By Chuck Sink
This post is updated from one year ago and it is more relevant today than ever.
I will need several business services and products to continue growing my business and many of them I don’t need now, or can’t afford yet. That’s why I want you to keep in touch so I won’t forget you.
One of the most common mantras you will hear in business is “Timing is everything.” I agree. Trying to persuade a prospective customer that he needs your product before he needs your product will annoy him. Just as bothersome is attempting to “educate” your prospect about his “pain” when he doesn’t feel any. If, however, there is a pain point in his business and your product or service will solve it, then by all means take some time to discuss your solution. If you get a “think it over” response, you probably won’t make a sale… until maybe year or two from now. I’m sure you plan on still being around then.
A careful sense of timing – to each individual customer – is critical when planning a direct marketing message or making a sales call.
You may say, “yeah, but how can you possibly live inside every potential customer’s world and know when the time is right?” In traditional business development, a good CRM (customer relationship management) program like Salesforce or ACT works well. So, that’s one way to use good timing but there’s a better way: It’s all the time!
Junk goes in the trash but the good stuff is opened.
First, identify your target audience by vertical industry lists or by networking and prospecting so you know they have a need for your service or product. Develop your database of names, addresses, phone numbers and EMAIL ADDRESSES. Furthermore, connect with as many as possible on LinkedIn and Facebook. Follow them on Twitter. Then get to work being a sought-after specialist to each one of your prospects.
Why are Google and Apple the most successful companies in the world right now? Because they are genius at what they do and how they communicate it. They remain
relevant and communicate value all the time. There are much smaller examples including local restaurants, law firms, IT companies, you name it.
You need to get busy demonstrating your genius to all of the prospects in your database. Be a collector and generator of valuable content – expertise and ideas that make people say “Hmm… or WOW! Yes, it’s hard but you can do it. If I can do it, you can do it too, maybe better!
This isn’t about about you but rather the people in your target audience. My closest concrete example of how this works is what you’re reading right now. Every week different people tell me the same thing: “I get so much junk email and delete it but I always save and read your newsletter.” The Chuck Sink Link generates more quality leads – soon to be clients – than any other sales or marketing activity I’ve ever practiced in 25 years. To all of you: Many thanks!
The examples of how this works are sprinkled throughout your life.
Think about the emails you opt-in to and the supplier companies you follow. What about the exceptional sales reps that stand out from the crowd and whom you like hearing from?
There are plenty of great marketers who know how to put value in front of their audience on a regular, appropriately frequent basis so they are top-of-mind at all times for their products & services. So, when the time is right for their prospect to buy, guess who gets the call?
