YOUR Unfair Advantage

Posted by AndyM on February 12, 2009 under Business Growth | Be the First to Comment

I recently did competitive research for a client that exposes the most surprising (but remarkably common) marketing blunder. Sales people and business owners just don’t follow up. Whether it’s failing to even make a single attempt to contact a brand new lead, or failing to be persistent because someone has not initially been responsive. It just isn’t getting done.

If you’re cringing at the moment, feeling like I might be talking about you, then you REALLY need to read this month’s newsletter. If it sounds crazy to you, then you should still read it to make sure your follow-up is as good as you think it is .

So What Happened?
Ah, so you’re wondering what my research revealed. Well, it’s pretty simple. There is tremendous opportunity for my client to stand head and shoulders above the competition .

I contacted four businesses that are some of the top competitors in my client’s market. I went to each of their web sites and indicated that I may have a project that would require the help of a business like theirs, and I would like to learn more about pricing and their availability to do the job.

After that, I decided to sit back for a few days to just see what would play out. I let any calls go to voice mail.

The Results

• Of the four companies, only 2 called me within the first 24 hours
• The third company called me a little over 24 hours later and the fourth company has never called me (and it’s been over a week now)
• Of the three who at least tried to reach me, only one tried me multiple times within the first 3 days
• Even though my original method of contact was through their web sites (and I provided my email address in all cases), NONE of them sent me an email reply to my inquiry; they only called

You may be thinking that my research showed (in a small sample) that a high percentage of businesses actually followed up. It’s important to recognize that your follow-up plan could very well become your competitive advantage — much more than a “checkbox” for you to mark off. What if I had gone away on an emergency business trip? What if I was laid up in bed with the flu or had laryngitis and just couldn’t talk?

Do you think if you represented to ONLY company that followed up with sincere, upbeat messages about your interest in learning more about my project and who had sent me some information via email to review that you would put yourself ahead of the pack? What if your price was just a bit higher than the others, but my impression was that you were just in a league by yourself, simply because of the way you handled the communication? Do you think I’d be willing to pay the premium? You bet!

What Do We Mean by “Follow Up”
I actually need a better phrase to express what this process entails. “Follow-up” conveys to me that there is some END, some CONCLUSION. I have this picture of a sales person using “follow-up” as a key point in the list of excuses for why a sale DIDN’T happen –”geez, I followed up, what else am I supposed to do?”

A better frame of mind to embrace is that “follow-up” is a constant activity with ALL of your contacts — prospects, active customers and former customers. You may use many different means, at varying frequencies, but ALL such contacts should be subject to a regular communication plan.

Think you shouldn’t bother keeping in touch with people that you know have moved out of your area? Don’t throw away those relationships so fast! It stands to reason that people who at one point lived within your business radius have friends or business associates that are there and are people you’d like to get to know. Right? Grab a copy of the local newspaper and send it off; send them a picture of your store or office after you’ve remodeled. Maybe it’s just once a year. Have some fun with it.

This is somewhat of an extreme case. But if I can find logic for why you ought to keep in touch with past customers that have MOVED AWAY, certainly keeping in touch with the ones that are still around is a MUST. 

Don’t forget, if this is an area you would like to improve upon in your business (and find un-tapped profits in the process!), email me to receive my free report The Most Effective, Yet Most Overlooked, Marketing Strategy in Existence.