There’s a buying process that everyone goes through when they’re looking to invest in a service. Anyone wanting to spend money on your time and expertise will go through this simple process before they decide where to spend their money – whether that’s with your business or with a different one. Being aware of the steps of this process will help you to make a bigger impact on potential clients and will guide you in how to stand out from your competitors.

A – Aware. This first stage is where a potential client who wants to buy your service, or the person who is going to book you to speak, becomes aware of you. They have a problem that needs to be solved and they know they need someone, or something, to show them the solution. Your job is to do something to stand out. Being a brilliant coach or a superb speaker is a great start. You also need some creative marketing to attract attention, as well as raving fans to recommend you to new clients.

B – Build a relationship. Interested prospects will want to start building a relationship with you. They want to know that they can trust you to do a great job. They want to see that you’re worth the money and that you can actually solve their issues for them.

C – Choose. This is where your prospect needs to make a decision between you and the myriad of other speakers and coaches who all say that they can do what you do. Remember that they will look at all your indirect competitors too. They could choose you, or they could choose another speaker or a different coach. They could decide to do it themselves. They might think about taking the team out for a nice meal, instead of asking them to listen to a motivational speech. Or they could decide to do nothing at all!

If you really know how to stand out, then your potential client will have no trouble in choosing you to work with them.

But what if you don’t really stand out? What if there are lots of other people who are just like you? What if everyone is using the same message? What if there is so much noise, that your prospect can’t hear what you want to say, as you try to explain why they should work with you?! If you really know how to stand out, your business and your service will look, sound and feel different to, and better than, all the alternatives. It will even stand out from the alternative of doing nothing. Your message will shine out clearly, from the messy marketing that is cluttering up the marketplace. Your service will shine out as the best and only one to solve the potential client’s issue.

In the image, your business is the star. It’s the one that can stand apart from everyone else; the one that can stand out from the crowd. When your business is the star, your potential clients can see it shining and they’ll come straight to you, without worrying about anyone else. And that is the ABC of how to stand out!