By: Sabrina Schleicher

Today, I unexpectedly became an expert.

Just as my boarding passes printed at the self-service kiosk at LAX, a frazzled traveler approached the kiosk next to me. She quickly explained she’d never done this before and asked if I could help her. Sure. I guided her through the process.

Just as she was in the middle of her transaction, an older gentleman walked up on the other side of me. He spoke very broken English and asked for my help.

I was unintentionally developing a reputation as the “go-to gal” at the airport kiosk. For that brief moment, I was an expert in my fellow travelers’ eyes. Wouldn’t you like to be the “go-to” expert for your Ideal Clients?

So, what made me the go-to gal at the airport kiosk?

• I was holding boarding passes in my hands. In other words, I had achieved the important, urgent result my two fellow frazzled travellers wanted for themselves.
• I appeared calm. What’s important about that? They were frazzled and confused.
• I made eye contact and smiled. They took this as, “She looks warm and welcoming.”
• The second traveller saw me being helpful to the first. This inspired confidence for him that I could help him, too.

What can we learn from this about marketing? A LOT!

As Big Money Speaker, James Malinchak says, “Everybody knows something about something.” In that moment, I knew something—how to work the touchscreen to get my boarding passes. I was about 2 minutes further along in knowing this than my fellow frazzled travellers. They saw me as someone who knows how to achieve the result they wanted. What expertise do you have that could be helpful to someone else who may be just a couple of steps behind you in their journey?

My fellow travellers saw evidence of my success. I was holding boarding passes. Your clients want to see evidence that you can help them in achieving the results they want. What evidence can you provide? Testimonials, statistics, client success stories—these are all tangible evidence that you can expertly coach your clients to achieve the results they want.

I represented help to obtaining the important, urgent result my fellow frazzled travellers wanted to achieve. In that moment, if I’d asked them on a scale of 1-10, “How urgently important is it for you to get your boarding passes?,” both would have told me a 10! When it comes to marketing your services, you must offer a service that speaks to a problem that is extremely urgent and important to your clients.

For my fellow travellers, I was addressing a Gateway Problem, literally. Without their boarding passes, they weren’t getting to their destination. Obtaining their boarding passes was the first step in getting to their destination, just as solving the Gateway Problem for your Ideal Clients is the first step in a series of deeper solutions you can coach them to achieve.

Notice something very critical. Had I stood at those kiosks with a warm welcoming smile and a big sign advertising that I provide a complete suite of “travel solutions” to the frazzled traveller, my fellow frazzled travellers would have walked right past me. Why? Because in that offer, I wasn’t specifically addressing the important, urgent Gateway Problem they had—they just needed to figure out how to get their boarding passes from the computer kiosk. They weren’t interested in a complete suite of travel solutions, no matter how friendly and competent I appeared.

Take a look at the front page of your website. Are you offering your Ideal Potential Clients a complete suite of solutions for all of life’s problems? If so, it’s time to get specific! If you don’t, they are going to surf right past your website. You need to be getting narrow and very specific in the important, urgent Gateway Problem you solve for your Ideal Potential Clients (for a simple, 2-step process to making your website a magnet for your Ideal Potential Clients, download my free training.)

Why did my fellow frazzled travellers approach me and not the 5 other travellers standing around? How did they single me out from the crowd? I smiled and made eye contact. They interpreted this as a warm welcome. I appeared competent because I had boarding passes in my hand. I looked like them because I had a suitcase. They identified with me.

What are you doing to give your Ideal Potential Clients a big warm welcome when they find your website? What are you doing to help your Ideal Clients identify with you? What can you share about yourself, or about the clients you serve, that lets your Ideal Clients know you get them…that you really get them?

Even if you don’t see yourself as an expert, rest assured, you are an expert in something that can be helpful to somebody else. Claim your expertise! Own it. Build on it and watch your business grow!

ILCT graduate Dr. Sabrina Schleicher specializes in training coaches and therapists to double their Ideal Clients so they can build thriving, lucrative practices working part-time. Get her free audio training, "3 Secrets to Doubling Your Ideal Clients in 90 Days," plus marketing scripts at www.tapthepotentialcoaching.com Her course, The Basics of the Business of Coaching: Lead Generation, begins October 30th.