Not long ago I engaged a fellow professional networker in conversation---someone I'd never met before.  The conversation instantly fell apart, and the "why" should be of concern to everyone who interacts with a prospective customer.

My opening gambit was to ask for a business card and the statement that I was interested in the pertinent service on behalf of someone else I knew.  And I stated a specific reason for the interest.

I expected follow-up questions from the service provider so that more insight in my interest could be gained.  To my utter surprise, the person refuted my reason and began a lecture -- with statistics -- to buttress the refutation. 

A better way to have handled this was for the person to validate me and understand my perspective, and to reinforce that with additional ways to use the service.  After all, I was a hot lead.  Who cares why I might want to buy unless I was absolutely a poor fit.  Which I wasn't. 

As one would expect, I disengaged from this unproductive discussion and scratched this provider from my hot list.  I'm not going to do business with someone who fundamentally disrespected me.

Bottom Line:  When a prospect reaches out, every effort should be made to welcome and validate that prospect.  After that, take time to better understand the prospect's needs and share ideas for making the prospect's experience the best it can be. 

When Traffic is Light

Some of the business owners I know and work with have classic "brick and mortar" situations: i.e. doing business from a single physical location.  And some of them have had difficulties creating foot traffic to their location.  As is so often the case, affordability and availability dictate unusually difficult circumstances where the business may as well be invisible.  That, tied with limited advertising budget, begs the question: how to generate traffic in such cases?

In such cases, I like "guerrilla marketing" strategies.  Some of these might include:

(1) Build word of mouth by giving something away.  A strategy I like and use is the free seminar.  These can often be held for nothing at libraries and allow you to talk about something you do, with ideas for the interested, in the space of an hour or 90 minutes.  Leave plenty of take away literature with some special in-store offer for attendees.

(2) Let's face it: social media is a marketing reality.  Use boosted ad features to send a message to the communities where you operate.  And build engagement with continuing customers and prospects.  Use the social media properties to share information and ideas, never to "hard sell", and to announce regular special events at your location.

(3) Groupon (and similar programs) are designed to build awareness.  Used judiciously they can bring in more people for just the cost of a discount.

(4) Give existing customers incentive to bring in new guests!  Can you devise a special discount or offer for referrals?

There are many ways to overcome a location with a possible handicap that don't cost a fortune to implement.  Use some creative strategies or see what some others in the same situation are doing.  You can make a change in your traffic!

The Fun, Fun, Fun World of Contests

One of the staples of the broadcast industry (particularly on radio) is the contest.  Whether it takes the form of a telephone call, in-person enrollment, online enrollment, or text, contests have been used for many years with the goal of ginning up listener engagement.  Other businesses employ contests.  I see the "business card jar" at some restaurants, for example.

I must confess to be conflicted about contests.  On the positive side, some kind of contest or drawing is a low-cost technique to engage with customers, one that usually permits the business to obtain very valuable contact information for use in later promotions.

On the flip side, contests can be the ultimate in phony engagement.  In fact, today, I saw a presentation by a gentleman who has made a veritable science of participating in contests.  He was quite proud of the assumed value of the goods and services he won.  I was astonished at the detachment from the broadcasters.

Are contests worth doing?  Of course.  But one needs to be careful about the structuring of the contest.  Be sure to collect information from the entrant in the form of an entry blank or business card.  And ensure that entry is done at a physical location where the contestant can at least either engage with you or see your products or services, say, at a display booth or a storefront.  Don't have a storefront?  perhaps partner with an allied business that does.

Bottom Line:  Use "guerrilla" marketing techniques with care.  Always combine the fun and benefit to a contestant with hard benefits to your business.

The Upset Customer Opportunity

A discussion last week about engagement with upset customers and prospects via their negative reviews and posts prompts a follow up.  These sorts of reviews and posts can be a net positive and an opportunity for a business.  Here's how:

There are two types of disaffected customers.  One type doesn't complain, at least not in any way upon which can be followed.  They may complain in a person to person conversation.  The end result: no chance whatever to recover the customer and bad press beyond that.

The other type does complain.  They can be engaged by the means used to complain.  And the customer can not only be recovered, in most cases, but they may be impressed enough to share the positive recovery experience with others.  It's often the case that the most loyal customers are those for whom something went wrong.

And in the social media space, businesses that promptly and politely rectify situations are those that can gain a strong brand boost in a wider audience.

Bottom line: adversity can be a route to strength!  But one must first positively and promptly engage that unhappy customer!

You Might Surprise Yourself

As I network in my market area, I am frequently struck by new insights gleaned from watching others.  And sometimes those insights strike very close to home.  A very important one for me I have come to call the "Conjecture on Comparison."  And it is this: We usually and wrongly believe others are superior in skills, experience, and success.

When I first made networking rounds I held a view that the other entrepreneurs in the room were doing uniformly well, often very well, and were tops in their line of work.  I figured I was a true novice and was concerned that potential customers would view my own offerings with extreme skepticism.  Only after I developed relationships did I recognize that I was a good deal stronger than I first believed, and, more importantly, that others were a lot more anxious and self-critical than they seemed.  There weren't that many demigods in the room.

This means that when we market ourselves we should recognize that, at least for most of us, we have wonderful service or products that will truly help someone else, and that we shouldn't be the least bit hesitant to offer ourselves as helpers.  The only real worry should be making sure that our appropriate target customers get to hear our message.  And through networking, we make the connections that get us to the target customers.

Bottom Line: Are you carrying doubts about your skill set? are you comparing yourself too much to others?  If you believe in them you can believe in yourself.  Feel like someone who can help and make a difference!  Your marketing efforts will shine with that sunny confidence!

Lessons from a Door to Door Evangelist

Last week I was visited here at the home office by some representatives of a well known religious organization.  These souls were evangelizing through the thinly concealed device of peddling a "free magazine" (the one that is the voice for that particular sect).  Strip away the religion and we really had a door-to-door marketing campaign.  And the representatives made about as many marketing mistakes as one could make.

1.  Target marketing.  The campaign was a simple brute force door-to-door, heedless of analysis of demographics.  The mother organization presumably feels "everyone" is a target customer, and its representatives (and there were at least five (!) in my little cul-de-sac) waste massive amounts of time knocking on doors.  And by the way, they visited on a weekday morning when hardly anyone is at home.

2. Brand messaging.  Almost nil.  The representatives were bizarrely attired, and didn't telegraph a positive image.

3. Establishing a connection with the prospect.  The representative who addressed me started with (and I am not making this up) "would you like to receive a magazine?".  The person could have engaged me with light philosophical questions such as "Do you feel like you aren't getting all the right answers" or some such to spark a conversation about how they can help solve my problems.  Of course I don't want a magazine!

4. Tactics.  Door to door is not, in my opinion, an old school tactic that works well any more.  With concerns about crime alone people don't respond well to the knocked door appeal.  I can't remember when a door-to-door contact engendered a really positive experience (except maybe the Girl Scout Cookie kids.)

5. Sampling.  Do not ask me if I want a magazine subscription.  Do leave behind something I can read.  Or leave something as a gift that might invite me to warm up.  A coupon? a tract?  Sure, 95% of the stuff will be tossed but I might be more willing to respond if I get something, rather than be asked to give or do something.

Bottom line: even the church must pay attention to marketing lessons.  This little contact was a fine reminder that the fundamentals matter.

Keys to Good Engagement

At my last workshop I talked a little bit about tools that gave small business owners insights on how to compare customer engagement in the social media realm.  Since then I have been thinking about the customer engagement process as I talk with another client.  What are the "keys" to social media engagement?

Whether it be in Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest or others, the people willing to "follow" you want a good exchange for their time.  I think these suggestions can lock in that willingness.

1) Post often, rather than rarely.  Frequency signals that you are interested in establishing a vibrant community.  Rarity practically screams "only when I have the time."
2) Regularly post something of value:  a fact, a coupon deal, a funny story, you name it.  Be willing to share with others.  They might in turn share with their others and help promote your business.
3) Ask questions.  Invite followers to react to an idea, a challenge, or a thought point.  You don't need to have them solve one of your problems, but setting up a discussion helps connect people to you.
4) Use pictures.  Show off your business, products, employees, customers, whatever.  There is something about photographs that deeply attracts our attention.
5) Don't always talk shop.  But don't range too far off the reservation.  Post things that would make sense to people engaged with your work.  Have fun!
6) Check your facts, especially before sharing someone else's post.  Social media is thick with untruths, nonsense, and misinterpreted statements.  You don't want to have customers think you are a fool.
7) Be tasteful.  Avoid blue language, negativity, and above all post only what you'd be happy to share with your own grandmother.

If your page becomes a lively community of people connected to your business and your world, you will take a big step forward in becoming a customer engagement leader!  Start today!