TSS #002: Land Consulting Clients Using Natural Selection

Read time: 5 minutes

New L&D consultants often find themselves overwhelmed, confused, or stuck when it comes to attracting clients.

Even if the L&D market is worth a fortune and you have the freshest AI solution…

None of that matters if you can't book appointments and have sales conversations.

Without that ability, you'll always struggle.

And, oddly enough, when it is time to take action,...

to enter the market,...

to start talking to people,…

to start making money and getting clients,...

Whoosh!

Most new consultants disappear into a black hole, which is all about these things:

- Spending excessive time managing 10 social accounts
- Getting caught up in L&D intellectual quarrels
- Exploring countless software gimmicks
- Becoming obsessed with technology
- Constantly redesigning their website
- Building a portfolio of unpaid work
- Fixating on logos and design

We see it happen to people all the time.

The truth is, if someone is going to buy your L&D services, they don't give a damn about all that stuff.

They care about one thing: “Are you able to solve my problem?”

And, “Are you going to do the work to help me solve it?”

That's all they care about.

But in order to have any chance of helping someone, you first need to capture their attention and attract them to your services.

And we think it’s important to get you to understand fundamentally how this works…

using natural selection to find the right clients and attract them to you.

How natural selection works in client attraction

Just like natural selection in the wild…

Lions tackle the "client attraction" challenge by stirring up their market (zebras) and observing the 3% that stand out.

They don't even bother chasing them.

They calmly wait, intimidating the herd, and then the whole herd scatters and fragments.

The lions hang back, observing the scene. And that's when they spot the 3%.

Once they know who the 3% are, they go after them with unwavering determination.

Similarly, when applying natural selection to your client attraction efforts, just like the lion looking at the herd, you don't chase every potential client.

Instead, you stimulate the market, causing it to fragment and reveal those genuinely interested in your services.

This three-step process will guide you through the journey.

Step 1: Select a specific niche market

First, you need to select a specific niche market to target.

Just like a hungry lion, if it wanders around without a clue about what it wants to eat—if it's like, "Hmm, maybe I'll chase a water buffalo, then I'll go after that thing, or maybe that other thing"—well, if an animal in nature doesn't know what it wants, it's never going to get it.

Likewise, with your L&D consulting business, without a defined niche and a clear understanding of the herd you’re aiming for, you’ll never find your “prey.”

So, make sure you have a specific niche market in mind.

Step 2: Research and understand your market

You need to come up with a hypothesis about the expected result you expect when you present your offer to your niche market.

If you neglect research and fail to understand your market, it's like being a clueless zebra, unsure if it can eat a lion or not.

Imagine this scene: There's a pack of thirteen lions lounging around, and our little zebra thinks, “Hey, I'm just gonna sprint out there and take a bite out of one of those lions.”

Well, if that zebra charges ahead, convinced it can eat a lion, guess what?

It's going to be the main course instead. It's going to perish.

That's what happens when you skip your research, when you lack a pre-action hypothesis, and when you don’t test things hypothetically before doing them in real life.

In the realm of nature, if that zebra could conduct some research and form a hypothesis, it would quickly realize how foolish and ineffective that idea was.

We know it's an extreme example, but the principle remains the same.

You must conduct thorough research and comprehend your niche market's problems, pains, and desires in advance.

Then, armed with a well-crafted hypothesis, you go forth and take action.

Step 3: Stimulate your niche market

To capture your niche market's attention, present them with a stimulating offer tailored to their problems, pains, and desires, and that solicits a response.

When you do this, your niche market should fragment and you should be able to identify the 3% of people who are ready to buy.

Just like the lion stands out in front of the herd of zebra, it intimidates them by doing that, and then the whole herd starts scattering and fragmenting.

The lion waits and then it can see the three or the one which it's going to go after and then it goes after them.

In executing this plan, you’re sending out emails to different people, you’re sending direct messages to different people, you’re posting on social media, and maybe, eventually putting out an ad.

And those things you put in front of people, that is your stimulus.

That is your way of standing in front of the herd and watching it fragment and scatter.

When you send out a hundred emails, most people probably won't reply. They run away, like the zebra herd, and most of them disappear.

But, there's some left, and you're able to see what natural selection has done.

Let's say only 20 people reply to your emails. Then you follow-up with them trying to learn more.

Gradually those 20 people thin down to 10.

You then you try and get those 10 on a Zoom call, and from there, the group thins down to five people.

Finally, after engaging with all five, one becomes a client!

That's natural selection at work.

And it parallels a lion pursuing a herd.

But here's the twist:

You’re not going out and eating people in your market.

You’re actually going out and helping people in your market.

You’re doing quite the opposite of the lion.

Summary

This approach is incredibly powerful because instead of chasing after everyone and driving yourself mad, you focus your attention on those most likely to buy.

You allocate your time and attention on the people who deserve it.

As for the rest? You forget 'em, just like the lion won't bother chasing everything. That'd be a one-way ticket to starvation and death.

Remember:

- Choose a specific niche market
- Conduct thorough research
- Stimulate your niche market

Not everyone will respond, but by using natural selection, you’ll significantly improve your L&D consulting efforts.