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Originally Posted by AZBroker
By whose standards and who are they to say?
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Oh, nothing major. They are just my fiendish standards.
I have some joint ventures running with some organic farmers. From a former life I am butcher (among others) and when the animals are ready, I knock them in the head and we ship them to the US as super- expensive deli meat.
It's not too hard to imagine that where there is blood and raw meat, there are flies. Not the tiny flies, but the big horse flies and bluebottles.
Of course I want these flies out of the way, so they can't wreak havoc with the meat.
At this point we have two distinct options:
1. Chasing the flies with a rolled-up newspaper and flattening them one-by-one. It's doable but it takes too much time and energy, and the number of flies I can kill is very very limited.
2. Creating a "honey pot". This is a jar halfway filled with sugared water. We all now that flies love sweet stuff. Then I spread honey on the inner side of the lid and screw it on the jar. Then, with the knife sharpening steel, I punch a small hole on the lid. The hole is just big enough so the biggest flies can squeeze through and get to their oh-so-much-longed-for sugar. Then I put out the jar in the working area, and get on with my work.
The interesting thing is that all the flies disappear. They all go to the jar. They are not interested in the "competition" (blood, meat or even the people) any more. They are only interested my unique offer, the sugar-water in the jar. And of course after tasting my offer, they can't get away, and they all die in the jar.
What is the lesson here? We created the "honey pot" and the prospects (flies in this case) came to us without chasing them.
And now you may say, you can outrun prospects and catch them. Well, not really. All right. Maybe sometimes. There is a reason for this...
A Zen master and his student were in the forest when they saw a fox that was chasing a rabbit.
Zen Master asked his student: "Who do you think will win?"
"The fox of course. It's bigger, stronger and faster." - the student said.
Then the Zen Master told the student the rabbit would win.
"But why, Master" - the student asked.
The master's response was simple: "You see, the fox is running for a meal. The rabbit is running for his LIFE!
You can chase your next fee, commission, sale, that is, your next meal per se, but your prospects are running for their lives. You can never catch them. Or in the best case you catch a few of them for one-off sales. Then the word starts spreading and everyone will hide from you. Soon people will place guards and “No Solicitors” signs on their premises.
Back to the flies. Now I don't say that we want to kill your prospects, and if they want to leave us, they are free to do so, but attracting them can follow the same logic. Well, I don't mean you collect prospects in a jar of sugared water. You can replace the jar with a free report, a free audio download or whatever you see best for your specific target market.
Yes, it takes some time, money and effort to build a prospecting "honey pot" and concoct the right bait for your ideal clients, but once you do it, you can have your ideal prospects come to you seeking your expertise. Imagine. No more chasing. No more convincing. No more overcoming objections. No more price pressure and demands for discounts. And no more begging for business.
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Originally Posted by AZBroker
I've read somewhere that marketing is...
- identifying and fulfilling the needs of their customers
- providing value to their customers
- pricing, promotion and distribution
... among other things. Would you agree? |
I agree. That's why I find it hard to separate marketing and sales. That's why I prefer to talk about a seamlessly integrated business development department.
What do you think about this oddball perspective from the Buthcer of Langley?
