By Leo J. Quinn, Jr.
As a businessperson, your ongoing resolution should be to get the name, address, phone number, email address, occupation and birth date of every prospect, customer, client or patient you have.
This list is unquestionably the most valuable asset of your business. Treat it like gold. On a regular basis, make up-to-date copies that you store away from your business to protect the list in case disaster strikes. If you are properly insured and rebuild, your customer list will be invaluable in rebuilding the earning power of your business.
Why all the fuss? Simple. It's far easier to sell to someone who already knows and trusts you than it is to sell to a complete stranger. You've spent thousands of dollars in advertising to bring these customers to your door. If they never hear from you again, you've wasted 90 percent of that money.
I'd like to show you how to turn your customer list into a constant source of revenue for you--revenue that will require very little investment of time or money on your part.
Without a doubt the best form of marketing is word of mouth. Let's say a dentist has a list of 1,000 patents that she sees twice a year if she's lucky. Based on what I spend for two visits, with no cavities or other emergencies, she'll earn around $200 per patient per year minus expenses, taxes and insurance. Unfortunately, most of her money will probably be devoted to getting more patients, rather than building on the goodwill she has with her current patients.
Let me ask you a question. Have you ever received anything in the mail from your dentist other than a postcard indicating the date and time of your upcoming appointment? Would you open a letter from your dentist if you got one? Sure you would. If you've never gotten anything from her before, curiosity alone would compel you to open it. That and the fact that you obviously like and trust the person who you allow to rummage around in your mouth. The dentist and any businessperson can and should turn this goodwill into an additional profit center.
Back to our story.
Let's say our dentist just had her entire home cleaned, top to bottom, by a cleaning service in the area. She's very happy with their work. She should approach the cleaning service with this proposal:
"I have more than 1,000 patients in the area who might be interested in using your cleaning services. If you're willing to give them a discount on their first cleaning (or other offer), I will write a letter to them, which you will pay to have printed and mailed, recommending and endorsing your service because I've used it and was very satisfied."
The cleaning service would be foolish to turn down such an offer for three reasons.
1. Long-Term Prospects--Although they may be losing money on the first sale, they will more than make up for it over the "lifetime" of working for the customer.
2. Response rate--If the cleaning company sent a letter to 1,000 people at random, they'd be lucky to get 10 responses (one percent) to the offer. By associating with the dentist, who already has a relationship with these people, a response rate of two-five percent is not unreasonable.
3. Referrals--The new customers may refer others. The company will earn steady money from such "word-of-mouth" referrals.
So how will the dentist be compensated? That is entirely up to her. She could get free home cleanings forever. Or she could take $20 for every patient who responds to the offer. She could get $10 every time one of her patients uses the cleaning service, for life. She could arrange for the cleaning company to send a similar letter to their cleaning customers endorsing the dentist. Whatever closes the deal is the way to go.
You should be looking for these opportunities in everything you do. If you find a product or service you like, make a deal with the provider. You will endorse the product/service to your base of people who like and trust you, in return for X. It's important that the offer you make to your customers is special and is not something they could get on their own. It could be a discount or a "buy one, get one free" or a 30-day free trial. Whatever it is, it should be something you got especially for them.
Some "professionals" may balk at the notion of becoming salespeople, as if it were beneath them. But recognize that these letters are merely a different form of word-of-mouth advertising. You found a product or service you liked and wanted to share the information with those you care about.
The added benefit of these letters is that you're on the mind of your customers more often. Because of this, you'll get more referrals. So if the idea of "being a salesperson" is upsetting to you, refuse to accept any compensation and simply benefit from reminding your customers that you're still there. And if it makes you feel better, by all means indicate in the letter that you're receiving nothing for this endorsement. And perhaps your product or service could be used as a fundraiser. If so, form a joint venture with a charity.
If you've been in business for any length of time or belong to any civic groups, you can probably think of at least five joint ventures you could set up this week. think of your customers or any friends who work for themselves. Show them this article and start putting that golden asset, your customer list, to work for you.
Leo J. Quinn, Jr. is the owner of Marketing Support Services, a Saratoga Springs, NY-based company that helps businesses set up profitable joint ventures. He can be reached at (518) 584-4843 or LeoQuinn@aol.com
Quinn also publishes Joint Venture Deals e-zine, which can be subscribed to by sending blank email message to JVDeals-on@mail-list.com Visit Quinn's website at:
http://www.angelfire.com/ny2/buysellforum/index.html
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