By Patricia Fripp, CSP, CPAE
One successful young man I interviewed at a financial
planners’ meeting told me, “I used to be in another industry.
I went into financial planning when I was thirty-three years old, joining
my father’s small firm. He’d been in the business for years,
but I had to go out and get my own customers.”
He drew up a list of twenty movers-and-shakers in his
community, affluent people with large spheres of influence who were eagerly
pursued by everyone in the investment community. This young man had very
little experience. He hadn’t yet “earned their business.”
He called on each of these people and said, “I
am new to this business. I know you know about my father, but you don’t
know me. I am not trying to sell you. I know I haven’t earned the
right yet. However, could I please have a ten-minute interview? Would
you, as a leader in the community, tell me what I should do to earn the
right to do business with people like you?”
See what he did? He made it safe. He told them up front
that he wasn’t going to try to sell them anything. He only wanted ten
minutes.
Frankly, I think you have to be very lucky to get ten
minutes of an important person’s time. But he presented it in such an
appealing way that no one turned him down. And he kept his side of the
bargain. After ten minutes, he left unless they invited him to stay longer.
At the end of his first year, three of those people
actually gave him a small portion of their portfolio to manage to see
how he would do. At the end of three years, seven out of the original
twenty people had placed a portion of their investments with his firm.
He’d earned the right.
I used to say that there are two kinds of people to
market to: those who know and love us and those who never heard of us.
You can advertise traditionally and on the Internet, network and join
organizations, send out direct mail and do a combination of activities
to get new business. But please don’t think these methods substitute
for keeping in touch with the people who now know you and love you. These
are people who’ve inquired, who you’ve met at a meeting, who’ve
done some business with you in the past. Keep in touch with these valuable
resources!
When Homer Dunn was an up-and-coming salesperson at
IBM, he told me there are actually three kinds of people that he calls
on. “First, there are the people I’ve already made a sale
to.” (This was in the mainframe days, so it was a big sale.) “I
keep calling on these customers, making sure they are satisfied with the
product and the service.” That’s maintaining a sale.
“Then there are the people I’m calling
on, those that are in the sales cycle which can be a long-term process.”
(And, with really high-ticket items, this can be a really long-term process!)
“Finally, there are the people I want to
do business with. I have not earned the right yet to do business with
these people, but I am maintaining a relationship, letting them know of
my progress and success. So, when I have finally earned the right to the
sale, they are all mine.”
HOMEWORK
1. What are you doing this week to earn the right to
people’s business? Write it down.
2. What more could or should you do? Devise a strategy
and timetable.
3. Who have you targeted in your community? Who else
should you cultivate? Make a list.
Author Bio: Patricia Fripp, CSP, CPAE, is an award-winning
speaker and speech coach. She is the author of “Get What You Want,
Make It—So You Don’t Have to Fake It” and many best-selling
audio and video programs.
For more information, contact PFripp@Fripp.com,
(800) 634-3035, (415) 753-6556, or visit her website at www.fripp.com.
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