Be a Fountain, Not a Drain

In order to be a ‘fountain’ we need to have the inclination, will and ability to deliver positive results for our client’s; and not merely be a purveyor of polished marketing and sales rhetoric.

Recently, a potential client asked us. “If I hire a specialist construction marketing firm like yours, rather than  a middle of the road marketing firm, will that ensure that it will help my business increase sales”?

As the founder and owner of such a business I assure him that the methods, techniques and processes we use will always get ‘the phone to ring’.


Marketing, I told him, is all about getting the word out about your business to all the right people, and is directly correlated to a firms overall sales performance. Intelligent marketing strategies, tactics and tools will get people  to your website, read your core message and compel them to pick the phone up to call you.


Once you have made the phone ring, what happens after that is usually called ‘sales’. Sales and selling are up to you, your team. If you don’t know how to follow up calls and enquiries handle service calls from customers; and give them what they want, all the marketing in the world won’t help.   


To be successful, marketing needs to be consistently implemented over the lifetime of a business.  On top of that, marketing can bring in new contacts, prospects and customers, but what happens after that is up to you.  Make sure that you give them all enough reasons to buy or give them reasons to come back. 


As for being a ‘drain’ that probably means some people just don’t know how to!


Fortunately, you know a man who can.

“I HAVE NOW GOT TO A POINT IN MY LIFE, THAT I NOW DON’T BELIEVE ANYTHING I HEAR, AND ONLY HALF OF WHAT I CAN SEE”

So what do you say to some one in reply to that statement?

I also believe he meant it!

But I’m here to help him. That’s my job. To help others to get what they need and want!

But as our discussion unfolded I could feel myself getting ‘push back’ all the time.

Doesn’t he want to benefit from out time together?

Well, after 20 minutes I decided that I was talking to a brick wall, so I thanked him for his time, I got up and headed for the door. Job done, lesson learned.

But then he said “If I was to buy your idea what guarantee can you give me that I’m going to get a return on my investment”. I turned and said “there is no guarantee, however, I am so convinced that my direct response campaign will work for you that if it doesn’t I will give you your money back”.

Without really appreciating what I had done, I later realised that in effect I had made buying from me for the first time easy.

I had transferred all the risk from him to me

Fortunately, or was it because I know what I’m doing, the campaign payed off handsomely and I am now one of John’s trusted advisors.

Phew!

So if you need a no risk direct response campaign to generate you some prequalified leads that will bring you the results you desire, you know a man who can!

Eureka Moments

They come in all sorts of different forms, from a myriad of stimuli and mostly at times when we least expect them.

Take laughter, what causes it or brings it on differs as much as the cause or subject matter.

But what about ideas or inspirational thoughts?

They usually come forward without any form of notice.

Most of my own ‘gems’ come to me whilst I am asleep. I don’t really know why but I suspect it is something to do with the fact that a number of experiences, thoughts or inclinations come together all at once.

As a consequence they often lead to ideas, concepts or hunches as to how to move forward.

When they happen what should we do?

I believe in most instances we tend to let them pass us by and thus take no benefit from them.

Most of our more powerful ideas and concepts come to us vicariously; remember the story of how Face book came about.

By the way, as I write this I am actually overlooking a magnificent beach scene at Camp de Mar, Majorca, Spain.

The view is stunning. I’m drinking a cold beer, others are eating Paella and people on the beach are enjoying their time off and are having a great time.

So why am I writing this?

Because, I have just had a fantastic idea to help one of my clients. He’s currently trying to break into a new region of the country as a Principal Contractor and that’s a BIG challenge.

He, and more importantly, his firm are unknown to the local construction community. So obviously there is zero local knowledge of their capabilities, no good will or trust

out there for him.

So, what is my great idea?

Well I think we should find an organisation that already service the kinds of people and organisations he needs to engage with.

In marketing parlance we could call this establishing a ‘Host Beneficiary’ arrangement.

But who is currently supplying my client’s ideal clients?

Is it architects, cost managers, structural engineers, property lawyers, accountants, bankers or even suppliers of products e.g. a BIM software or

planning report information.

Regardless of who it might ultimately be, if one can be secured and they are able to introduce my client to their clients, a potential win-win situation

can be achieved from the alliance.

I will probably recommend that my client joins forces with a large regionally based multi disciplinary design practice to deliver a set of CSR (Corporate

Social Responsibility) initiatives to local schools and colleges.

These normally take the form of workshops to introduce young people to the construction industry and too its many career options.

By co-funding and delivering such an initiative it will help to put my client at the centre of the regions more progressive community and will introduce them to their

‘Host’s’ clients, which will help raise their profile and standing.  Thus allowing them to claim to be an active member of the local business community.

I can imagine a great deal of goodwill will come their way as a consequence.

If you need a breakthrough idea, you know a man who can deliver.

My Top 22 Networking Tips

Arguably attending and effectively participating in relevant Networking Events is the most cost effective form of marketing that any business owner or professional person can do.

To help you be more productive in you networking efforts I list below my Top 22 Tips.

I hope they will help you to secure and build more relationships that eventually will turn into generating more relevant contacts, prospects and clients:

              "NOBODY KNOWS CARES HOW MUCH YOU KNOW UNTIL THEY KNOW HOW MUCH YOU CARE" 

                                             

1.  Remember you are an accomplished individual that can bring great benefits to people their company’s.

2. You are Unique.

3. Always be yourself; never try to model yourself on someone else.

4. Don’t be a wall flower, circulate and join up with the people that seem to be showing most energy and appear enthusiastic.

5. Wear your own branded name badge with pride. Let people know who you are what you know.

6. Say hello, my name is Bill Brown, may I join you?

7. Always shake people’s hands firmly- no wet handshakes.

8. Look people in the eye, don't look beyond them or look around when you or they are talking.

9. Know how to introduce yourself/what you do effectively and concisely.

10. Build rapport and relationships with the people that you meet when networking, ask them lots of questions instead of talking about yourself.

11. Remember the 80-20 Rule, where you talk 20% of the time by asking open or closed questions.

12. Listen intently; remember key bits of information received.
    
    
13.  Give out your business card and ask for those of others when relevant.

14.  Make notes of anything of real interest.

15. If appropriate get them to agree to some future action e.g. you ring them or some other form of call to action.

16. Don't try to ‘sell’ anything, just quietly steer and build your conversation towards the making of a new friend.

17. Arrive early and be prepared to stay as long as you feel your time is being spent usefully. Meet every one you judge to be important to you.

18.  When asked about yourself be modest and brief in your reply, but try to get your most compelling statements across to people.

19. Don't presume everyone wants to meet you or get to know you. If you recognise there is little or no synergy then politely move on.

20. Talk about who they know that might be relevant and offer to give a referral yourself. 

21. Follow up by sending them a note, flyer or letter about how you would like to work with them and how you can help each other.  Follow up on every lead no matter what within 48 hours by phone, fax or email, whichever is best.

22. As time unfolds try to help everyone you have met and formed a relation with by referring people to them, they will remember you and do the same for you.

If you need some further assistance you know a man who can.

NETWORKING IS A WASTE OF TIME!

Not true!

In my experience, if done properly and consistently, networking will help you create an extraordinary group of valuable contacts. These new contacts will inevitably lead to your securing more clients, orders and referrals.

In other words it can become a never ending cycle of new business creation and growth.

I know, I’ve done it for years, and as far as I am concerned it is one of the most powerful lead generation tools available.

In simple terms, the more new people you meet, the more you:

·         find out what they do, need and want

·         learn what their expertise, interest and passion is

·         can strike up a relationship with them

·         gather more information, insights and leads

·         can ask for referrals

·         can gain access to other peoples contacts and project opportunities

·         are able to create relationships that will eventually open dozens of doors previously closed to you

·         can leverage your first dozen doors to become hundreds of doors

So what’s stopping you?

How to do it I suppose.

Well you know a man who can help you.

WHAT HAPPENED TO THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY?

 Ten or so years ago Malcolm Gladwell wrote a best selling book called ‘The Tipping Point: How Little Things can make a Big Difference’.

In his book he sought to explain how sociological behaviours and other engines of change can bring about massive and irreversible consequences. In other words change in all its various forms becomes viral and can spread throughout society and commerce like a cancer.

So what I hear you say!

Well, as we can all recall, in 2008 the UK, and the Construction and Property Investment Industry in particular, reached a ‘Tipping Point’ of its own. They entered a dramatic, steep and very deep recession. As probably most of us have experienced to our everlasting personal cost and chagrin.

Currently our various experts tell us that we are still in the midst of a deep and protracted recession. Well lets be honest it certainly feels that way for most of us, and at present there doesn’t seem to be much of a change is insight!

But before any ‘Tipping Point’ can come about there must be a build up, a gathering momentum or gradual application of some form of irresistible force to come into play. I don’t think I am on my own when I say that I sense that some form of change is currently underway. After all we have been in some form of recession for three or four years. We can’t continue like this forever. Can we?

But changing fortunes and economic landscapes require new thinking.

The old ways, practices and conventions are dead.

We all need to recognise that for the foreseeable future the challenges we face require us all to be more innovative, commercially astute and proactive in our thinking and actions. Gone are the days that we were all merely order takers. We now need to be proactive and competent marketers, effective leaders and managers; and probably most of all customer cantered suppliers of goods and services.

So have you or your company chosen to batten down the hatches, cut costs to the bone and are you waiting for the storm to pass over or the weather to change? Or have you woken up, recognised that change is inevitable and have put the necessary changes and investments in place?

If you have, I suspect that you will not only survive the recession, but when the next ‘Tipping Point’ takes place you will be prepared, ready to be catapulted forward and be grateful that you chose to recognise the need to change, adapt and prosper.

DO YOU HAVE A PLUG?

One of our electrical consulting clients asked us if we had a plug to stop his bucket from leaking!

The bucket he was referring to was in fact the number of clients he was loosing each year.

He had worked out that he was loosing about 20% of his clients annually. Coupled with the fact that he wanted to grow his company by 15% each year meant he had to generate another 35% more clients. Not easy to do and think of the cost involved!

The obvious answer to his problem was to get him to reactivate his past or lost client relationships.

 Strangely enough few firms pay any attention to client retention, let alone have produced an automatic method of dealing with the problem.

So we got them to:

• Produce a complete list of clients that have stopped doing business with them within the past 12 months
• Break them down ( if practicable) into categories i.e. :

              -they have moved out of the area

              -your contact in their company has left them

              -there was a problem contract involved etc

• Establish who best to contact
• Determine a way to make contact with them that is sincere, personal and constructive
• Find a way to get them to tell you honestly what ,if anything, happened and why they aren’t buying from you
• Apologise and thank them for their feedback
• Fix the problem i.e. change or replace something, give a special discount, offer a special deal or service, offer a guarantee of some sort, a free service check-up and report
• Promise and ensure the same issue will not happen again
• Tell them about all the positive changes your company has made since last doing business with them
• Highlight all the new features and benefits they will receive in the future
• Monitor the situation closely going forward
• Deliver fully on all your promises
• On completion of their first order send them a welcome back gift

  These actions, if followed fully, will in due course help you to plug the hole in your business bucket.

AND THAT’S GOING TO COST ME HOW MUCH?

Have you ever been asked to justify your bid, fee or other charges? It can feel very uncomfortable at times. I had a particularly difficult experience recently.

We put a proposal forward to deliver a sales training programme  designed to help solicitors working within a property team to improve their ‘sales’ effectiveness!

I was pre warned that this would be no easy task because every member of the team thought they were above such things, knew it anyway or were just indifferent to it.

As the weeks unfolded that certainly proved to be the case, however, whilst we got off to a very slow and difficult start the group started to buy into things and eventually the value of what we were doing came through in spades.

When I was originally asked to justify the cost of the programme I wished I had more statistics available, these subsequently came into my possession. A member of the group dropped me an email after completing the programme. Within one month of completion he had secured three new clients, had obtained five referrals and billed an extra 37k of fees. So what had been the value of his having come on the programme?

Well it depends on how you try to measure it. For me it was good enough to know that my once sceptical client has booked us to do a follow up session in six months time.