Honestly, it was a little strange.
Hopefully this is not how you got your first client for your HR-related business . . .
It was hugely exciting when I set up my first company (a Human Resources consulting business).
The office doors were definitely going to open to a flood of new clients and I was already ironing a fresh shirt with the expectation that my face would feature prominently on the cover of Inc. magazine as the leader of the fastest-growing consulting firm in history.
The excitement waned a little when, before the business had even opened, bills came flying in thick and fast for all the office set-up costs, insurance, stationery bills, government registration fees, accounting fees, and so on.
Then came the big fancy website built for thousands of dollars which brought in, well, um, no clients.
When opening day arrived for the new business, I had no clients, no calls, no leads, nothing.
It was a huge letdown and more than a little stressful.
Had I made a huge mistake?
Had I made a huge mistake?
Strangely enough, I got my first client by accident – by meeting her on a footpath.
Walking along a business district, I spotted the man that my future client was sitting with at a street side cafe – he had given a business startup evening class that I’d attended.
“They both tensed-up when they saw me walking over to them”
I ventured over to say hello and to thank the man for his excellent talk.
They both tensed-up visibly when they saw me walking over to them carrying my document folder – they thought they were about to be pestered to buy something by an annoying street hawker.
Once I’d explained who I was and that I was starting a Human Resources business, they relaxed and the man who’d met introduced me to his friend who apparently had some HR problems – she soon became my first client.
It had taken a huge amount of time, effort and blind luck just to secure that one client.
Long story short, this woman remained a good client who was helping to pay the bills, but I realised that it had taken a huge amount of time, effort, and blind luck just to secure that one client.
It was not a simple, repeatable process. I couldn’t rely on a strategy of hoping to bump into people on the footpath, could I?
I decided I needed a system.
I leaped headfirst into research, reading every sales and marketing book I could find and attending marketing conferences on both sides of the country (Australia’s a pretty big place, remember).
I joined online marketing groups and attended every training webinar I could find.
I’m probably still a little obsessed with sales and marketing today.
Long story short, through natural evolution, I came up with a simple process that could bring in new business leads all the time – much of it on autopilot.
Thankfully, the process is very flexible.
It’s also easy to implement and easy to rinse and repeat.
You can get your time back and grow your Human Resources business at the same time.
It’s nice to know that you can go from having no customer enquiries or sales leads to having them flow into your business every day on autopilot.
I look forward to sharing my ideas and findings on how to bring in more sales and business leads on a regular basis for your HR-related businesses.
Talk to you soon,
Ben