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Yesterday afternoon I had the pleasure of taking a call from a large international firm of Solicitors asking if I was available to speak at one of their conferences in England in June. They told me I was top of their list for this event and asked if I was available.
Now this is the type of call you dream of, and I was very pleased to tell them that I was available and that the fee they were offering was very acceptable. Why did they call me? What made them think of me when they drew the list of speakers up for this event?
Was it because I am famous?
I would love to tell you that it’s because I am famous and they just had to have me to speak to their staff, but I would be lying if I did. The reason that they called me is because of an email campaign I ran a year ago.
We targeted top solicitor firms’ region by region and sent out emails to each one, then we followed up with phone calls. I ended up meeting several firms who responded, and the one who called me yesterday was one of them. I met with a director from this company about a year ago and we had a good meeting, but nothing was confirmed and it went quiet.
Keep in front of mind
I could have moved on with other clients and ignored this one but I didn’t. I kept in touch on an irregular basis, updating them with my progress with Dubai, Nat West Bank and other interesting facts. I was keeping myself front of mind without overdoing it.
This type of marketing takes time, energy, resilience, organisation and above all patience. We live in a microwave society where we want everything now and we have little patience for things which take time. But nine times out of ten, good business is built over time with the building of trust and rapport.
Seeds take time to grow
As every farmer knows there is a set period of time between sowing the seeds and harvesting the crop. The soil has to be prepared then the seed has to be sown. The seed then has to be watered and fed. The seed germinates and then there comes the moment when the shoot pops through the ground.
Finally, there is a prolonged period of time as the shoot grows to its full height and perhaps 6 months after the seed has been sown the farmer can reap the harvest. This is similar to business people prospecting for new clients.
We need to market to our clients
We must prepare the ground (identify who our target market is), we then need to sow the seeds (we get our message out to these prospects in whatever form we feel is the most effective). We have the option of social media, online networking, face to face networking, email marketing and referrals to name a few.
Occasionally we will land lucky and we will receive an order from the prospect but more often than not it will be a no, or a ‘not now’ response. We then have an option to move on or to water and feed this prospect for future potential.
This is where patience comes in and we need to adopt a one or two-year plan with our potential client. We need our prospective client to remember us when the time comes for them to need the service we provide.
The ones which take longer are often the best
There will always be other suppliers for the service we offer, and if they are the ones who are front of mind with our prospect when the time comes, then they will receive the order.
I have many prospects I am working with who have potential to give me business in 2018 and beyond, and this pipeline is crucial. It is no good having business for this month and nothing beyond that. I am keeping in touch with them on a regular but not too frequent basis
Really good potential
The firm of solicitors who called me have told me that there is much potential within the organisation and this is why this type of marketing is worth the effort. Often when the client does eventually engage your services, the value of that business is high. A key ingredient to success in all of this is having the right attitude.
Attitude is everything.
There once was a woman who woke up one morning, looked in the mirror, and noticed she had only three hairs on her head. ‘Well’, she said, ‘I think I’ll braid my hair today?’
So she did and she had a wonderful day.
The next day she woke up, looked in the mirror and saw that she had only two hairs on her head. ‘H-M-M,’ she said, ‘I think I’ll part my hair down the middle today?’
So she did and she had a grand day.
The next day she woke up, looked in the mirror and noticed that she had only one hair on her head. ‘Well,’ she said, ‘today I’m going to wear my hair in a ponytail.’
So she did and she had a fun, fun day.
The next day she woke up, looked in the mirror and noticed that there wasn’t a single hair on her head. ‘YEA!’ she exclaimed, ‘I don’t have to fix my hair today!’
Attitude is everything.
Thoughts for the week:
1. Do you want everything now and don’t like to wait?
2. Do you have a strategy which brings in business in the long term?
3. Do you have patience to wait for things?
4. You need to work on the long term as well as the short term.
5. Keep a positive attitude as you wait for the fruition of your work.
Well that’s it for this week, have a wonderful weekend and stay positive.
Warm regards
John
Off the Wall – How to Develop World Class Mental Resilience available here
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