There are many time during the day I feel like I am walking past an alley and a dark figure lurking in a shadow steps towards me and says, “Psssst… wanna buy some print?” Wearing a thick rimmed hat tipped towards the ground so I cannot see or identify their face, they open their trench coat and reveal a bunch of materials and guarantee they have the best price, service and quality in town. They try to engage me in a conversation by asking about my issues and how they can help solve them, but all I want to do is get out of this situation as quickly as possible and back to what I was doing before the interruption. My takeaway from the experience… avoid that alley, and whomever is under that hat.
Metaphors aside, the scenario above describes 95% of the emails I receive on a daily basis, including the gems from my LinkedIn inbox. I now set aside time each day for unsubscribing to offers and other lists I have never joined, from people I don’t know, unless they are not print or marketing related and I can SPAM them with a clear conscious. As someone who sends a monthly newsletter comprised of original and relevant print and marketing content, I am very disheartened by people who click it as SPAM vs taking a minute to opt out, so I try and have the same consideration for others – and you should too! Ok, I went off track… but there are consequences to lazy actions, and I hate being “clicked” as a spammer…. grrrr.
So back to the subject at hand. Somehow service providers have to get into a position to open a conversation with prospects, and that method needs to be as unobtrusive as possible since there is a good chance the prospect has no idea who you are, and is perfectly happy with the vendors they are currently using. There are many approaches to this, and I have certainly offered a bunch over the years and during events I speak at, but since summer is rolling around I am going to share with you one of my favorites that is relevant to the season!
SHARE SOMETHING COMPLETELY UNRELATED!!!
Scott Fishman is a real estate agent from Chicago who I have never met. I have no idea how I got onto his list, but once a year I receive an email from him that contains the summer event calendar for Chicago, and on the bottom is a picture of him and his contact information. Since it goes from May to the end of September, I always check to see if anything cool is going on during Graph Expo time (this year it’s Sept 28-Oct 1, 2014) and then I pass it along to all my connections to share with all of theirs, and so on. Logic dictates that this sharing will reach people who live in Chicago, and that those people will share it with their connections, many of whom are also in Chicago. Now all of these people “know” Scott Fishman; he may even be hanging out on their refrigerators, office walls, business bulletin boards, local stores, community bulletin boards and so on.
The takeaway: If I live in Chicago, I may be looking at his face for months. If I receive something in the mail from Scott – like an EDDM promo, he is not a stranger. If I happen to be thinking about moving, his info is hanging around and readily available. By simply providing some light and local information, his promotion (which isn’t even SEEN as a promotion!) becomes part of my summer fun, and I am thankful for it.. and SCOTT!
The same approach would work for any business… but printers certainly have an advantage since they have the greatest communication channel in history at their disposal!
Here are a few ideas…
• Print up a bunch of community event calendars with your contact info, send them to customers, ask local business to put them in the window, hang them on community bulletin boards. Free advertising rocks and community involvement will generate local buzz for your biz!
• Take those same calendars and send them to prospects (aka real contacts that you have researched and are a correct fit for your products and services) along with a handwritten note that your company will be at X-event and invite them to stop by and say hello. If this event has an “admission” it might be worth a few bucks to provide tickets if they email you to rsvp.
• Take it a step further and ADD an event you host to the calendar and use it as an invite! Who doesn’t love free BBQ and a cold drink on a hot summer day!?! Send them a personalized bib, or a few napkins with your logo printed on them, or something else BBQ related and unexpected that will make this experience memorable!
Keep in mind the goal here is to get “known” without using the alley approach and scaring away potential customers. With a little community relations, and some simple information sharing that is totally void of work, I will practically guarantee more than a few prospects will keep you hanging around until the fall… and that means you already have your foot in the door!
PS – here is the email I receive from Scott. Make sure you share it with your Chicago friends!
One Response
Your ideas are wonderful, as always, Deborah! Thank you for sharing them.