By Mike English
Doesn't marketing consist of doing some advertising, telemarketing, and sending salespeople to close a merchant account? No, not really. Marketing in small businesses is perhaps the most under utilized and potentially most valuable thing you can do. First, marketing defines who your company is and what value you provide to your customers. It allows you to differentiate yourself from your competitors by forcing you to think "outside the lines." It is similar to playing chess or checkers. No one wins consistently who thinks one move at a time; to win you must think three to four moves ahead. Most importantly marketing allows you to create a holistic strategy and collectively implement actions that grow your business more than any single action you could take.
In the next few issues of The Green Sheet, I will introduce some practical marketing concepts and ideas that a small business can use to build value in the eyes of your customers while generating more income for yourself. Upcoming topics we will cover and questions we'll answer are:
1. What is a marketing plan and how will it benefit me?
2. How to dress up your business.
3. How can I differentiate my business from my competition?
4. Keys to successful advertising.
5. What are the attributes of a successful marketing oriented company?
In the last article of the series, I'll recommend some books to take you further. If you already use some of these ideas and tactics, great! But in speaking with many ISOs throughout the country I've learned that you're hungry for new innovative ideas that make you unique and valued to your customers.
Call Back Timing
We all know that most of our sales should be a one-call close, and if life was perfect, all of your sales would go that way. Unfortunately, we have to live in the real world. Sometimes we not only can't get an answer on the spot, we can't get to the Decision Maker (DM) because she or he is gone.
What do you do upon their return? I suggest when you have called a prospect and learned that the DM will be away for a few days, ask the person you are talking to when the prospect or customer will return.
Don't call the day of their return. It's likely that the traveler will be met by piles of paper and numerous requests requiring action. I suggest calling several days AFTER their return. Therefore, you'll have a better chance of reaching the DM after having had more time to crawl out from under their correspondence and after the "dust has settled."
The prospect or customer will likely be closer to normalcy, and will be in a better position to spend quality time with you. Don't forget to tell them, "Ms. Jones told me that you would be back on Tuesday, so I delayed my call to you to give you a chance to catch up from being away." The prospect should respect the fact that you have considered their schedule in your planning.
Mike English is a marketing and business development consultant. Mike was employed by NCR Corporation for 17 years in sales and marketing management and most recently served as the Vice President of Marketing for Dassault AT for two years. Mike can be reached at mweng@mindspring.com or at (770) 232-2738.
