I’m sitting in a Panera Bread in Orlando, FL right now writing this post, and even though that may not sound like a big deal, it is to me.  You see, if you didn’t already know this, I live in Rock Hill, SC which is a quiet little suburb of Charlotte, NC.

I’m in Orlando today because I was meeting with a prospect I’ve been trying to get some business from for quite some time.  Now, the big deal really isn’t the fact that I’m in Orlando.  The big deal is how I got here.

You see, I woke up this morning at 2:30am, in Rock Hill, SC, to hit the road for a 12pm meeting with this prospect, in Orlando, FL.

That’s right, I didn’t fly.  I drove. All 8+ hours of it and just so I could sit with a prospect for no more than 2 hours and talk about MAYBE doing business together.

Now, I know it sounds like a totally crazy idea, but in my mind it was something I absolutely HAD to do.  See, I’ve been working on building a relationship with this gentleman for quite some time now so I knew he was qualified.  And he’s a bit scatter brained and ADD so if I wanted his undivided attention I knew I had to be sitting in front of him face to face.

No problem, right?  Not so.  He’s on the road about 200+ days a year so getting in front of him is no small feat.  When he told me he’d be in Orlando, FL today and would have a few hours to sit and chat I knew it was an opportunity I couldn’t miss.

So, what are the marketing lessons to learn from this?

First, know that I very carefully qualified this potential opportunity.  I knew he’d absolutely be a good candidate for my services, plus he has the potential to be a very big add for my business  so I was willing to take steps I wouldn’t take with most prospects.

Second, something you just have to do in person.  As much as I talk about creating marketing systems for generating leads, screening and converting those leads, and then maximizing your customer relationships, absolutely NOTHING beats sitting face to face with your prospect.  You just can’t get the same level of communication via email, direct mail, or the telephone you can when you sit down together.

And third, be willing to do big things to land the big fish.  Sure I drove 8 hours to get here and am getting ready to turn around and drive another 8 to get home, but with the way the meeting went, it will be 16 hours VERY WELL spent.

Oh yeah, and why did I drive instead of fly?  Because it was a last minute meeting (I found out about it on Wednesday) and I couldn’t really stomach paying over $700 for an airline ticket when it’ll end up costing me less than $100 in food and gas.  Heh, maybe when I’ve got Donald Trump type money it won’t be that big of a deal. 

Everyday it seems like things are just getting worse and worse.  First, gas prices were shooting through the roof.  Then the mortgage companies were going belly up and some of the big banks followed suit.  Then we had to deal with the bickering across the political isle as our ‘elected officials’ crammed some ‘bailout’ package down our throats that most people really didn’t want.

 

Gee, you think we’re living in some turbulent times? 

 

Do I really need to answer that question?

 

You see, it’s in times like these when we find out who the serious entrepreneurs are.  As the news media continues to spew it’s biased agenda about how bad things are and how we’re all up a creek without a paddle, it’s the smart entrepreneurs that recognize this opportunity for what it is and really make a concerted effort to grow their business.

 

In last week’s newsletter I gave you 5 things you should be doing to not only survive this troubled economy, but ultimately thrive and come out the other end of this mess as the unquestioned leader in your marketplace.  Today, I want to follow that theme and talk about would should be your lifeline and ultimate key to success in today’s market.

 

You’ve probably heard me mention this before, but let me say it again.  Your absolute, most valued asset in your possession is your list of customers.  The ones that are currently, or have recently in the past given you money to provide services for them.

 

You see, your customers are your cash flow.  Without customers, all the other ‘stuff’ you focus most of your time on isn’t necessary.  If you don’t have customers, you simply don’t have a business.  Plain and simple.

 

Unfortunately, what happens once a typical business gets a new customer?  Or how do they handle the customers that have been with them for any period of time?

 

In most cases, they try to provide a quality service, but they assume that’s enough.  They think, “But heh, I show up every week and provide a great service for them!”

 

Yes, but unfortunately that’s not enough.

 

Consider the following, according to several sources (www.salesresources.com being one of them) it’s estimated that it costs you 5-20x’s MORE to get a new customer than it does to sell to an existing customer.  Do you need to read that again?  5-20x’s more!

 

Additionally, according to Marketing Metrix the chances of you selling additional services to your existing clients is between 60-70%.  In comparison, the chances of selling just one thing to a new customer is between 5-20%.  At least a 40-50% difference!

 

So if this is the case, why is it that most businesses are in such a rush to run off and spend more money to get a new customer when it costs them so much more than simply reselling to your existing customers?

 

Listen, if you really want to thrive in this economy then it’s IMPERATIVE that you focus time, attention, and resources on existing customers.  If you’re concerned about cash flow and are frustrated with all the wasteful, unresponsive marketing methods out there, divert some of your budget into building a 100ft wall around your existing customers!

 

To help you build this ‘Fortress of Solitude’ around your customers and to isolate you from the ups and downs your competitors are experiencing, here the one thing that will solidify your business during this troubled economy more than anything else:

 

A hard copy newsletter sent each and every month via SNAIL MAIL to every one of your existing clients.

 

Now listen, I know it sounds like a HUGE hassle and expense but it’s not. For around $.80/customer and 30 minutes of time you can send a customized hard copy newsletter each month and NOTHING will do more to strengthen that relationship and ensure your customers stick with your through this storm.

 

You see, while email is a great way to stay in touch, and it’s something I highly recommend you do as well, a hard copy newsletter has something email doesn’t.  It’s tangible. 

 

That means your customers can’t easily delete it.  They can’t put it in a ‘To Be Read’ later file.  And they know you spent some time and money on the thing so they’re going to actually read it!

 

If you simply send a revamped version of your brochure, or some ‘put you to sleep’ piece about lawns or landscaping, it won’t have the desired effect.

 

You want to make your newsletter fun and informative. You want it to be something your customers look forward to getting each and every month.

 

You also want to include some type of valuable offer, giving them the opportunity to purchase more of your services.  And it’s a great way to remind them that you accept AND EXPECT them to provide you with referrals.

 

Overall, a newsletter is a powerful marketing tool that every smart business owner should have in his toolbox.  Especially with all the ‘bad news’ the talking heads are spouting off day after day. 

 

If you’d like to see a sample of the newsletter I print each month, just reply to this and I’ll gladly send you a free copy of what I provide my Champion’s Circle clients every single month. 

 

On the 25^th of each month, the members log into a secure website, download the next month’s newsletter template, and in less than an hour they’ve got a ready to go customer relationship building powerhouse that will keep them thriving and growing while everyone else is simply HOPING to survive.

 

Now, while this is a pitch for my Champion’s Circle, the idea I want to leave with you is that you MUST focus on existing customers during this time.  Yes, the news is bad, but assuming you’ve targeted your market properly and they’re weren’t already just scraping by to begin with, they have money to spend. 

 

But it’s your responsibility to make sure they spend it with you!

As the news has been buzzing about our elected leaders desire to force feed us some socialized program for supposedly righting the topsy-turvy ride the financial markets have been, businesses left and right and trying to figure out what to do to survive the storm.  Unfortunately, this storm’s been brewing for quite some time and most smart business owners have recognized the need to begin preparing for it.

Well, as you try to figure out how best to not just survive, but thrive through this challenge period, let me share just one tidbit of advice:

Become absolutely indispensible to your customers.

You see, as people’s purse strings start tightening up, they start to trim the unnecessary expenses.  They begin to look for ways to save money and unless your service is considered vital, you’re destined to get the axe.

Now, while it may seem like you’re doomed from the outset because really, is your service really vital to their surviving this financial roller coaster?  In reality, no, but that doesn’t mean you can’t make it seem like it is.

So, what you need to do is figure out how you can become a vital piece of their everyday lives.  You need to develop a relationship with them that extends beyond the services you provide so they see you as more than just another expense.  And you need to figure out how you can create such an enormous amount of value that they’d have to be insane to cancel your service.

How do you do this?  Well, it really depends on who you are, the services you provide, and who your customers are.

The key though is to find out what you need to do to become indispensible.  You mayhave to ask a few of your best clients what they like best about your service or why it is they’ve kept you around as long as they have.

Regardless, to do more than just weather this turbulent financial storm, it’s CRITICAL to making your business more than it is currently in the eyes of your customers.  Otherwise, you could be in more trouble than you think!

If you’ve paid any attention to the news this past week then you know the government is trying to push through a $700B package meant to bail out Wall Street, so to speak.  It’s basically tax payers money that will be going to help the big banks that got caught funding a whole slew of bad mortgages.

As of yesterday afternoon, the deal wasn’t approved but I’m sure at some point some type of agreement will be reached.  So how exactly does this affect you and your business?

In a nutshell, this whole mess makes getting financing extremely difficult.  Sort of.

You see, we’ve been living in a time when it was incredibly easy to get credit and financing for just about anything, homes, cars, supplies, etc. Well, part of the problem is that the people getting all this financing couldn’t always afford it.  They didn’t have the resources to pay back the credit they were given.

As a result, once all the available credit was used up, there wasn’t anymore money to lend and there’s this big pinch.  Business can’t get money to invest in growth.  Heck, some business may not even be able to get money to pay their employees, that’s how bad it may get.

All of this will eventually trickle down to us as consumers, meaning we’ll have to begin making some hard decisions about where we spend our money.  This is where you come in.

You see, you aren’t just competing against other lawn care or landscaping companies.  You’re also now competing against a new car, putting kids through college, taking a vacation, home improvements, and renewing the country club membership.  You’re competing against other ‘things’ that also take money out of your customer’s pockets.

But all this doesn’t mean it’s time to close up shop or retreat back into your shell to simply ‘ride it out’.  No.  Now’s the time to refocus and really become the dominant player in your chosen marketplace because EVERYONE’S being affected by this and it’s the savvy businesses that will turn this challenge into an opportunity.

While there are many things you could do to ensure your business continues to grow, the BIGGEST thing you need to do is refocus your efforts on marketing your business.  Because people ignore most of the marketing and advertising that’s out there today, you need to learn how to market your business effectively so when you invest in marketing, it generates a good ROI.

You also need to focus on establishing a good relationship with your existing customers.  If you’ve chosen your market properly and they have the disposable income available regardless of what the big banks are doing, then you should be fine IF you invest some time in making sure they know how much you appreciate the relationship and opportunity.

Send them a hard copy newsletter each and every month.  Yes, it costs money, but $.75/mo to maintain a $100+/mo account is CHUMP CHANGE.  If you think you can’t afford to invest $.75 each month in order to continue making $100+ each month then you need to go find a J-O-B.

Anyway, yes, the news is a bit scary as of late.  But it’s only scary for those that don’t know how to turn this challenge into an opportunity.  Be one of those that turns it into an opportunity to grow and strengthen your business!