If you ask Ian Rose if he considers himself to be a Marketing Expert, he would probably laugh. And yet he is one of the most successful new business coaches that I know. In the last couple of years he’s grown his business to the point where he was recently able to let go of a client, after delivering an £8000 coaching contract.

I asked Ian what he thinks is the secret to his success and he told me about two important elements of marketing – what he calls ‘farming’ and then closing.

Farming For the Future

“Early on in my business journey, you told me that marketing is not a sprint but a marathon,” Ian reminded me. He writes a regular email newsletter that’s full of advice on how to improve resilience. “You won’t necessarily know what business you get from your newsletter, but how do people know who you are and what you do, if you don’t keep in touch with them?” Ian told me that while he can’t directly measure the effectiveness of his newsletter, he regularly speaks to clients and contacts who say “I read your latest newsletter – thanks for sending it. It reminded me that I’d like to speak to you about some coaching …”

Ian believes that his newsletter is the best way to softly remind people that he’s still there. Recently he was contacted by an old friend who he’d not seen for some time. His friend received the latest issue of his newsletter and got in touch to arrange coffee, to talk about working together. “My newsletter doesn’t sell me as a coach, but it keeps me front of mind. It helps me to take my contacts and prospects to the point where they are ready to talk – even if that takes a couple of years.”

Alongside his newsletter, Ian also uses LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook to talk to people about resilience. “It’s about creating the bit that you fit into. When resilience is mentioned, people think of me,” he explains. He has used social media to develop a clear and consistent message. He told me that the new dictionary definition of resilience is ‘Ian Rose’!

While training for his marketing marathon, Ian focuses on the future. Although he is no longer working with one of his largest clients, he makes sure that he is connected on LinkedIn to all the people within the organisation who he has coached; and that they receive his newsletter too. Why? Because as and when any of them moves to another company, Ian will be able to stay in touch with them. And his newsletter will remind his clients to refer and recommend him when they can.

If you would like to subscribe to Ian’s brilliant email newsletter, for a gentle dose of resilience on a regular basis, then sign up here on his website.

The King of Closing

While Ian uses his email newsletter and social media for ‘farming’ contacts – keeping in touch with them and keeping them warm – he says that the phone is king when it comes to closing a deal. He regularly calls his current clients, to talk to them about new workshops or coaching programmes that he can offer them. “I like to go back to basics, pick up the phone and have a chat with them,” he says. This is much more effective than sending an email asking them to buy more from him.

Ian also favours the phone with new clients. His latest project is a £6500 contract with a council. He tells me: “I don’t believe that it’s morally correct to just email a new client to thank them for their business. I phone to confirm the costs, the details of who I will be coaching, when and where. You can’t just turn up and be the best you can be, without knowing everything that you need to know.” A personal call to a new client will help to cement the relationship much more strongly than an email.

Ian finishes by telling me that he has a great Marketing Mentor: “I’ve learnt from someone who is the best!”

If you would like to talk about how having a Marketing Mentor could help you to really grow your business into one as successful as Ian’s, then call me on 01635 578 500 or click here to email me and I’ll call you back – it’s good to talk!