HOW TO ARRANGE YOUR DAY FOR MAXIMUM MARKETING ADVANTAGE
by Dr. Jeffrey Lant
Consider this perplexing situation. I am currently in the
market for a new home in a plush Boston suburb. As a result
I've been interacting with a lot of "marketers" in the
business -- real estate agents, bank officers, mortgage
financiers, the lot. It's a very time consuming and often
frustrating process, not least because the "marketers" I'm
dealing with know almost nothing about marketing. Take this
example.
I called a realtor in Belmont, MA the other day about a
property I was interested in seeing. The owner answered the
phone and told me she was "busy" just then (it happens) but
would call me back "in one hour sharp." I confirmed the time
with her and gave her my name and phone number. That was
days ago... and I'm still waiting for Mary Frances Owens, of
the company bearing her name, to get back to me.
Now, consider what I'm saying: the property in question is
in the half million dollar category... the broker's
commission about $30,000.
BUT I STILL CAN'T GET A RETURNED PHONE CALL
OR ANY SEMBLANCE OF INTELLIGENT HANDLING!
Nor is this situation in any way unusual. In just the last
few days:
## a broker with whom I wanted to discuss listing one of my
properties for sale didn't call me back;
## a broker who had already seen the properties and
expressed an interest in listing them failed to call back
at the time specified for our appointment... and has in
fact, so far, failed to follow up at all, and
## the plumber whom I wanted to do some minor repairs on a
bathroom (and whom I'd used before) failed to respond to
my letter asking him to do the work.
Now... the Massachusetts economic climate is not good;
realtors say they're suffering from what can be described as
a soft market at best... and my plumber previously told me
he was looking for more business.
What's going on here, anyway?
Just this: these people have no conception that, whatever
else they may be, they must also be marketers... and must
find out and practice how to arrange their days for maximum
marketing advantage. And so do you!
Getting Prepared To Reap Maximum Marketing Advantage
----------------------------------------------------
Like most other things in life, you can't just pull maximum
marketing advantage out of a hat. You've got to want it...
and you've got to plan for it. This means preparation.
## Get yourself a computer and laser printer. This advice
should be superfluous in these days of rock-bottom hard-ware
and printer prices, but it most assuredly isn't. I don't
think a single one of the culprits mentioned above had this
necessary equipment. This is a scandal. Not only are prices
low now but so is the cost of running them. Brand-name laser
printer prices have fallen to well under $1000 and laser
cartridge toner prices, too, have come down substantially.
(Note: You'll want to get your toner cartridges where I've
bought mine for the last couple of years: Advanced Laser
Products, P.O. Box 1534, Brookline, MA 02146 (617) 278-4344.
They have the lowest prices I've found -- just $45 per
refill, delivery charges included. The quality is
consistently high and the page output superior (up to 5000
sheets per cartridge). Moreover, because of the extremely
high quality of toner in these cartridges, your printer's
drum can last up to twice as long -- which is a big savings
to you!
## Divide your word-processing files into three sections: a
"work room" file where you store necessary marketing data
and information you'll be using in your various
communications; a "template" file where you have ready-to-
use marketing communications that can be used as is or
tailored as necessary, and a "storage" file where you keep
actual copies of marketing documents used.
## Review all the marketing communications you're currently
using and make sure they're recipient-centered, that is that
they focus on what the recipient gets from you. I don't care
who the recipient is; he wants to know what he gets from
you. The features of your product or service are never as
interesting and motivating as the benefits this all-
important person gets!
## Get rid of all "marketing" communications that are about
you -- and not about that all-important recipient. If the
communication is about you, your product, your service, the
features of your business, you're wasting your time and
money every time you use it. You can't just review your
marketing communications, you must prune every communication
that's selfish and "me-centered" and resolve to replace them
with unrelentingly recipient-centered communications!
## By the same token, you must also review your marketing
actions... not just the communications you use, but the
actions you take that are supposed to support them. Keep a
log for 10 business days with the following information in
it:
-- How many prospect letters did you receive? How long did
it take you to respond?
-- How many prospect telephone calls did you receive? How
long did it take you to respond?
-- Once you responded the first time, how long did it take
you to follow up? Once? Or twice?
-- How many people who wanted your help on a matter which
involved material gain for you had to call you back or
otherwise contact you again... because you just didn't do
what was necessary to accommodate you the first time?
All of us like to think we're organized. All of us want to
believe we're good people performing our job in a
professional way. If you ask Mary Frances Owens... and the
other disorganized real estate agents... and my plumber, I
bet every single one of them would tell you they're hard-
working, well-organized, absolutely professional people. But
the proof of this pudding, dear reader, is in the eating..
and the sad truth is every single one of them when asked to
demonstrate their client-centered marketing techniques
failed. End of story, as Ross Perot says.
Beginning Your Marketing Renaissance
------------------------------------
Whatever may have happened in the past, as Scarlet O'Hara
resoundingly reassured us all, "Tomorrow is another day."
I'll go Scarlet one better: today, right now, is another
day! And so it is, if you resolve to turn yourself into the
compleate client-centered marketing. Here's how to
accomplish this crucial renaissance:
## get to your office 60 minutes before your co-workers...
before there are other people to deal with, before the phone
starts ringing. Do this whether you work with others... or
work at home by yourself. As everybody knows who has ever
spent an hour alone working, really working, on moving
business, you can get a tremendous amount done without the
interruptions that characterize life in the American office.
During this time:
-- Make sure there is no follow-up task from the day
before that still remains to be taken care of. Were you,
for instance, just too tired or busy to get out some
follow-up correspondence before you left last night? Do it
now! Look at 9 a.m. as the beginning of a new chapter of
your business life. Before starting it, conclude the
marketing tasks that were a part of the previous chapter.
Had poor Mary Frances Owens done this, she might be
demonstrably closer to being significantly richer... but
she let muddle and disorganization rule.
-- Use your fax machine. The time to send the bulk of your
faxes is either after 5 p.m. or before 9 a.m. For one
thing, the phone rates are less expensive. Then there's
the matter of impact to consider. If you're on EST, if you
send a fax at 5:01 p.m. you can still get to most of the
country during their current working day. And if you send
your faxes before 9 a.m. EST, you can reach everybody just
when they get to their offices; in other words, you can be
one of the first things on their plates.
-- Call up copies of marketing communications you've
previously sent to prospects and customers and update them
with current messages. For instance, in my Sales &
Marketing Success Card Deck, I never have more than 15
empty slots due to heavy advertiser renewals. As the
number of available slots drops, it is a very good idea to
update the communications I've sent to prospects and
motivate them to faster action by informing them my supply
is what they want is dwindling. This always motivates them
to faster action. Again, if you do this in the morning,
you can fax this information where necessary... or put it
in the early mail. And if you use your last document as
the basis for this communication, merely updating it as
necessary, you can get your message done fast.
-- Review your call list to make sure all the people that
should be getting called by you today will get that
important call. Unless you're born with a silver spoon in
your mouth, your prosperity depends on consistently making
marketing quotas. To make these quotas means sending a
certain number of marketing communications and placing a
certain number of telephone calls and faxes which can then
be translated into a certain number of successful
closings. There is no way around this. The first thing you
must do, therefore, is determine just how many marketing
communications you need to send... and just how many
telephone calls, etc. you need to place to meet your
objectives. Then you must ensure that you day is arranged
so that these all these communications take place. As far
as the telephone is concerned, this means checking your
call lists and making sure that you're placing -- and
following up -- all the calls you need to meet your quota.
Do you do this now? Or are you just winging it every day?
What To Do When 9 a.m. Rolls Around
-----------------------------------
Look how much you've accomplished... and it's only 9 a.m.!
Congratulations. Now keep up the good work...
Between 9-9:30 a.m. there are a host of rituals in the
American office: co-workers need to be greeted, there's the
inevitable coffee to be consumed, there are stories to hear
and stories to be told... and, of course, the phone starts
ringing with those fires that must be put out. In short, the
things you must do to make your marketing successful are at
risk. Beware!
## First, resolve to keep these time-wasters to a minimum.
## Second, use this time to improve your marketing
communications.
Just as Rome wasn't built in a day, so you won't be able to
refurbish all your marketing communications in a short time.
Don't worry about this. Just get started. If the review of
the marketing communications you're using has indicated that
improvement is necessary to achieve a more client-centered
focus... then resolve to provide that focus. And work on
this process during the first half hour of every day. Why
then?
Because most of this time is wasted anyway as you well
know... and because it's too early yet to call your
prospects and customers to advance your marketing with them.
They, after all, are engaged in the same fruitless rituals
as you and your lotus-eating co-workers. Be different! Turn
this "scrap time" into a period when you sit at your
computer, striving to turn all your marketing prose and
approaches into the most unrelentingly client-centered
process possible.
Making The First Mail Pick-Up
-----------------------------
One of the things that most impresses clients and customers
is prompt follow-up and marketer responsiveness. The fax, of
course, helps you achieve this... but so does the mail.
Thus, know precisely when your first mail is picked up each
day... and arrange your morning so that you get as much into
it as possible. Think you're doing this now? Try a little
experiment.
Track your mail for the next few days. Did you put together
any marketing and follow-up communications this morning
where it was very much to your advantage that the
prospect/customer receive them ASAP? Just see for yourself
when they actually go out. I am constantly told by
"marketers" that their mail goes out "right away" only to
confront them with postal evidence that proves their
important communications often sit for two, three or even
more days before being sent. This is just plain dumb. If you
are not hearing regularly from your customers that they are
pleased and grateful for your prompt marketing attention,
you can be certain you're blowing this opportunity.
The Correct Way To Make Your Marketing Phone Calls
--------------------------------------------------
There's a right way and a wrong way to handle the placement
of your marketing calls. The right way involves a system;
the wrong way is episodic and undisciplined. Here are some
suggestions on how to get the best use from your phone:
## Start the day, as recommended, by checking your phone
list and making sure you know who should be called and
gathering all the information and factual material you
need to make the call productive. In other words, know
the audience... and get prepared to maximize your time.
## Then segment your day into "calling periods", times when
it makes the maximum sense to use the phone to connect
with people. If all your calls are local, make your
prospecting and follow-up calls after 9:30 a.m. If you
make calls nationally like I do, your calls should follow
the time zones. If you're on Eastern Standard Time, make
Eastern calls at 9:30; make Central calls an hour later,
and so on. Save your Mountain and Pacific calls until
just after 5 p.m. There are several reasons to do things
this way:
-- it's too mentally enervating to do all your calls at
once. It's hard to stay fresh on the phone if you do
nothing more than make calls. Resolve to make all the
calls you must in a single day, but sensibly divide
your day to keep maximum freshness.
-- you can save some money either by placing your calls
early (if you're in western time zones calling east) or
later (if you're in eastern time zones calling west).
And these pennies saved mount up!
There's one more reason: you should allow the necessary time
after a spate of calls to handle all the follow-up
information logging and paperwork. In other words, a
reasonable period of phone usage should be followed by a,
equally mandatory period of paperwork.
Note: the existence of a series of template letters will
help you do your follow-up correspondence and paperwork
promptly. If you find yourself having to create new letters
and other marketing communications for your prospects and
customers after getting off the phone with them, you're not
getting the benefits of these templates and need to devote
some of that period between 9-9:30 a.m. to creating them.
Return Your Calls
-----------------
If I'd been a United States Senator I would have been happy
to cast one of the unanimous votes for our first female
Attorney General, Janet Reno. Not, I hasten to add because
of her politics, but because she has a firm rule about
promptly returning all phone calls. That makes her good
enough in my book!
The misuse of the telephone in business situations has now
become a national scandal. Everyone complains that their
phone calls don't get returned... but how many business
people actually arrange their day so that they can not only
make all the calls they have to but return them, too?
Precious few. But not you!
At about 4 p.m. you should review not only all your phone
messages but all the situations where the phone might be of
assistance, namely:
## people who wrote and offered a good reason for prompt
assistance;
## people who walked in, ditto;
## people who (unfortunately) had to call you more than once
during this day;
## people who were referred to you by friends and
colleagues, and
## people who for whatever other reason needed your prompt
attention.
Some of these people, of course, can reasonably be handled
with fax and mail. Some, however, need your prompt telephone
follow-up... even though you may not have all the
information they require. Here's where the marketing
professional shines...
During the last 60 minutes of your "official" business day,
run through these calls as promptly as possible. If the
person is not available, leave a complete message not merely
saying who you are and what your phone number is... but what
you intend to do to provide the person with the data he
needs. If the person is available, if you have the details
he wants, provide them. If you still must get them, explain
what you're planning to do. Start by making the routine
calls... end with the more complicated calls that will take
more time and attention. Either way, arrange matters so that
by 5 p.m. all your calls have been returned and so that
everyone knows just where their business is.
There will, of course, be peremptory and difficult people
who will not think even this degree of client-centered
attention sufficient. But they, thank God, will be in the
minority. Most people will understand that in a single day
you cannot always solve their problem... but they will
appreciate the fact that you have done what was necessary to
inform them about just where the matter now rests and what
you intend to do for them in the very near future.
Poor Realtor Mary Frances Owens doesn't live by this rule...
and as a result a potentially lucrative sale was lost. This
Sunday, as before, she'll buy big, expensive ads in the
Boston Globe apparently confident that they alone will do
her job... never suspecting that her own poor "marketing"
habits are sabotaging her significant investments. She may
not do what's necessary to change and so improve her
prosperity. But I have every confidence, my friend, that you
will profit from her mistakes.
***************************************
Dr. Jeffrey Lant is one of America's best known marketers,
specializing in getting more people to buy YOUR products and
services FASTER and more efficiently. Now you can profit
from what he knows through some of his 11 books including
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MORE COLD CALLS: THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO GENERATING -- AND
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Also profit from his quarterly Sales & Marketing Success
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Contact him at JLA Publications, 50 Follen St., Suite 507,
Cambridge, MA 02138. Don't forget to ask for your FREE
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Success Catalog, featuring over 350 ways to make your
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