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Keep connected
It pays to stay in touch with prospects who don't buy today
by
When talking about prospects, I always urge sales reps to move them forward, or move them out. If prospects arent moving closer to purchasing each time you speak, theyre taking up your valuable time. But that doesnt mean you should completely write them off.
We all can share experiences in which weve been pleasantly surprised by a prospect we thought wed never do business with. Hes the one who calls and says, Im ready now. To make this happen more often, you should have a personal marketing strategy for staying in contact with your higher-potential prospects.
Prospects fall into two groups:
1) The ones who are not great prospects for you today (too small, not qualified) but could very well be in the future. Although you likely wont have them in your regular rotation of calls, you want to be sure they think of you if and when situations change at the company.
2) Those who are qualified but choose not to do business with you. Its in your best interest not to write them off. Why?
First, lets look at four reasons why prospects wont buy from you today: 1) no need, 2) no interest, 3) no money, 4) no hurry.
Those are the basic reasons you see in every sales book. Lets break the no hurry reason down even further: Theyre lazy. Buying from you would involve some work. They procrastinate. Who doesnt? They are too busy with more pressing activities. (This also could fall in the no need category.)
What you should do
Stay in contact with selected high-potential prospects through methods that dont require much of your time. Use the mail and send faxes or e-mails. Consider putting together a brief newsletter that provides valuable information they can use, not just puffery about your company and products.
For example, include tips and tidbits to help them with their jobs. Of course, the suggestions should include the use of your product or service, but thats not the main reason for the communication.
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Your personal stay in touch marketing program
1) Define your categories
Determine who to place into your system. For example, anyone now spending over a certain dollar level with a competitor could be a category, or people with a project planned out two years in the future.
2) Get computerized
Contact-management programs make this a snap. Otherwise, getting organized may become a nightmare, taking you away from your selling time.
3) Plan and execute
Decide how youll communicate with your prospects and how often. Here are the ideas that I mentioned earlier: Newsletters, special reports or other articles that provide useful content with an underlying sales message. Postcards. Articles you clip that would be of interest. Free samples of your product. Fax broadcasts (these are relatively easy to do with most contact-management computer programs). Handwritten notes. Birthday cards. Other holiday cards or even cards for no particular reason. Special items for select prospects (Ive sent prospects books on topics unrelated to what I sell but that I knew they were interested in).
4) Follow up
Keep your list clean, stay in touch and have something of value every time you call. Its a long process, but well worth the effort.
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You might send out a piece on 10 Ways to Reduce Transaction Costs. (See the box at right for more ideas.) The return on this type of marketing communication could be huge. And heres the simple reason: things change.
Situations at companies change every day. Think about the changes at your company over the past three months. If changes involve new needs and requirements, potential buyers will likely turn to what is familiar. When youre in touch with them, your company could be the first one they think of when new needs develop. Plus, through repetitiveness, you build credibility in their minds.
The more they see your name, the more familiar and credible it becomes. Mix in a little smart marketing with your selling, and youll maximize the return on your time investment.
Art Sobczak helps salespeople use the
phone to prospect, sell
and manage accounts more successfully.
Call or reach him via e-mail at .
This article originally appeared in the January/February 2000 issue of Progressive Distributor. Copyright 2000.
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