The advisory industry is one that was borne out of a high demand for consultants and specialists to guide businesses and individuals alike. However, the industry has not been very exciting for many people lately. If you are in the advisory business but are still struggling to create a predictable and reliable cash flow, this is for you. One of the biggest challenges faced by most advisory Businesses is the challenge of bringing in new customers who are predisposed, willing and financially able to do business. In order to surmount this challenge Advisory Businesses must first understand exactly what business they are in. The First response that may come to mind for most advisors is to think and respond in terms of core deliverables. “We sell real estate, we offer health services, we sell insurance, and we provide legal services.”

Whatever business you think you are in, or whatever product or services you provide really does not matter. What really matters is the aspect of the business that can put money inside your pockets. This very important aspect is marketing. You are in the business of marketing. Marketing involves finding what your customers want and giving it to them. But who exactly is you customer? Your customer can either be an ideal customer or a non-ideal customer. Your ideal customers are customers that have both the willingness to buy and the ability to buy. When a customer has the willingness to buy, it means that this customer is aware of the pain your product or service can solve. He or she sees this pain as urgent and important and is willing and open to solve this problem.

Customers with the ability to buy on the other hand are customers who have not only recognized the problem and are willing to solve it, but also have the financial ability and decision power to invest in your product or service. This is who your ideal customer is. One of the greatest assets you can ever have in your business is the quality of your customers and the number of Ideal customers you have. An easy way to know the quality of your current customer base is to identify where your customer falls on the income and wealth pyramid.

60% of any given customer group on the income and wealth pyramid barely gets by. They typically have many financial and personal needs, and will only invest in basic necessities. 20% are broke and struggling and find it hard to meet basic needs. 15% have their personal and family needs covered and can afford to save and invest with cash to spare. 4% are prosperous, and can afford to live in luxury; while the last 1% are super wealthy and can afford anything money can buy. The top 20% is where you can find your ideal customers. The only type of customer your advisory business should have.
The problem with most Advisory Business is that they accept every customer that walks in through their business door. This is because they think that getting their ideal customers who will pay them what they are truly worth is hard. This is a misconception that should be eliminated from your mind. It is no harder to sell to the 80% group than it is to sell to the 20% group. Additionally you always want to be taking the fastest way that can get you to the cash flow of your dream: Ask yourself this question.

What is the fastest way to get to N100million?

• Get 100 people to pay you N1million
• Get 50 people to pay you N2million
• Get 20 people to pay you N5million
• Get 5 People to pay you N20Million

Would you rather spend time and energy chasing 100 people who will drain your energy, consume your time send you on endless errands all for a peanut or would you rather focus on five high-quality customers who are more predisposed, civilized, and have the financial ability to pay you your true worth. The option you decide to go for is entirely your choice.

There are three main things that are causing your current financial strain:

• Lack of viable and differentiated solutions to customers who are willing to pay.
• Selling to the wrong market segments that do not have the willingness and ability to buy
• Poor financial management where you mismanage the money you make.

If you want to make your business stand apart from the pack, attract your ideal customers, create a self-sufficient referral network, make big sales, and rise above the gravitational pull of recession or financial lean times, you must understand that in the new business economy, all the power has returned back to the customer and he knows he has it.

Attracting your ideal customer is not just going to happen if you stay stuck in the old way of doing business, having the same vague branding, the same ‘me-too’ marketing strategies with zero differentiation, the same poor sales processes pressuring your customers to buy, the same lazy and inept salespeople, sloppy staff, abysmal customer service and so on. Your ideal customer has zero tolerance for anything confusing and ordinary—ordinary products, services, expertise or experience. Your ideal customers will demand more freshness, differentiation, exclusivity, customization and choice. You need to do business in a different way now.

Your money is in the hands of your ideal customers but the only way to get it is for you to genuinely earn their interest by providing well-matched, specialized, customized products/ service, and value propositions. The stakes are much higher now but the first place to start is to discover the seven things you must stop doing right now in order to thrive.

I have prepared a special FREE report for you that reveals The Seven Reasons Why Most Advisory Businesses Fail. To get this special report and find out more about how you can build a resilient advisory business, kindly SMS “Advisor” to 08101860042.