Follow up or Fall Out
June 27, 2013
Here is a really pathetic statistic. Over 40% of the time a new prospect is never followed up with after the first call. Consider how distracted our society has become, and that should really scare you. You are exposed to more than 35,000 messages a day between signs, email, texts, advertisements, etc. Chances are your prospects forget about you the next day. How could they not? It’s not personal. They are just simply overwhelmed with messages.
The good news is that you have a tremendous opportunity to stand out simply by developing your organization’s follow up skills. Here are some tips to get you started:
- Schedule a follow up call before ending your meeting.
- Send a handwritten thank you note. This is a lost art, but will put you ahead of nearly everyone.
- Confirm the details and next action of your meeting with a brief email.
- Add every new prospect to your email distribution list.
- Call all prospects at least one time per week.
- Meet with current clients weekly if possible, and monthly at a minimum.
- If you have an unhappy client or things aren’t running to their expectations, follow up with them right away. It’s better to deal with a problem head and let your client know you are doing everything possible to deliver.
Today we all have more competition for our clients’ attention, and most of it comes from indirect competitors. Remember that someone is going to call them, usually someone different every day. If you don’t follow up, one day someone else will win their business and you won’t. You may have to follow up with a prospect more than 20 times to get their business, but that’s ok. They will know you’re committed to them.
How do you follow up? Share some of your best experiences with us.
The Million Dollar Question…
May 23, 2013
This week is our final post about why you should hire an advertising agency? The simple answer is, “You don’t have time to do it the right way by yourself.” In most cases we rarely reveal anything new about an advertising strategy or objective that the business owner doesn’t already fully understand. What the owner is not able to do in most cases is implement the strategies and objectives. He simply does not have the time and resources because those are dedicated to running his business.
A great advertising agency like SDB Creative Group is an invaluable partner for a business. Imagine adding a full marketing department dedicated to selling your products and services to your key targets without adding the payroll, taxes and other overhead expenses. That is exactly what you get when you hire an advertising agency. All the research, planning, coordinating, buying, auditing, production, and especially the headaches are taken by the advertising agency, not you. All of the thousands of sales calls you receive wanting you to buy t-shirts, newspaper, radio, TV, internet, etc. are taken by the advertising agency, not you.
The advertising agency is your at will employee where their retention is based on their performance. You wouldn’t go to court without expert legal advice. You wouldn’t file your taxes without the expertise of a CPA. You wouldn’t perform surgery on yourself. Why would you put your name and image in front of thousands of potential customers without expert marketing and advertising advice? Make it easy on yourself and hire SDB. You’ll be glad you did!
Why you should partner with an ad agency
May 8, 2013
by Shane Boring
“A man who stops advertising to save money is like a man who stops a clock to save time.” Henry Ford
“Word of mouth is our best form of advertising.” This is what 90% of advertising sales representatives hear when making an initial prospecting call. How much truth is behind this statement? 100%! No marketing compares to a referral from a satisfied customer. The problem is most businesses cannot simply survive only on referrals. That is why there is advertising.
The two main components of advertising are “the message” and “the media”. If you have a great message and are using the right media, you’re going to be very happy with your advertising. But if you have a poor message or you are not buying the right media, chances are you will be very disappointed. This is where a great advertising agency like SDB Creative Group becomes an invaluable partner.
First let’s consider “the message”. If you shortchange your potential buyer on this, forget about getting the results you want. Your message has to be compelling, and has to speak to your buyer from their point of view. Who do buyers care most about? They care most about themselves. Make your message about them.
Most companies advertising on their own without the help of an advertising agency completely miss on the message and talk nearly 100% about their company, not the consumer. “Hi! We’re here! And we’re open!” is the basic theme used by companies working on their own without the help of an advertising agency and is easily dismissed by the consumer. Think about how distracted our society is with the thousands of text messages, emails, commercials, and other messages we are exposed to every day. You have to get their attention, and you get it by talking about them.
A great advertising agency will bring an outside, unbiased perspective. The agency will know your company, its products and sales processes, and it will have very good understanding of your ideal client, and what makes them buy. This data and information is taken into a creative process where amazing ideas for solid, long-term advertising campaigns are born. SDB Creative Group has experience with this process and it is part of their everyday operation. Creativity is in their blood. You wouldn’t go to court without a lawyer. Don’t start shouting out your message without the expertise of a marketing expert like SDB.
Next week we will go in-depth on the second component, “the media”, but here’s a quick preview and some homework. Try to count how many different media channels you use in one day (internet, TV, radio, cable, print, outdoor,). I’ll bet it’s a long list.
Should a jingle be in your future?
December 10, 2012
This time of year we are all listening to the familiar Christmas songs that make us all get into the holiday spirit. Somehow, even in West Texas where Christmas is more likely to be 75 degrees outside with a light dusting of brown dirt rather than a white, we can still dream through song. Does this same nostalgia work with jingles for goods and services? Let’s play guess that product….
- Double your pleasure, double your fun…
- My bologna has a first name …
- You deserve a break today at..
- I’m a pepper you’re a pepper wouldn’t you like to be a pepper too…
- Meow meow meow meow…
- Give me a break….
These weren’t hard to recognize, were they? At one point McDonald’s had a jingle that kids were playing patty cake to and reciting their whole menu in the process. So the answer is YES jingles do work, and they are not just for national chains, but there are some critical things that make a jingle a success and stuck in your customers heads.
- They need to be easy to sing for the average Joe. No complicated tunes and high notes. Think children’s songs and that’s a good place to start.
- Easy lyrics. Repetitive easy lyrics will stick. A long song listing every product or service available will not work.
- Frequency, frequency, frequency. Can you learn a song if you’ve only heard it once? Neither can your customers!
- Jingles need to be consistently used throughout a comprehensive media plan. Most jingles come with several different options for use. This allows them to be used in radio and TV effortlessly.
- Give it time. Going back to popular Christmas carols, did you hear them one season and then never again? Jingles can and should be used for several campaigns. The theme of the campaign may change year to year, but the jingle should remain part of the package. Again recognition is the key. I know that every time I think of a carpet cleaner, I think 1-800-Steamer…I even have the number in my head to call. Wouldn’t you like that for your customers too?
We will be running a Jingle all the Way Special this week. Call us to get a fresh start on your 2013 marketing campaign. Call us today to learn more!