Written by: Vickie Sullivan | March 12, 2024
Expand Your Reach: How to Educate Clients on Your Versatility
In this uncertain landscape, many of us focus on getting more opportunities from current clients. It certainly feels easier than pitching mildly interested prospects, right?
The challenge: Buyers put our work into categories so they can figure out how and when to use us. When we get hired based on that category, clients assume that’s all we do. We are typecast by our latest project. I call this the dark side of confirmation bias.
How we brand our work plays a significant role here. It’s tempting to get so caught up in dominating narrow niches that we set up an either/or construct. When we get hired based on that equation, we gain a client but lose long-term growth.
2 Indications Your Clients Have Typecast You
Are your clients doing this to you? Do they fail to see the different applications of your work? Here are two things to watch for:
• Clients love you but won’t consider you for a project you could do. This happen because they limit you to just one role. They need an advisor, but you’re a coach. Or they need a keynote speaker, but they’ve only seen you do workshops.
• Clients won’t work with you because they don’t need help in a certain area. Here are two examples: They hired you to speak at a diversity event but don’t consider you for a leadership retreat. They hired you to help sales professionals change but don’t consider your work valuable for helping operations people adapt to a new reality.
The way around this issue is to brand yourself around who you are and who you serve. Become a known expert in subjects that have cross-over appeal. Clients will not assume you do more than what you have done for them in the past. It’s your job to influence the boxes they put you in.
Listen: How to Help Clients See All That You Can Do
Now Read This:
- Why No One Takes You Up on Your Free Offer
- Strategic Sounding Boards Give Real-World Advice for When the Rubber Meets the Road