We published this post on the Constant Contact blog and wanted to repurpose it here as well on our own blog! To check out any of the Constant Contact posts, click here.
In all my seminars, I constantly have folks asking me for the magic bullet… the one thing they can do that will turn on the faucet of unlimited sales and tons of money in their pocket. They are simply overwhelmed by all the options and salespeople out there promising that their solution is the answer. That their bells are better than the next guy’s and their whistles are more seductive than any other whistle out there. Well, they’re wrong. And instinctively you know it too – and that is why you chose not to purchase their $29 dollar solution, or $1,500 dollar solution, or whatever it cost solution. Because no matter what they were selling – what they were really selling were tools. And you’ve got plenty of those already that you aren’t even using so why are you looking for more?
The real question most folks are asking me is veiled in a shroud of, “I don’t want to appear lazy, but…” The real question is: “can you give me a shortcut?” Hey, it’s natural. What we are all hoping for is that money will pour into our pockets without having to do much for it – give me the automated marketing solution that will keep in touch with all of my clients for me. Give me the social media tool that posts magical, funny posts to all my social media profiles that folks will love and immediately buy my products and services. Give me a great TV commercial that will reach every potential client that needs my product and convince them to buy, buy, buy… We all know that doesn’t exist, but wouldn’t it be nice if it did? And because we are all looking for it – or dreaming about winning the lottery – there are plenty of folks who are trying to sell it to you. And if that truly is what you are looking for – I don’t want your money. Not because I don’t want a ton of money like everyone else, but because I know if I promise you that my solution will bring you tons of money, and then it doesn’t, you’re going to come calling and demand your money back. And the way we all get new business is through referrals, so I’m guessing you won’t recommend me to your friends. And then we all lose.
So here is the Magic Bullet – do the work… but you already knew that, didn’t you? The problem with doing the work is that it is usually difficult, it takes time, it pulls us away from the “fun” stuff we want to do, and so on and so on… If you want to follow up with your customers with automated emails – you actually have to create those emails before the system can send them out. And those emails have to be clever and funny and appropriate – and that takes work too. If you want a tool to help you post on social media then you have to first create all those social media profiles and that takes time. And remember that old saying that time is money? If you want to have a great TV spot, then you better have a great PRODUCT for folks to buy. How many great TV commercials do we all talk about at the water cooler but never buy the product? Old Spice, anyone?
But if you are really ready to do the work required to reach out and educate new customers in an authentic, engaging way; do the work to deliver top notch service to the clients you currently have so they will shout your company’s name from the mountain tops; and do the work to put together a plan to use one or two of the myriad of tools you either already have or can get for a reasonable price – then we can help you put that plan in place in a systematic fashion that will keep you on track to stay in touch, stay engaged and stay in the game of winning new businesses. But it really is up to you – we can’t do it for you. Well, we can, but it will never be as good as you can do it because it is YOUR business and YOUR customers. So dust off the “to do” list and get cracking. Do the work and the magic will start happening all on its own.
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