“Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.” Thomas Edison
The first time I heard anyone say... in the last place you look, it was my mother when I was about 6 years old. I remember at the time I had the same reaction I do now when I hear that - why would you keep looking if you found it, whatever it might be. The only things that can’t be found might be the things we stop looking for.
Have you ever set your sights on doing business with an account that just won’t cooperate? You can’t set a meeting. Your calls are not returned. Your emails are dismissed with a click of the trash can. You finally give up and tell yourself it just isn’t worth the effort. You may be right, but how will you ever know?
Now realize that you might not be getting treated any differently then others looking to do business at that company. Eventually someone will get through and it might as well be you. Here are some suggestions that have worked for others and might help you put together a plan of action.
First, market yourself. This can be referrals from someone known to the prospect. You can relate recognition you have received in the marketplace. Mention other (non-competitive) business you work with. Basically establish yourself as a professional. Most importantly be sure to always clearly state why anyone should work with you.
To effectively tell someone why working with you should matter to them, having information about the potential account is important. Are they growing? Did they just get a government contract? Did your banker mention that a golfing friend just got promoted? Many companies make this easy to find out by looking at their own website and searching news releases. You can then personalize your message (email or voicemail) by mentioning their “news” and how now would be a great time for your to: increase store traffic, attract the best employees, announce the new services, reward employees, etc., you might get the appointment others do not.
If you start the process with an email, always invite your prospect to contact you and let them know that you will try again to contact if you don’t hear from them. Asking if there is someone else who should be contacted is also a good idea. Then follow up as you said you would. If electronic communication continues to fail, try a real letter! First class mail still is the only nearly guaranteed way of reaching the intended prospect. It also give you an opportunity to provide additional information, brochures, testimonials and even self promotional specialties!
A very clever saleswoman I worked with did the following; she had a collector's display that would hold five coins made with her company name on it. She had five different coins struck that depict important historical business scenes and included the first coin in a mailing to prospects. Then she sent another message and the next coin in the series to the prospect every two weeks. While she did not get a call from everyone, she did get through to accounts that were considered “impossible” by friendly competitors in her area. One of the prospects wanted to duplicate her coin project with their prospects!
If you set your sights on the account, put together a plan and work your plan - and don’t give up - you will most likely meet with success. In the rare instances where you are told to stop, go away and remove the prospect from your email list, comply and send a friendly notice that you have complied with their wishes and express a hope that there might be a chance in the future to work together if situations change. They actually do change and several of the salespeople that partner with my company had told me they were not interested (before they were!).
Another important consideration is approaching the “second in command”. It might be a VP rather than the president or the office manager rather than a senior executive. The best thing is that in many cases the person who answers the phone is able to tell you the name and position of the person. Sometimes it might the person who answers the phone, so be ready to market yourself and ask for a meeting just in case.
One final reality to keep in mind is that your best new customers come from referrals by existing customers and they are also the easiest segment to grow your business. Pursuing new accounts is important, but retaining and growing what you already have is the foundation of your business.
Gregg Emmer is chief marketing officer and vice president at Kaeser & Blair, Inc. He has more than 40 years experience in marketing and the promotional specialty advertising industry. His outside consultancy provides marketing, public relations and business planning consulting to a wide range of other businesses and has been a useful knowledge base for K&B Dealers. Contact Gregg at gemmer@kaeser-blair.com.