www.1001TopWords.com |
Be Patient? Nah, Lets Kill Something
There's the old joke about the two buzzards sitting in atree overlooking a highway. One responds to the other, "Bepatient? I'm hungry. Let's kill something." Just like thatbuzzard, it is not in the nature of most marketers to bepatient for business to grow. They want to go out and "killsomething," too. The trouble is that most marketers go after new business thewrong way. They want to "take down" the new piece ofbusiness using all the tools of the trade from advertisingand direct mail to cold calling and event marketing. This isan expensive way to drum up business. Your existing clientsare just waiting to tell you about people they know whocould use your services, and then help sell you in to thesepeople they refer. Not only is this more cost effective, itpractically guarantees the prospects will share the samecharacteristics of your best customers. "OK, Harry," you're asking, "but how do I do it?" The first rule of getting referrals: ask. When should youask? Let's review. - After your customer has purchased something from you is agreat time to ask. The new customer is pumped up about youroffering and you can harness that energy by asking for namesof others who could beneft from doing business with you. - Upon delivery of your product or service is the next timeto ask. The benefits of your offering should be readilyapparent now, so you can remind the customer of theimportance of their referrals. - Anytime you have personal contact with your customer is agood time to ask. You are continuing to build a relationshipwith them and can use the opportunity to ask for referrals.Don't ask more than three times per year. Many people hesitate to ask for referrals because they arenot sure how to do it. Just be honest. Tell your customersthat referrals are very important to the growth of yourbusiness, and that you want to grow it with people just likethem. Remind them that the people they know will benefitfrom your service the way that they have. Then, ask. Tell your prospect that you'd like for them to give you thenames of three or four people who might benefit from yourservices. Pull out a sheet of paper and pen and lookexpectantly at them. If they can't immediately give younames, ask some prompting questions. Such as: Who are your three best friends?Who are the most successful business people you know?Can you think of anyone who would benefit from my services? Write the names down and keep writing until the customerruns out of names. Then, go back and ask for contactinformation for each one. Thank the customer in the way you feel most comfortable.Some people like to send a gift, others will just drop anote of thanks. Some wait to see if the referral becomes acustomer and then send a higher end gift. Do whatever worksfor you, but do thank them and keep them in the loop,letting them know about your follow up and the outcome ofyour prospecting. So, don't just sit there in your tree. Get out there andkill something. Harry Hoover is managing principal of Hoover ink PR, http://www.hoover-ink.com. He has 26 years of experience in crafting and delivering bottom line messages that ensure success for serious businesses like Brent Dees Financial Planning, Duke Energy, Levolor, New World Mortgage, North Carolina Tourism, VELUX and Verbatim.
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Press Release, An Alternative For Paid Advertisement. Step 1 What's a press release? This is generally a one page story about your business, your product/service or an event happening related to your business that is about to, or recently occurred. These publicity stories are generally "shot gunned" to newspapers, radio, television and the trade publications. PR: Time For a New Playbook? When your public relations results pretty much depend on whether your news item gets used in a newspaper column or on a radio talk show, you may be ready for a fresh approach. Its Just Common Sense! When a group of outsiders behaves in a way that hurts your business, you usually do something about it. Yet, many business people are amazingly casual about their own external audiences. To me at least, they seem to ignore the reality that those behaviors really do impact their organizations. Public Relations Productivity Should it be measured in "publicity by the pound," or by how well external audience behaviors help achieve the organization's key objectives? Seven Tips To Get Your Press Release Noticed If you're seeking to promote yourself or your new business on a limited budget, you probably cannot afford the benefit of hiring a public relations agency to work on your behalf - at least not in the beginning. Financial Planners Publicity and Marketing - Live By The Calendar The media live by the calendar. Your story pitch might miss the mark with them the first time out, solely because it's out of whack with the seasonal cycle (obvious examples: just try pitching another tax story on April 16, or offering the media your 10 tips on backyard barbecue safety the morning after Labor Day). Want to Light a Fire Under Your PR? Yes? Then do something positive about the behaviors of those important external audiences of yours that MOST affect your operation. The Press Release Method to Get Great Publicity If you have had any experience in public relations or marketing, you probably know how well press releases can work. There are many, many companies who have increased sales by 100%-300% in a matter of months simply through using press releases. How to Use Community Relations to Grow Your Business Community relations is one of those marketing strategies that isn't talked about much, even though I venture to say practically everyone ends up doing it at one time or another. Basically, community relations is when you and your business become involved in your community. For instance: Celebrities Cant Have It Both Ways Corporations are willing to pay substantial amounts of money to prominent personalities so that consumers will relate the brand with their favorite star, and thus will be more likely to buy the product. The buying public imparts credibility to the celebrity because of his or her charisma as well as the credibility that comes with prominence in the media. The power of someone's personality also entails risks for the brand with which they are associated, because any controversial behavior may reflect badly on the product. This has become an especially frequent problem in recent times. Why Not PR That Gets Real Results? And not results you can measure only in terms of magazine circulation, TV audience numbers, or news release pickups. Company Dress Codes for Small Business; Shorts and Pants Most small businesses have logo'ed shirts, usually polo shirts with logos, this is typical in American Business. But many small businesses either do not have a dress code for pants and shorts or they have one, but rarely enforce it. Others take the approach that unless something is way out of line, the small business owner just doesn't say anything. What is you dress code in your small business? Is it an unspoken dress code? If so you are not alone. 4th Quarter 2003 Publicity = 1st Quarter 2004 Prosperity As the year starts to wind down, many businesses and entrepreneurs are making plans and budgets for the year 2004. Those plans could include anything from setting up goals for new products to preparing marketing, sales and PR/publicity campaigns. When it comes to your publicity plan, WHEN you launch your campaign can be just as important to what and how you launch. Media Exposure Validates And Legitimizes Your Business Although repetition is extremely important, there are times when advertising can help bring you a fast response. 7 Simple Steps To A PR Launch A PR product or service launching is a perfect way to buildmomentum slowly. It handles the first and most importanthurdle to overcome in building a brand -- credibility. HELP: I Need a Press Kit! A press kit is an essential press relations tool. While it can be used to support a special event or promotional activity, it is most helpful in strategically positioning an organization or product. On a website, the "press room" is the on-line equivalent of the traditional press kit. For Financial Planners, Marketing and Publicity Is About You For financial planners, getting publicity, in the end, isn't about having contacts in the media. Which PR? Judge for Yourself You are a senior business, non-profit or association manager.So, chances are you call the shots for your department, division or subsidiary. Making Press Releases Work - Creating News Where None Existed Aren't you tired of hearing how extremely easy it is to get free publicity? Have you tried the suggestions that most public relations "gurus" give you? The hard, cold truth of the matter is that you cannot write a press release about any old aspect of your business and have it end up on the home page of the Fortune Small Business Web site. It just doesn't work that way. So how does it work, and what do you do if you need publicity but have nothing "newsworthy" to share? Hispanic Media Relations Training: What to Do When Hispanic Media Call You are a spokesperson for your company, representing it for public speaking and media interviews. You are going about your everyday affairs, granting media interviews on a new product or service your company launched or a timely topic of general interest. All is going well and a Hispanic media representative calls. What should you do? |
© Athifea Distribution LLC - 2013 |