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Hi,
 Well, the day finally arrived! Our beautiful (yes, I know you expected me to say that – I’m her dad) daughter Madison Rayne was born on Tuesday 9th. Both mum and baby are doing well, although Dad is starting to wonder whether it’s possible to die from sleep deprivation!
This last week has really emphasised for me how vast the gulf is between Information and Acclimatisation. (Remember, those are the two key components of the second quadrant of the Marketing Relay. Go refresh your memory with the 'Seven Principles of Professional Services Marketing' ebook if you’ve forgotten!) Before Madison was born Vanessa and I had read just about everything there is to read about having a baby, and felt quietly confident that we would ace the job.
Those of you who have had a baby are probably grinning reading that – you know what a culture shock those first few days are! And yes, we were disabused of our confidence in short order, because the Acclimatising experience was something no amount of Information could prepare us for.
Your prospects are similar – the Information you provide them creates a picture in their minds of how your services will change their life – often not a very powerful one. But will the Acclimatising experience you then provide open up new opportunities for them to see their life changing in far more fundamental ways? Make the experience a powerful one, and they will be ready to talk about doing business with you.
Happy reading!
Until next time,
PS: Our next Marketing Edge issue will be published on 1st July – keep an eye on your inbox!!
Are you a Service Industry Professional reliant on word-of-mouth to grow your business, but anxious because you are not getting the volume of referrals that you are hoping for? Our Performance-Tuned Networking Seminar will teach you how to work each and every potential referral source in the most effective way possible, maximising your potential revenue!
The live seminar was held in August 2008, and now you can get your hands on the entire audio recording and workbook as a 'home study' course!
Pick up a copy at our online store.
Read some participant reviews below. |
Many service professionals will tell you that the words 'ethical' and 'marketing' don't belong in the same sentence. While you'd be opening another can of worms by asking for a precise definition of 'ethics', let's just say for the moment that often marketing leaves us feeling a little dirty, or sleazy if you prefer.
One marketing guru summed it up by saying that marketing and sales are the world's second-oldest profession – and often are indistinguishable from the first! Is that how you feel? If so, you have a problem (and you didn't need me to tell you that!) That's because without marketing you're on the fast-track to retiring from a dull middle-management job at a faceless, heartless corporation. Not much in the way of choice, I hear you say!
Well, perhaps there is a third way. Let me say that a little more positively: I KNOW there is a way to be as successful as you choose to be at marketing without feeling like you need a hot shower and a scrub. Let's take a few moments to explore the marketing dilemma and see if we can unravel it.
Unraveling the Dilemma
First, let's acknowledge that not all of us would do anything for a quick buck. Most of us (certainly the professionals I work with) went into professional services because we really believed that we could do things better if we weren't hamstrung by corporate red-tape, and that by doing things better we could better serve the customers whose dollar we were on. Has that changed? Not for me – and I doubt it has for you either.
So, at its heart, our business exists because we believe it helps those we do business with as much as – if not more so than – it does ourselves. Many professionals remember this simple fact by carrying a Vision or Mission Statement which says so. (Without intending to get off track, I cannot recommend highly enough that you regularly reconnect with the reasons you went into business in the first place. Our Marketing Mindset process helps our clients to do just that.)
Second, let's agree that sometimes we really need to close a deal in order to survive. We've all had months when the taxman was calling, the bank manager was refusing to extend the overdraft and the kids were expecting to be equipped for university like Shackleton was for the Antarctic! Some of us have had more of those months than we care to remember! At times like that it doesn't help to hear some smart aleck say that if you really need the money, you shouldn't do the deal.
They may be right – and if so, we'll have our nose rubbed in it later when we're trying to untangle from a customer whose expectations were way too high but whose commitment was close to non-existent. But in the heat of the moment it's human nature to do what we have to do in order to survive, so we do and say whatever it takes to get the signature on the proposal.
Clearly then, there are times when our commitment to a customer doesn't closely mirror our overall vision for our business. And if we have too many of those, we start to question our vocation. You may not realise this, but you should: Getting to feeling like that is a GOOD THING!
It means that your profession still means something to you; that you still want to be better. You want to be better for your own sake, and you want to be better for your customers' sake. If you ever lose that desire, you're in deep trouble and I'm not sure who can help you!
However, that scenario should not be the norm for service professionals. All too often, though, it is. Why? Because we neglect the necessary chore of regularly prospecting for customers until the urgency is great enough to force us out of our comfort-zone. Or, to put it another way, we don't do any marketing until we're having 'one of those months' – the type that make us unethical marketers! Are you sensing the pattern here?
Breaking the Cycle
Finally, then, lets discuss how to break the cycle that leads to ethical misdemeanours. It seems too obvious to say, but plainly it's not: Do more marketing more regularly, and you won't have many of 'those months.'
Of course it's one thing to say it and quite another to do it. How do we market regularly? What does that involve? How do we get the most bang for the buck? We are busy people, so only the most effective marketing activities should be in our portfolio or else we're wasting time and money, right?
Many years of testing and sifting have demonstrated to me that there is nothing that even comes close to Relationship Marketing in terms of effectiveness for service professionals.
As I define it, Relationship Marketing is about building trust with and demonstrating credibility to prospective clients before initiating the crucial sales conversation – letting them get acclimitised to you and plying them with information about your services so that when you ask for their business they have little hesitation because they already know they're going to get value-for-money. And for it to work successfully on a consistent basis, you have to have a game-plan for it.
In a Nutshell
Put in a nutshell then, a good Relationship Marketing game-plan well-executed is the cure for the ethical marketing nightmare. So what are you waiting for? Make sure NOW that your marketing strategy is focused on building relationships – not just when you're desperate for new business but every week and every month. Your conscience will thank you later!
©David Deakin and Zee2A Limited 2009. Would you like to reprint this article? You may do so as long as you include the copyright notice and the following paragraph: David Deakin, CEO of Zee2A, is a marketing mentor who works with Professional services Executives yearning to take their business to the next level. Through one-on-one and group mentoring programmes he helps them to create sustainable marketing strategies that attract more clients at profitable rates. To learn more, sign up for his e-zine, or make an enquiry please visit www.zee2a.com.
What They Said About the Performance-Tuned Networking Seminar...
'I found the Performance-Tuned Networking Seminar very informative. It was great to get innovative ideas from the guys at Zee2A but also from other delegates from a variety of different businesses. I would recommend these short seminars to organisations looking for a fresh approach to marketing'
– Craig White, Business Development Manager, ACTIVE
'I came away from this seminar with a much better Verbal Signature, a clear strategy for asking for help with referrals, and the confidence to tackle my future marketing efforts more professionally. Vanessa & David brought clarity, energy and encouragement to a sometimes daunting activity'
– Ann Lewis, Leadership Coach.
'In the Performance-Tuned Networking Seminar you gave us proven tools and techniques to increase our chances of fishing in the right ponds for profitable new business. You highlighted planning, persistence and patience as being three of the keys to success, along with, of course a well-honed Verbal Signature. Plenty of great ideas and tips'
– Michael Warner, FCA.
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ISSN 1756-350X
Volume 2 Issue 12
17 June 2009
www.zee2a.com
You have received this newsletter because you signed up for it or registered for one of our programmes.
In This Issue
David and Vanessa,
Your Zee2A Mentors
David and Vanessa work with Executives in the Professional Services Industry that are frustrated and dissatisfied with their current marketing activities, profitability, and business growth.
Through personal one-on-one mentoring they teach them how to become Marketing Masters, by among other things helping them create sustainable and repeatable marketing strategies that actually work!
Click to learn more about our mentoring programmes
Click to find out about our home-study information programmes
Food for Thought:
"Efficiency is doing things right. Effectiveness is doing the right things. Success is doing the right things right, right now!"
- Nisandeh Neta
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