Three Keys To Build a Successful Business
You build a successful business by internalizing and mastering three key principles:
- When you have the biggest list you'll win.
- When you deliver relevant content at the moment of relevancy to the biggest list you win.
- The better mousetrap builder will lose to the best marketer of mousetraps (because they underestimated, ignored, or did not know about #2.)
Society—you, me, our clients and our prospective clients—are busy today, and not necessarily in a good way.
Food Packaging is changing to cater to consumers on the go.
Young moms are "heavy energy drink users."
Banks offer "anytime banking."
Planes provide WiFi and let us keep our phones on the entire flight. (And you just thought standing next to a guy on a cell phone on an elevator was irritating!)
How do we cut through the clutter to get noticed, become trusted and earn not only the sale but the repeat business as well as referrals and testimonials in the marketplace today?
- Embrace transparency. Let the world know who you are, what you stand for, those you can help as well as those you cannot help.
- Adopt a "giver's gain" mentality" when it comes to providing tips, tricks, advice, etc. to consumers and shoppers in your marketplace.
- View your business as a living, breathing organism that must be nurtured as well as pushed along during its evolution from infant to adolescent to adult to industry stalwart. It needs care and feeding and shelter and protection every single day.
- Approach all clients and prospective clients with empathy, which means putting yourself in their shoes. It's different from sympathy. Relate to them. Be patient. Be helpful. Seek to serve. Help them take possession instead of driving them to close.
- Enjoy the evolution of business. Your flash-in-the-pan competitors will come and go as they apply the quick-fixes and shiny objects. Stick to your core principles and do all of the small, right things daily and you will come out on top.
These five concepts are also the strategic core of lead nurturing best practices. The tactical side of lead nurturing best practices include:
- Embrace technology.
The days of sticky pads and Excel spreadsheets and stacks of business cards held together with rubber bands are over. You need a CRM to house your prospect and client information and you need some type of automation to not only remain in front of your clients and prospective clients, but to also ensure your team is adhering to your own internal workflows. - Give away your best stuff for free up front.
This can take the form of free reports, free resource guides, videos, podcasts, blogs, live calls, webinars, pamphlets. Your name needs to become synonymous with what you offer like Kleenex® or Xerox® or Coca-Cola®. - Process Before Login.
This is my own phrase I created to encourage people to map out their ideal workflows for not only sales and marketing but also internally before they ever buy or jump into any type of software or hardware platform. This is harder than it seems but it's worth the effort. Map out your process for generating and following up with leads at a trade show or from visitors to your website or prospects that walk into your store. Map out how you will process orders, deliver the product or service, follow-up with a satisfaction survey and then request referrals and testimonials. After all, aren't those the best leads?
- Let your recipients know what to expect in the form of communication frequency and give them the option and ability to accelerate or decelerate it.
This goes back to "embracing technology" but err on the side of over-communicating because "out of sight, out of mind," and that's a killer for businesses wanting to grow. - Make doing business with you fun.
People in all industries are still people, not "marks" or "targets" or "walking wallets." They are humans with fears and concerns and ambitions and goals. Let them know that you are a person, too, and that you have a life and recognize that they have lives, too. Put some humor and personality into your marketing (See the first #1 above) but keep in mind that humor is like dynamite: a little goes a long way.
You can do it. We can help.
Good Selling,
