Month: October 2018

When I was younger (and lonelier), I wrote a song called “Unrequited Love.”

I wrote it a few weeks after a blind date. I thought the date went well. I called her — several times. Left messages suggesting a second date.

No reply. No more dates. Sad story.

I’m thinking of writing a similar song today. I might call it “Prospect Alone at the Altar.”

This goes back to the email I received last week. In my email to you last week, I wrote about the great cold-call email I received from Ramon who was pitching payroll management software and services. 

I replied to Ramon. Told him I’d like to get together on the phone.

I want to get to know his business. I think there may be a relationship in our future. I might want to purchase his software.

No reply. No second date. Sad story.

I don’t know what happened to Ramon. He may have a valid reason for not following up with me.

So I won’t rip Ramon directly here.

Instead, I’m going to rip marketers, in general.

So many marketers are really good at the first date…

…but they’re lousy at following-up.

Marketers spend big bucks and long hours attracting leads.

They send excellent cold-call emails.

They master the search engines and drive big traffic to their websites.

They create clever ads that draw in prospects.

They collect business cards at trade shows and networking events.

And then what?

Too often, they don’t have a plan to engage prospects who are interested. Too often, they leave prospects alone at the altar.

So before you spend a dime or a minute on attracting new leads, plan how you will…

…follow-up and engage with those who are interested…

…identify who are qualified prospects and who are not…

…close the deal…

…maximize the relationship so you both benefit.

Maybe Ramon had a plan. But I doubt his plan was to ignore a qualified prospect who told him, “Let’s talk.” 

First dates are easy.

After the first date?

It’s up to you to write the happy song.  

Tom
MarketVolt

p.s. If you like these emails, please do me this favor: Forward this to someone who might also enjoy it and encourage them to sign up for future emails on our website at MarketVolt.com.

I was planning to send a different email to you today. 

…until I checked my inbox this morning and opened one of the best cold-call emails I’ve ever received.

I wanted to share it with you because it’s sooooo good and you can learn so much from it.

It begins: “Hey Tom, Curious if you’re manually entering data in 5+ systems every time you hire someone at MarketVolt? Your payroll, insurance carrier, FSA/HSA, 401k, HR platform, etc.”

That caught my attention because…yeah, data entry following new hires is a repetitive, painful process for us.

He had my attention. He described a painful condition for many businesses. And he asked whether I can relate.

My answer: Yep. I can relate. So I continued reading:

“Rippling fixes this problem in a really neat way. In 90 seconds, you can hire a new employee through our system, and we set them up in all of your other systems — instantly. Legacy platforms like ADP and Paychex aren’t ‘open,’ so your team’s likely doing this work manually right now. Not just for hiring, but offboarding and day-to-day management.”

Now he really had my attention. A clear solution to cure what ails me. So I continued reading:

“Our payroll is a lot more affordable too, FWIW.”

Is this guy reading my mind?

I was thinking, “Sounds nice, but it sounds pricey.”

And then he answered my objection.

He established that he offers time-savings AND cost-savings. (By the way, “FWIW” = for what it’s worth). So I continued reading:

“Are you open to a quick demo / cost savings comparison? Thank you! Ramon”

Yes, I am open. So I read the p.s.:

“P.S. Tom — 57% of companies that switch payroll, do so in Q4, so now’s the right time to see what else is out there. If you’re not interested though, please let me know. I don’t want to be a nuisance.”

A call-to-action with a bit of urgency and a personal touch. He asks me to contact him if I’m not interested (implying, of course, that I should contact him if I AM interested). Also, it’s a nice touch to acknowledge the nuisance factor (anyone who reads that far is probably not considering him a nuisance).

Let’s summarize what Ramon did in this email:

1) Identify a pain-point or a desire and ask, “Can you relate.” (Are you entering date in 5+ systems?) Those who can relate read on. Those who don’t stop reading (no damage done).

2) Quickly and concisely identify what you offer to address the pain or fulfill the desire (In 90 seconds, you can enter the data once, and we take care of the rest).

3) Quickly and concisely address potential objection(s) (We’re less expensive than the other guys).

4) Present a clear call to action (Would you like a demo? Please contact me).

That’s a good formula for any business that uses email for lead generation.

Tom
MarketVolt

p.s. If you like these emails, please do me this favor: Forward this to someone who might also enjoy it and encourage them to sign up for future emails on our website at MarketVolt.com.

When I was a kid, I treasured my poster of Neil Armstrong standing on the moon. I wanted to be an astronaut. Armstrong was my hero.

Last week, I saw a picture of Armstrong’s spacesuit. Some guy posted it on Facebook next to a picture of a lunar footprint.

The spacesuit boot had no treads. It was smooth as silk.

The footprint had large grooves as if made by a boot with big ol’ treads.

Below the pictures was the following: “Hey…Neil Armstrong’s astronaut suit, preserved in a museum…doesn’t match up with his footprints on the moon!”

Boom! Take that suckers!

Smooth-bottomed boot. That’s a fact.

Treaded footprint. That’s a fact.

1 + 1 = 2. The moonwalk never happened!!!!!

Fact + Fact = Proof. Right!?

Not so fast.

Before stepping onto the moon, Armstrong and other astronauts slipped their boots into “overshoes.”

The shoes provided extra protection and…

…you guessed it…

…they had heavy treads.

The treads match those footprints on the moon. That’s another fact.

So…

Fact + Fact = Ill-Informed Conspiracy Theory.

Fact + Fact + Fact = Conspiracy Theory Debunked.

Facts are just building blocks.

How we interpret them depends on our own biases (i.e. The government lies to us so the government faked the moon landing).

Same goes with marketing.

Fact: 25% of recipients opened your email.

Fact: 5% of those who opened clicked the key link in that email.

Some people assume email marketing doesn’t work.

They take those building block facts and construct the following story: 75% didn’t open the email + 95% didn’t click = Proof of Failure

But here are some other facts:

Of those who clicked, three scheduled a meeting with you…

…and one converted to a customer…

…and revenue from that customer exceeded the cost of your email campaign by 10x.

Boom! Proof of failure becomes 10x profit.

The moral of these stories: Facts don’t lie. But WE lie to ourselves by compiling facts to support an incomplete or ill-informed story.

In business, that can mean the difference between success and failure.

Tom
MarketVolt

p.s. If you like these emails, please do me this favor: Forward this to someone who might also enjoy it and encourage them to sign up for future emails on our website at MarketVolt.com.

I was cleaning out some old files and found the “Dress Code Policy” for one of my early jobs.

Coat and tie required. No jeans. Closed-top shoes. No sneakers.

Etc. Etc. Etc. Blah blah blah.

That was 1998.

Times have changed.

I remember the first time I worked at a place with “Casual Fridays.”

It was a BIG deal when the policy changed.

After lots of meetings and lots of debate, we were finally…FREE.

Free to ditch the tie, unbutton our collars and — gasp! — wear jeans.

Thanks, boss.

And thanks, too, to the visionaries at the Hawaiian Fashion Guild.

They’re the folks who hatched the idea for casual work-wear back in the 1960s.

The Guild was a manufacturing association that wanted to promote the sale of “Aloha” shirts. So in 1962 they sent two free shirts to each member of the state legislature and promoted the idea that businesses should allow casual attire in the summer.

The legislature passed a resolution that encouraged the “return to ‘aloha attire’ during the summer months for the sake of comfort and in support of the 50th state’s garment industry.”

Three years later, the Guild promoted “Aloha Friday” — encouraging businesses to allow aloha attire year-round on Fridays. The idea spread like wildfire. Shirt sales skyrocketed. The idea spread to California where it evolved into “Casual Fridays.”

Mission accomplished, Hawaiian Fashion Guild.

Their code name for that mission: “Operation Liberation.”

So many marketing lessons here. I’ll focus on one…

The Hawaiian Fashion Guild achieved its mission because it understood what it sells.

The Guild wasn’t selling shirts. It was selling comfort and, most importantly, it was selling liberation.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: You don’t sell products and services. You sell the feeling your products and services give your customers. You sell the outcomes that result from your products and services.

Operation Liberation is a classic example of this.

I keep telling stories that emphasize this idea because it’s critical for your success. If you pitch products and services — without getting to the heart of what you really sell, your business will struggle. 

Tom
MarketVolt

p.s. If you like these emails, please do me this favor: Forward this to someone who might also enjoy it and encourage them to sign up for future emails on our website at MarketVolt.com. 🙂

When Ben Franklin was a young man, he turned a rival into a fan with a brilliant, counterintuitive move.

Ben had co-founded a literary and debate society and served as clerk. When he ran for reelection as clerk, the rival ripped Ben in a long, hateful speech.

Rather than counterpunch, Ben asked the hater for a favor.

Ben wrote a letter asking if he could borrow a “very scarce and curious book” that the rival owned.

The rival loaned the book to Ben who quickly acknowledged the favor with a “thank you” note.

From that day forward, the former rival treated Ben with great respect. They became great friends.

The moral of this story: If you want people to like and bond with you, master the Ben Franklin Effect.

Yeah, “The Ben Franklin Effect” is really a thing.

Here’s how psychologists explain it…

We humans want our actions to make sense. So our subconscious mind crafts stories to put everything in order.

If you do a favor for someone, your subconscious tells this story: “I’ve done a favor for this guy. That means I must like him.” (Because it wouldn’t make sense for you to do a favor for someone you don’t like.)

So when you ask someone for a favor, you create a bond. The person who grants that favor is more likely to work well with you in the future.

Ben put it like this in his autobiography: “He that has once done you a kindness will be more ready to do you another, than he whom you yourself have obliged.”

I thought of Ben last week when I discussed “calls-to-action” with a client. I encouraged her to end her emails and social media posts with more direct calls-to-action. Ask people to share the post or forward the email or buy something.

“I don’t want to be too pushy,” she said.

Can you relate? I can. Many of us fear that we cross the “too-pushy” line when we ask for something. We reason that we’ll put people off. We even fear that friends and followers will get so annoyed with us that they’ll stop liking us.

Ben would see it differently. He would tell you that most people are happy to do you the favor if you ask. They’re happy to share your post, happy to forward the email, happy to refer a friend, happy to check out your products and services and even buy something. Just ask.

And whether they realize it or not, they may even like you more when they do you that “favor.”

Here’s the bottom line for marketing your business: You can’t drive action unless you call for it.

You may be surprised how well people respond.

Tom
MarketVolt

p.s. If you like these emails, please do me this favor (you saw this coming, right!?): Forward this to someone who might also enjoy it and encourage them to sign up for future emails on our website at MarketVolt.com. 🙂