3 Tips for Keeping Your Business Alive

November 9th, 2009

Once again Patricia Weber offers excellent suggestions in her blog post,  How to Prevent Your Business from Death on the Vine.

Below you’ll find her original post with my comments in italic wherever I insert them.

In times of plenty, when there is more certainty and confidence, businesses may have the luxury of customers or clients showing up on their front door step. These are not necessarily those times for many businesses. But just because there’s no crowd at your front door right now, you must continue to bring people to that door step.

1- Maintain a focus on your prospective client’s problem or pain. Even difficult economic times are NOT about you. In sales and marketing, it is always about the customer. What is your customers most prevalent problem? What do they want to avoid or what do they want to get? Keep that at the heart of your message.

When you talk to your prospects, focus on the results you will deliver to your customers and how they’ll benefit from those results. Another way to think of it is, “How will working with you improve the quality of  your customer’s business and their life.

2- Plan to drip on your prospects. Tougher economic times usually can mean longer decision making cycles. You must plan to follow-up more than before. Before what? Well, before the internet. The International Marketing Association reported an average of 6 contacts with a prospect before they moved through the “know, like, trust” cycle to buy. With the onslaught of television, radio, direct marketing, and internet advertising, the time line is now between 6 and 21 times.

I’ve heard many times that many a successful person will actually say ‘no’ the first time or two just to see if you are confident enough to follow-up again.

Once you’re conversing with your prospect, consider ‘no’ as a request for more information. And when you deliver, tell them ‘what’ and ‘why.’ Remember to save telling someone  about the ‘how’ for after you’ve been hired.

3- Drip with purpose. Business graveyards fill up quickly without purpose because, people aren’t interested in you! Plan to be systematic with reasons that prove you were listening to them. Something personal like a birthday, something that shows you were listening, like their interest in red wines, fine valid business reasons that are purposeful in connecting.

What are you finding is working to keep your company, your business, alive as the economy in general continues to remain stuck in many areas of the world?

Thanks, Pat for reminding us that we can contact a prospect or a customer for either personal or professional reasons. The purpose of staying in touch is to let them know you care. You’re building relationship. You’re helping them get to know, like, and trust you, so when they’re ready to buy, you’re who they want to do business with.

So drip, drip, drip with a purpose. And enjoy watching your business flow.

Entry Filed under: Direct sales, Professionals, Small Business Success