Lost Appointments = Lost Business

Earlier this year I found myself at the beach attempting to do a little body surfing. What did I find but an empty bottle (see photo) every 10 or twenty feet propped up in the sand. The string of empty plastic bottles seemed to go on forever.
As I closed in on the bottle I realized there was a message in the bottle with a cork at the top. The front of the bottle had a label with one word; “Lost.” I of course had to open the bottle and unroll the note. This is what it said:
“We are 48 survivors of Oceanic flight #815. We were about 1,000 miles off course when we went down. The black box and radio are useless. Help. Rescue us. Come fast as you can. Please we are “lost.” Look for us Wednesday, September 22 at 8pm.”
The only other thing on the note was a ghosted stamp of the logo for ABC.
Obviously this was a promotion for the TV show, “Lost.” I watched as person, after person picked up the bottles and discussed it with their beach-going friends. There is no doubt that ABC created some buzz over this little gimmick. While all this was happening, I also noticed several of those airplane banners advertising other TV shows to which no one paid any attention. I couldn’t help thinking about how memorable, simple and cost effectiveness this promo was when compared with traditional media like airplane banners, print, radio and TV.

Attracting AppointmentsLast week we talked about how to get more appointments. Imagine if we could apply this type of marketing to getting more appointments. We might be able to “attract” people to us rather than chase after them.
As I mentioned last week many people tell me “if I could only get in front of a prospect then I could sell them my services.” But in getting the customer’s attention and interest we run the risk of losing credibility and being perceived as a “salesperson.” There IS a way to use attraction-based marketing principals to secure more appointments “without” selling!
I will actually be talking more about this in my upcoming Tele-Clinic on Monday Learn how to use a simple yet powerful five step marketing approach to getting more appointments:

1. Preparation
2. Reconnaissance
3. Contact
4. Rejection
5. Response

Simply click here and complete the brief registration form to take part in the Tele-Clinic.
Practical ApplicationThis might be great for a television show or a product in the mass market, but what about a B2B product or service such as what most of us are offering? How can we apply this strategy?
It’s quite simple. Here’s my action plan developing a marketing campaign that results in getting more appointments:

1. Identify the smallest most influential market that you can possibly find – a powerful, yet reputable subgroup that will have interest in what you have to offer.
2. Create a compelling message that clearly articulates the problem of challenge they are facing.
3. Figure out a way to give them a small taste of the product. Do so in advance of everyone else.
4. Empower the leaders of this group to make claims and statements to their community regarding the product that you have created.
5. Build your marketing right into your product or service rather than tagging it on as an afterthought.
6. Inject your own passion in what you do. Do it because you believe it. And if you don’t believe it, don’t do it!
7. Do what you love. Love what you do. Let it show no matter what anyone thinks!

Audience for RansomHere’s another example of a campaign that uses these elements which we launched for our radio show last year:
The average life of a radio show is less than 15 months according to a 2001 Aribitron study. The Small Business Hour has beaten the odds, this year celebrating it’s 7 year anniversary on the CBS Network! I attribute this not so much to our super selling skills. Truthfully, my staff and I have spent little to no time selling sponsorships for our show. In fact, I can count the “sponsor presentations” on one hand.
How have we done it? By building a highly targeted audience of listeners and potential sponsors. These are organizations that find it difficult to get entrepreneurs and small business owners to really listen to what they have to say using traditional media. So we targeted banks, accountancies, credit card processors, Professional Employment Organizations and Internet hosting companies. Senior executives of these organizations get so many solicitations for sponsorships, they tend to ignore just about everything. While we’re always involved in viral and buzz marketing campaigns for our show, we wanted to find a way to break through their preoccupation.
How do you get the attention of the marketing manager of Bank of America or AOL? We came up with a rather “shocking” campaign that not only received a great deal of attention it demonstrated how we would get the results that sponsors are looking for. We purchased the cheapest portable CD player that we could find. They cost $7 each and came with headphones. We recorded a message to precede the samples of some of our very best shows with guests like Zig Ziglar, Jay Abraham and Seth Godin. We sent this to several hundred highly targeted prospects. We also created a web site that answered all of the sponsor’s potential questions about the show and helped them to see how the show would solve their most challenging problem, “increasing their small business marketshare.”
This type of compelling, rather controversial message was instantly embraced and we received several sponsorships without investing very much in dollars or time.
Monday Tele-ClinicAgain these are the principles that we will be discussing in our Tele-Clinic on October 18 at 1pm. In this Tele-clinic we will present non-selling principles, approaches and techniques that will get you more appointments with qualified prospects. We will cover:

• How to establish the ground rules so it’s easier to ask for an appointment.
• What information your prospect should have BEFORE you meet with them (or even talk with them).
• How to reach the right person without a battle.
• The things you should never ask a prospect when you get them on the telephone.
• The things you must ask your prospect before you set up an appointment.
• Why you should spend more time REJECTING prospects rather than trying to get them to accept you.
• How to get a prospect to ask YOU for an appointment instead of you asking them.
• Why you should give your prospect homework after you’ve set the appointment.
• Several ways to pre-sell your services even before meeting for the appointment.
• How to dramatically reduce appointment cancellations.

We are only able to accommodate a maximum of 20 participants for this Tele-Clinic, so sign-up today. Simply click here and complete the brief registration form to take part in the Tele-Clinic.

Sales forecasting is the process of organizing and analyzing information in a way that makes it possible to estimate what your sales will be. This guide outlines some simple methods of forecasting sales using easy to find data. Books containing simple and sophisticated techniques of forecasting sales can be found in libraries and business oriented book stores

If you sell more than one type of product or service, prepare a separate sales forecast for each service or product group.There are many sources of information to assist with your sales forecast. Some key sources are:

• Competitors
• Neighboring Businesses
• Trade suppliers
• Downtown business associations
• Trade associations
• Trade publications
• Trade directories

Sales Forecasting for a New BusinessThese steps for developing a sales forecast can be applied to most kinds of businesses: Step 1:
Develop a customer profile and determine the trends in your industry.Make some basic assumptions about the customers in your target market. Experienced business people will tell you that a good rule of thumb is that 20% of your customers account for 80% of your sales. If you can identify this 20% you can begin to develop a profile of your principal markets. Sample customer profiles:male, ages 20-34, professional, middle income, fitness conscious.
Young families, parents 25 to 39, middle income, home owners
Small to medium sized magazine and book publishers with sales from $500,000 to $2,000,000
Determine trends by talking to trade suppliers about what is selling well and what is not. Check out recent copies of your industry’s trade magazines. Search the Business Periodicals Index (found in larger libraries) for articles related to your type of business. Step 2:
Establish the approximate size and location of your planned trading area.Use available statistics to determine the general characteristics of this area.Use local sources to determine unique characteristics about your trading area.How far will your average customer travel to buy from your shop? Where do you intend to distribute or promote your product? This is your trading area. Estimating the number of individuals or households can be done with little difficulty using statistics census data. Statistics family expenditure survey can identify what the average household spends on goods and services. Information on planned construction is available from a variety of sources. Directories the Yellow Pages can help identify names of companies located in your trading area. Neighborhood business owners, the local Chamber of Commerce, the Government Agent and the community newspaper are some sources that can give you insight into unique characteristics of your area. Step 3:
List and profile competitors selling in your trading area.Get out on the street and study your competitors. Visit their stores or the locations where their product is offered. Analyze the location, customer volumes, traffic patterns, hours of operation, busy periods, prices, quality of their goods and services, product lines carried, promotional techniques, positioning, product catalogues and other handouts. If feasible, talk to customers and sales staff. Step 4:
Use your research to estimate your sales on a monthly basis for your first year.The basis for your sales forecast can be the average monthly sales of a similar-sized competitor’s operations who is operating in a similar market It is recommended that you make adjustments for this year’s predicted trend for the industry. Be sure to reduce your figures by a start-up year factor of about 50% a month for the start-up months.Consider how well your competition satisfies the needs of potential customers in your trading area. Determine how you fit in to this picture and what niche you plan to fill. Will you offer a better location, convenience, a better price, later hours, better quality, better service? Consider population and economic growth in your trading area.Using your research, make an educated guess at your market share. If possible, express this as the number of customers you can hope to attract. You may want to keep it conservative and reduce your figure by approximately 15%.Prepare sales estimates month by month. Be sure to assess how seasonal your business is and consider your start up months. Sales Forecasting for an Existing BusinessSales revenues from the same month in the previous year make a good base for predicting sales for that month in the succeeding year. For example, if the trend forecasters in the economy and the industry predict a general growth of 4% for the next year, it will be entirely acceptable for you to show each month’s projected sales at 4% higher than your actual sales the previous year.Credible forecasts can come from those who have the actual customer contact. Get the salespersons most closely associated with a particular product line, service, market or territory to give their best estimates. Experience has proven the grass roots forecasts can be surprisingly accurate. Sales Forecasting and the Business PlanSummarize the data after it has been reviewed and revised. The summary will form a part of your business plan. The sales forecast for the first year should be monthly, while the forecast for the next two years could be expressed as a quarterly figure. Get a second opinion. Have the forecast checked by someone else familiar with your line of business. Show them the factors you have considered and explain why you think the figures are realistic. Your skills at forecasting will improve with experience particularly if you treat it as a “live” forecast. Review your forecast monthly, insert your actuals, and revise the forecast if you see any significant discrepancy that cannot be explained in terms of a one-time only situation. In this manner, your forecasting technique will rapidly improve and your forecast will become increasingly accurate. In recessionary times such as these accurate forecasting is critical.

“That bloody glove doesn’t fit his hand!”

What two letters come to mind?
There are NO two letters that could come to mind other than, OJ.
Why?
Because if “it doesn’t fit, you must acquit.”
I’m not going to get into whether OJ was guilty or not, but you’ve got to admit more than ten years later, we still remember the evidence that his lawyers used to get him off.
If you ask me Johnny Cochran is the greatest salesperson in the world (No offense Og Mandino). He was able to craft a case, produce evidence and ultimately obtain a “Not Guilty” verdict for what was probably one of the guiltiest of men ever to stand trial for murder.
Against overwhelming odds, Cochran gave the jury a reason to buy. While I don’t exactly approve of his tactics or motive, not to mention his choice in clients, I think we can all learn from the power of evidence when properly used.Yet we still see outrageous claims in all kinds of marketing, advertising and selling messages today without any supporting evidence at all. In fact there are so many messages in our media with unsupported claims that customers and buyers are confused and numbed to their effect. In the past there were far fewer choices confronting buyers. In addition there was less information available and less media coverage. All this added up to greater power for the seller.
I remember when I was a kid in New Jersey. My Dad wanted to buy a Ford. He said, “Come on Mark we’re going to the Ford dealer so that we can get our new car.” There was only one Ford dealer in our area so there wasn’t much choice. On the other hand, last week a friend of mine also bought a Ford. He told me he did research on the Internet, visited three dealers and eventually bought the exact model he wanted with all the options he needed from an auto broker. All at a price that was cheaper than all three dealers.
Today the power is with the buyer. Greater availability to information and more competition have given an advantage to the buyer. That’s good for buyers but it makes it tough for marketers and sellers. For this reason marketers must be more strategic about gaining the customers favorable attention and filling their needs. Now I’m not talking about clever marketing gimmicks but I’m talking about truly understanding the buyer’s needs and motives and assembling the evidence that supports the fact that you are not just a possible choice but the ONLY choice. Yet this RARELY happens. Since everybody is saying the same thing, today most product or service choices seem to be identical.It’s hard for a customer to see how any product or service is any better or any different or any worse than any of the other competitors. Unable to determine this they do the most logical thing. They resort to selecting the product or service with the lowest price. I have done this myself.Not long ago we realized our fence needed replacement. Every time we would into the garden or out by the pool we had to look at the brown rust on the rails and the decrepit wood. We had to struggle with the rickety gates and the shrubs were beginning to pull the fence off its moorings. We needed to buy a new fence. My wife of course elected me for this task. But where should I start? Where else – the yellow pages.As I flipped through the pages I noticed that every ad was essentially the same – free in-home consultation, varying sizes and materials, talented experienced professionals, installation you can trust, licensed, bonded, best pricing, blah, blah, blah. Not ONE of these ads stood out or addressed my specific needs. So I started calling. I got only wrong numbers, disconnects and voice mail messages. I started receiving callbacks. Within a week I had three contractors come to my home and quote on my fence. I received quotes of $7500, $6750 and $4485. I could find no discernable differences between the se quotes. What’s more, when I asked the salespeople the differences I got only, we been around the longest, we do work for the stars, if you buy cheap -you get cheap, and other dribble. By the way not ONE of these “so-called” salespeople every asked me a question about my needs.Finally I called the lowest priced bid and began asking some questions of my own. I found out that I could upgrade the fence to have “pressure treated rails.” Which would reduce the risk of rusting. When I asked the salesperson what could be done to ensure that the fence would be solid and not torn from it’s moorings he recommended using two by fours rather than the standard two by threes. I also inquired about how to make sure the gates would wear out and he told me that he always used four hinges rather than two or three on gates this size. All this cost over $1000 more but it was well worth it for me. He won the bid despite his poor marketing, advertising and salesmanship.My point simply is that if any one of these contractors would have asked me some questions to determine my specific needs and presented evidence to support the fact that their fencing company was the only one to provide this unique array of benefits I would have bought REGARDLESS of the price.Are you finding out your customer’s needs, desires and motives? How are you presenting your case to the buyer? Are you giving your client’s and customers a big enough reason to buy? What are you doing to set yourself apart? What evidence can you use to make your product or service different that the competition?These are the questions that every marketer or seller must ask himself or herself today.You can bet OJ is glad that Johnny Cochran did.

“The biggest mistake sales professionals make is not seeking out sales training or re-training.”

Price PrichetteI sometimes think back on all the things I was taught about business when getting my MBA, and realize how little practical value most of those bits of knowledge actually have. I learned far more about the most important aspects of business by taking some basic psychology classes, because it always comes down to people.I hear over and over again the same issues from salespeople I train, managers I coach, and business owners with which I consult. One of the most common things I am asked is, “Mark, how can I get people to buy from me instead of my competitors?”The answer is almost always the same, and it doesn’t involve lowering your price, adding incentives, or any of the other typical things that ruin profitability. It comes down to how to influence people.I’ve been affiliated with just about every major sales training program there is as either a student or instructor over the past 25 years. The course I’ve found that really teaches influence is the Dale Carnegie Sales Advantage. It takes the human relations principles developed by Dale Carnegie a century ago and applies them to a scientifically studied method of influencing people during the selling process. Of course, many of you reading my e-mail know this firsthand as former students of mine.Times change, and so do people- so we’ve got some exciting new additions to the Dale Carnegie methods that will help former students and new attendees alike. I’ve arranged with the Long Beach Dale Carnegie Training office to let my readers attend a free training session this Monday, February 11th at 6 PM.I’m extending my personal invite to all of my readers to attend this session (and bring a guest!) If you’ve been in my class, it will be great to see you again, and you can network with some of your classmates. If you’ve never attended one of my sessions, I look forward to meeting you and hearing how I may be able to personally assist you in your quest to influence more prospects and turn them into clients.Please call Aaron Kent at 562-427-1040 x210 if you would like to attend, and I look forward to seeing you all on Monday.Sign Up Today: Covert Persuasion
Time is running out to sign up for this One-Time-Only event where you will learn the secrets of how to get more business without resorting to typical sales tactics.

You and a guest are cordially invited to this FREE Dale Carnegie workshop where you will:
– Learn the fundamentals of “Covert Persuasion”
– Polish and re-fresh your awareness and application of the Dale Carnegie Sales Process, a process that increases sales for over 80% of all sales people
– Begin to acquire your “Masters Degree” as a sales professional
– Network with other Dale Carnegie Alumni and newcomers to find new clients and referral sources
– Receive a free copy of he Dale Carnegie Sales Advantage pocket handbook
– Accelerate your sales performance in 2008 and start the year off by investing some time with the largest professional training organization in the world: Dale Carnegie Training.Details:
Monday, February 11, 2008
2525 Cherry Avenue
Long Beach, CA. 90755
6:05 PM to 8:45 PM*Appetizers and soft drinks will be provided.
Your Tuition: $0.00Please confirm your attendance by emailing catrina.herrera@dalecarnegie.com, or contacting Aaron Kent at 562.427.1040 ext. 210.PS: Come prepared with a description of your ideal customer so that we can help you generate referrals from this session.Have a great week!

If you go to Amazon.com and type in a request for “books on selling” you will receive over 5,000 selections to choose from. They range from, “how to sell more,” to “overcoming objections,” to “building rapport,” and so on. Most of these books proclaim some kind of proprietary selling system or specific process aimed at improving sales results.

Now, don’t get me wrong, it’s not that I think that spending time understanding the selling process is bad. I have read a good number of these books myself and have even had some of these authors, trainers and business leaders as guests on my radio show. I believe that it is critical to understand and practice the “selling process.” I, myself teach how to integrate this process into business relationships every week in the Dale Carnegie Sales Advantage Class. The Carnegie organization has done a fabulous job of developing a powerful yet practical process for selling improvement. I am honored to be a sales instructor and encourage folks to check it out.On the other hand if you were to go to Amazon.com and enter a request for books on “BUYING” you would receive less than 100 books. Why is that? Is it more important that we understand the “selling” process or the “buying” process?Wouldn’t you agree that if we can better understand the process that the buyer goes through that we would be more able to align our thinking with theirs? It is for this reason that I have spent considerable time developing a system for analyzing the process of making a decision to buy a particular product or service. Of course this process is 99% subconscious. Yet I came to the conclusion that this process existed by looking closer at why there is so much friction or resistance in the buying process. In other words, why often times buyers will resist buying simply because the salesperson is attempting to sell?A Matter of TrustLet’s face it most would agree that the biggest challenge that business people face when attempting to persuade others is gaining their TRUST. Trust is a rare commodity these days. Information is flying at us at a staggering rate and we are preoccupied with decoding all kinds of redundant messages at the expense of building trusting relationships. Consequently business people today are more savvy, suspicious and selective than ever before.I have often found that salespeople or even business people in the selling role try to move the customer to take action too quickly and thereby push that customer away. Maybe forever. They not only lose the sale but they lose credibility, damage their rapport with the customer and gain the reputation of being too pushy.For this reason customers are hesitant to take action until they have passed through the first eight stages of the “Buying Decision Process.” When we understand and practice recognizing this process, we can more accurately satisfy customer’s needs at each stage of the process and thereby be the person that helps them to move through each stage of the process. Of course when we help them move through the process we are also earn the right to help them take action.The Nine Stages of the “Buying Decision Process:”Here’s how the process works:Stage 1: Become Aware of Change
Stage 2: Recognize Deficiency
Stage 3: Experience Pain
Stage 4: Seek a Remedy
Stage 5: Encounter Influence
Stage 6: Establish Buying Criteria
Stage 7: Identify Options
Stage 8: Make a Brand Selection
Stage 9: Take ActionStage 1: Become Aware of Change
Let’s look at them individually now. The first stage is that the customer is aware of change. These may be external changes in the market place or internal changes within their company. Something is changing. We can help them to address this change by making them more aware of what is happening around them and perhaps showing them that they are not alone. Other folks in their industry or profession are facing the same kind of changes. This increases familiarity, builds credibility and reduces friction in the relationship. One day I was driving home and noticed that the houses on my block looked newer than mine. I wasn’t sure why but it seemed they were changing. The reality was that they were staying the same and it was MY home that was changing. We will see how shortly.Stage 2: Recognize Deficiency
The next stage is that the buyer begins to recognize some sort of deficiency. They begin to relate the “changes” to what they are missing. They realize that they are “lacking” something. Others seem to have it and they don’t. It could be more sales, profit, a better company culture or just about anything under the sun. Remember that change that I thought was taking place to the homes on my block? Well, I drove up my driveway the next day and looked closely at my house. What I noticed was that the other homes looked newer than mine because my home needed a paint job.Stage 3: Experience Pain
During the next stage the buyer begins to experience “pain.” As many of my clients, students, listeners and weekly readers know, I am fond of saying that there is no change without pain. I say pain but in reality it could simply be discomfort or unease. Surely I was not in physical pain when I discovered that my house needed painting but it did produce some discomfort. Sometimes the “pain” is more of a “pain in the neck.” In this stage the buyer realizes how much it could hurt to remain in their “unchanged” state.Stage 4: Seek Remedy
It is at this point that the buyer decides to seek some sort of remedy. The “pain” of the “unchanged” state has become MORE than the pain of change. For me there was some “pain” or discomfort in getting my house painted. I had to part with some serious coin, find a reputable company, clear the specifics with the community group and invest time in a myriad of logistical elements to make the paint job happen. But the pain of looking at my dull and paint-chipped home was getting to be greater than the pain of planning and financing the paint job.Stage 5: Encounter Influence
At this stage the buyer comes in contact with people, data or things that may influence their decision. In fact at this stage people seem to be tuned into noticing the things that influence their decision. Have you ever made the decision to buy a particular type of car and then all of a sudden you start seeing those cars everywhere? This is called “reticular activity.” It is an area of the brain that is responsible for non-cognitive or subliminal memory. I found myself driving home from work just a few days after noticing the paint peeling on my house and everywhere I turned there was a paint truck. I also noticed that one of my neighbors just painted his home and I asked him who did the job.Stage 6: Establish Buying Criteria
At this stage the buyer begins to transfer the emotional needs to more logical needs. They assemble the criteria that will be required to fill the need. For example I began to think about what my criteria should be for the company that would paint my house. They needed to have scaffolding because my home is located on as sharp grade. They needed to bonded and insured to avoid any contingent liability. They needed to have experience in my neighborhood and so on. I began to build a logic defense mechanism for making my selection.Stage 7: Identify Options
During this stage the buyer conducts an active search for a solution that fits the criteria. I began talking to friends to develop a list of some of the best painting companies in my area. When I put the list together I initiated contact or let others know that I was interested.Stage 8: Make a Brand Selection
In this stage the buyer limits their decision to the brands that satisfy the criteria and sooth the “pain.” The fact that I found a painting contractor that met all my logical criteria is only part of what drove me to make my selection. The larger fact was that the owner of this company actually took me for a walk up and down my block pointing out different home and discussing the pros and con’s of each paint job. He asked me a great deal of questions and determined that my motive was more than just fixing the peeling paint, preserving my investment or saving money. He knew that keeping up with the Jones was important to me. He found that out by recognizing where I was in the buying decision process.Stage 9: Take Action
In the final stage the buyer takes action. The most interesting thing about the paint company that I selected was that they were the first company to visit me nearly 3 months before I decided to “take action” on the paint job. The owner kept in touch me at every stage of the buying process. He didn’t try to PUSH me to take action. He found paint chips for me to look at. He sent me a few before and after pictures of some homes he completed, he gave me names of a few people who’s homes he painted in my neighborhood and he showed a genuine interest in helping me with the decision. He truly WON the business by putting me first and the decision to take action last.Think about your own business. How can you better understand where your customers are in their buying decision process? How can you address them at every stage of the process? How can you help your prospects and customers to recognize what is changing around them? How is that causing them deficiency? What is their “pain?” What can you do to create reticular activity for those that are in the “Influence” stage?Ultimately we can’t push anyone to take action. Taking action will happen of its own accord. We can however make a greater effort to understand our customers, their environment, their concerns and their motives. In doing so we will build long-term relationships that produce greater value and profit for all.

Have you heard the story of the black bamboo? I spent a great deal of time in Japan many years ago. While there, I met an elderly gentlemen who had a beautiful bamboo garden in his yard. One day he gave me a walking tour of this garden pointing out the different types of bamboo.

“Few people,” the old man said in a ragged voice, “realize that there are hundreds of types of bamboo. This is the Black Bamboo seed.” He held the small seed between his thumb and forefinger like it was a holy relic. It looked like a small walnut as far as I was concerned. “When planted, Mark-san, it must have water and fertilizer nearly day.”

He then led me to a patch of dirt and pointed to it saying, “In this place there will grow the most beautiful bamboo garden with stalks more than 20 feet high. But it will require great loyalty and patience from its caretaker.”

I remember thinking, “Yeah right, 20 feet high. This guy is dreaming. I always get hooked-up with the strange, eccentric odd-balls.” For the next few weeks I watched the old man lovingly tending his dirt patch but nothing grew. Week after week he kept watering and fertilizing yet there was not the tiniest sprout to show for all his efforts. On the day of my departure back to the States, I watched him outside my window. There he was on his knees gently pouring water into the dirt – sprinkling fertilizer onto the soil. But there was nothing. I remember thinking, “doesn’t this guy get it? When will he give up this lost cause?”

Surprise Surprise
I returned to Japan several years later and again rented the same room. As I looked out the window I saw the old man and I felt a tinge of sorrow for him. There he was again with his water sprinkling can and little hand-spade. Yet there was no dirt this time. In its place was the most magnificent bamboo garden I have ever seen. The beautiful black bamboo grew higher than the roof of the house itself. You see, what the old man failed to tell me was that when the black bamboo seed is watered and fertilized repeatedly nothing appears to be happening for months on end. Even after a year with the same process of feeding and watering nothing visually happens.

Then, during the tenth month of the second year, the seed opens and a stalk bursts through the ground. Within a period lasting no more than six weeks, the bamboo grows to a majestic height of 20 feet!

The question is when did all this growth really take place – 20 feet in six weeks or 20 feet in two years?

I believe that the growth was a result of precise events staged over the entire two year period. Why? Because at any time during that period, had fertilizing and watering not been maintained, the seed would surely have died.

Systemized Marketing
Marketing is much the same. To get a prospect to think of you first, to get an old customer to think of you in a new way, to get an entire organization to operate more productively or even to change long-standing attitudes and behaviors, the mental changes may require pro-active relationship building for a number of years.

And once the effort of the relationship building takes hold, results often measure in double digit percentages. The return on effective relationship development is enormous.

As business professionals we must take a more systemized approach to our marketing efforts. Whether it’s developing effective advertising or collateral material, creating an ad placement strategy or even launching a public relations campaign, using a consistent systemized approach is far more effective than the quick fix. This is true in building customer relationships as well.

Many people tell me “if I could only get in front of a prospect then I could sell them my services.” But in getting the customer’s attention and interest we run the risk of losing credibility and being perceived as a “salesperson”. Now there is a way to use a systemized approach to getting more appointments “without” selling!

New Tele-Clinic
I would like to invite you to learn how to use a simple yet powerful five step marketing approach to getting more appointments. I have never used this weekly update to shamelessly promote myself for profit purposes. In fact this is the FIRST TIME I have ever made an offer in this newsletter. Yet I have received an overwhelming request from subscribers and web site visitors for information on this particular topic.

In this Tele-clinic we will present non-selling principles, approaches and techniques that will get you more appointments with qualified prospects. We will cover:

• How to establish the ground rules so it’s easier to ask for an appointment.
• What information your prospect should have BEFORE you meet with them (or even talk with them).
• How to reach the right person without a battle.
• The things you should never ask a prospect when you get them on the telephone.
• The things you must ask your prospect before you set up an appointment.
• Why you should spend more time REJECTING prospects rather than trying to get them to accept you.
• How to get a prospect to ask YOU for an appointment instead of you asking them.
• Why you should give your prospect homework after you’ve set the appointment. Several ways to pre-sell your services even before meeting for the appointment.
• How to dramatically reduce appointment cancellations.

The five steps that we will cover in the Tele-Clinic is as follows:

1. Preparation
2. Reconnaissance
3. Contact
4. Rejection
5. Response

What’s a TeleClinic?
The content of our TeleClinics are practical and hands-on. The sessions are highly interactive, not just one way information. We discuss principles and strategies and how to put them into action. You get to ask plenty of questions. We work with participants to clarify the ideas and show them how they can implement each in their own business.

This TeleClinic will be held over a conference line and will last 20 to 30 minutes. It is supported by presentation material which each member will receive prior to the event. Additionally, the entire presentation will be audio taped and made available so that participants can replay the content “on demand”.

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Do you find yourself chasing prospects around?

First, they act interested, then they don’t call you back. Or after the first meeting they procrastinate and won’t even take your calls.If you’re like many entrepreneurs you advertise your products or services, mail information or meet prospects at industry events then attempt to follow-up on all of these “leads” to see who wants to buy something. And still – nothing happens.How can we motivate prospects to take action?Many marketing gurus tell us we have to DIFFERENTIATE ourselves – that we have to create more PERCEIVED VALUE.I say this is not a matter of “perception” but rather a matter of reality. The real question is… What can we do to actually BECOME valuable advisors for our prospects?We want to be “perceived” as different from other salespeople yet we act just like them. Most of us are still ACTING like salespeople. And most salespeople see all prospects as the same and treat them the same. The fact is that every prospect has a different timetable. They each have a unique set of circumstances that influence their actions. For this reason, one-shot follow just doesn’t work.What does work? A coordinated campaign that provides real BENEFITS for the prospect. In fact the only kind of campaign that does work is on that provides benefits for the prospect BEFORE they decide to do business with us. Oh come on Mark, how in the world can we do that?The Prospects View
Think of how marketing is “perceived” from the prospects point of view:FIRST: They see an ad that tells them how fabulous our product or service is. This may spark their interest and they may even call us to find out more, but does it benefit them? NOSECOND: They get something in the mail that tells them why they should do business with us. Some of this may ring true but does it benefit them? NOTHIRD: They get a call from us asking if we received the information requested with a clear intimation that the next step is to meet with us so we can “close” the sale. Does this provide them with any benefit? NOAnd we wonder why they blow us off?The Root of the Problem
The problem starts with the follow-up process itself. In most businesses, especially small businesses, new prospects are usually contacted only ONCE or a maximum of TWICE via mail and telephone. There is always the good intention to follow up again later, but the discipline required to do this is sorely lacking. I know because I’ve been there. There are always a million other things to do. Sales appointments. Meetings. Paperwork. Coordinating advertising. Dealing with employees. Client issues and ad infinitum.We have to remember that for every person who responds to our message, there are 2, 3, 10, maybe more, who ALMOST responded. They heard our message. Thought, “that’s interesting,” but were unsure. Perhaps they made a note and put it aside. Maybe they stumbled over the note a day or two later and read it again. Maybe, they even got to the phone and were about to call you, when someone came to the door and interrupted them. Finally, the note got buried with everything else on their desk and was forgotten forever.These people who ALMOST responded WILL respond to another nudge, or two, if the nudges come at the right moment and the message contains some kind of benefit for them. This is what marketers call “Residual Influence” and it’s an often-overlooked tool that’s the real key to successful follow-up.Understand the Timing
In my experience I have found that prospects fall into four distinct groups. Let’s refer to them as: NOW prospects, SOON prospects, FUTURE prospects and, NEVER prospects. Following up with each of these different groups requires a different approach and a different type of benefit for the prospect.”NOW prospects” are ready to make a buying decision. The only question is with “who.” The goal here is to determine their motives and link your product or service to that motive. It should be relatively easy to secure an appointment with this type of customer. But beware, any delay in following up on this type of customer can and WILL cost you business. There are never enough of these.”SOON prospects” are in the early stages of consideration. Typically they are thinking of making a purchase in the next six months but must resolve one or more issues. This could be budget, options, selection or the timing could hinge on another event. It is critical that you discover what these variables are. This presents a tremendous opportunity to provide some information or referrals that might BENEFIT this prospect and move them toward making the right decision. Know that they crave information that will help them with their decision. They also require some handholding and appropriate but consistent communication during the consideration process.”FUTURE prospects” are people who are not likely to make a decision within the next six months. These people are usually not very interested in your product or service at the present time because they are preoccupied with other issues. FUTURE prospects could also include your past clients, and customers with whom you have a long-standing relationship. I recommend that marketers develop industry updates that could be beneficial to theses future customers. We don’t want to spend allot of time with FUTURE prospects now but we do want to develop a relatively inexpensive but informative way to maintain contact with and influence over these prospects. The trick is to develop a method to keep these prospects in the pipeline by giving them something of value. Email is a great way to do this.”NEVER prospects” have no intention to purchase from you. These people will waste as much of your time and energy as you let them. They may like your information and the benefits you provide but they have no intention of dealing with you. Perhaps consistent and regular follow-up could convert NEVER to MAYBE, but you might never know, and it might take a tremendous amount of effort. Hint: often times prospects ONLY interested in price are NEVER prospects. If all they want is a cheap price are they worth the time?How to Tell the Difference
The problem is, how do you tell which type of prospect they are? And how do you do this without wasting your valuable time on the NEVER customers? You need to have a complete follow-up system that addresses the needs and wants of each group. The good news is that the system I’m about to describe deals with all four types of prospects automatically – you don’t have to worry about what type they are, and you won’t waste any time dealing with “tire-kickers”.A Typical Approach
While this can be applied to any industry let’s assume you are a real estate agent and you get an inquiry from a young couple. Mr. and Mrs. Smith that are thinking about selling their home and moving up to a bigger one in your area in the next 6 months. They are requesting one of the FREE Special Home Seller Reports you offer on your web site or in your informational marketing program. Most agents would determine that this is a SOON prospect and would send the report and then call to try to get an appointment. This would not result in a listing because Mr. and Mrs. Smith simply are not ready to move at this time. Learning this, the agent would create a follow-up for six months. At that time they would call Mr. and Mrs. Smith only to find that they listed their house and it’s already been sold. Has this happened to you?Using the Residual Influence Strategy
But by using our “Residual Influence” strategy we handle things quite differently. This time we tell the prospect that we are different than any other agent. We ask questions determining what they want to “learn” about. Then tell them we will teach them for FREE! We schedule a series of twelve appointments with the couple – one every two weeks for six months. At each of these twelve appointments, we sit down with them, at their convenience, and explain everything they could ever possibly want to know about buying and selling a house. We agree to educate them. To go above and beyond what every other salesperson is doing. To provide a BENEFIT for the customer even BEFORE they make the decision to buy from us!At the first meeting, we explain in great detail how they can find the best mortgage at the lowest rate. At the second meeting, we explain how they can find the best homes at the lowest prices.
At the third, we tell them what can be done to their house to immediately raise its market value. And so on. Every two weeks for six months, we impart all of our real estate expertise to ensure that they can make the best possible decisions. This is actually in the best interest of the customer!Now, if at any time during this six-month period the couple decides that they are ready to make their move, whom do you think they will call? The answer is obvious: YOU! By spending the time to educate them, and by demonstrating your expertise, you have become their preferred choice – the only choice. When the time comes to list their home, you will be viewed as a trusted advisor, NOT a salesmen hunting for a commission. Residual influence in action.As I say, the residual influence strategy can be used for just about any kind of business, product or service. It is a universal way to both improve your relationships and help your prospects see you as a unique option in a marketplace crowded with copycats. Again it’s not so much about being “perceived” as different it’s about actually BEING different.

The Top 10 Ways NOT to Attract New Clients

They say marketing has a bad name. But I maintain that NOT marketing has a much worse name. If you’re an entrepreneur or small business owner interested in attracting new clients, are you still committing any of the 10 deadly sins listed below?

10. Make sure nobody can really understand what business you’re in. Use buzz-words and industry jargon. Never share the results of what you do or mention how you’ve helped your clients. Make people really work to figure out how you can help them.

9. Talk only about features and processes in your marketing materials. Don’t include any benefits or case studies of successful clients you’ve worked with. Throw in lots of impressive industry jargon and don’t worry about professional design or paper. Using 20# copy paper is fine.

8. Put up a quick-and-dirty website with most of the pages still under construction. Make sure to design it yourself and make it look as amateurish as possible. Of course, obscure navigation, huge graphics files and pages that lead nowhere will keep ’em coming back.

7. Forget about spell check and proofreading. People don’t care about typos or if you spell their name wrong. Whip out every e-mail as fast as you possibly can. And never put a signature line on your email, let alone a subject line that means anything.

6. Don’t ever network. Make sure nobody ever gets to meet you in person and learn who you are and what you can do for them. And if you do happen to show up at a networking event, make sure to sit in a corner with a beer and lots of hors D’oeuvres, away from pesky prospective clients.

5. Don’t write any articles or do any talks demonstrating to the world that you’re an expert and really know your stuff. Make sure to keep all of that a big secret. Also never share one bit of your expertise with anyone unless they pay you first.

4. Don’t ask questions when meeting with a new prospective client. Just give them a long, detailed presentation on all the technical aspects of your work. If they don’t understand you, they probably wouldn’t be a good client anyway.

3. Do substandard work as long as you think you can get away with it. Strive for mediocrity and make sure your clients pay for it through the nose. Why should you work so hard when they end up making so much money from your expertise?

2. Don’t return phone calls – ever. Just wait for them to call you back. If they really need your assistance, they’ll keep trying until they catch you in. And when they do reach you, make sure to sound impatient and too busy to help them.

1. Disappear. One you’ve completed a project, make sure they never hear from you again. Heck if they really need you, they’ll call. But don’t make it too easy by ever giving them your business card or putting your name in the yellow pages. You don’t want to look like you’re begging. Have some dignity, for goodness sake!

If any of these symptoms are present in your business, its time to think about making some core changes to your marketing effort. At the Small Business Advisory Network we like to say that we influence decisions, improve performance and inspire change. That’s what our consulting, workshops, web site, weekly articles and The Small Business Hour Radio Show are all about.

Right now on the Serengeti there is a gazelle running like the wind. Her blood is pumping in her veins. Her lungs are nearly exploding. She runs harder and faster with fear in her heart. Why does she run? She is being chased. The queen of the beasts is at her heels… a bloodthirsty lioness. She escapes as the lion takes down a different, less agile gazelle. She will live another day. A few hours later, the gazelle finds herself grazing on the same plain not fifty feet from the very same lion and her entire pride. The lions lick their chops. They are stuffed and tired from the hunt. The gazelles are no longer afraid because the lion is no longer acting hungry. I have found that most customers feel like that gazelle. They feel like they are being hunted, stalked, and eventually taken down. I guess that’s because sales people are taught to act hungry. Even marketing material: ads, brochures, mailers, web sites and the like are focused on “hunting” for easy prey. Traditional selling and marketing is a manipulative process that is designed to get someone to buy regardless of whether or not they need to buy. Make no mistake, traditional marketing is about the pursuit – the hunter and the hunted. It’s about overcoming obstacles, circumventing roadblocks, and tricking or trapping your enemy. What if you were able to break out of this traditional marketing trap? What if you were able to present your products and services in such a way that prospects and customers sought you out, rather than you chasing after them? How valuable would it be to your business if you could ATTRACT your ideal prospect without spending a fortune on advertising? All marketers like to believe they have a unique solution. They are confident that they are different from the competition. When you get right down to it, however, most marketing says the exact SAME thing. It talks about what the company, product, or service DOES. At best, it may promise some generic group of benefits in which buyers MAY be interested. Even the best marketing materials (web sites, brochure, flyers, ads, radio or TV spots, promotions, interactive CDs or videos) attempt to communicate to the customer why their product, service or company is better than the competition. Few focus on the problems that the customer is having. This is at the core of the attraction mindset. My advice to you is this: STOP acting hungry. The more you chase, the more they will run. Let your marketing materials educate, inspire and influence your customers and prospects rather than SELL them. Take a big step back when you approach prospects. This goes for creating marketing materials as well. Focus on the customers problems in your conversation as well as in your marketing communication. When we understand the customer’s problems, we can build a viable solution that is probably very different from your hungry competitors. Taking this approach will allow you to build stronger relationships with clients and establish a brand that will be viral worthy and create a buzz in your industry. In short, the best way to have “all you can eat” is simply to not act so damn hungry. Check out my new Attract More Business Self Study program. Now you can get five days of my attraction mindset FREE. Just click here! Have a great week! I hope that this “Business Update” has been helpful in assisting you to improve the performance of your organization. For more information on how the Small Business Advisory Network assists companies in improving their performance, please feel free to contact us at 310-320-8190 or email mark@markdeo.com Mark Deo Print this article.