If your phone is ringing and ringing, bringing in business with every call, you can count yourself lucky.
But don’t count on the phone ringing without end. Because it could stop for reasons out of your control, for example, from recession or an unexpected shift in client preferences.
If you are an attorney in trial or an accountant in early April, you might not want to think about marketing, but it is a mistake to be content with the business that comes in the door by itself, even when it seems sufficient in overall numbers.
It might sound counterintuitive, but the best time to market is when you’re getting calls without too much effort. Generating more business gives you choices, and your enterprise can benefit in many ways if you are proactively marketing during the busy times.
Marketing at these times gives you more security because you are generating even more phone calls.
More important, increased traffic gives you more choice. Generating business inquiries allows you to decide to work with those who will pay your rates and provide interesting, challenging work. More of the right kind of business inquiries means you can be more selective and consider increasing your rates. This is especially important when some of your clients are asking you to negotiate your fees.
Some of those additional potential clients will be more attractive in other ways – perhaps they are not as contentious as a member of your current base, or they nit-pick less. Increasing the number of inquiries for your services provides opportunity to make choices about the people you really want to do business with.
Concentrating on improving your market share during the busy times will increase your options, maximizing your professional satisfaction.
