6 Tips To Expand The Client Base Of Your Training Consultancy Business
You have decided to launch your own training consultancy business to put your skills and expertise to good use. Being a training consultant is a rewarding and engaging line of work. However, to sustain yourself, you need a steady stream of clients. Expanding your client base can be a challenging task, especially if you don’t have much experience as an independent professional. Let’s look at 6 tricks that will help you get consulting clients fast.
1. Know Your Ideal Client
As a new training consultant, you might think that your chances are better if you promote yourself to as many clients as you can. But in reality, trying to cater to all needs is only going to stretch thin the resources of your new training consultancy business. What you need to do is identify who your ideal client is. List their key qualities, features, and problems you can address. This will help you shape your marketing strategy to ensure that you’re targeting the right audience.
2. Ask For Referrals
A safe place to start when you’re trying to expand your client base is your existing network of clients and peers. They already know and appreciate your work, and if you can leverage them correctly, they might just do half the work for you. Satisfied customers communicate with each other and can offer social proof that your training consultancy business is reliable and efficient. You can incentivize referrals by offering your clients small commissions or discounts on services for successful referrals.
3. Grow Your Online Presence
Another way to secure more clients for your training consultancy business is to build your online presence. The first step toward that direction is creating a professional website. It should include your portfolio, business mission, biggest achievements, and contact information. You can also showcase your skills and expertise in social media platforms mostly used by your target audience. Make sure to focus on your talents and the unique services you offer, and use target keywords that are specific to your niche and will attract more prospects.
4. Network On And Off-Screen
Once you’ve established an online presence, it’s time to start expanding your network. Join social media groups where your ideal clients are most likely to hang out. Create and post engaging content about your training consultancy business and services to attract clients. But, ultimately, since your audience exists in real life, it’s important you network off-screen too. You can do that by attending industry conferences, live events, or training consultant meetups. This will give you the chance to get up close and personal and share your expertise with potential clients or professionals in your niche.
5. Perfect Your Pitch
No matter which networking technique you prefer, you must have a ready-to-go cold pitch to bring in new leads. Your pitch needs to concisely and clearly explain who you are, what you do, and what’s your unique selling point in about 30 seconds. These rules apply whether you deliver it in person or in writing. You also want to do your research before you speak to a prospect. This way, you can recommend targeted solutions for their specific problems. Remember to give your contact information if you’re speaking in person or add a call-to-action button that leads to your website at the end of your pitch email.
6. Follow Up With Old Leads
Throughout this process, it’s important to keep in mind that you can’t convince everyone to hire your training consultancy business. And that’s okay! Maybe the timing wasn’t right or you weren’t as experienced. While looking for new clients, reach out to previous leads that didn’t work out. Gauge if any need for your services has emerged, and share some of the goals you’ve achieved with other satisfied clients. This way, when they feel the need to seek a training consultant’s advice, you’ll be at the top of their list.
Conclusion
Building your client base is what will make your training consultancy business profitable and successful. A crucial part of that includes constantly working to grow your network and targeting suitable prospects with an engaging pitch. Hopefully, the secrets we shared in this article have helped you decode the tricks behind building a large and loyal clientele.
How do you embark on a new eLearning career path? Download the eBook Breaking Into The Industry: How To Become A Training Consultant For Your Area Of Expertise.
