In order to keep your best clients with you it is a good idea to provide them with something over and above your normal service that has a low cost to you and a high perceived value to them. This is where seminar comes in, but structured and sold differently.

Organise a bi-monthly seminar that you will call ‘Platinum Club’ or some such name to provide an element of exclusivity. This can be organised for breakfast or after work event although breakfast is usually cheaper to provide. The format will be one speaker, food and opportunity for all of your Gold and Platinum clients to network. Ensure that your clients realise this opportunity is exclusive and that they will have opportunity to network with people similar to themselves.

The speaker should not be one of your staff but should be an outside speaker with something of interest to say to your clients. You should not have much difficulty finding people willing to give up a few hours to speak to your Platinum and Gold clients, hence there should be very little cost.

Your clients ‘pay’ for their admission by bringing with them a guest of similar standing to themselves who would like to hear speaker and network with people similar to themselves. Of course during networking period you and your staff are busy meeting and greeting both your existing clients and their guests.

If twenty clients each bring a guest then you have twenty potential new prospects. It is important to obtain name, address and email address for all of guests and then put in place a systematic process for keeping in touch with them until you make a sale.

The benefit of this seminar model is of course that you provide your key clients with something of value that has cost very little and you now have a number of prospects in your system that you can follow up. If you run ‘club’ every few months on a regular programme you will obtain a regular supply of new prospects.

You should have little difficulty arranging for someone to talk at meeting if they have opportunity to obtain contact details from audience.

Good luck.

7. Don't linger on a particular question too long. If you can, lead your answer into another related topic YOU want to discuss.

8. Correct reporter/interviewer if s/he states something incorrectly, particularly if statement is directly about you or your company. Make sure reporter gets facts.

9. If you do not know answer to a question do not act like you do. Be honest. Even better, offer to find answer for reporter -- by doing so, you'll make a fast friend.

10. Wait until after interviewer is completely finished with a question before replying. Do not interrupt.

11. Do not become defensive when asked negative questions or and/or are confronted in a harsh manner. Stay positive. Offer solutions. Give facts.

12. Be polite and charismatic. Be genuinely nice.

13. Most importantly, remember that you are always, unless you indicate otherwise, "on record." This means that everything you say, even if it's in an off-handed way, can be quoted (and most likely will be if it's a colorful or controversial remark). In other words, still keep your guard up no matter how charming or inviting an interviewer may be.

For specific kinds of interviews, there are a few other things you can do to prepare. For example, for telephone or radio interviews:

14. If a reporter calls you for an interview, ask what his/her deadline is. If it's not immediate, see if you can buy some prep time by asking reporter to call you back in an hour or more.

15. Make up your own list of bulleted notes. No one will ever know you are using a guide.

16. Use descriptive words so that your listeners or interviewer fully comprehends what you are saying.

The somewhat more intimidating television interview requires even more thought and advanced planning. You have to take into consideration clothing, makeup, your facial expressions, how you speak, etc. More helpful hints include:

17. Avoid wearing patterned fabrics and/or solid black, white, or red. Blue tones are a safe bet.

18. Maintain good posture while being interviewed but don't look overly stiff.

19. Look directly at interviewer rather than at camera.

20. There's no need to yell into microphone -- audio crew will adjust your volume.

So now that you're prepped and rarin' to go, is it time to give 60 Minutes a call? ;-> ----------------------------------- WebAdvantage.net encourages reprinting of our marketing tips and articles. However, before doing so please contact us at marketing@webadvantage.net for permission to do so. Thank you in advance for your professional courtesy.