In my earlier life as a carpet cleaner, the winter months of January, February, and March, had been confronted with concern and trepidation. Not simply myself, however everybody in our business, feared these months.
Why?
It was all the time the slowest time of yr for this business. If you consider it for a second, this seasonal hunch occurred merely as a result of climate. Few owners needed to have their carpets cleaned within the winter months. Sub-zero temperatures, slushy, messy, Spring thaw situations and submit vacation season bank cards payments all conspired to maintain the telephone from ringing.
That put the carpet cleaner, flush with the prosperity of the earlier months earlier than the vacations, in a extremely robust scenario if they didn’t put together for the sluggish occasions. Kinda just like the ant and the grasshopper fable.
The winter of 2000 proved to be an excellent one for me. The advertising and marketing push I placed on in November and December was carrying me via these lean occasions. My advertising and marketing machine was bringing in a continuing provide of latest and prior purchasers for me.
Nonetheless that was not the identical for a lot of of my friends on the business bulletin boards and boards. Many had been complaining about how sluggish it was for them. I simply shook my head. Why had been they not ready? I knew it might take them till Might or June simply to atone for the bills they had been behind on except they may make the telephone ring now.
So I put collectively what has since develop into often known as the “Paul Douglas Motion Plan”. I took the steps outlined on this plan and modified it to suit any enterprise that should blast out of a sluggish season hunch. So with that stated, right here is the 13 step plan of motion for everybody that wants extra enterprise now.
Flyers: Put out twice as a lot of your best flyers each week for each gross sales rep in your corporation. New prospects are the life blood of each enterprise. With out them gross sales will wither and die. Gross sales slumps can often be damaged by merely doubling your advertising and marketing effort.
Direct Mail: Unsolicited mail works. It has been used ever because the invention of the postage stamp. Purchase or hire a listing of names and addresses of prospects that suit your excellent shopper demographic. Mail 100 prospecting letters every week out to this checklist for each particular person in your organization that wants a brand new lead. A 1% response means one new shopper/lead per week.
The letter you ship out doesn’t must be good. It simply must be despatched. Break up testing future mailings will will let you enhance on the letter you mail. So don’t fret in regards to the letter you’re sending. Simply ship it. And ship it as soon as every week.
Comply with up: Here’s a seldom used secret of junk mail that can not less than double the response of your mailing. Name them. Persons are very busy. Many occasions they may obtain a suggestion that’s irresistible. They’re about to take the specified motion and BANG! One thing sidetracks them. The gross sales momentum is gone. Your supply is forgotten.
Contact the recipient. Jar their reminiscence and convert extra gross sales out of your mailing. This step alone will put you head and shoulders above your competitors that does not observe up
Joint Ventures: One of many quickest methods to construct a shopper checklist is to make use of another person’s. Each business and career has pure referral companions. These are firms that serve the very same purchasers you do with non-competing services.
Create an unique particular supply for his or her purchasers. Then have them mail this particular supply to their checklist of purchasers. Now chances are you’ll be questioning, “Why on earth would anybody do that for you?” They may do it as a result of it is going to assist them keep in contact with their purchasers. It’s going to create goodwill for them by giving them such a terrific supply. You made it easy and straightforward to do. And also you reciprocated and mailed a particular promotion to your personal shopper checklist, selling their enterprise.
In a nutshell a great JV or three way partnership consists of the next.
1. A letter of introduction or endorsement printed on the JV associate’s letterhead, and signed by the JV associate (And sure, it’s best to supply to exchange the letterhead that’s used).
2. A gross sales letter from your self, selling the unique particular supply, which you and your JV associate created only for them.
3. A coupon summarizing the supply, as a secondary response mechanism.
4. Your corporation card and brochure.
5. Mail all of the above within the JV companions envelopes (and sure, you will have to exchange the envelopes as nicely).
Later on this article I’ll share with you how one can merely and simply discover your JV companions.
JV Thank-you Items: Bear in mind the coupon that was to be enclosed within the mailing? Give your JV Associate these similar coupons to divulge to their new purchasers. Those that didn’t obtain the mailing. Everybody loves a present. It cements relationships. Everybody loves giving items. Most of all everybody loves making a gift of invaluable FREE items.
Prior Purchasers: Contact 15 prior purchasers on daily basis. Allow them to know you’re nonetheless alive. Advise them once you name that you’re making a courtesy observe up name. Ensure they’re pleased with their final buy. Ask them if there’s any manner you will be of service. In some circumstances, chances are you’ll generate new enterprise together with your purchasers. Extra usually than naught, you will see that your referral price hovering after making these calls.
Chilly Name: Only a few individuals get pleasure from chilly calling. I’m considered one of them. But when I had a alternative of chilly calling or ravenous, I am going to chilly name. Contact 30 chilly prospects on daily basis, out there space you need to work in.
Market To Your Consumer’s Neighbor’s: You simply completed your service or delivered your product. Inform your shopper’s neighbors. Birds of a feather are likely to flock collectively. Likelihood is good your shopper’s neighbor could be a professional prospect for you as nicely.
Reward Referrals: Supply a money reward or retailer/enterprise credit score to anybody that offers you a referral now. Attraction to individuals’s greed and pay them for his or her referrals. If you happen to at present use a referral reward program, improve the worth of the reward.
Referral Golf equipment: An excellent networking alternative. The largest group that I do know of is BNI. In a nutshell a referral membership is a gaggle of enterprise homeowners, like your self who’re continuously looking out to assist their purchasers with most well-liked service suppliers. The important thing secret right here is to offer extra referrals than you obtain. That is the place it’s best to begin on the lookout for JV Companions.
Service golf equipment: Be a part of a service membership or your native chamber of commerce. Attend the conferences, do the service and volunteer work. That is one other nice networking alternative and JV Associate supply
Shameless Bribe: Supply a powerful incentive to make use of your companies now. It will likely be too late once you get previous your sluggish season. A reduction, a contest, no matter, be inventive.
Your Personal Concepts: I’m positive you got here up with a couple of of your personal concepts to extend enterprise. Implement them
Now right here is the most important key. Do not do separately. Do not simply do those you want and ignore the remainder. Do all of them proper now. Not tomorrow, not subsequent week, NOW! That is the success legislation of taking huge motion. It would not matter which success guru you subscribe to, all of them inform you to take motion. Large motion yields huge outcomes. Taking motion, even when it occurs to be the mistaken motion, will produce outcomes merely since you created momentum. So take motion. Do not give it some thought, DO IT NOW!
© 2007 Paul Douglas. All rights reserved.
