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Patience plays the biggest role in marketing and advertising returns |
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Monday, 02 July 2007 |
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Page 1 of 2 Definition: impatience -- (1) The inability to wait patiently; (2) Annoyed because of a delay; uneasy, restless.
John decided to spend some money on advertising and marketing for
his shop. He ran ads in local publications and hired a marketing
representative to distribute flyers and to offer donuts, flowers, pens
and pads to agents, dealership principals, and other collision repair
prospects. After three months he dropped the ads. He was annoyed. “They
aren’t working,” he said. “We haven’t had a single call.” Six months
later he fired the marketing representative. He hadn’t seen a single
job from his investments.
Was John justified in cutting these marketing costs?
After three months it was reasonable to expect at least a few calls from his ads -- IF the ads were any good. It was entirely possible he chose the wrong publications to advertise in, or that the ads were poorly designed. Or because many people now get all of their news on the Internet, maybe nobody was reading those publications anymore.
But what about his attempt at direct marketing? Should he have seen some results after six months of paying for live calls to prospects? It is possible he chose the wrong person to make the calls for him. But probably someone would have contacted him if the marketing rep were unpleasant or downright offensive. It’s more likely that his expectations were too high for this kind of gradual marketing. Probably he was just impatient.
Breaking down initial barriers
Most business people are annoyed when interrupted by uninvited solicitors. Agents, dealership managers and fleet managers are generally busy people. Unless there is a clear advantage to taking time to talk with a stranger who stops by to solicit business, most will show that stranger the door very quickly. A smart marketing person will stop by, leave some literature and perhaps the donuts, flowers, or pens, and move on before anyone gets annoyed.
After several weeks or months of these inoffensive visits, the rep should begin to get a more pleasant reception when he stops by. And he may even have an opportunity to say a few words on behalf of the shop. If everyone on the call list is visited only once a month, six months may not be long enough to break down those initial barriers. I’ve found with many prospects, it can take a year or more.
Adding follow-through to initial calls
In the world of sports, it’s well known that follow-through is vital to great performance. Golf pro Steve Fontaine says your follow-through arc “carries the speed and power of your swing.” A top baseball coach tells his pitchers, “A good follow-through is critical for speed, control, and proper fielding position.” Tennis coach Jeff Cooper says follow-through is one of the seven keys to a power serve in tennis. In the world of sales and marketing, follow-through is equally vital!
From time to time, a client calls me to say business is way down. He needs to do some powerful marketing and sales right away! This is already a silly request because in general marketing efforts take time to develop and to realize a result. The best time to market is when you don’t really need the business. By the time you’re desperate for more business, it’s generally too late.
John had the right idea when he sent someone out to make those initial calls, but he was only scratching the surface. Follow-up was needed to dig deeper to hit pay dirt.
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