If I had a dime for every designer gave up on their marketing efforts just before a client was ready to sign on the dotted line, I’d be lounging on a warm, sunny beach, sipping umbrella-adorned drinks.

The story goes something like this. A designer decides to do, say, a postcard mailing. The have their nifty cards designed and printed up. Let’s say it’s a series of four cards. They mail out the first and wait. Nobody calls. The next one goes out. They check the phone to make sure it’s still working. On to number three and four. Zip. Zilch. Nada. Not even a peep from a prospect. So, our designer decides that postcards don’t work and gives up.

There’s a couple of fairly obvious problems here. First, the designer didn’t make follow up phone calls. If you mail anything - a postcard, letter of introduction, brochure, etc. - and don’t follow up, you’re pretty much throwing your marketing money away. Second, doing a four postcard mailing isn’t enough in most cases. Sure, you might luck out and hit a prospect at the right time with the right offer. But, research shows that it takes several points of contact before a sales is closed. The National Sales Executive Association, in the US, did a study that found 80% of sales are made during the 5th-12th contact. Here are statistics from their survey findings:

2% of sales are made on the 1st contact

3% of sales are made on the 2nd contact

5% of sales are made on the 3rd contact

10% of sales are made on the 4th contact

80% of sales are made on the 5th-12th contact

What this means is that you’ll need to have a system in place to reach your prospect from several angles. Those can be an intro letter, a direct mail piece with a specific offer and a strong call to action, a phone call and perhaps setting up a lunch meeting. Lather, rinse repeat.

It also means not putting all your marketing eggs into one basket. At any given time, you should have several marketing, promotional and public relations activities going. Over time, review what’s working and what’s not. Toss the bad ones and try something new, but only after you’ve given the activity a reasonable amount of time to bring in some results.

Until the next
Marketing Minute
all the best,
nt

Here’s a typical scenario. A designer gets a call. The person on the other end of the phone needs a [insert gig du jour]. After a wee bit of a scramble, a proposal or estimate is whipped up, the project is confirmed, money moves and things get to rockin.’ The project moves along and is finally finished. The client is pleased as punch. Our designer gets paid. Everybody’s a happy camper and move on to the next thing on the list. All is well with the Universe.

Or is it?

Although this is the way most independent designers work, it tends to be a first cousin to the notorious “feast or famine syndrome.” Our little scenario is project-based thinking and not necessarily a good idea for you or your client.

Why?

Glad you asked. It’s not a great working model for you because it centers around the one-shot deal. When things dry up you might find yourself flipping burgers to meet your overhead. Although you might look simply smashing in a nifty fast-food uniform, odds are, it’s not what you had in mind.

It’s not a good deal for your client because, frankly, you’re doing a disservice by providing only what they ask for and not using your gray matter to root out what might be of value to them.

I’d like to offer a better idea. Ask a boat load of questions. Get to know your clients’ businesses, their competitive arena, their industry, their audience. In essence, learn all the gory details and become a partner in their success. Then, put on your consultant cap and get to thinking. What would help them out? What ideas can you offer up?

The thing is, just because a client asks for a whatever, it doesn’t necessarily mean that’s what they really need. By asking questions and digging deep, you can offer ideas that will help your clients meet their goals. You add value to your relationship. You become a needed resource. You separate yourself from your competition, because they’re not doing their homework.

As you learn more about each of your clients’ businesses, you can position yourself as a consultant and offer up suggestions. Now you’re getting somewhere. You’ll find you no longer live project to project. You begin to create projects.

One of the best times to map things out is during an annual client review. December and January are good times to do this. Set up a time to get together with each of your clients. Lunch is a nice idea – on your dime, of course. Review what’s been done during the previous year. What worked well, what could use some improvement and such. Ask them about their goals for the upcoming year.

Take what you learn and give it some thought. What can you do to help your client meet their goals? Put together a proposal and present it to your client.

If you handle this right, you’ll find you can schedule much of your workflow for an entire year, or at least several months out. You’ll know what needs to be done and when. You’ll decrease or eliminate those nutty rush gigs. Your clients can accurately budget for upcoming projects and avoid rush fees. You’ll both sleep better at night because you’ll know what needs to be done, when and how much it’ll cost. No surprises.

In addition, raising yourself to a valued consultant status can justify higher fees. Plus, you become proactive by generating projects rather than sitting at your desk waiting for the phone to ring.

Until the next
Marketing Minute
all the best,
nt

Have you ever run into something like this? You get a call from a prospect. They want you to come in for show and tell and discuss a project. You go to the meeting and they love your stuff. As you leave they’re telling you you’re the next best thing to sliced bread and they’ll call shortly to get things started. You’re thinking, “Woo hoo! They like me. They really like me.” You send over your estimate and then …

… nothing. Nada. Zip. Not even a peep.

So, there you sit at your desk thinking. “Sheesh, I thought it was a done deal. Were they just feeding me a line of hooie? What did I do wrong?”

Chill out. Sure, maybe they did get someone else. As my art school teacher used to say, “If they don’t want you, it’s their loss, not yours.” Often though, it’s a matter of changed priorities. In as much as the gig is on your front burner, something may have come up to put it on your prospect’s back burner. They may have been called out of town. It might be that another project took them by storm and their boss is on their back. Etcetera, so forth and so on.

What to do? Well, there’s not much you can do to get your prospect moving in your direction if they don’t want to play. A follow up phone call is in order, of course. If something else has come up, ask when you should call them back. For example, I’ve been working on a prospect, a Marketing Manager with a fairly large company. She contacted me looking for a site for one of their divisions. We met a couple of times and everything seemed to be moving forward. Then I didn’t hear anything. So, I picked up the phone and found out that the division head had put things on hold pending some legal issues and she was simply too busy to get back with me. I asked when I should call her to touch base. She said the mid part of Spring. So, down it goes on my calendar and I move forward with other prospects and projects.

It’s important not to put too much weight on any prospective project until the client signs in blood and the deposit check clears. It’s easy to start counting chickens before they’ve hatched and count on money that’s not in your account yet. Don’t fall into the trap.

You’ll get your fair share of tire kickers along the way, so you’ll want to keep up your marketing and promotion efforts to ensure you have several prospects in the pipeline at various stages of the sales cycle. You won’t close them all and there will be some you shouldn’t even tackle. But, the idea is to juggle several prospects at the same time, rigorously qualify them and focus on the ones you know you can win and will be a good fit for your practice.

Until the next
Marketing Minute
all the best,
nt

Over the past few posts, I’ve written about getting to know your prospect and their marketing environment. The more knowledge you have about them and their industry, competition and customers, the better your position will be to truly demonstrate your value and communicate why your solution is the bee’s knees.

This will be a three part series about how to go about gathering this insightful info. We’ll start with the prospect. Next comes industry research. Finally, we’ll wrap up with the end customer and put all the pieces together.

One Mouth. Two Ears.
In a brilliant flash of intuition, it’s becomes apparent that this quest for knowledge begins with the prospect. Without one of those, there’s no need for the rest. Well … okay … that’s not entirely true. You could start backwards and focus on learning about an industry and its customers. Then you can share some of your investigative results with prospects in that industry. For instance, you might write a white paper about why customers buy more widget in blue packaging than red. Then, get the report out to prospect by mail, email, etc. Even better, have them contact you to get the report.

Alas, I digress. When having an information gathering session with a prospect, it’s important to listen more that you talk. Which, of course, is why humans typically have one mouth and two ears. It’s easy to lose sight of this and start yapping a mile a minute, barely letting your prospect get a word in edgewise.

Play 20 Questions
Before your meeting, whether by phone or face-to-face, prepare your agenda. A questionnaire is a handy tool and will keep you on track so you don’t forget to ask critical questions. Referring to a paper questionnaire also makes you look a wee bit more professional and subtly shows that you have a standard process in place. As luck would have it, BoDo’s sister site, Creative Latitude, has a few handy dandy questionnaires ready-made for you. Or, use them as a jumping off point to develop your own questionnaire.

There are primarily two types of questions – open-ended and closed-ended. Open-ended questions require that the person do some thinking and answer with their own words. Often several of them. Closed-ended questions are succinct. Answers are predetermined responses such as “yes,” or “no.”

For the purpose of your Sherlock Holmes efforts, you’ll want to focus open-ended questions. They require some thought which [hopefully] yields more insight and depth. But, you’ll also want to add a touch of the closed variety here and there.

For example, you might ask, “Do you interact with your customers directly?” That’s pretty much a closed-ended, “yes,” or “no.” Not much info there. So, follow up with an open-ended question like, “How do you do that?” Now we’re getting somewhere.

Just the fact, M’am
Now that we have our questioning style down, what do we ask? To really get to know a company, you’ll, obviously, want to learn about its products and/or services. You’ll also need to find out who their key customers are; if they have any relevant market research in place; who their ideal customer is and what’s important to them; what trade publications are important … and if you can borrow some copies. You’ll also want to dig into the company’s management and culture. Are they stuffy and conservative? Hip and jazzy? Wild and crazy or, perhaps, somewhere in between. This will help you target your presentation style and also the form your solutions take on down the road.

Beyond these, you want to learn about their where they’ve been, where they want to go and why. What have been their biggest challenges? How are they perceived in the marketplace and is that how they want to be perceived?

These ideas should help get you going and are hopefully a springboard for other types of information you can gather. The more you learn, the better off you’ll be, the better your solutions will be and the more valuable you’ll become to your prospect.

Until the next
Marketing Minute
all the best,
nt

This is normally the Marketing Minute, but today it’s the Sales Second. Okay … several seconds. Marketing is about warming things up for the sales. Sales is about getting them to fork over some money and sign your contract. So, I thought I’d yap a bit about hard core sales.

In the design biz, the sales process can take a while. It’s not unusual to woo a prospect for six to eight months before they sign on the dotted line and hand over some dough. Sometimes longer. Sometimes a lot longer. So, you’ll want to shoot for having several prospects in your sights and at various points along the process.

The thing is, in most cases, before a prospect becomes a client, something needs to change. Odds are, they already have a source for design services. This is a good thing. You don’t want to be the one to train them. If they already have a resource, they also probably value professional design and and are willing to pay reasonable fees for it. The idea here is to make contact and build the relationship. You want to be at top of mind when that something changes – like their current designer screws up big time or the prospect is looking for some fresh thinking.

It all starts with a first contact. Typically, that’s you getting in touch with them, but every once in a while, the prospects starts the dance. During this first contact period, you want to qualify the prospect. That usually means learning if they buy what you sell and have the money to pay for it. Moreover, you want to find out if the chemistry between you is good. There are lots and lots of very talented designers out there who can do the job. Turning a prospect into a client is often a matter of them liking you best. So, be likable, but also be genuine. That’s important. If a client gets the feeling you’re simply kissing up to them, trust begins to erode and trust is awfully important in our kind of work.

Beyond these points, you want to become a valued resource. Email them a link here and there or snail mail a printed article you believe will be helpful to them. Can you put Ms. Prospect in touch with some of your other clients whose products and/or services may be of benefit? This little tactic can many everybody happy. For example, one of my clients is a modeling agency. I also have several clients who are photographers. Yet others hire models. Bingo! Matches made in Heaven. Well, at least matches made on my phone or email.

Don’t get ahead of yourself and don’t count any chickens before they’re hatched, fully grown and laying more eggs. It’s an easy thing to do. Joe Prospect had been qualified as a peachy prospect. You’ve worked hard to build the relationship and demonstrate your value. Then the day finally rolls around and Joe calls asking for a proposal on his juicy project. You’re thinking you’ve got this one in the bag. You don’t. Just because a prospect asks for a proposal or presentation doesn’t mean they’re ready to take the big leap – conversion from prospect to client.

When I was young and stupid, I’d get to this point, do up a proposal, meet with the prospect … and then rest on my hind quarter. “Heck,” I figured, “I always nail the gig. They’ll call.” That was wishful thinking. Sure, I did nail most, but not all of them. I was a wee bit full of myself. Don’t rest on your hind quarter. Whip up a brilliant proposal, dazzle them with a stunning presentation and then close. To “close” simply means to ask for the sale. When do you know when to close? Good question. Some clues are having agreed on terms, they’ve approved a budget and/or schedule, you’ve covered the previous points and now you’re staring at each other and nobody’s saying what to do next.

Closing is what this process has been all about. If they don’t sign at the proposal/presentation meeting, don’t give up. Follow up in a timely manner. Answer all their questions. Follow up some more. If they ask for more information or have questions, answer them promptly and accurately. If you don’t know, tell them you don’t know … but you’ll find out.

At the end of the sales process day, conversion is always the big leap. But, if you’ve correctly qualified them, nurtured the relationship, demonstrated your value and asked for the sale, you’ll be light years ahead of the next designer who hasn’t.

Until the next
Marketing Minute
all the best,
nt

The day finally comes. Mr. Marketing Manager gives you a call and asks you to do a presentation for Da Big Project. You set up a meeting to go over the specs, at which time Mr. Manager clues you in that you’ll be competing against three other groups. You’re still not as “in like Flint” as you may have thought. You’ve still have one big hurdle to jump. You also learn you’ll be presenting to a couple of VPs and the CEO, along with your buddy, Mr. Manager.

After the meeting, you get to work and begin to craft your perfect proposal and plan your presentation. You review the company again, its products, its competitor and audience. You go through the project goals and draft some poignant prose showing how you’re going to meet them with your brilliant work.

Getting prepped
In preparing for your presentation, don’t forget to prepare for questions the audience may ask, even some potential off-the-wall ones. Rehearse your spiel and get your timing down. It’s a good idea to rehearse in front of some kind office mates, friends or relatives who probably won’t start tossing tomatoes. Know your talk inside out and backwards. Avoid using trade jargon. Make sure any visuals are clear. Don’t assume that just because something is crystal clear to you, it will be to your audience, too. That’s where the kind friends or relative come in handy. If they don’t know what you’re talking about, odds are, the real audience won’t, either.

Show Time!
Presentation Day finally rolls around and you shine up your lucky shoes. You meet the pitchees as they arrive and get a bit chummy. Everyone finds their seat and it’s show time. You make your pitch. You’re calm, confident, cool and collected. You clearly show what needs to be done and why yours is the right solution for their project. You ask for the sale. This is one of those assumption things. Lots of folks assume the prospect(s) know you want to close the deal now. Don’t assume anything. Guide your prospect through the next steps. Do all you can to help your prospect say “yes.” Plus, you want them to believe they’ve made the right decision and feel good about it … because they have.

The pitch comes to a close. You’re in good shape from all you learned during the relationship building process. You have an edge over the other groups who were called in cold or didn’t do their homework as well as you. Your presentation was dead on-target. They give you a standing ovation, sign on the dotted line and write you a deposit check on the spot. The planets align and rainbows appear in the sky. You’ve closed the deal – all because you’re the one who took the time to make the best use of the sales cycle.

Until the next,
Marketing Minute
all the best,
nt

Since sales is probably the one business function that many designers would prefer to steer around, or completely ignore, naturally, I thought it might be good to visit it. To keep things tidy, I’m going to break things up into three posts. So, put on your favorite pair of checker slacks and that stunning plaid jacket. We’re goin’ sellin.’

In this series, I won’t be writing about following up on referrals or meeting with prospects who are already sold on your talent and abilities. That’s way too easy. Nope, I’ll be writing about finding a cold contact – someone you don’t know and who’s never heard of you – building a relationship with them and turning it into a sale.

It’s important to recognize that selling services is different than selling a tangible product. With product sales, the prospect can touch it (in most cases, anyway, unless it’s under lock and key) look it over, compares features and benefits, compares competitive prices, etc. With service sales, the “product” is largely intangible during the sales cycle. That’s one reason why the sales cycle (going from first contact to signing on the dotted line) can be six to eight months or, often, longer … a lot longer. To keep yourself afloat, you’ll need to have several irons in the fire at various points in the cycle. Some will close sooner, some later and, to be honest, some not at all.

Typically, there are three phases of the cycle: making contact, building the relationship and, finally, closing the sale. In the immortal words of Glinda, the good witch of the North, “It’s always best to start at the beginning. So, let’s start with making contact”.

Making Contact
There are several articles on BoDo’s sister site, Creative Latitude, that talk about self-promotion and marketing and plenty more on the Web – all the fun ways to get the word out. None the less, it’s always good to have a reminder. Here are some of the typical methods:

• Networking events such as ad clubs, chambers of commerce, trade shows, clubs & organizations.
• Direct Mail such as postcards, sales letters, printed samples, brochures, 3-dimensional pieces
• Cold/warm phone calls
• Speaking engagements such as seminars and/or lectures or talks to business groups
• Press releases
• Writing articles
• Online prospecting
• Working on charitable events and programs
• Award competitions
• Skywriting above your prospect’s place of business (Okay … that’s a wee bit extreme)
• Asking for referrals from business contacts, friends and family

The idea during this phase is to actively be working several tactics to get your name around, known and remembered. You want to meet people, but, not just anybody. Ideally, you want to meet and qualify folks who need what you provide and have the dough to pay for it. It doesn’t make a lot of sense to woo a prospect who really isn’t a prospect. These would be those contacts who are outside of your target niche, folks who want the world for a buck and a quarter, the ones who give you the heebie jeebies, etc. Plus, it’s a good idea it they offer the potential for repeat business.

Find those techniques that fit your style and personality. Shoot for at least three to five activities each day. Maybe you make a few phone calls, attend a chamber breakfast, shoot off an intro letter with a few samples one day. Then, on the next, you give a talk at the local Rotary Club, attend a Board meeting at a nonprofit and crank out some emails to current clients and friends reminding them that you’re always on the lookout for referrals.

If you’re diligent, you’ll meet several new people who just might become clients. But, to do that, you’ll need to build a relationship with them.

Beyond all this … or actually, before, make certain you have a strong value proposition, differentiation factor(s) and confidence that the service you provide is of value. It’s also important to to have integrity and be genuine in your beliefs, behaviors and communications.

Next, you want to make doubly sure the prospect is a decision-maker. Try to not waste your breath and efforts on someone who will end up saying, “Sounds great! But, I’ll need to get with the higher ups. They make the decisions for this kind of stuff.”

That said, it is a good idea to have someone on the prospect side who can be your advocate. Someone who can help sell you on the inside.

Finally, do things to help move the sales cycle along before you even talk to Joe Prospect. That includes the stuff previously mentioned, such as giving talks, joining a club and getting active, volunteering your services to a worthy cause, etc. It also includes emailing white papers or reports and/or making them available on your site, publishing and e-newsletter or authoring a useful, informative blog and such.

Do these things and you’ll make the path to the dotted line a lot easier, help to position yourself as an expert and for Heaven’s sake, lose the checkered slacks and plaid jacket.

Next, we talk a wee bit about building relationships … without online dating services and all that mushy stuff.

Until the next,
Marketing Minute
all the best,
nt