1. MAKE YOUR ADVANTAGES EASY TO
UNDERSTAND.
For instance, Computer Resources
International AS originally sold consulting, for which they used
proprietary software. Only when they started selling the software
first, and then customization and consulting as extras did their
business take off. Buying software was easier to understand than
the more intangible consulting. Life USA insurance, and many other
businesses, focus on speed in every aspect of their business. They make fun of the slower industry standards and
provide a simple advantage clients understand.
Other ways to set yourself apart are through
great service or association with worthy causes.
2. DON’T TRY TO BE EVERYTHING TO
EVERYONE.
Just as customers screen you,
you should decide who you want to serve. Printing Resources originally
took any printing business that walked in the door. When they
realized which kinds of customers they worked with best, they were
able to cut down their marketing costs and make more money. Some computer consulting firms only work with one
customer per industry so they will have no
conflicts of interest. You can bet they select
customers carefully, and that customers are flattered by
the partnership approach. Consider creating a checklist of who shouldn’t
hire you! It will help you focus, and may impress the right
customers if you share it with them.
3. WORK FOR REFERRALS.
Word of mouth is the least expensive,
most effective way to get new business. Barry
Farber has new customers write on the back of
their business cards why they bought. These become
mini-testimonials. Bob Brassard calls at least one client a day
just to keep in touch. This builds the relationship by showing he
doesn’t just care about them when he wants something, allows him to update files, and generates referrals. One upscale
dentist put up a Web page. He got about six
extra referrals a month because his clients
thought it was cool that their dentist had a Web page.
4. USE ONLINE MARKETING.
You don’t have to have a Web site
like Eastern Mortgage Services to do business
online. You can send personalized e-mail like
Michael Swartz of DNA Software. You can pay only
for the leads generated for you by advertising on many sites.
You can research potential clients for better presentations. You can gather customer input inexpensively as Ritchey
Design does. Or you can post free ads in
discussion groups.
5. DON’T SELL, HELP PEOPLE BUY.
When you truly put the client’s interests above your own, you will become a consultant,
a team member, and a partner for your client.
When you’ve earned trusted advisor status,
doing business is no problem. For instance, computer consultant,
Amadaeus Consulting Group, helps its customers make more money
by using computers to help their clients sell more. Of course, the
extra business comes around as the client grows. A small accountant’s
client felt they needed a Big 5 firm to handle their audit
because they wanted to go public. Instead of resisting, the accountant
helped the client select a Big 5 firm, thus maintaining and
extending the relationship with the client. Conrad International added warehousing services near overseas clients so
they could afford to buy in bulk for a lower
price. When you put the customer first, you earn
long-term loyalty that is more profitable than a larger quick
sale.
6. PARTNER WITH OTHER COMPANIES
REACHING YOUR MARKET.
This might be neighborhood
merchants cooperating on a sidewalk sale, or Digital Equipment
partnering with Infinite Technologies to better serve the Bank
of New York. Or it could be you partnering with a charity to create
a fund raising event that brings attention to both of you, like
Service Merchandise and Goodwill did.
7. SHIFT THE RISK TO YOURSELF AND YOU
WILL PROFIT.
A believable guarantee
makes it safe for prospects to give you a try. Very few people
will exploit a generous guarantee compared to the extra business
it generates. One Merchant is one of many companies that guarantee
you uptime with your site hosting. Even Kaiser, the
big HMO, found a money-back guarantee to be successful.
8. BE PERSONAL.
To build relationships you have to
build a personal connection. A handwritten
invitation pulled great for Frank Candy, president
of the American Speakers Bureau and for restaurateur Murray Raphael.
Internet consultant Dan Janal gives clients links from his page.
One nursing home created a waiting list through great referrals by greeting visiting relatives by name and filling them
in on their loved ones at the start of each
visit.
9. CREATE FREE PUBLICITY.
Our old Construction Computer
Applications Newsletter had a hard time finding
reviewers for computer programs of interest to
readers. Our reviewers not only got publicity from their reviews,
but we gave them referrals. A large CPA firm specializes in citrus
growers. Every year they do a survey of their clients’ costs of
operations. The survey data helps their clients benchmark their operations, positions the CPAs as the experts, and gets
the CPA firm publicized in trade articles.
Inquiry Handling Services gets regular publicity
from newsletters and articles, as well as a book they wrote for
their industry. And Luxury Limo received major coverage about a special rate created to allow three regular women to
share the commute in a limo at about the cost of
carpooling.
10. INTEGRATE YOUR MARKETING.
This means that everything you do should convey the same message and represent what you
stand for. Putnam Investments manages $150
billion in assets. All their literature, and
even their office, conveys the same message. Viva Knight,
a script consultant, rents mailing lists from the same magazine
he advertises in. If he also wrote articles for the same magazine,
it would add to the integrated approach.
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