Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/562838
SEPTEMBER 2015 26 THE JOURNAL Need More Sales? They're Right Under Your Nose! BY SCOTT STROUD MARKETING CONSULTANT We're well into the third quarter of 2015, with only a few months left to meet our sales projec- tions. So, how's it going for you? Are you on target to make your numbers, or is a sense of panic beginning to rush over you when you look at the gap between "Projected Sales" and "Actual Sales"? Or, maybe your somewhere in the middle, having a good year, but knowing that you could be doing more to finish strong. It's not too late. You can still pull out all the stops and make this a winning year. Buyers are out there. In fact, they are closer than you might realize. You just have to know where to find them, how to reach them, and how to convince then of the value of engaging with you now. Where are these elusive buyers? Actually, you should be looking in three distinct areas: 1. New leads from your current marketing and advertising 2. Existing leads in already in your database 3. Referrals Sales If you're not actively marketing to all three groups, with a strong conversion strategy for each, then you're leaving money on the table and not realizing the revenue you could or should be enjoying. In reality, your biggest potential for new sales for the rest of this year will not be from new leads. Rather, up to 40% could be coming from people you have already spoken with but are 'dor- mant leads', not actively being worked, and an- other 30% should be coming from referrals from your stable of satisfied customers, past customers and prospects. Database Mining – Finding sales from dormant leads How many names and addresses are in your 'cold files' database. Hundreds? Thousands? Chances are, a lot more than you realize! Good salespeople never throw away leads – they tend to hoard them, hoping that one day the prospect will be back and the sale will be theirs! However, most salespeople don't have the time or resources to employ a truly effective follow up system with every cold lead. At best, they call or email ever few months or send out a quarterly newsletter just to stay top of mind. Instead, put these older leads into a Reeng age- ment Campaign – a strategic process to 'shake the tree' and encourage those who are in a position to take action to do so. Invite any who are no longer interested in a new home or have already pur- chased a home to "unsubscribe" from your cam- paign, but state clearly and positively why now is a fantastic time to upgrade their housing situation with a new home in your community. Then, ask them to take a positive action, such as visit a spe- cial landing page on your website where they can download something of value to them – a coupon for a free kitchen upgrade; a downloadable brochure with five models specially priced for your Fall 2015 Promotion; or a complementary land- scaping package if they move to your community before October 1. You'll find that there are a lot of folks that have visited your sales center over the last couple of years that ar e still dreaming of a new home, they just need a little nudge to make the move. Launching a campaign to reactivate older leads could potentially return huge dividends – as much as 50% of your sales over the next six months coming from what you might currently classify as cold leads. Referrals – The Holy Grail of new home sales "I know I should be doing it, but keeping up with current and past customers is a daunting task – it just takes too much time!" Yeah, I hear you. It does take time and energy to maintain good relationships with your home- owners or residents. But, if you think of it as a marketing investment, just like any other adver- tising initiative, creating a Customer Apprecia- tion Program that generates referral sales quickly becomes a high priority. Here's why: 1. Referrals from current residents are the eas- iest to close – they already know and trust you. 2. Your cost pe r sale for referrals is only a frac- tion of other marketing sources. 3. Referrals generally close more quickly and are better customers. 4. Maintaining excellent post-sale relationships actually builds your value over that of you com- petitors, even allowing you to charge more for your product or services. Notice I referred to this as a Customer Appre- ciation Program, not a referral program. Make all you post-sale relationships about the customer, not about the transaction. Continue to find ways to show appreciation for the people that have trusted you with their families needs, and they'll appreciate you in return. That means you don't have to offer 'bribes' for them to refer you. In fact, many have found that offering money actu- ally hampers referrals, where giving a gift in ap- preciation encourages more referrals, especi ally when the incentive includes both the referrer and the person they refer. It really is a win-win-win! Automat the Processes Launching effective Reengagement and Cus- tomer Appreciation Campaigns are similar in structure: 1. Identify your audience 2. Define the steps and communications 3. Automate the process. The first two steps are simple: Define whom it is you're talking to, what you want to say to them, how you want to say it, and what you want them to do. Then, instead of investing all the time you obviously don't have to keep these communica- tions going out, simply automat the process. As famous pitchman, Ron Popiel, says, "Set it and forget it!" Marketing and Sales Automation systems inex- pensive and highly effective, even for small retail- ers. And the benefits are that every lead – even cold le ads and past customers – gets the messaging they need to feel that they are important to you and that you care about the relationship as well as their business. And when you critically consider the number of sales that are sitting there in your database just waiting for some attention, au- tomating your Reengagement and Appreciation programs could offer you the best return on in- vestment of any marketing strategy you could em- ploy – more sales for only pennies per sale! Scott Stroud is Business Development Manager for Power Marketing & Ad- vertising, a full-service marketing firm working exclusively with housing com- panies and communities. Scott is an Infusionsoft Certified Partner with over 30 years of exceptional results in m arketing factory built homes, and can be reached at scott@Power-marketing.com or at 240-420-6343. T J