I’m a member of a marketing mastermind group.
Recently one of the members – let’s call him “Tom” to protect his privacy – described an idea he had for a new service. I can’t give you the details – but it’s a service that’s targeted at property owners.
Tom posed the following question in an email to the group : “What are the most effective first steps I can do to attract customers? I guess this could be PPC + a landing page.“ (PPC stands for pay-per-click – if you’re unfamiliar with it you need to get familiar with it – this page is a good start.)
Tom’s description of his service caught the attention of one of the other members – a marketing guru called Jonathan Berliand.
Now one of Jonathan’s businesses is an ecommerce site which the married men among you shouldn’t let your wives have access to – http://www.caraselledirect.com/.
But Jonathan is also a landlord – with a sizeable portfolio of North London properties. If you knew its size you might be a tad envious!
So he is a prime target for Tom’s service. And Jonathan never lets grass grow under his feet.
Upon seeing Tom’s email, Jonathan immediately called Tom’s office. He got the answering machine and left a message. He also provided his number and email address through Tom’s website’s contact form.
And then he waited.
And waited.
He got no return call.
He received no email.
The next day he emailed Tom : “So far since yesterday I have had no e-mail, no phone call and find this is probably the latent problem in your business. If you address those two key areas ,I am sure you will improve sales as frankly, a lack of response implies you are not serious about what it is you do.“
Do you see what happened here?
Tom was soliciting input on what his marketing plans should be. But what he should have been doing was taking care of basics – responding in a timely manner to a real prospect’s expression of firm interest.
Now don’t think I’m saying marketing isn’t important. Of course it is. And it is often neglected – but that’s a topic for another day.
If you don’t respond to queries from prospective buyers then you won’t sell. And if you don’t sell you’ve no business.
Are you taking care of basics? If you want help in ensuring you take care of basics then email me and tell me more.
Meanwhile, my own next task today is to make some sales calls!
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