There is a make it or break it moment with every new client. It is that time when they decide if they are going to invest any time, energy or money with you or your product. Shouldn’t we try to make it easier for them to say “yes” than “no?” But saying “yes” involves a risk. Saying “yes” to you or your product means saying “no” to someone or something else. It might mean leaving someone or something that wasn’t doing the best job but they did know what to expect. They don’t know what to expect with something new. So, let’s develop risk reduction or removal strategies.
In college I came across a man that owned a horse breeding farm and decided that was where I wanted to work. When I asked for a job, he said he didn’t need anyone. Well, he just didn’t know what he was missing by not having me on staff. I told him I would work for free for the first two weeks then he could decide if he needed anyone. Even though he wasn’t hiring, he now had nothing to lose and everything to gain. Worst case scenario, he would have some free labor for two weeks.
I showed up each day with enthusiasm and something to prove. He let me work both weeks, with overtime and didn’t pay me a dime; but, he did hire me after that. I removed the risk.
How can you remove the risk? Maybe it is a free trial. Maybe it is through a remarkable collection of endorsements. Maybe it’s money back guarantees. Take a look at the transaction from the customer’s perspective and remove their risk. You take all the risk. Then you’ll have a better chance of a “Make It” moment.
There is a make it or break it moment with every new client. It is that moment when they decide if they are going to invest time, energy or money with you or your business. Wouldn’t you like to make it harder for them to say “Yes” than “No”? I went to a college with a strict policy that single students must live in the dorms. One semester I got a job on a horse breeding farm that required me to work before and after class. I had the opportunity to live on-site in a travel trailer. The college officials were not understanding so one day I went to the President’s office and asked if I could meet with him. Of course, he wasn’t available and wouldn’t be available. “No problem,” I said, “I’ll wait.” I had my homework with me and I camped out in his waiting room, ready to stay the day. He had to come out at some point.
Now, this isn’t exactly what I mean by making it harder for prospects to say, “No” than “Yes;” but, the tenacity and creativity behind the approach is what I mean. Clients have choices, you know that your product or service is the right one, they just don’t know yet. You must get their attention or trust long enough to prove it to them. Put yourself in their shoes. What might they be afraid of or risking to go with your product or service? Do they understand the service? Are there other choices they have already used? Are you the unknown? Is it a large investment? Will they lose something else if they choose you?
Whatever their risk, they may or may not be able to articulate it. If you will identify their feelings and articulate them in advance, you can help them deal with these feelings. Get them out in the open, take them from being undefined, emotions and deal with them logically and intellectually. Give the right assurances.
When I did get to visit with the college President after about a three hour wait, I told him why I needed to stay off campus. Assured him that it would make it easier for me to complete my studies and my work and told him I would still be paying for the dorm since my other place was free (that was probably the trick). When he got the right assurance, he was happy to let me stay off campus.
The TOW missile system is an armor piercing, wire-guided missile. It has a 4.5km wire spooling as it flies. The gunner guides the missile via the wire to its target. This technology enables a team to stay very mobile while firing heavy artillery at other moving targets.
We need more of this, especially in today’s environment in our businesses. My previous post discussed the value of analysis, knowing, not guessing, the critical business factors. Assuming there is a good source of updated information, it must be acted upon. Sometimes you need to pull the trigger and aim as you go. If you see an opportunity, dive on it, don’t get paralysis by analysis.
I have recently visited with people that are becoming increasingly anxious about the viability of their business. They are going into a retrenchment mode and I can see the creativity, the spark and the opportunities wilting before my very eyes.
But, this is the time to be more alert, looking for a crack in the window of opportunity, ready to dive through and make adjustments as you go. I am not talking about being careless, just aggressive. Roll up your sleeves, get in the middle of the action and chase your target light a cheetah chasing a gazelle.
Did you ever want something so badly that you justified it to yourself with multiple contrived points. I see it happen when someone decides they “need” a new car or figure out a way to justify that wide screen TV. I see the same kind of thing happen when talking to business owners. When I begin asking about critical success factors such as: what are your sources of clients, how much profit does each product yield, what is the average sales cycle, etc., I will get answers that they either think are true or want to be true. Too often I learn that they do not actually know these facts. This is either because that don’t take the time to know or they don’t know how to figure it out.
It is important that an owner know these kinds of things about their business and that they are aware of it continuously. Only when you have the facts can you develop the best business growth strategy. It helps you know where to spend your time, money and other resources. It helps you know what new things you want to try or when to do more or less of something.
Each industry has its own traditional sources of revenue. A sales team might be a source, the internet, a retail location, radio ads, etc. Developing the right sources means optimizing each source so that it is as efficient and profitable as possible and innovating to open up sources that the competition isn’t utilizing.
A simple example of optimization is with email marketing. When sending out an email advertisement, you want to achieve the greatest pull possible. It is essential to apply techniques to get the email to the right people, get more of the right people reading it and most importantly, acting on it?
Innovation is creating an effective revenue source that isn’t currently being used. Maybe a restaurateur devises a clever way to use twitter to drive traffic to the restaurant during slow periods or a unique web strategy pulls in a whole new crowd.
Developing growth strategies is just like fishing. If you put one line in the water you have a chance to catch something. If you put two dozen lines in, you have a much higher chance of catching fish.