothing to do with buzz marketing.