I’m writing this following a plethora of 1:1s with Club and Inside Track members. A common theme emerged, which I’d like to share with you because I really think it might help you this month…
Many of the members I have met and spoken with recently were passionate in their desire to grow their business. When we drilled it down and understood what that meant in real life, it often boiled down to requiring a bunch of new customers. In some instances, where the business concerned is B2B, then the addition of just another half dozen clients can transform profitability of the business concerned whilst, in other cases, larger volumes were required.
In each case, we drilled further down to establish what would need to happen to really bring that difference about and get those new customers – or, in several instances, just get more sales from the existing customers.
My prescription in quite a lot of the cases was for the business owner to do the following:
Step 1
Identify 100 ideal customers that they’d like to do business with.
Step 2
Research those customers so they have detailed information, not only on the company and the business but the buyer / decision maker that they need to deal with.
Step 3
Put together an original and creative campaign, based around direct mail (i.e. sending them stuff) that sells a meeting – not the product (that last bit is really important).
The key here is to make the campaign different so that it stands out and, over a period of weeks, the prospect becomes only too aware of the business, what it does and how/why it can help them.
Fairly simple, of course, when you say it quickly like that but much thought is required to do this well. However, huge amounts of work, tons of stress and huge overdrafts can all be eliminated by high quality thinking.
Amongst the high quality content in this month’s edition, we’ve given over four pages to an example of one of the finest pieces of direct mail that I have ever seen. We’ve shown it in full with my handwritten notes alongside and it is a B2C piece. The truth is, whatever business you are in, it is likely that a well constructed direct mail campaign could make a significant difference to your business this summer and all that is standing between you and it is some quality thought. In that regard, I hope this edition helps you to go a bit deeper and give you more assistance as you construct your campaign.
I am, as ever, reminded of Ben Hunt-Davis’s wonderful talk at the National Event last July when he introduced all of us to the concept of “Will it make the boat go faster”. It’s never been more important than this month that you question, every minute of every day, whether what you’re doing, right now, this second is moving you and your business to where you want it to be.
One of the great things about a direct mail campaign that works is that it becomes a sustainable asset that can be deployed and used, week after week, month after month to bring in new customers and get older ones to spend. It is arguably one of the most important assets in every business that has done the thinking – and the work required – to bring it about. But it does take effort… and work, and you already know that most business owners aren’t prepared to do the hard work that makes the selling easy. Are you one of ‘em?
Go forth on your quest, my liege…
Have a great month…
