If you want to do business and land new customers, time is of the essence. Yet I see that very few entrepreneurs have this culture of responsiveness rooted in their DNA. Here is a story that happened to me last year and another one that happened this year.
Example 1: what you should NOT do
For one of our customers, I got in touch last year with a potential supplier who happens to share an office in the same building as ours. In other words I contacted him with potential new business. Despite several emails, reminders and phone calls I was unable to reach him. Twenty-eight days later I replied back asking what it is that our customer needed. What the customer needed was an immediate solution, not one coming from a supplier who needs 28 days to reply to business request. You are out of the game. Period.
Example 2: what you should do
On the contrary here is a amazing example of how to secure business quickly. One day I saw a small truck in my street with ads on it for carpentry work, something that I was interested in. Since the truck was in my street I assumed the owner of the truck was there too. When I called him the guy said he had gone but he would be glad to come back to see what he could for me. Within 20 minutes he was ringing at my door. We discussed the work, showed me his book of past realizations, gave me quote and wrote down my email address and phone number. He promised to send a quote by email. I actually got it the day after and was glad to order on the same day. I didn’t even feel the need to ask other quotes. This guy had displayed enough professionalism in the pre-sales process to make me confident that I had found the right supplier.
Advice for your marketing strategy
If you are a startup, you are an outsider by nature. You are not a big name. You are not SAP, Oracle and the like. Customers will buy from you for other reasons and you must prove potential customers that you are worth the while. While SAP or Oracle can allow themselves to let the customer wait, one mistake you should never make is to let your potential customers wait and let them the time to think about alternatives. Your goal should be to sign the contract immediately. And if you don’t succeed, ensure a professional follow-up and show your potential customer how much you care about doing business with him.
Posted in Entrepreneurship, Marketing.
