Marketing 200: An Explanation
The Marketing 200 program is based on two principles: Spaced repetition and a non-selling attitude. It is a simple program to implement and will, if managed properly, produce thousands of dollars of income. Do not, however, underestimate the value of the Marketing 200 program just because it is so easy to use. Through exposure to your marketing material, you are gaining the benefits of one of the most powerful learning techniques known to man: spaced repetition. An idea is almost never absorbed the first time it is presented. Ideas, to become usable to your prospects, must be repeated over and over. Psychologists estimate that, to be accepted, most ideas must be presented at least six times.
A non-selling attitude is simply that. When you send your marketing materials or when you telephone the prospect, you are teaching, enlightening, and telling them about you and how you can help them. In short, you are giving them enough information so that they will be able to make an informed decision.
The Marketing 200 program is developed in a logical sequence. Resist any temptation to skip around from one action to another. All learning to be effective must be in logical sequence. Consider a student trying to learn long division without a working knowledge of addition, subtraction and multiplication. Division is a function of the other three and is impossible to master without them. Skipping around would be tantamount to asking someone to marry you ten minutes into the first date.
The Marketing 200 program (see program attached) is divided into three headings: Month, Mailing, and Follow-up. The month heading is simply the first month you start the program. Even though there are twelve months in the program, the first month does not represent January unless you begin the program in January. The mailing heading is designed to make sure the prospect receives something from you every month – without fail. The follow-up heading simply gives you instructions on what to do after the marketing piece has been sent to the prospect. You will note that there are only five times in every twelve-month period that you must follow up with a telephone call.
Before we begin an explanation of the entire program, it is important that you follow a few simple suggestions. First, do not send out a mailing to your complete list of 200 names at one time. It will make it impossible for you to follow up intelligently. Here is how you should implement the mailing: Send 10 names on Monday, 10 on Tuesday and so on through Friday. This way, at the end of each month you have contacted all of the 200 prospects. During the first week, there will be no following up. You simply take the first 10 names you sent on Monday and call them on Monday a week later. The 10 mailings you did on Tuesday will be followed up on Tuesday a week later and so on until the 200 names are completed. Using this method, you should be able to complete the tasks in 10 to 45 minutes depending on whether or not your follow-up requires a telephone call. The most time it could take would be about 10 minutes to mail the marketing materials and about 30 minutes to telephone the 10 prospects. If you are unwilling to spend 45 minutes each day trying to develop a six-figure income, you should probably reconsider your commitment to the speaking/training business.
As we begin an explanation of the Marketing 200 program, have the form in front of you for easy reference. Under the first month, simply enter the month you begin. Under “mailing” you are to mail your first marketing piece. A tri-fold is suggested because it can be designed to give information about you along with your picture, information about your topics and programs and references or marketing verbiage. As suggested above, one week after the mailing, you should call the prospect to ascertain whether or not the mailing was received and if it reached the right person. The conversation might be: “Hello, Mr Smith? My name is Sam Jones. Did you get my brochure?” If the prospect says yes, then your reply should be, “ Great, I just wanted to know that I had mailed it to the right person. Thanks”. At this point, terminate the call. This conversation will be your introduction to a non-selling attitude. Try to imagine how the prospect must feel. Perhaps this was the first time anyone has ever called and not tried to “sell” something. If for no other reason, the conversation will set you apart in your prospect’s mind. Realistically, one of your goals was to make sure you were corresponding with the right person. Another goal may have been to bolster your confidence and make it easier for your subsequent calls. The telephone, which is the second best way to communicate with a prospect, is nevertheless, the single most difficult task for a speaker or trainer to complete. You have just taken the first step to overcoming the greatest marketing fear: fear of the telephone.
The second month suggests mailing another tri-fold. If you have two marketing pieces of this type, send the second one. If not, sending the first tri-fold serves just as well. Again, the second month’s follow-up is a telephone call. This time, however, your goal is to secure referrals. The conversation should go something like this: “Hello, Mr. Smith, this is Sam Jones. Did you get my brochure? Great! The reason I am calling is to see if I can get your help. Are you a member of any business associations?” The prospect’s answer will probably be yes. Real estate brokers are usually members of their local, state and national Board of Realtors. Insurance companies are affiliated with several professional organizations. Almost everyone who owns or manages a business is a member of some professional organization. Many times they have responsible jobs within their professional organization. In addition to professional organizations, business people are members of many different civic organizations. Try as best you can to get your prospect to give you the name of a contact person in their organization and send them your brochure. Your goals for this call are several. First, you want to increase your prospect base. Second, you want to contact your prospect again without asking him or her to hire you. Third, you want to learn more about your prospect by finding out what his or her interests are. We have all known people who work harder, spend more quality time, and seem to enjoy their work in civic and professional clubs more than their full time job. You should end the conversation by saying, “I appreciate your willingness to help me. I make my living helping businesses and organizations grow stronger, be more successful and spend less money – so I really appreciate the referral.” Remember, you are still in a non-selling attitude, since you have not asked your prospect to hire you or buy anything.
The third month gives you an opportunity to choose your contact method. You can send the same brochure, a newsletter, or an article of interest. The brochure will give you one more impression on your way to spaced repetition success. Many speakers subscribe to a newsletter service. Others write their own. Either one is effective. My personal favorite, however, is an article of interest taken from a magazine. Here’s how I suggest you do it. Tear an article out of a flight magazine. Don’t cut it – tear it out. You want the edge to be rough when you copy it in a copy machine. After you have made 20 copies, place a yellow “sticky note” on the article that reads, “Thought you might enjoy this.” Signed, “Sam Jones”. Imagine your prospects thoughts when you give him or her something of value. Your prospects thoughts might be, “Sam was up in the air 35,000 feet thinking of me.” Remember, there is no telephone follow-up this month.
The fourth month mailing is another brochure. The telephone conversation this month is designed to introduce your prospect to something that you are doing that is new. It could be a new program you have designed, a public seminar you have planned, a new book you have published, or one that is being published, a speaking engagement in the area, or anything else you have planned. Your goal this month, in addition to spaced repetition, is to let your prospect know that you are always changing, updating your material, and staying on the leading edge of your industry. Remember, you are in a non-selling posture. If you invite your prospect to a seminar, you must be willing to make the invitation complimentary. This is a small price to pay to get an opportunity to show your prospect your talents first hand.
In the fifth month, you will have the opportunity to let your prospects enjoy your talents and assess your abilities for themselves. Send an audio cassette of one of your live speeches or training sessions along with a letter stating that the tape is complimentary and you hope that your prospect will find helpful information in your work. It is important that you place the cassette in a clear box with an attractive “J” card cover and always put a price of at least $10 on the cover. If you don’t put a price on it to establish value, your prospect may think you ran copies at home and have no investment in the gift. In fact, on the inside of the cover print 1-5 copies $10; 6 to 10 copies $9; 11-20 copies $8; 20 plus copies $6. One of our speakers sent a tape to a prospect who listened to it in his car and enjoyed it so much, he purchased 25 copies for his employees. The cost on your cassette tape should be 75 cents, which includes the label.
The sixth month is the same as the third month with no telephone follow-up. Again, an article is more personal; however, many speakers enjoy many successes with a newsletter. If you have developed a good newsletter, by all means, use it.
The seventh month is exactly like the second month except try to get referrals in your prospect’s industry instead of associations. The conversation could go something like this: “Mr. Smith this is Sam Jones. Several months ago you were so helpful giving me that referral in your association and I want you to know that I really appreciate it. As you know, I make my living helping companies be more profitable and successful, so I was wondering if perhaps you knew someone in your industry to whom I could send my marketing materials and offer my services. I have several letters of reference that I would be glad to mail or fax you to prove my effectiveness. Can you think of anyone in your industry that might need me?” Your prospect will either give you a referral, or ask you for time to think about someone. Now, I suggest that you be as honest and candid as possible when you consider the thoughts that could be in the mind of your prospect. What would you do if you were the prospect? In my opinion, after I had received 4 marketing brochures, 2 interesting and perhaps helpful articles from flight magazines, a free cassette of a motivational, inspirational and informational speech or training session from a person with whom I had 4 telephone conversations that never one time pressured me into making a buying decision, I probably would think: “Why should I send him to help my competitor. Maybe I should ask him to come to my office and explain how he can help me and my business.”
In the eighth month you should send your prospects your complete package if they haven’t requested it in the past. Of course, your complete package should be sent any time a prospect requests it. Many prospects will ask for your package the first time you talk to them on the telephone. There is no follow-up on the eighth month.
The ninth month has the same options as the third and sixth month. You will notice that this option is quarterly for those who use newsletters. Many speakers find that a quarterly newsletter is more effective than monthly. In addition, if you have ever gotten out a monthly newsletter, it seems as if the deadline is every day.
The tenth month is almost the same as the fourth. The only exception is the use of a personal letter rather than a brochure.
The eleventh month is one of the most important. This is the month that you should qualify your prospect. This qualification process will determine if you are to keep marketing to the prospect or completely delete him or her from your program. After many years of prospecting, I have made some observations that were hard for me to comprehend much less act on. Many years ago a friend told me, “you can’t reach down into the “muck” of life and pull up people who don’t want to come.” With my “help everyone until one of us dies” attitude, that was a hard lesson to learn, but learn it I did because I found it to be true. After all, you are running a business and you need to spend time with people who understand the value of your efforts and understand that you are in a position to help them succeed. In an effort to simplify the qualification process, I suggest that you place your prospects in four categories – A, B, C, and D. The definition of an “A” prospect would be someone with whom you have good rapport, understands the value of your work and has told you that at some time in the not-too-distant future, they intend to hire you and take advantage of your products and services. Prospects in the “B” category are almost the same, however, they haven’t told you they were definitely going to hire you in the future. These prospects need a little more time or circumstances need to change, but you still feel that they will be open to hiring you in the future. “C” category prospects are luke warm. They are always attentive, they answer your calls, but you just can’t decide whether or not they will hire you within six months to a year. They are the true definition of ambivalent. You should keep these prospects and begin the process of trying to find out what their specific needs are. Hopefully they will advance from “C” to “B” prospects. Unfortunately, some will fall into the “D” category. Prospects in the “D” category don’t really see themselves needing outside training or consulting help. In addition, they are hard to reach by telephone and have never tried to help you in any way. As much as you would like to help everyone, you MUST quit contacting these people. There are too many new prospects just waiting for your help for you to waste your time with people who will never understand what you do or how you do it. If you use a computer, use your “delete” key. Do not save them in another file. Get rid of them so that you will give them no more thought. Eleven months is enough time to spend trying to help them.
There are two steps in the Marketing 200 process that are essential. First, when you eliminate the “D” category prospects replace them with new names and begin the process all over again. Second, never try to “skip” categories. That is, never try to make an “A’ prospect out of a “C” prospect. Always take a “C” to “B” status and “B” prospects to “A” status. Remember the example of trying to do long division without first mastering addition, subtraction and multiplication. Everything – including prospecting is best understood in logical sequence.
The last month is very important. As you can see, it is a holiday greeting. There are many faiths and beliefs in the world, so don’t be presumptuous and offend your prospects. I grew up as a Protestant and Christmas has meaning for me. Some of my friends and I’m sure some of my prospects practice other faiths and religions that do not acknowledge my beliefs, so why should I go out of my way to send them something that would be meaningless or offensive. So, I would suggest foregoing Christmas greetings and opting for Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving always means “home and family” to most people. It is a time of remembering, a time of thanks in any language and in any faith. If you are to get your prospect’s attention, send a Thanksgiving greeting. It will solve two problems: First, it will not offend by assuming a specific faith. Secondly, your card or greeting will have little or no competition. Just think how many Christmas cards are received during the Holiday Season compared to the number of Thanksgiving cards received. Yours may be the only card they receive if you choose Thanksgiving.
There you have it – the Marketing 200 program designed to put thousands of dollars in your bank account with very little effort. It is my belief that as you go through this simple program you will develop a sound business, get more referrals than you can imagine and help more people than you ever dreamed. I wish you the best as you embark upon this exciting adventure.
David Wright, President
International Speakers Network
