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<\/a><\/p>\nWhether you market your small business<\/a> online or off, the principle is the same; if you want to convert a prospect into a client, you can\u2019t rely on a one-step, or even two-step selling plan. You need to keep feeding your prospects the information they want so they get to know you, trust you and want to buy from you.<\/p>\n It\u2019s like providing a full meal.<\/p>\n Say you\u2019ve recently moved to a new part of town. You\u2019ve decided to invite the neighbors over for the evening. So you call around and get twenty RSVPs. Then you greet your guests when they show up at 6 p.m. or 7 p.m. on the appointed Saturday night, and point them to the drinks table.<\/p>\n And that was all you provided, drinks!<\/p>\n A couple of hours later, you\u2019d have trouble. By now your guests would be hungry, grumpy, and inebriated to boot. Not a pretty picture, especially when Stephanie falls off your deck into the flowerbed or Fred starts pumping your keg of beer into your hot tub. And everyone\u2019s starving.<\/p>\n In reality, you\u2019d never make a mistake like that, would you?<\/strong><\/p>\n You\u2019d have a plan for the evening that included appetizers, dinner and dessert. You\u2019d have the grill set up, the burgers and buns ready, bowls of salads in the fridge, and plates of brownies to bring out later, so the party would flow smoothly and your guests would go away full, happy and eager to come back.<\/p>\n (Not like some dinner parties I\u2019ve been too where I come home still hungry and pop a pizza in the oven.)<\/p>\n Small business marketing strategy<\/a> is the same \u2013 if you want it to be profitable you need to have a plan to succeed<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Why?<\/p>\n On average most of your prospects spend weeks, if not months to make a decision. Imagine you provided web hosting services, it\u2019ll take 30-60 days to get a prospect to buy. Or in the case of my client George who sells health insurance it takes 30-120 days.<\/p>\n Do you have a small business marketing strategy<\/a> for what you\u2019re going to feed your prospects to keep them interested and keep them from starving before you close the sale?<\/p>\n Small business marketing<\/a> is about building relationships with your prospects, helping them get to know you and see the value in your products and services, and getting them to convince themselves of the importance of taking action and becoming a client. That\u2019s a big job, one that in reality takes weeks, if not months, depending on what you sell.<\/p>\n Just as you\u2019d plan a full course menu for your dinner party, plan your marketing follow up so you get to know your prospects and they get to know you with the result that you build a relationship, one that leads to a sale. Without a menu of follow up activities, your prospects will starve and go looking elsewhere to satisfy their hunger.<\/p>\n Of course there is no perfect meal. It depends on who you\u2019re serving. Similarly each follow up marketing plan will vary depending on your target market.<\/p>\n Keep these guidelines in mind:<\/strong><\/p>\n 1.<\/strong> Save your pitch for dessert. Even then, to close the sale, get your prospects to sell themselves. For example if you\u2019ve made some sumptuous brownies, all you need to do is put them on the table and people will ask for them on their own. The same is true if you\u2019ve done a good job creating a perception of need with your marketing for your product or service. <\/em><\/p>\n <\/em><\/p>\n 2.<\/strong> Use questions to get your prospects to tell you why they\u2019re interested in your services. Let them tell you what they want and need.<\/p>\n 3.<\/strong> Focus on finding common interests and building a relationship.<\/p>\n 4.<\/strong> Contact your prospects at least every other week.<\/p>\n 5.<\/strong> Map out the type of communication (email, phone, direct mail, etc.) and the content (the questions you\u2019ll be asking and answers you want to get).<\/p>\n You can either put a lot of effort into generating leads and hope that some of them remember you 30 to 120 days later, when they\u2019re ready to buy.<\/p>\n Or you can create a simple follow up strategy to systematically convert those hard won leads into sales and see your profits increase by 300% or more <\/a><\/strong>>><\/a><\/p>\n Remember that 80% of sales are lost due to the lack of follow up, when prospects are starved for information.<\/p>\n How often do you follow up with prospects?<\/p>\n What content do you provide to keep them satisfied and make them eager to buy?<\/p>\n Is your follow up an improvised, seat-of-your-pants affair or a well-planned menu that you\u2019re constantly improving?<\/p>\n Ready to close more sales online and off?<\/p>\n Find out the system that thousands have successfully used to increase their profits by 100 to 200 percent. Click here to get the details >><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n – Charlie P.S.<\/strong> Without a follow up small business marketing strategy<\/a>, you\u2019re losing 80% of your potential sales.<\/p>\n Do the math; multiply your average monthly sales by a factor of four to determine your ultimate profit potential. For example, if you\u2019re now making $30,000 each month, you could be making $120,000 monthly with a systematic way of following up on prospects.<\/p>\n P.P.S.<\/strong> Yes, setting up your follow up system will require some work, but once it\u2019s set up, it will run essentially by itself, multiplying your monthly profits. Find out how here >><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n P.P.P.S.<\/strong> Gotta go. Writing this made me hungry.<\/p>\n
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