Some people should know better.
Last week I got a call from a well know property investing group out of Melbourne, only a jump away from where I live.
I won’t name them but their directory knows a thing or two about direct response. A few years ago when I first came across them they’d paid one of Australia’s highest paid copywriters to produce some space ads and a free report for them. They had a well established process for getting leads and converting them.
Anyway they called me and told me they were having their final evening seminar in Melbourne for a while. Things were going well so their director was taking it around the country. And did I want to go?
Well actually I didn’t want to go. Nothing personal. Just didn’t want to go. So they tried to encourage me to go. No problem there.
And then they gave up.
Have you spotted the lost opportunity yet?
OK. Well the thing they neglected to remember is that the value of their business is in their list, or rather the relationship they have with their list. So if I didn’t want to go to the seminar, why didn’t they offer me something else to at least keep the relationship strong? Sure, I might not have wanted to go because I don’t like them. But I also might not have gone because I had something else on, my car was not on the road or it was simply too far away.
And it’s important to keep the relationship strong, because you never know when a non-buyer will become a buyer.
What would you have done?
Here’s what I would have done if I were doing the calling.
“Since you can’t be at the seminar, <director>’s summarised the strategies in a free report (or CD or DVD). I know not everyone can come but he’d really like to let as many people know about where the property market’s heading in the next 2 years, and what you can do to capitalise. Would you like me to send you a copy?”
That way they get their information into my hot little hands, and if I like what I see I might still use their services.
Plus they’ve given me something of value, so I’d be more likely to use them in the future.
But most of all, they’ve strengthened our relationship and turned the fact that I wasn’t attending into a positive.
What do you have in place as a backup option? Do you have a free report, or something else of value for people who have told you they’re interested, but may not be ready to purchase yet? Do you have lots of quality information going out to them?
Having a backup option for situations like this can strengthen the relationship with your list enormously. This would have put the ‘maybe’ people a lot closer to becoming ‘Yes’ people. And a stronger list means a stronger business.
Next week I’m going to talk about your initial offer to prospects. Kind of relevant after this, don’t you think?
All the best,
Hugh Thyer
www.salescomefirst.com
<Are you looking for a copywriter for your next project? Contact Hugh at www.salescomefirst.com to discuss your needs>
