You are working for your clients and prospects long before they engage you … or at least you should be. It sounds strange, right? After all, marketing is how you get to a point where you can start working for them. Well, toss conventional wisdom aside – your job starts long before a signature shows up on the bottom line.

You are working for your clients and prospects long before they engage you … or at least you should be. It sounds strange, right? After all, marketing is how you get to a point where you can start working for them. Well, toss conventional wisdom aside – your job starts long before a signature shows up on the bottom line.

The best way to win a new client is to deliver real value from the start, through your marketing efforts. Marketing should inform your clients and prospects, giving them a deeper understanding of the challenges they face and a sense of what they can do to overcome them. Give your clients information they can actually use. Free. No strings attached.

I know; this seems counterintuitive. Why would you want to give away the advice you’d normally charge for? Well, information is nothing without the capacity to execute. Many companies are already facing constrained resources. A difficult economic climate has forced businesses to prioritize even their core capabilities, leaving little bandwidth to kick off new initiatives on their own.

When you provide informational tools through your marketing process, you are demonstrating your insights into what you can execute with your clients for them. This provides a foundation for growing the relationship, which will lead to a sale.

It all starts with that first offer of goodwill. Don’t just market: educate. Add value through your marketing efforts. Your prospects will show their appreciation by becoming clients.