Recently at Co- we have been developing a Welcome Book for prospective clients and we like the idea of the Welcome Book so much we thought we would share our thoughts here.

The idea came from Australian dentist Paddi Lund who completely redesigned his dental practice to give him a life he loved.

One of the things that he did was create a Welcome Book letting prospective customers know all about what his practice was and crucially what it was not, the kind of person he was, what they could expect from working with him and what he expected of them.

For example he told them not to expect him to be cheap and that if they were a client he needed them to refer him on to friends and family. Of course it also told them the high standards they were entitled to expect from him.

Before he even met anyone to talk about them going on his roster, they had to read the Welcome Book.

Paddi did not set out to be have a more financially successful practice from redesigning his business, he had come close to a nervous breakdown and decided he could not continue with the way things were.

However as it turned out, the Welcome Book and other changes turned it into a highly successful lucrative practice. He now has a waiting list of potential clients.

What we particularly like about using a Welcome Book as part of the sales and marketing process is that it gets the relationship with your potential client straight off on the right foot.

The tendency in sales and marketing is for the seller to feel the need to convince the buyer. The seller thinks 'This buyer could go elsewhere, I need to give them a reason to buy from me'. Anyone who came to our seminar on Sandler Sales Training will remember that this is not an effective place to start from in sales. The starting place must be as equals.

The Welcome Book then gets out in the open all the reasons why the potential transaction may not work. It tells the prospective customer, this is the kind of people we are, these are our values, this is the way we work, these are our expectations of you. Because nothing is hidden, it filters out all the people who won't like your product or service.

That might sound like a bad idea but in truth nothing stays hidden forever and a huge amount of time can be saved by not trying to set up business relationships which are doomed to failure.

It also saves time in not having to give information face to face to every client. By the time you are face to face with your potential client, many questions are answered and you can move the conversation forward.

If you would like to know more about Welcome Books, Paddi Lund has written a 'Welcome Book Construction Kit'. Or if you would like to take a look at ours, send an email and we will send you a copy.