I think I owe all small business owners an apology. Because prior to owning my own business, I, somewhat indignantly insisted that business owners needed to fill the holes in their business. And by that, I mean they needed to cover every “entry” point a new prospect might come through with follow up marketing. Long term follow up marketing.
That was before I was aware how difficult it is to follow up consistently with everyone who:
Downloads a free report
Requests a consult
Opts in to a newsletter
Gets referred by friends or family
Emails you directly with questions
Makes a purchase
Etc.
With so many “points of entry”, how in the world do you make sure that a lead hasn’t dropped out of your marketing unintentionally?
The only SURE way I’ve discovered is actually very primitive…drawings.
On a whiteboard, sheet of paper, or computer document, identify every point of entry with some sort of drawing. These are all the ways someone might get on your mailing list. From there, draw an arrow. If you know what you want the person to do next, draw another image. And then add an arrow coming out of it.
If an email or action you suggested your new prospect take divides the path (in other words, now you have a path for people who take action and another path for those who don’t) be sure to draw two arrows leading away from that action.
Every time you send an email or invite your contacts to take action, draw an arrow.
The only way to plug all the holes in your business, and make sure you never lose anyone is to always have the arrow as a marker that something needs to happen next.
If you set this up correctly, you will always have arrows (that have yet to “go” anywhere) on your drawing. And that’s because you will always be building. Even when your prospects become customers, you’re going to keep doing this. As long as you are in your business, you will have prospects to follow up with and convert, customers to follow up with, partners to communicate with, etc.
It’s a lot to handle. And you really need a system that can make your drawing a reality. For that type of system, we highly recommend Infusionsoft. The more holes you fill, the greater your business will grow and the more revenue you’ll generate. So set those arrows, those markers, that indicate you have more to do to make your marketing great.
I think I owe all small business owners an apology. Because prior to owning my own business, I, somewhat indignantly insisted that business owners needed to fill the holes in their business. And by that, I mean they needed to cover every “entry” point a new prospect might come through with follow up marketing. Long term follow up marketing.
That was before I was aware how difficult it is to follow up consistently with everyone who:
The more holes you fill, the greater your business will grow and the more revenue you’ll generate. So set those arrows, those markers, that indicate you have more to do to make your marketing great.