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Hello and welcome to our launch issue of The Marketing Edge. The last few weeks have been a caffeine-fuelled blur, working many long hours in preparation for re-launching our website (that happened on 26 November), and Issue 1 of this E-zine. It has been incredibly exciting.
Adding to our excitement is the anticipation that in three weeks time we will be arriving home from our 15 month adventure in the USA. It’s a bitter-sweet event as during the last 15 months we have met some incredible people, forged many great friendships, and aligned ourselves with some truly remarkable strategic business partners. So on the one hand we are very sad to be leaving. On the other hand, nothing can beat the feeling of knowing we are going home! We have missed our family and friends far more than we thought possible. Hopefully after all the good American food (especially the Wisconsin speciality of Beer Battered Cheese Curds!) everyone will still recognise us.
Once again, thank you for subscribing to The Marketing Edge. We hope you will be delighted with the articles, hints, tips, and suggestions for improving your business that will arrive in your inbox twice a month (just once in December) and that you will forward it to all your friends and associates so that they benefit too! if you received this newsletter from a friend or associate and are not yet a subscriber please sign up for your own free subscription in the sidebar and be sure not to miss an issue!
How to get Great Response to Your Marketing Efforts?
Have a Great Call-to-Action!
The current election race in the USA has given rise to a lot of comparisons between the public-speaking styles of the various candidates in either party - not that deep analysis of potential presidential candidates is anything new! Perhaps one of the most powerful sound bites of any election race was a self-effacing comparison made by Adlai Stevenson between himself and John F Kennedy during the election campaign in 1960. Stevenson invoked the memories of two great orators of the Greek and Roman eras when he said: "When Cicero had finished speaking, the people said, ‘How well he spoke’, but when Demosthenes had finished speaking, they said, ‘Let us march’."
Of course, JFK was an outstanding orator, but then so was Stevenson (by reputation, at least – I have never heard a recording of him). So what made the difference between the two in terms of their ability to inspire action? One commentator, in discussing Stevenson, put it this way: “His speeches were isolated works of art rather than stations on a line along which he wished to travel.” So, in my own words I’d say that when Stevenson spoke he enjoyed the moment, but when JFK spoke he never forgot that he was trying to get people to vote for him!
What on earth does all of this have to do with marketing? It’s quite simple really: We must never forget while marketing that we are trying to get people to do business with us! If we do, we might leave a room full of people thinking: ‘How well he spoke’ and then turning to other things. Has that ever happened to you? It certainly has to me! I’m going to take this opportunity to share a story with you that was related by a friend and colleague, and I choose his experience rather than my own for two reasons: Firstly, he is a consummate professional whom I would never have imagined capable of such a blunder (where my own are depressingly regular) and secondly, because the circumstances make it all the more painful and therefore memorable. So, to the story!
My colleague is a Life-Coach who specialises in working with actors and the like, and is good enough to have been invited to address a group of three hundred recent and past graduates at Giulliard (the premier school of acting in the world, in case you haven’t heard of it). By his own accounting, my colleague gave a ‘kick-ass’ presentation extolling the virtues of working with a coach and the resultant benefits for the career and life of the coachee. When he had finished, he wrapped up by saying something like: ‘There are a pile of my business cards on the table by the door. If you’re interested, take one and call me.’ Guess how many calls he got? Yup – zero! Now I’ve seen this person speak - and he has a rare gift - so it wasn’t because he didn’t speak well. It was because for a crucial moment he lost sight of the fact that he was trying to get people to do business with him.
So what should he have done? What should you and I be doing each and every time we talk to a prospect, either one-on-one or as a group? Simply this: Take them by the hand and lead them to the next station on the line which leads to a sale.
Let’s illustrate: You’ve met a potential client at a networking event and in a few minutes of conversation you’ve determined that there is a potential fit for your services. You may try giving the prospect your card and suggesting they call you, but what is your likelihood of receiving that call? As an alternative, why not ask for their card and call them? That’s better because you’re in control of the next action, but there is still room for improvement.
Why not try this next time you’re in that situation? ‘Sally, I sense that there is some opportunity for synergy in what we’ve discussed, don’t you agree?’ If they do, then you say: ‘May I have your business card? I’m going to send you an article that I wrote on that very subject. It will be in your Inbox by midday tomorrow.’ You now have a clear path for this prospect to the next step in your marketing process. (You DO have a marketing process, Right?!)
Of course, if this is a prospect you’re already familiar with and who you believe already has a level of trust in your credibility, you may feel that sending an article is insufficient progress. So you could carry on with: ‘Do you have your diary handy? I’d like to buy you a coffee and explore this area of opportunity further. How does 10 o’clock Thursday work for you?’ Wow! An appointment for a sales call! That was too easy!
You may be saying: ‘I couldn’t do that! It would be an imposition!’ Would it really? Why do you think that prospect came to that event? Why did they share their situation with you and then give you their card, if it wasn’t because they were looking for help addressing their issue? Another colleague put it this way (he’s Australian and doesn’t mince words!): ‘Most people are walking around with their umbilical cord in their hand, looking for a place to plug it in.’ A graphic image – but ultimately an accurate one. So you would be doing both yourself and your prospect a disservice if you didn’t make sure they got plugged-in to your value-adding services as soon as possible!
But it won’t happen unless you take them by the hand and say: 'Let us march!'
Are you a Professional Services Executive yearning to grow your business without sacrificing your quality of life, but not sure how to take the next step? You may be ready for The Marketing Edge programme. Contact us now at info@zee2a.com to discuss how the programme can help you to fill up your fee-book with profitable clients.
To understand the idea behind Front2Back2Front we need you to picture a revolving door. You step in at the front and go round to the back, if you don’t step out you come around to the front again, where you can either get out and walk away or you can keep going front to back to front to back to front to back until you get dizzy and people think you’ve gone mad!
Revolving doors are usually found at high-class full-service hotels – a great example of the point we're trying to make. On the outside of the door is a friendly, welcoming doorman to greet you. On the other side is a friendly, welcoming bellboy to greet you again, take your bags, and lead you to the next friendly, welcoming person at the check-in desk. You, as a guest (or client) are equally important to them whichever side of the revolving door you are. It doesn’t matter whether you are stepping in at the front or stepping out at the back. They all work hard to make you a satisfied client at every point.
We wish that all businesses had a front2back2front approach – but sadly, most don’t. Rather they seem to work very hard at the front part, bending over backwards to win your business. Once you’ve "stepped through the door" and come out as a client on the other side, however, they don’t bother paying you much attention anymore - after all they now have your business!
Clients of Banks and other Professional Services businesses often complain that great effort is made by the organisation vying for their business until the signature is on the dotted line. Then any form of after-sales service is second rate and only made begrudgingly. Often attempts to reconnect with the new "relationship manager" or suchlike results in unreturned phone calls and unsuccessful meeting requests.
Two classic examples of providing better products and services to new clients, rather than loyal existing ones are (1) Banks that advertise 0% credit card offers – to new clients only; and (2) mobile phone operators that provide the best free phones and call plans – only to new clients. In fact they are notorious for only matching offers once you’ve given them notice that you’ll be switching providers.
Why is it that so many professional services organisations fail to realise that the cost is far less to keep existing clients satisfied than to go advertising for and wooing new ones? Satisfied clients will be loyal. They will repurchase. Even more importantly, they will evangelise to others how great it is doing business with that organisation, thus spreading positive word-of-mouth or free advertising!
 We would love to hear from you, our subscribers, about your Front2Back2Front examples and stories. This issue we're posing the question:
Do you ever get the feeling that organisations put a lot of time and effort into securing your business and once they have it you aren't important to them anymore? Tell us your story.
Click here to send us your thoughts, using 'SoapBox' as the subject. Alternately you can email us at info@zee2a.com. If we like yours it will appear in an upcoming issue of The Marketing Edge.
We are real busy bees here at Zee2A and have some speaking engagements coming up soon. You are very welcome to attend (assuming that you wont have to swim across the Atlantic to get there)!
- On Thursday 31st January at 6:00pm we will be presenting a 45-minute interactive presentation entitled "Cracking The Code of Professional Services Marketing" at the Wired Wessex Networking event at The Slug & Lettuce, 12 / 13 The Square, Winchester. Attendance is FREE, plus you get a drink and a bite to eat thrown in, and time to do some networking. Please visit Wired Wessex and register to attend.
- On Wednesday 5th March at 3:30pm we are hosting a VIP reception at the Business South Show, St Mary’s Stadium, Southampton. We are providing a FREE one hour training session to give you the tools to find more profitable clients. Free entry to the show, as well as drinks and canapés will be laid on, but space is limited. So reserve your spot NOW using 'Business South' as the subject. Alternately you can email us at info@zee2a.com.
If you would like us to come and talk at one of your upcoming events, training sessions, or board meetings please get in touch at info@zee2a.com.
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Subscribers receive as a free gift an Audio workshop entitled 