“The Only Sustainable Advantage For Local Business, Use It Or Fail…Permanently

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48% of sales people never follow up with a prospect
25% of sales people make a second contact and stop
12% of sales people make more than three contacts

And when it comes to actual sales:

2% of sales are made on the first contact
3% of sales are made on the second contact
5% of sales are made on the third contact
10% of sales are made on the fourth contact
80% of sales are made on the fifth to twelfth contact

Source: FollowupSuccess.com

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To get a further idea of how rapidly this market is expanding, consider this: the report also says that mobile data traffic in 2011 was eight times the size of the global Internet in 2000.

• It takes 26 hours for the average person to report a lost wallet. It takes 68 minutes for them to report a lost phone. (Source: Unisys)

• It takes 90 minutes for the average person to respond to an email. It takes 90 seconds for the average person to respond to a text message. (Source: CTIA.org)

• 70 percent of all mobile searches result in action within 1 hour. (Source: Mobile Marketer)

• 90 percent of all U.S. citizens have their mobile device within reach 24/7. (Source: Morgan Stanley).

• Average smartphone usage nearly tripled in 2011, from 55 MB per month in 2010 to 150 MB per month.

• The growth of the iPhone was 10 times faster than the growth of America Online. (Source: Neilson)

• Smartphones represent only 12 percent of global handsets in use today, but they handle over 82 percent of total global handset traffic.

• In 2011, the typical smartphone generated 35 times more mobile data traffic (150 MB per month) than the typical basic-feature cell phone (which generated only 4.3 MB per month of mobile data traffic).

• According to Nielsen, 30 million consumers watch television content via their mobile phones. Makes me wonder why I invested so much in my big-screen HD television at home.

• Gartner says that by 2013, mobile phones will overtake PCs as the most common Web access device worldwide. Which is a reminder for all those web designers to brush up on their mobile skills if they want to stay in business.

• Exact Target reports that 16% of smartphone users report that they have made a purchase as a result of a marketing message they received on their phone. 55% purchased as a result of an email they received on their mobile device. Turns out email isn’t dead after all.

• Nielsen also said that in Q3 2011, teens increased their mobile data consumption by 256% over the prior year. I hope their parents had them on unlimited data plans.

• Inneractive found that there is a direct correlation between the size of a mobile device’s screen and the click-through rate (CTR) the device yields for mobile advertising. For instance, the iPhone yields a 4.35% CTR with a 3.5″ screen, compared to a 6.61% CTR on the iPad‘s 9.7″ screen.

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So now you need to keep hold of them and nurture them as if they were your own family. In fact to some extent this is near the truth as in your working lifetime you spend more time “at the office” than with your own flesh and blood.

So you have these new customers and they are all fired up, presumably, with your product or service and then something strange happens – you stick them in the “customer” database and don’t bother to sell to them again. The irrational thought is that now they are a customer, just let the “customer account manager” look after them and they will come asking for more business from you.

Unless that “customer account manager” is trained in selling, that is an assumption too far. Your customers are the lifeblood of your business; feeding you and keeping your business fit. As you look after your body so too you need to look after your customers.

Make your customers feel wanted with actions like:

1. Ask them why they bought from you
2. Ask them for referrals and encourage them with offers of “thank you” gifts
3. Keep in touch with them with a regular newsletter which is emailed to them
4. Invite them to special days – golf days, activity days etc
5. Pick up the phone and plan to speak directly to your top 20% of customers

Within your database, profile who your customers are and identify who gives you the most business and who doesn’t. Only do business with customers that really want you as their provider – filter out those who may only use you occasionally, don’t spend much and possibly takes up more time arguing over trivia. You don’t need this.

Concentrate your efforts on those customers who are spending money with you. Build on that relationship and generate trust and loyalty. Ask these customers what they are looking for within their business – in this way you can potentially look to develop this new product or service opportunity yourself. And if not, you can use your network of contacts to find someone that can help your customer.

Just a final footnote. Your future customers. Make sure that you review all those in your database who said “no thanks” on the first approach. Understand whether there is a genuine interest or just a timing issue. People remember any surly or dismissive approach so avoid this at all costs. Manage sales calls professionally so that it reflects well on your business.

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Once I have prepared the report, I will contact you so we can “fine tune” some of the ideas.

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Your business is built on a foundation of 3 things. Your Market – Customers, Competition, Unique Sales Proposition. Your Message – who are you going to talk to and how are you going to say it. Your Media – choose the right channel of communication with which to make sure you get the attention of your customers and prospects.

• What are you selling?
• To Whom?
• With What Message?
• Through What Media?

Market

“The Customer is KING”. No matter what size your prospect is, it is really important to do your research. The more information you have about your market, your prospect’s business, the better prepared you will be and you will demonstrate an interest in their business. Also look for the best type of customers for your business – don’t sell to everyone. Your customer list is vital for success.

“ WHAT MAKES YOUR OFFERING DIFFERENT? “

• Profile your customers be they existing or lapsed. It is likely that 80% of your income will come from 20% of your customers. Find out who these are and get a database that matches this.
• Your customer list is really important to get right – they are your lifeblood so it is important to nurture and develop this list.
• Ensure you know your own product/service extremely well – especially the advantages and benefits that will be relevant to your prospect.
• What is your USP (Unique Sales Proposition)? Ascertain as far as you can the main or unique perceived benefit that your product or service would give to your prospect – what makes your offering different?
• Why it is that your existing customers buy from you?
Understand what other competitors are able to and likely to offer; and which ones are being considered if any.

Message

Once you understand who you are talking to – and once you have segmented and profiled the database, which could be several different groups – you need to think about what messages will be most relevant.

You need to think how each particular segment will react to your offer. The objective is to get them to buy your new product or service – NEW being the operative word. If something is not new or different; why should anyone want to buy it – providing of course you have ascertained that it is relevant to them.

Any message needs to switch on the emotions in a person. It needs to appeal to their desires and get them to do something.

A.I.D.A – Attention Interest Desire Action

So when targeting one of your selected segments, rather than have a headline which says:

“This “product/service” will give you the edge you have been looking for”

Say instead for example:

“7 important reasons why your competitors will be sorry that you bought “this product/service”.

You can test your message with small campaigns that leverage the internet with different headlines. You can then monitor and measure results using a system so your communication can be working day and night.

It’s time to Break the Mould and be seen to be different. People like to buy the unusual not the ordinary.

Media

All very well to have your market and your message – but how are you going to get it out there?

Traditionally companies blanket the media options using, to name but a few, newspapers, radio, email, leaflets and direct mail and where they can afford it, TV. Not a bad thing to do but the targeting can be too broad.

You need to talk to only a sample of those watching and reading this media so a lot of your budget is being wasted on people who either don’t want your offering or clearly don’t need it. So you need to break down where your market is; the geography – and the who your market is; the demographics – and then choose the media to fit the message more tightly.

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Since the 1980’s I have been helping small businesses with their local marketing presence. Doing business in your local area gives you the greatest advantage over the big competitors. Why? Because you can build a personal relationship with your customers – not just via email but face to face; something the larger organisations find difficult and expensive to do.

As a local business you have to be the best at what you do and make sure that your market knows why you are different.

At the Kelsey Group they found that when people are looking for goods or services, they will search locally first.

So the need to get your customers’ attention is vital so that you can be heard through the mass of other advertising messages.

Back in the 80’s the leading edge technology for targeting customers was the ”Socio-demographic” profile of A,B,C,C1, C2, D and E which was used by CACI to create their ACORN system. This became the backbone to what became Database Marketing which I introduced to my clients at the time – the local car dealer markets – predominantly VW and Audi. I even wrote a marketing plan to increase car fleet business sales which was presented to Ford at a new business seminar which they subsequently used as a master template for their system.

This profiling has developed enormously over the years and not only covers demographics but also geographics and psychographics (lifestyle and interests).

It is now possible to pinpoint your market directly and as you build your customer database, this too can be used to profile your customers covering:

• Life Time Values – what a customer is worth to you
• Best/Worst customers
• What they buy and How often etc.

You can then use this information to invest in other lists as you expand your business.

Being able to pinpoint your marketing means that budgets can work harder as you can easily track how successful a particular campaign is through easy to set up monitoring methods. So a campaign can be adjusted very quickly if it is either going well or not so well.

With technology of the internet and mobiles; and with traditional marketing such as direct mail and promotions, the time is right to make your mark in your local area and keep local business – LOCAL.

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• Invest in new data.
• Upsell other services e.g. complementary offers, package discounts and guarantees.
• Revisit lost or lapsed customers

2. If you want ordinary results – Follow the rules. If you want EXTRAordinary results – Break the rules. Every retailer needs a USP – You have to be Different and Unusual to succeed in the mass of information that is flying about out there!

3. People buy stories NOT things. Tell prospects and customers the story behind your great product and why it will make a difference to them.

4. Get a good Website and keep the content flowing. Profile your products and come up with reports like “the 5 reasons why you should……..”, create “how to” videos, create DVD sets; make it easy for customers and prospects to know about you and get to know you.

5. Money isn’t always the key driver for buying – it’s more about the WHO is doing the buying and the certainty that your product will deliver to their expectations. Always think about how your product can solve the customers problem and the benefits that ensue.

6. Your biggest Asset is your Database – Build it well and look after it and it will look after you.

7. Don’t copy what “The Market” does – if you do, you’ll be like them. Do what you always do and you’ll get what you always get. Be different – Break the Mould.

8. Make sure you have a robust Marketing System to manage your marketing – online with information reports; offline with direct marketing. Make it work 24/7.

9. Look at developing Joint Ventures with other retailes targeting your clients but who operate in a non-competitive area.

10. Test advertising strategies and headlines using Google Adwords, Facebook, Video and Re-marketing.

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You can win it, or blow it, on the appointment. 

Bear in mind that when you are at an appointment, the prospect has made time for you to be there so make it an enjoyable experience for them. Positioning your product or service is really important so make it easy for prospects to understand this – one very effective way is to tell stories where your product or service has solved a problem similar to that of your prospect.
Prior to going to your appointment:

• Identify as many of your prospect organisation’s decision-makers and influencers as you can, and assess what their needs, motives and relationships are.
• Try to get a feel for what the organisational politics are.
• What are your prospect’s strategic issues, aims, priorities and problems, or if you can’t discover these pre-meeting, what are they generally for the market sector in which the prospect operates?
• Prepare your opening statements and practice your sales presentation.
• Prepare your presentation in the format in which you are to give it. The first presentation is likely to be on to one/two so should be “Chalk and Talk” i.e just use informal illustrations on a white board rather than Powerpoint .
• Prepare a handout to leave behind and always have spares – allow for more than the planned numbers as extra people can often appear at the last minute.
• Prepare a checklist of questions or headings that will ensure you gather all the information you need from the meeting.
• Think carefully about what you want to get from the meeting and organise your planning to achieve it.
• Prepare your opening statements and practice your sales presentation.

The Appointment

When you get to your appointment, first impressions are very important. The first 10 seconds sets the scene.

• Dress well, smile, strong handshake – be professional, and take confidence from the fact that you are well-prepared.
• Introduce yourself – name, your role, your company and what it does (ensure this is orientated to appeal to the prospect’s strategic issues).
• Set the scene – explain the purpose of your visit and ask how much time your prospect has and agree a time to finish.
• Ask if it’s okay to take notes (it’s polite to ask – also, all business information is potentially sensitive, and asking shows you realise this).
• Set the agenda. Ask if it’s okay to start by asking the prospect to outline their business and what requirements they are looking to address. Afterwards give a quick overview of your own company homing in on any relevant areas the prospect has mentioned. You can then tailor your response.
• LISTEN LISTEN LISTEN. Show interest in their business – people still buy from people they like.
• Find out what the prospect’s organisational decision-making process is and what the financial parameters are (eg., budgets, year-end date).
• Ask about competition.
• Ask – Why did you see me?
• Ask – FOR THE BUSINESS.

“First impressions are very important. 

The first 10 seconds sets the scene “

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• Understand and make the most of cold calling. Despite the tendency for some organisations to position cold calling as a lowly de-skilled canvassing or enquiry-generation activity, cold calling increasingly enables sales people to become more strategic and significant in the sales function. Aim for 15 to 20 new calls per day.
• Manage your time. Work on those prospects where you can see early wins; the “low hanging fruit”.
• Discover what the current supplier arrangements are; can you match or better them? Assess what the present supplier’s reaction is likely to be if their business is at threat. Try and get on competitor mailing lists and see what you are up against!
• What are your communication methods? Telephone, letter, email; make sure any content is clear and meets your requirements to either progress the sale or maintain the relationship.
• Be clear about why they should listen to you and how are you going to make a difference to their business
• Deal with objections – use referrals and case studies
• Ask open questions to gain information
• Close to get the meeting

FOCUS ON BENEFITS NOT FEATURES – WHAT IN IT FOR THEM

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