Every business and every Brand is built on personal touches. Every business. Every Brand. There are several personal touches you can have.
With a business card
Do you have a bit of card stock 2.5 inches by 3 inches that has your company name, logo, positioning, contact info including your name and title printed on it? This simple branding device looked down upon by the digerati, has the power to impress both the knowing and the seeker. The sheer weight of the card can determine if you and your firm are considered personal and important.
With a thank you card
A mailed handwritten thank you card can garner you reentry into a potential business. A personal thank you card! In a case for which I was an instrumental player, two thank you cards sent to follow-up meetings that took place at a trade show generated $2.5 million in new business for a training company because no one else followed up! This only works in North America. Mail services in other parts of the world are not as reliable, but of course, you could always use a courier.
With your letterhead
There is no excuse for not having pre-printed or even pages set up to computer print your logo, position and contact information on them. With a little forward thinking, you can use the same basic form for proposals, invoices, memos and other working documents.
Each time you touch a contact, prospect or client you need, no want, no MUST reinforce your brand. Old fashioned paper can help you do that.
With your e-mail
It starts with the subject line. Use my name or the name of my company. You will get my attention, and I will read further. Embed a link to a URL that looks like it is just for me personally and I’ll open it. Put in a P.S. that sums up your offer and states that it is only for me. Make it seem personal. Yes, I WILL respond.
In your online retail
Never tell me to know what I should or need to be interested in. Let me know that others who have reviewed similar items to those I’ve looked at wound up purchasing. (BUT, only if you are big enough to have the capability.)
Are you a little guy? Then monitor the cart abandonment process and when it (the abandonment) happens, telephone the prospect to ask if you can help them find the product or service that will solve their problem. Entrepreneurs who have tried this report getting back 13% to 30% of sales that would have been lost forever! Just one simple change in your sales process is required. Get the potential purchaser’s telephone number, e-mail and name before they place an order.
In your referral requests
Instead of asking for a referral, ask the referral source how you can help them find new business. Listen. Very carefully. Let them hear how you are going to describe them.
When they ask you to tell them how to describe you, you’ll know they can and will refer you.
And in your testimonials
A testimonial that is all flattery (even if truthful) is not nearly as powerful as one that begins with a concern about the product or service that goes on to say how the delivery exceeded expectations. When a person, particularly on video delivers a statement like, “I really wasn’t sure that XYZ would work, but then I tried it. I got my money’s worth and a lot more” it is very believable.
Jerry Fletcher is the Brand Poobah and owner of Z-axis Marketing Inc in Oregon. He has 40 years of excellent marketing experience and can seamlessly straddle the classic and the digital. You can reach him at www.jerryfletcher.com
To your success!
