Choccywoccy

Mrs B has got a special birthday coming up in a few months time and we’re planning quite a party…

She quite fancies, amongst other things, a really special cake and so, a few weeks ago one Saturday afternoon, we found ourselves in London heading towards Carnaby Street for an appointment at the now world famous Choccywoccydoodah shop.
Sue had booked a one hour consultation and we took a couple of friends along as well – after all, we thought it was likely to be a pleasurable experience. And it was.chocolate-cake
As well as tasting 15 different flavours of cake, we were given a thorough presentation of all the options and choices available for what are genuine works of art.
Now, for the uninitiated, these cakes do not come cheap.
You can’t get much for under £1,000 and the size of cake needed for the party Sue is planning would require a budget nearer to £2,000.
Of course, as a firm advocate of effective pricing in business, I have no issue with these types of price tags and everything about our experience on that Saturday was spot on. We left moderately excited about the cake that we were planning to order.
However, Sue had two or three specific questions that the lady who saw us was going to talk about with their Master Baker, and get back to Sue the following week.
You know what’s coming…
Five weeks later… not a dickybird.
No email, no call. Nothing.
Now, it might genuinely be that they really don’t care BUT we made a specific trip from the Midlands to London to spend an hour with them planning the cake.
That’s a pretty hefty buying signal.
We were all set to place the order on the day but these points needed clarifying and they were going to come back to us.
We don’t need the cake for several months yet so there was no capacity or operational issues – it’s just a complete breakdown in the marketing system.
There are no excuses for it and it would be truly appalling if it weren’t for the fact that, as you know only too well, this lack of follow up is all too common, and the real truth is, it’s happening in your business as well.
Of course, we’d all like to believe that we’d never miss an opportunity like this. We will roll our eyes and tut at the folly and foolishness of these other business owners who make such schoolboy errors, but it happens everywhere.
To be clear, I am NOT complacent here.
I know that we make gaffs like this in my business. Hopefully, only very occasionally – we have pretty good systems and InfusionSoft is our safety net and ensures that at least there’s a base level of
communication once people have got in touch with us.
This lack of effective follow up – Christ, we WANTED them to call – is a cancer in British business and the only cure is the determination and tenacity of the business owner (that’s you!) in sorting it out.
It is within your grasp to ensure that no one who ever enquires in your business ever gets missed. But unless you actively pursue it, it won’t happen.
Things will slip through the cracks. Believe me, I know.
Of course, Choccywoccydoodah arguably didn’t have to spend any money generating this particular open ‘lead’. Sue was aware of their product and services from the TV show and from them featuring in many magazines and big events over the last few years.
But the crime of not following up becomes, to me, even greater when the business owner has shelled out their hard earned money to generate that lead.
Whether it’s through Google AdWords, in response to a leaflet or an ad, or in response to a telesales campaign – money has been invested to generate that lead and it’s just been pissed away by ineffective staff and inefficient processes.
Here’s a thought for you:-
All you have to do to generate a 20% uplift in both sales and profit this year is follow up effectively on every single lead that comes in.
I’m serious.
Even if you are following up once, twice or even three times, by increasing the number of times and personalising your communication, it will have a deep and profound impact on your revenue and customer numbers.
And it’s easy to do.
What’s more, you know that it’s true and makes sense.
Truth is, 99.96% of people that have read this article to this point will do absolutely nothing about it – even though they know, right this minute, that this cancer has stuck in their business.
As we say in Yorkshire, “Tha’s nowt so queer as folk…”