Marketing Your Consulting Services.pdf - epiheirimatikotita.gr

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ebbvice Personalize Your Marketing
I am a strong proponent of personalized marketing tools. When I first started
my business most of my exchanges with clients were very informal and personal.
I claimed that we did no marketing, until Ian, one of my clients, asked what I
thought I was doing when I sent him a hand-made thank-you card. Whether it’s
marketing or not, I do believe it built a strong relationship with my clients and
potential clients. I suggest that you conduct more personalized marketing than
you might originally consider. It can be fun, and it does work. It can be serious
or hokey, but one thing’s for sure: Few people do it, and you will stand out.
What have we done?
Probably the most unusual thing I did was to send a pie to a bank vice president
(usually a conservative industry) based on a personal discussion we had
about how to coach employees. It worked. I was invited for a sales call and
landed some work with them. Certainly this is not something I would have done
with everyone. In fact it’s the only time I used it. I believe, however, that most
of you have opportunities like that and that 99 percent of the time they are not
completed. One of three things happens:
1. The opportunity floats right over your head and you miss it. ebbvice: keep
your ears and eyes open for those unique opportunities and write them down
so you don’t forget. Right now I have three items on my to-do list that are
like this: Send flowers to a client’s mother in the hospital, call a colleague who
is writing a book to offer my publicist’s name, and purchase and send a book
about fly fishing to a client.
2. You recognize the opportunity, have a creative idea, perhaps even share it
with someone. Then for some reason you discard the idea as either too foolish,
too expensive, too risky, or for some other reason that seems perfectly
plausible. ebbvice: do it anyway. Get it on your to-do list. Ask one other person
(not too conservative) and if the individual gives you a thumbs up, put
it in your A priorities.
3. You recognize the opportunity, perhaps you even write it on your to-do list,
but you run out of time and do not follow up. It eventually becomes too late
to be effective and you remove it from your actions. ebbvice: establish a
Marketing Your Consulting Services