How are you getting customers? Do you know what your long-term return on investment is through each of your sales channels? In reality, most people haven’t narrowed down how to best get customers, otherwise we’d all be millionaires. Granted, I live in Seattle and there are a lot of folks living pretty well out here without going direct marketing themselves, but I can assure you that they have had someone in their company do it for them. So what are you waiting for? How much time goes into generating new customers for your business? Spend some time on what matters. Not your mass media blitz campaigns, but putting a face to your brand through direct sales.
I’ve heard so many people say that their business isn’t quite where they want it to be. I then ask them how they are getting customers and they reply, „I send out ads in the newspaper,“ or „I’ve got a really nice sign that I spent a bunch of money on.“ Some are not in that position. Some people just rely on word of mouth. An associate of mine once interviewed a lady who wasn’t getting as many kids to enroll in her preschool as she used to. She was going to shut the doors on her business. My associate asked her if she had gone out and met people in the neighborhood. She replied, „Oh no! I couldn’t do that!“
A direct sale is one of the oldest forms of doing business. It works so well, that many peddlers and street merchants started going out in hordes! In fact, a large reason that ’salespeople‘ have a bad rap is due to these peddlers. Seriously though, if you have a product and you want to get it noticed, why wouldn’t you go at it directly?
If you have a quality service that someone could actually use, get yourself out there and get in the mix. If you don’t have a huge advertising budget, get out there. If you do have a huge budget, still get out there. Direct sales might be tough, but it yields the highest rate of customer acquisition and long-term success. Are you going to be afraid to ask someone for their business if you might not have a business tomorrow? The chances are, you’re not going to be. You would go see hundreds of people before that happened. So, why wait?
Handshakes and smiles are what attract people the most. I have tested this in many markets, including my current city of Seattle, and it’s no different here. If you put a professional rapport building friendly person in front of someone who may be in the market for what they have got to sell, its lights-out. Sales flyers, brochures, catalogs, telemarketing calls, blitz marketing attempts, aren’t going to cut it. They can work in conjunction with your direct efforts or vice versa, but they alone are not going to give you long-term success. Its in-person sales and marketing that will drive long-term customer loyalty.
Studies suggest that when a potential customer is weighing their options on which product to buy online, they would much rather deal with a representative of the company. So what are you waiting for? Get out there today!
Don’t forget to visit Blitz Inc Seattle for more marketing and sales tips and strategies. Also, for Blitz Inc’s Seattle news, check the company out on LinkedIn at Blitz Inc!