Here’s my game plan for how to conduct year end planning with your clients.

I know you want to tap into more of your clients' budgets for next year, right?

Annual planning is already on your client’s mind.

Is it on your mind too?

What are you doing to make sure you not only stay a part of their marketing plan, but grow in the current year. If you don’t take some simple moves right now, you might find yourself on the wrong side of this opportunity.

So, let’s take a look at how to approach year end planning with this step-by-step approach.

1. Make A List

Making a list isn’t just for Santa, you’ve got to do this too.  Build a list of all of your current clients, past clients, people you proposed to but never hired you and anyone else you know but are not working with.

This should be an easy step for you if you have something like a CRM.  And if you don’t have one, be sure to grab a free trial of ours at https://agencyprohq.com

2. Reach out to each client with the following script:

“Hi, (client name), I was thinking about you and I have some ideas for how to help you get more customer activity in the coming year.  Can we chat next week?”

Simple, right?

People who read this script and fail, do so for one of two reasons…

a. They add more to the script than what is here and in doing so take away any curiosity.  They’ll instead say something like:

“Hi, (client name), I was thinking about you and I was thinking we could really maximize your business by getting you more reviews or running Facebook ads.  I also think PPC could be a good option and I’ve seen it work amazingly well with my other clients.  Can we chat next week?”

OUCH. It is curiosity about your ideas which gets your clients to respond.  When you remove it, they won’t respond.  Less is more.

b. The other reason people fail at this step is because they think they might not have any good ideas for their prospective clients.  They end up not reaching out because they’re not sure what they could do to help their clients, and then never end up reaching out in the first place.

If that’s you, keep reading.  We’ll address that in the next step.

3. Interview Your Prospective Client

When it comes to making a plan for clients, some people make the mistake of thinking they need to show up with the plan of action ready.

This couldn't be further from the truth.

How could you possibly have a plan for a client or prospect about how to use digital marketing to grow their business before you had a chance to interview them about what they want?

What you need to do during this first meeting with the prospect is to ask them lots of questions which help you better understand what they need and what pain they are experiencing right now.

During the interview, ask them questions like…

… how is business going this year?

… what is working well?

… what has been challenging?

… what do you want to be different about next year?

… are there any changes to your offerings?

… what do you want to do more of? Less of?

Once you’re armed with the answers to these questions, you’re ready for the next step.

Thank your prospective client for their time and set up a follow up meeting where you’ll present a plan to them.

4. Build the Plan

After your interview meeting.  This is where you’ll want to take the information you learned from them and decide what services you could offer to them that would solve their issues.

For example, if a dentist client was hoping to attract new patients to their practice, you might suggest that they engage in SEO or PPC.

Or, if they were hoping to get more of their clients to come in for teeth whitening, then you might recommend they try email marketing.

Based on the problem they want to solve, match up the services you can offer which address that problem.

5. Present the Plan

This is the most exciting part.

With your plan ready to go, you’re now ready to present the plan to your prospective client.  

Presenting your plan to your clients after the interview is so much more powerful than trying to plan without the interview.  This is because your prospect will see the plan you are presenting to them is custom designed to solve their specific problems.

Your clients don’t want to feel like you’re just selling them one-size fits all services.

By taking the time to build a custom plan for them, this will increase the chances they believe in what you are suggesting.  (Even though your plan might not be so custom afterall.)

Wrap up your plan by saying the following.  “My recommendation is that we get started on this plan.  How would setting up a kickoff meeting for next week work for you?” 

Here’s the truth…

Year end planning isn’t all that different from any other sales/planning process at any other time of the year.

You don’t need to invent some special year end planning process just because it’s the end of the year.  Instead, use the year-end event to trigger opportunities to meet with people who want a plan.

Then… take them through your sales process.  It really is that straightforward.

If you want to learn more about how to implement a year-end planning process for your business, or if you want help implementing a digital marketing plan for your clients, be sure to apply for a call with our director of coaching. We'd be happy to help you get started.