EPISODE TRANSCRIPT:

How to Skyrocket Revenue from your Worst Clients!

 

Welcome to the Scale and Skyrocket your business podcast with me, your host, Lor Bradley. If you’re looking for super smart ways to scale your business and build a business that serves you (and not the other way around) then stay with me as I’ll be sharing my simple time-smart training and advice on how you can lead and scale your business by working smarter and not harder.

 

So, in episode 61 I talked about how to find and leverage those top 20% of your clients who are generating around 80% of your revenue, and I also talked about how you could capitalise on those clients who are nudging your business closer toward success.

 

I had lots of great feedback from you that you really enjoyed that episode and found the tips useful and I mentioned that I’d be touching on what you could do to tackle the remaining 80% of your client base that we may not be serving your business as effectively as it could, and what you can do to better leverage what isn’t working so well.

 

So, if you haven’t checked out that episode, then I highly recommend you do that. So, we’ve already focused on the top 20% of your revenue generating client base and in today’s episode I’m going to be talking about

 

✅ What’s happening in the 80% of your client base who aren’t nudging your business closer to success.

✅ And, what you can do with the 80% of your client base (or other parts of your business) that may not be performing so well.

 

OK. So, let’s get started! I’ve got lots of great tips for you today so I’ll try and be as succinct as I can and just get straight to the point with it!

 

So, in episode 61, I talk about the 80/20 principle and in that episode, we covered the 20% revenue generators, so we’re going to talk about if you’re focusing on the 20% revenue generators, then what does the remaining 80% look like?

 

And it looks like this.

 

It’s important to bear in mind here that the 80/20 principle isn’t an exact science but it’s usually the case where there will be imbalances in your business of reward vs effort.

 

So, if 20% of your clients are likely to be generating 80% of your revenue then, in today’s episode, we’re flipping that on its head and saying that 80% of your clients are probably contributing to generating just 20% of your revenue.

 

Just let that sink in for a minute.

 

80% of your clients are probably contributing to generating just 20% of your revenue.

 

So, do you see where I’m going to go with this?

 

✅ And if you’re a course creator, you’ll usually see that around 20% of your students or members will be completing over 80% of the program and taking action! So that means the remaining 80% of your clients purchasing digital products or courses are likely to not take action and they may not complete their journey or see the transformation that they really wanted to come to fruition!

✅ And, if 20% of your client base are making repeat purchases, then that means 80% probably aren’t – and that’s a heck of a lot of people!

✅ And also, if you’re running a membership platform or delivering services of any kind then it’s usually the case that 20% of those clients will renew their service agreements or member fees, and around a whopping 80% won’t take further action to renew for one reason or another.

✅ And next, if 20% of your client base or audience are your biggest brand or personal cheerleaders, then the remaining 80% may be inactive, disengaged or not actively interested in your brand.

✅ And lastly, if 20% of your audience will be ready to buy from you when you reach out to them via your launches, promos or through your email list then you guess it, its highly likely that the remaining 80% are not ready to buy from you if you reach out to them!

 

Wowsers. That’s a lot to take in, isn’t it!

 

And those examples are why it’s important not just to focus on your 20% of your top revenue generators, but to figure out what to do to with those clients who are sitting in the 80%.

 

And it’s easy to feel disheartened by stats when they’re spun around like that but – there are so many opportunities in here to tap into those 80%s and shift them into your 20%s and I’m going to tell you how.

 

So, all this could be a mammoth podcast topic in itself but, I’m just going to touch on the most impactful things you can do to make a smart assessment on what’s not working so well and what you can do to do to turn that around.

 

Some of those examples of the 80%s that I’ve just recapped for you can be tweaked to maximise performance and revenue, but it’s worth bearing in mind that some 80%s just might not be worth the effort to address and this is where you need to take that decision as the leader of your business.

 

So, you need to work out what IS worth your effort to improve, otherwise you could risk wasting your time on things which really aren’t going to propel your business further forward.
 

Let’s talk about how to maximise revenue out of those 80% of clients who aren’t actively contributing to the success of your business because there are HUGE opportunities tucked away in there that are ripe for the taking!

 

OK, let’s get started by looking at the 80% of clients who aren’t helping you to generate higher revenues, or make high-ticket sales. You’ll need to work out why that is.

 

An example of this, for me, is 20% of my own clients work 121 with me and the other 80% of my client base are part of my 80/20 club passive DIY online program. Now, the pricing for the DIY program is much lower than my high-ticket 121 work. So, I used to run that DIY offering as a live group mentoring program.

 

And so I sought feedback from clients who told me everything in the program seemed quite self-explanatory, it was proven to work, it was transformational and they loved that they could just get on with it themselves and do the work in their own time.

 

So, I stopped the live mentoring and maintained it as an on-demand offering which is 100% passive revenue for me. That was a smart move as it enables me to focus on my 20% of clients who are my higher revenue generators, but I can still serve 80% of my client base who don’t actually need me to be present.

 

I’m just going to say that if you’re running group programs with a lower ticket price and you’re feeling tempted to switch them over to on demand only, then just make sure you’ve proven your offering first before you do that! Once you’ve demonstrated your live course offering or program transforms the lives of your clients, then it’s time to consider switching to a DIY offering.

 

And if you’re a service-based business, then what you need to do is understand your paying clients; why some are spending less, with you and where they are in their journey with you and then pinpoint the revenue opportunities you might be missing!

 

So, if you recall, I mentioned at the start of this episode that 80% of your clients purchasing digital products or courses are likely not to take action, or they may not complete their journey or even see their transformation happen!

 

Again, you’ll need to understand why that is, and the fastest way to do that is (and yep, it’s not rocket science) is to actually go and speak to some of your clients for their constructive feedback. And then decide if it’s worth the effort, or financial investment for you to take action to address their feedback.

 

One of the things I’ve personally made the mistake of is always providing too much content as a way of providing a feeling of value for money, and I’ve learnt that too much content creates overwhelm for the client and it’s not the way to bring them to success! I think I definitely have a money block lurking in there around over delivering content in return for a feeling of value for money.

 

So, as part of seeking feedback from my 80% of clients doing my online program (who said they had information overload) was to strip my 80/20 club program right back to the 20% most transformational lessons. And doing this has cut the overwhelm for my clients and they’re now more likely to complete my program because its transformational, it’s do-able and it’s not overwhelming.

 

And if you’re a course creator, you’ll need your clients to finish their journey because of this one thing… your clients will likely talk about your course to others and you don’t want them to say “Oh, I bought so-and-so’s course and I didn’t bother to finish it”. If they’re saying THAT then THAT speaks volumes about your program, even if its transformational and brilliantly executed.

 

OK, let's move onto my next example that I spoke of at the start of this episode.

 

80% of your client base won’t be making repeat purchases, or they won’t be renewing service agreements, or not renewing their membership fees.

 

Again, if you’re seeing this in your business, then your first port of call is to contact your clients, seek constructive feedback from them on how you can improve your offerings. And then, if you’re picking up on common themes from your clients – decide if these are improvements that are worth making (so by that I mean, will the improvements you could make boost your profitability, or help you to grow your business in the long term? And if they will, then go and make the corrections to your services. And if they don’t, then think long and hard about the return on investment that’s actually going to bring to your business in terms of financial gains, or to your client's experience.

 

And if you’re not currently offering an opportunity for those 80% of clients who aren’t generating the top revenues to make repeat purchases, or to purchase (say) a premium upgrade or the opportunity to renew working with you, then now is the time to review your offerings and tap into that upsell or recurring revenue that’s there for the taking.

 

And another reason that clients might not be re-purchasing is, they are no longer using your service (for whatever reason, be it lack of need, or not finding it fit for purpose), or they also might in fact be rolling off as expected – so, with my consultancy business, my personal ethos is not to handcuff my clients to me, but to empower them so they can in the future, work independent from me and then come back to me to fine tune their business if they need it. Most of my clients will roll off my 121 intensives and then move into a retainer arrangement with me, which gives them much more flexibility and scope. So THAT’S my upsell, or my repeatable recurring income element to what I offer as my standard service.

 

Again, you might be experiencing clients rolling off or not upgrading if your offerings are too expensive and if you suspect that’s the case, then I’m not going to advise dropping your prices (so don’t fall into that mindset!) but instead, refresh your value proposition. Now, I have a great podcast episode that walks you through that and I’ll leave that for you in the show notes.

 

So, what should you DO if you’re noticing clients rolling off, not purchasing upsells or not renewing your services when you intend them to? Well, I’m sure you’ll already guess this, but first and foremost, make it your business to reach out and talk to your clients and get feedback and find out how they’re feeling, and what’s happening in their journey through your service and what you can do to improve their experience. And you wouldn’t believe how many business owners don’t seek feedback from their clients, so always make client feedback a core part of your business operations.

 

So, also, I want you to re-engage your clients and start to remind them and reconnect them with the transformational value of the offering they’ve purchased. And interact with those clients' customers throughout your relationship with them and give them the best client experience you possibly can. Now I have a great episode where I talk about How to go the extra mile for your clients & How to Retain your Clients, so I will leave the links to those in the show notes. So, basically what you want to be doing here is to re-engage those 80% of your less active client base with your offerings and make them aware of new things you have that they might not be aware of.

 

One thing to bear in mind here is if you are seeing a large proportion of your client base (so that’s the lower performing 80%s) then don’t wait for them to reach out to you with their problems, make sure you’re engaging with them proactively. It’s much easier to turn things around if you’re proactive than if you are sat waiting for them to come to you with potentially negative feedback. 

 

Alright, so let’s move on and talk about your brand.

So, if roughly 20% of your clients are your biggest cheerleaders, then you know what that means. So, 80% of your clients are not going to be your biggest brand or personal cheerleaders.

 

Wow, that feels huge when we look at it this way, doesn’t it!

And the reason why this one is so important is having your clients act as cheerleaders or ambassadors for your business is, it’s one of the cheapest and easiest ways to grow and market your business! Your clients are basically doing the heavy lifting for you, and when you’re running a service-based business it’s going to make your lead generation much easier when existing clients are referring new people for you to work with. It’s such a smart way of working. If you have lots of clients on your list to reach out to, then consider inviting them to a focus group session, or to a group call. I usually speak to my high-ticket clients individually and then those who are working through my DIY programs, I will reach out and schedule a group call.

 

So again, if your referral rate is generally quite low then go and reach out to your existing clients and seek feedback. On top of doing this I like to send my clients a thank you when they refer others on to me so I will thank them with around 10% of my fee. And that is usually around 4+ figures usually. It means my clients can treat themselves to something nice, or even take their team out for a slap-up lunch!

 

Other things to dig into if you’re looking to boost your rate of referrals or better connect with clients so they become your brand cheerleaders is to revisit what you stand for; so, go back to your foundations and back to your core values. Ask yourself, do my core values still resonate with who I am today? And are your core values weaved into all your messaging on your website, to your subscribers and in your marketing? I have a great episode where I talk about how to tap into your unique selling points, or your UVP and How to stand out in a crowded marketplace, so you can check out the links to both of those episodes in the show notes.

 

 

Ok, and lastly.

 

If up to, or around 20% of your audience or your subscriber list will buy from you when you reach out to them, then let's flip it and say...that means around up to 80% won’t!

Now, I actually think this is quite normal and if 20% of your audience are buying from you when you reach out to them, then that’s a pretty healthy conversion rate (especially if you are selling high-ticket offerings) but, when you’re growing a successful business (which I know you are!) then your focus should always be on looking at how you can improve your current conversion rates.

 

I’m just going to leave you with a few tips on how you can increase your conversion rates. Now there are so many things that can negatively or positively impact your conversion rates but these are probably the key ones to start focusing on:

 

✅  The first one is to make sure you’re getting really clear in your sales pitches so that you’re clear on what you’re selling, and specifically talking to what the transformation actually will be for your clients. So, make your offerings compelling.

 

✅  Having a clearly laid out website that’s easy to navigate with great messaging that resonates with your target clients is going to help boost your conversion rate.

 

✅  Another one, and this one is a huge bug bear of mine when people don’t declare their pricing on their website. So, when I see websites that ask me to complete a form to receive a phone call to discuss pricing really puts me off and I’m sure this will no doubt be putting prospective buyers off if you’re also doing this. If your pricing isn’t straight forwards, then you can always put some indicative pricing on your website or include a sample client case study which has been priced. And you know, publishing pricing actually weeds out the tyre kickers and those who can’t afford your service. The last thing you want to do is get on a discovery call and then find out 20mins later that they can’t afford to work with you anyway!

 

✅  And lastly, this one is a biggie, make sure you have a clear and well planned out sales funnel. So, what that mean is having a clear end to end journey mapped out to encourage your would-be client to join you, then how you will take payment and onboard them, how you’re going to nurture them and most importantly, how they will then re-invest in you over the longer term.

 

OK. So, that’s it for today. Look into the 80 vs the 20% in your own business, double down on the 20% that’s generating your revenue and don’t forget to see what amazing opportunities to boost the revenue opportunities that are tucked away in those 80s%. So Good luck! Now have a great rest of day, and go find your 80 and 20%s and skyrocket your business!

 

Lor Bradley