That’s a good thing, because the marketing industry is full of scams. I show clients examples of potential results, but I usually never tell them they’ll get that next month, because I generally don’t know for sure. Instead I provide a range of possible results.I'm sick of feeling guilty about selling a marketing service that doesn't generate tangible results 100% of the time.
The client also has to assess the service and what it involves and think if it would be a good fit for his business or not at the current stage he’s at.
In addition, most forms of marketing will require some effort, skill and expertise from the client to maximise results. Do all you can to support the client in that process.
In cases of people not obtaining results, what you have to do is guide them towards obtaining the said results. What would need to happen for them to obtain results?
That’s why I’ve niched down specifically to agencies in my case, because I know what it takes to build an agency and can advise in pretty much all cases and help the owner craft a path to profit.
I’ve spent a lot of time refining the ONE thing that we do really well, which is helping owners build relationships with and acquire clients from LinkedIn. So whenever we have problems, we can debug them, and move towards a solution. Sometimes it takes time, and sometimes people aren’t happy with that, but I’m always up front about it, if someone wants to leave, there are no contracts holding them in place, they can cancel at any time.
So:
1) Productize the service and sell a transformation. To get results you need a system, you need to be able to identify what’s wrong when results aren’t obtained, and you need to learn to fix it. Make your service simple, productize it.
2) Have the right intention and support your client through the process. They may need additional guidance to get results and your help to diagnose what’s not going right.
3) Set a minimal goal to always leave a business better off than when they found you, even if they end up leaving at some point.
4) Start marketing around the fact that you don’t sell people lies — that’s what I’ve done, and I’ve been growing at rocket speed!
5) Understand that obtaining results is a process, which may take time. If business was as easy as just doing tactic X, then everyone would be successful. It’s not. Sometimes it takes a lot of testing to find the right path.