Retail car salespeople call them “laydowns†because they come into the showroom ready to buy. They don’t ask a lot of questions. They don’t haggle on price. They say yes to many of the “ups and extrasâ€.
They show up, lay down, and make car dealers very happy. They’re happy, too because they get what they want and don’t have to fight to get it.
Lawyers love laydowns too. Clients who don’t shop around, “interview†you, or try to negotiate fees.
Admit it, that’s the kind of clients you want.
If you’re smart, most of your clients can be that way.
Interested?
The first thing you should do is to provide lots of information about you and your services so that prospective clients can do their homework before they contact you. On your website, in your presentations, in your handouts, explain what you do and why someone should hire you.
In addition, explain your terms. Spell out what you expect of your clients and what they can expect of you.
If clients see that you work on retainer only, for example, they’ll be much less likely to expect you to do the work before they have to pay.
Let this information weed out the hagglers, price shoppers, and trouble makers.
The second thing you should do is help prospective clients get to know, like, and trust you, again, before they talk to you. Invite them to sign up for your newsletter, for example, where you can build a relationship with them. When they’re ready to move forward, they’ll already know most of what they need to know and be all but ready to sign up.
The third thing you should do is to make referrals the foundation of your practice. Referred clients come to you pre-sold by the referral-giver, whether that’s one of your clients or another professional. Referred clients ask fewer questions and are less price sensitive. As a bonus, they are themselves more likely to refer.
If you do these three things, you’ll not only get more clients, most of those clients will be easier to sign up, easier to work with, and much more profitable.
There’s nothing better than referrals
