The value of a person’s name
THIS BELONGS IN EVERY BUSINESS LIBRARY!
I got a note today offering a service that I might be interested in for my business. It sounded like the sender had researched my company and was personalizing her sales pitch…until she referred to me as Sam.
Dale Carnegie once said that the sweetest sound for any person is their name, and I’d agree with that. But here’s a little secret about my small business: There’s never been anybody here named Sam.
Now if she’d called me Rob, I’d have engaged in conversation with her, and maybe even made a purchase. But that one slip told me she had no idea who I was.
With an eye toward helping her future efforts, I sent a nice note suggesting she be more careful in the future. My reward: stunning silence.
Here was a prospect she’d targeted saying, “Hey, you screwed up,” and she let it go without comment. I can’t help but feel her not responding with a note saying, “Sorry about that, Rob. Can we still talk?” was a tactical error.
Obviously, I’m paying attention. She might have even salvaged the situation.
Instead, I got crickets.
You may also screw up now and again. We all do, after all, and if someone takes the time and effort to flag you on a mistake in your email or a typo on your website, don’t ignore it.
Because this person’s obviously trying to help you. The very fact they reached out can be the opening you’ve been looking for.
But to walk away because someone corrected your mistake is a waste of resources, shortsighted, petulant and dumb.
Between creative development, strategic planning, tactical implementation, list acquisition, customer interaction and follow-up, the average sales prospecting campaign easily costs hundreds for a qualified sales lead.
And though you’d naturally focus on the low-hanging fruit first, the idea of walking away from someone engaging you sends chills down my spine.
Furthermore, if you do have the opportunity to re-engage with the prospect, and still walk away, then you have nobody to blame when your sales inevitably decline.
Because by then, all those prospects you voluntarily abandoned will be ancient history, and you’ll have no idea why.
Or as Paul the Apostle wisely observed, “Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.”
With that saideth, I wish thee a week of profitable marketing.
Get thee quickly to www.askmrmarketing.com.