Since starting my first private investigation agency in Lafayette, LA (building and selling it just 3 years later) and then starting a new PI business (CompassPoint Investigations) again in Texas, only to move and start all over in Florida a few years later - the one thing I understand very well is private investigator marketing.
I have been blessed to have had several start-ups grow up and become very successful by almost anyone's measure, but these success were not a fluke or by chance. My good fortune has come through a great deal of hard work and my passion for making money.
That's right my passion is making money... but don't let that confuse you with my life's purpose, which is surrounding myself with successful people. I have always really wanted those who I am connected with to be the very best that they can possibly be and to also share in my passion of making money.
When I left the US Navy many years ago, I quickly learned if I was going to make any money at all working for myself, that I had to learn to market first; whatever I chose to do for a living I was going to have to learn the secrets of convincing others to give me their money and feel good about it first. It just so happened that private investigation and bail enforcement fit my particular skill-sets and personality type at the time, which is why I settled into my eventual profession.
Building a business, private investigation agency or otherwise, happens in 5 simple steps:
- Offer a product or service
- Identify the pool of potential buyers for that product or service, these people are "prospects"
- Convince a prospect to become a buyer
- Deliver the product or service to the buyer's satisfaction
- Repeat step #s 3 and 4
Which is the most important step in the process? Is any one of them more important than the other?
I would say that step #3 is THE most important part of building a business... trust me, I know many VERY SUCCESSFUL people and businesses in the investigations profession that do not produce a great product; they are only average investigators and their work product is usually just average, too.
The difference between the investigators and agencies that are crushing it out there and the guys who are barely making a living is that the successful group of business owners understand marketing, advertising and relationship building and take action every single day.
That's it.
If you are one of the guys or gals barely making it in your own PI, Bail Enforcement, Repo or Process Serving business I want you to know that with one minor shift in your thinking you can turn your company around and start making some money:
Stop working in your business and start working on your business
I can show you how but you have to be willing to shift your perspective from "being what you do" to "being who you are." Let me clarify what I mean:
Let's take process serving for example - assuming that you are the owner of your business it is natural to identify yourself as a process server when others ask what you do... but you are so much more than that...
You are an OWNER OF A PROCESS SERVING AGENCY!!!
You are the owner... and as the owner it is your responsibility to take care of the entire business, right? Embrace it. That means actively engaging in the 5 steps of building business not just delivering the product or service to the buyer and that means embracing each step with passion and energy.
Step #1 is easy, and unless you have the core of your business under control and are ready to add additional revenue streams then you only have to accomplish this step once. To further my previous example, let's just say that you have decided to go into the service of process business because you already understand the mechanics of process serving.
Cool. We're done with that one let's move on to step #2 and identify our pool of potential customers.
Again, easy. Ask yourself, "Who pays process servers to deliver legal documents?" Let's keep it simple right now and go with the obvious answer to start: Attorneys and Law Firms.
Check. Building Business Step #2 is done. You don't have to worry at all again about step #s 1 and 2 again until you want to expand your business into other services.
Step #3, "convince a prospect to become a buyer" is where it gets complicated, but this is what defines you as an owner rather than a process server... there's plenty of time for being a process server in step #4, "delivering the product or service."
Getting a prospect's attention and convincing him or her that they want to do business with your company is a product of marketing and advertising, without it you simply do not exist.
You are a ghost and are invisible to your prospects.
They do not buy from you.
You fail.
I can teach you to market your business or I can market your business for you. Either way, I can do it just about better than anyone else.
I have created a FREE Private Investigator Marketing Facebook page for you. Please join me right now. Click on the link and learn all of the secrets of convincing prospects into becoming buyers and turn vague marketing concepts into real marketing action.You'll be glad you did.
My purpose is that you become successful and that you might share in my passion for making money.
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