Got all the business you want? Great. You can relax and take a load off. But if you’re living on the same planet as most of the working population, you’re probably looking for more leads… like now.
The bad news is that every single one of your competitors is in the same boat, so that means your marketing has to be more efficient and aimed with laser-like precision than ever before.
The good news is that there are 6 things you can do right now to change your business economy form a downturn to an upswing. Here’s how:
Turn to Direct Response.
There is no type of advertising that is better suited to the cause of generating leads than Direct Response. This method gets its name because the offers go directly to a prospect and ask for a response. They build their successful features around several important areas:
- Bold. The offer must be powerful enough to prompt a response, and the attention-grabbing headline sets that course in motion. They’re bold enough for someone to stop and take notice.
- Direct. Direct Response ads speak to a prospect about his problem or need and propose a solution right then and there.
- Limited. Direct Response comes with a sense of urgency. It’s no mystery that the prospect is supposed to respond immediately – if not sooner – to the offer. He usually gets a little bonus for responding quicker. The time or product availability should be limited, and this “sense of urgency” with a deadline or quantity limitation is one of the strongest traits of Direct Response.
- Reduce Risk. They have generous guarantees to reduce any barrier to action and can offer “free” items (called “Premiums” or “Freemiums”) as a bonus to act faster or improve response rates.
Follow Unclosed Leads.
When you leave a lead unclosed, it’s like leaving money “unclaimed.” The lead you worked hard to acquire, which you then pursued with an appointment, an evaluation and an offer, could be waiting on one more simple step: your follow up.
Re-contact all your unclosed sales from, say, the past 30 to 90 days. You’d be making a “sweep” of the prospects yet to take action, which is why it’s sometimes called a “sweep letter.” Make this re-contact a regular part of your own sales schedule, just like your marketing plan tells you when to run ads. Sweeten the offer if you’d like or add a new sense of urgency (last remaining systems at that price, for example).
Don’t let a lead die without follow up. Give your unclosed sales another chance.
Generate Publicity.
If you’re looking for a way to stretch your marketing budget a little farther, don’t overlook the potential of publicity. This is your chance to keep your name in your market without having to use up a big chunk of change. Why? Because it’s free!
Through publicity in your local media, you build top-of-mind-awareness and also build credibility through a third party – meaning someone’s spreading a good word about your company that isn’t coming from your own paid advertising.
Generating publicity requires a plan and procedure just like any other mission that must be accomplished.
Upsell Early and Often.
If you want to boost profits for your company, one way to do so is to get more money from each customer during each call. The upsell is this path to “more.” And a little more each time goes a really long way during the year.
So, where do upsells come from? You have a service upgrade, warranty, thermostat, humidifier, air cleaner, maintenance agreement all waiting to be sold. Are your customers going to ask you if you have them? No. You must tell them. And that usually begins with your own questions:
“How else may I help you? Do you have any other questions or needs today?” You’re gently upselling toward other products and future calls.
Upsells and add-ons are a nice ticket to profitability while competitors are looking at lowering prices to make a living during the recession. They’ve pulled back and must turn their dwindling leads into sales, leading to a further spiral. But when you offer valuable upsells, you protect margin and increase average transaction ticket.
Focus on the Most Profitable Part of Your Business
If you knew an area where you spend your marketing dollars was five times more profitable than any other, don’t you think it’d be a good idea to keep a laser-like focus on that particular area? Well, there actually is such a segment of the market – and it’s called “your customers.”
Your goal, on an average day, is to retain your customers and increase the value of your customers. You do so by communicating to them on a regular basis.
These communications don’t “look” like ads, but they are certainly helping you convey the image of trustworthiness, credibility, dependability and a caring attitude. They can be “thank you” calls, cards or letters, follow-up surveys, congratulatory letters on a system install, or a “welcome” to the Maintenance Agreement family. They can be “Sorry we missed you” Door Hangers, Maintenance Agreement appointment reminders or a customer newsletter filled with helpful household hints.
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