Marketing Doesn't Get You Clients. Trust Does—An Interview with Michael Port

RainToday.com's Podcast: Marketing & Selling Professional Services

A lot of people say marketing gets you clients, but Michael Port, author of Book Yourself Solid, Second Edition, disagrees. Marketing creates awareness of who you are and the products and services you offer, but that isn't enough.

"You have to have some sort of system for moving that awareness into the actual client acquisition process," Port says.

And that system involves building a foundation that gives prospects an opportunity to trust you. Then over time you follow a plan for building up trust and credibility to the point where there's enough trust to make a sales offer.

"If you know how to price your offers in the sweet spot of the customer's desire, and you know how to have simple sales conversations that work at the right time, then you can book the business," Port says.

Listen as Port explains how to implement this type of system, mistakes to avoid, the best ways to reach out to prospects, and what professionals just starting out selling need to do.