Marketing Marshall

(Here’s a repost of an article I wrote in early 2007. It’s worth reposting, since we all still battle spam and wonder why we are added to certain mailing lists.)

It’s been over 7 years since Seth Godin’s Permission Marketing made its debut. The book - and the concept - are such household names in the small business and marketing community, it’s hard to believe that someone could NOT know or heard of Seth Godin and Permission Marketing.

Judging from the content of my inbox today, it’s time for Permission Marketing refresher course. It seems that many business owners these days are not asking permission. That is, they have stopped asking, never asked, forgot to ask or consciously chose not to ask permission. Permission to send newsletters, email promotions and other invitations to buy their product or service.

By mid-afternoon today, I counted no less than 7 email newsletters in my inbox that I didn’t ask for. Didn’t subscribe to. Didn’t give my permission for the authors to send. And, that’s just the newsletters…a found a few other promotional emails I didn’t ask for either.

I wasn’t so frustrated (although it’s annoying to have 10 more emails in my overfull inbox) by the additional 5-10 emails today…rather, I was perplexed, confused and even a bit sad for these service professionals.

Perhaps they have forgotten what it means to ask permission to follow up and to keep in touch with prospects and colleagues. Maybe they forgot about Seth’s work. Perhaps they never read the book in the first place. Perhaps they don’t know…I certainly hope that’s the case.

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(Note: this article was originally written in 2007 for Michael Port’s Book Yourself Solid members.)

You’ve probably heard it by now. The Book Yourself Solid Keep-in-Touch Strategy is the most important strategy you will ever use. Not only do you know this to be true but you also know you need to actually use it to grow your business and get booked solid.

There’s one small problem: You don’t know WHAT to say or WHEN to follow up, aside from the usual “Thank You” card.  Rest assured that you are not alone. Just this past week, two different clients came to their coaching sessions feeling lost and a bit frustrated that they didn’t have a solid keep-in-touch plan.

“I would love to keep in touch if only I knew what exactly to say or how to add value in following up,” one client remarked.

Another client put in this way: “I know I need to reach out consistently to build relationships, but I need to be more creative. I can’t just keep calling my colleagues when I want a referral.”

The more confidence and clarity you have about how to best implement this strategy, the more likely you are to actually use it! Granted, any effort to keep in touch is certainly better than none at all. Chances are good, though, that you will use this strategy even more when you have a plan and some ideas on how to follow up.

To help spark your creativity, here are several great ideas that will help you implement the keep-in-touch strategy:

1. Recognize the Success of Others -Send a card congratulating a referral partner or industry leader on their latest successes or awards. To do this, scan the business section of the paper or the Business Journals to stay current and learn of awards given to your colleagues.
2. Celebrate Less Popular Holidays -  Instead of sending the typical holiday card, decide to send a card for Groundhog Day or Halloween. Sending a card on a less popular holiday will ensure that your card will be noticed. Plus, you might get points for creativity!
   
3. Ask, “How Can I Be of Service?” - Rather than waiting for the phone to ring, call up a colleague or referral partner to learn specific ways that you may be able to help them. You may be the person who has the exact resource they need for an upcoming project.
4. Recommend Valuable Resources - When you find a valuable resource or tool, such as a book, marketing tool, or new business service, this is a great opportunity to reach out to prospects, clients or strategic partners. Send a card with the name of the resource. Not only will you add immediate value in recommending the resource, but you will also build your “Likeability Factor” in the process.
5. Invite Others To Attend - Attending an association lunch or networking event? Call a referral partner or colleague and invite them to go with you. Not only will you have a chance to build a relationship with this person but you also add value in helping them expand their network and meet new people.
6. Say “Thank You” Often -  Although this one sounds obvious, have you ever neglected to say “thanks” for a referral, a resource or just a helping hand? When in doubt, it’s always better to say thank you too much than not enough.
7. Make Introductions - Send an email or make a phone call to introduce two people in your network who could benefit from knowing one another. For example, you might introduce a real estate agent and a financial planner because they might be great referral partners for one another.
8. Send a Card “Just Because“ - Sometimes you don’t need a reason to follow up, other than to express admiration and appreciation. Send a “Just Because” card to show your interest in developing a business relationship or strategic partnership.

The more you keep in touch, send follow-up cards and emails, and make calls, the more fun you will have in using this strategy and the more success you will experience.

Whoever thought that keeping in touch could be this easy and fun… especially now that you’ve got access to www.bookedsolidcards.com!

(Repost of an article I wrote in March, 2007)

Garrison Keillor may not be the first person you think about when it comes to business. But, he has a lot to say about success in business and what it really takes to get booked solid.

From his perspective, success happens when you follow these three principles:

“Be well, do good work, and keep in touch.”

To me, the “be well” part is about taking great care of yourself and handling the personal problems, fears and challenges that keep you from getting booked solid. It’s about developing the confidence and courage you need to do your best work. The “do good work” part is about standing in the service of others - finding the clients you are meant to serve and doing great things out in the world. Or, as Michael says, it’s thinking bigger about who you are and what you offer the world.

Then, there’s the “keep in touch” part…

Most business owners know that keeping in touch is a critical part of growing their business. And, it is the key to building relationships - not to mention trust and credibility.

But, the sad fact is that most service professionals don’t keep in touch like they know they should. And, as a result, they miss out on opportunities, lose touch with prospects and fail to connect meaningfully with the people they are meant to serve.

And, when that happens, the opportunities to “do good work” are less and less. Which then negatively impacts the “be well” part.

This degenerative cycle repeats itself over and over again…until we break it by reconnecting with the people in our network and in our community.

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(Note: this article was originally written in March, 2007)

Maybe it’s just me, but everyone seems to be talking about intentions these days.  Not surprising, given the buzz created by The Secret, which focuses on the Law of Attraction and the importance of setting intentions to attract what you really want.

This talk of setting intentions and aligning your thoughts and actions must have been on my mind today during a meeting the owners of a small business in the service industry.  As I listened to the business partners describe the various efforts they had made during the past year to grow their business, a certain phrase grabbed my attention.

“We just need to get the word out.”

After a powerful discussion about the importance of building relationships with prospects and clients over time, one of the partners explained to me that they were going to purchase a billboard ad in their efforts to grow their business and get clients.

I asked the business owner to repeat that last sentence, certain that I didn’t hear her correctly.

“Yes, we are going to purchase a billboard ad and possibly some additional magazine ads in order to get the word out about our business.”

In my experience, ads don’t do much to help service professionals get clients and generate referrals.

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(Repost: article originally written in February, 2007)

Recently, Michael gave a keynote for the Sales Excellence event hosted by Target Learn.  It was quite a prestigious event.  He shared the stage with Brian Tracy, Steve Lundin as well as a panel of experts in the sales world, including Sam Reese, the CEO of Miller Heiman.  In case you were wondering, Michael gave a very powerful and engaging keynote on how to apply the Costanza Principle to our sales cycle and to our sales efforts - a fresh, alternative way to approach selling.

During the program that day, there was a lot of talk about sales cycles, prospecting, presentations, closing techniques, and follow up - many traditional elements of the sales cycle and the established selling paradigm.  I am quite familiar with these concepts, both in theory and in practice.

Before I started my coaching business, I learned the traditional selling process while working in recruiting and sales for a national consulting firm.  To say that I am familiar with prospecting would be an understatement.  While working there, I burned up the phone lines each day, constantly dialing the phone in search of potential clients.  The headset became a permanent fixture on my head as I “smiled and dialed” for dollars and for fresh prospects.

On an average day, I made around 100 phone calls and spent at least 3 hours actually on the phone (time spent dialing the phone or taking a break in between calls didn’t count towards my daily activity goal).  As part of that routine, I left multitudes of messages, dialed hundreds of wrong numbers and heard the phone slammed down in my ear - all in search of the next prospect, that potential candidate who was ready to hear my shtick about new “practice opportunities.”

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