New Clients--Remember, people "buy" for their own reasons, not necessarily yours. Don't create roadblocks that will prevent them from buying.
- If your product or service requires a large commitment of time, money or involvement from potential customers, is there a way for a prospect to "ease into" becoming a client?
- Can you provide a short-term study or a pilot program, for instance, for a smaller financial or time commitment?
Existing Clients--Keeping existing customers and growing your business with them is as important, if not more so, than finding new customers. Be aware, your best customers are at the top of your competitors' prospect lists. Don't take them for granted.
- What will you offer existing clients to add value to the relationship?
- What are your plans for leveraging the relationship to find new opportunities?
Support Mechanisms--What new processes, resources, or infrastructure will be required to support your business development efforts?
- Will you need to establish new systems or bolster existing systems to support your marketing, prospecting, or product delivery processes?
- Are there new technologies that will allow you to maintain more immediate contact with your customers and keep them better informed?
- Will you need new hardware or software to support your efforts?
While you may not have the answers to all of the above questions, they can serve as a starting point for designing your action plan. It's never too early to begin building your future. Begin to plan for and put systems into place now.
Planning and Action Are Not Mutually Exclusive Events
Why are some companies leaders in their industry while others are always playing catch-up?
Why do some sales managers lead their sales teams to unparalleled success while others are still mulling over sales figures?
Why do some salespeople close sales consistently, and almost effortlessly, while others struggle to find an opportunity?
Is the answer skill? Education? Knowledge? Having the inside track? Luck, perhaps?
No! The answer is really rather straightforward: Some people plan how to act--and then do--while others are still planning how to plan.
Planning and action are not mutually exclusive events. Once your "action" plan is implemented, you can make adjustments--refinements--based on the results you are achieving. Redefining and refining your plan before taking any action is like unpacking, rearranging items, and repacking your suitcase before taking a trip. It's tedious and time-consuming work--figuring out how to most efficiently fit the most items into limited space--but it doesn't get you any closer to your destination.
A new product design doesn't have to be perfect before you begin prototyping.
A market expansion strategy doesn't have to be perfect before salespeople begin implementing it.
A prospecting approach doesn't have to be perfect before it's implemented.
No plan or design can be perfect without first being tried and tested.
Success doesn't start with a perfect plan... just a plan, followed by action, evaluation, and adjustments as necessary.
Execution without planning is foolhardy. But, planning without execution is failure.
Is Your Message Relevant and Believable?
Will prospects switch to a telecommunications provider that offers The Widest Coverage when they currently have no trouble connecting with the people they regularly call? Will prospects buy copiers with Enhanced Duplex Color Capabilities when 98% of their copying requirements are single-sided black text? Will they subscribe to an internet service that offers Lightening Fast internet connections when retrieving their e-mail is their most bandwidth-intensive activity? Unlikely... unlikely... and unlikely!
New, Improved, Most Reliable, Longest Lasting, Industry Preferred... the list of features and functions goes on and on. So what?
You won't capture a prospect's attention with features and functions, regardless of how Revolutionary, Tested, or Enhanced they may be, unless, first and foremost, your product or service addresses a specific problem, concern, or challenge the prospect is grappling with.
Your message, whether delivered verbally or in print, must focus on those problems, concerns, and challenges. Rather than tout "widest coverage," ask a problem-focused question. For instance, "Are some of your loved ones outside your calling area?" Rather than promote "lightening fast internet connections," ask; "Does it take longer to download your e-mail than it does to read it?"
Only if the answers to the problem/concern questions are "Yes" will prospects have any interest in the features and functions of your product or service. And, that interest will fade quickly if those features and functions aren't believable.
Prospects are skeptical about feature and benefit claims. They expect that the only thing New, Improved, or Enhanced about so many products and services are the words "New," "Improved," or "Enhanced" prominently placed in the advertising and marketing materials.
To make the features and functions believable, tell the prospect HOW you deliver what those features and functions promise. Do you provide the widest cell phone coverage because you have more cell towers than any other company? Do you guarantee the fastest deliveries because any shipment with a destination over 150 miles is shipped by air and delivered the next day? Is your software never obsolete because you provide free lifetime updates? If so, make those facts part of your message.
If you want to capture your prospect's attention, focus your message on the problems, concerns, or challenges they face. If you want to keep their attention, tell them how you deliver what you promise.
