Small Steps Get BIG Results

Sometimes I think that the hardest thing about trying something new is taking the first step. I’ve talked to a lot of prospects who tell me that they WANT to start making sales calls, or they know they NEED to, but it’s not something they’ve ever had to do before. But where to begin? I know some people will buy a list with hundreds or even thousands of companies on it, companies that they suspect might have a need for their services. And they might send a postcard or a brochure to some or all of the people on that list. And then, they sit back and wait for the orders to pour in. And when they don’t come pouring in (those orders) , they decide that they should try something else, and that business development just does not work. And they give up. Sound familiar?

Well let me tell you why that kind of reasoning is very faulty, and why a different approach COULD work. I submit that success in finding new clients lies in starting with a manageable list of suspects and working that plan. Here’s what I have been doing lately. When I come up with one of my brilliant plans for how to attract new customers, I start VERY small. The last two promotions I launched had 32 and 20 recipients respectively. I had a 20% response rate on my poker promotion. And I am in phase one of my madlib scheme, and I already have a 5% response rate with 3 weeks left to go.

This brings me to my next point about trying a new program. It is never enough to send out one postcard and say that you have a marketing plan. For a campaign to be really effective, you need a multi-touch, preferably cross media approach. I know that cross media sounds like a scary concept, but all I mean by that is that you use more than one method of reaching prospects. Phone, email, direct mail, newsletters, blogs – these are all different ways of touching a prospect, and combined can be a very strong recipe for success.

So here is what I suggest. Make a list of 20 clients that you haven’t heard from in 6 months. Send a letter one week, an email 3 days letter, and call 3 days after that. If you recover one customer from your efforts, it will have been more than worth the time, energy and stamps that you spend. So what do you say? If you need new customers, go and get em, just a few at a time. You can make the time and it will be worth it.