A Continual Prospecting
Strategy Will Keep You
Top of Mind as You
Stay In Touch...

Prospecting is the familiar term used to describe the marketing activity small businesses use for lead generation - identifying new potential customers.

Unfortunately, most people are just focused on finding those initial leads. They're simply looking for their next client. Their prospecting is completely focused on turning up that next lead.

But then if that lead doesn't end up becoming a new client soon you're likely to turn your attention back to trying to find the next lead. Does that approach even make sense to you?

Can you imagine walking up to a complete stranger on the street and saying, 'Excuse me, would you like to buy my product/service?' That's the approach that so many small businesses are taking.

And for too many small business owners it gets even worse that this. With too much focus on lead generation, you begin to lose existing customers and the ones that stay around aren't referring any business to you. What a dilemma! What can you do?

A Continual Prospecting Strategy Is Your Answer!

If you don't stay in touch, you'll be forgotten. And if your clients, prospects, and business associates forget you, then they certainly won't do business with you.

The great thing about a continual prospecting strategy is that it can be a real low-key way to build up and maintain the 'know-like-and-trust' factor. People don't like to be sold to. They like to decide what they want to buy - generally from those they feel like they know, like, and trust.

Now instead of walking up to that stranger on the street and asking them if they'd like to buy your product or service, you could offer to send them some information of value to them. Instead of asking them to buy, maybe you're sending them a hand-written note that says 'thanks for taking a few minutes of your time' and then offers an informative tip.

When you're willing to stay in touch with people in this way it not only makes you memorable, it will make you highly referable as well! It makes people feel good to think that they can possibly help someone else by passing on valuable information they've received (or simply the name of the person who's providing the information to them).

So What Does a Continual Prospecting Strategy Look Like?

That's not what a stay in touch strategy is about. It's not about hounding your prospects and clients until they buy from you. It's about keeping in contact with them in positive, non-threatening ways. Just let them know what's going on, send reminders, or provide information that's of value to them.

Your stay in touch marketing can be in many formats. No matter what format you choose, it's important to make sure your touches are relevant, interesting, valuable, and personal to your recipients.

Here are a few of the basic formats that have proven over and over again to be successful lead generation tools for small businesses:

Personal, Hand-Written Notes - This is such a simple idea that many are too quick to dismiss it without understanding the power it can have. Think about the last time you received a personal, hand-written note. Didn't it make you feel good? Didn't it send a message that this person cared enough to send me a personal note?

Picture this scenario. You meet someone at a networking event and have a good conversation with them. The next day a personal, hand-written note is sent saying you enjoyed meeting them and offering a quick tip regarding your topic of conversation. Now imagine another well-timed note being sent that tells them about a great web site resource you've found. These types of notes could continue every month (or every other month) for the next year.

Great idea, but what a pain in the neck writing all those notes you might say. After all, you might make several great connections every month through your networking. Well, what would you say to a service where all you had to do was input a name and address (or even upload hundreds of them) and have someone else print a card in your own handwriting, address it, stamp it, and mail it for you?

How cool would it be if you had a client that made a small purchase from you and a hand-written thank you note showed up in the mail in the next day or two? Now imagine that 30 days later another note shows up checking up on how things are going with their purchase and telling them how to contact you with any questions. Then 60 to 90 days later another note arrives making a special offer only available to current customers. Do you see the possibilities?

Newsletters or eZines - Newsletters or eZines are a great way to offer tips and hints, industry information, success stories or case studies, information from other sources, and even information on your own services and products.

This doesn't have to be as time consuming and costly as you might think. Sending out an eZine...

• is virtually free,


• keeps you in front of clients, prospects and key business associates,


• is a tremendous way to give away some value that increases your know, like, and trust factor.

Alexandria Brown, the Ezine Queen , has created some of the best resources available on publishing and email newsletter or ezine. She offers a comprehensive e-book on how to create and market an ezine, as well as a variety of jam packed audio programs for related on-line success.

Direct mail, letters, postcards, and mailers - Yes, direct mail does indeed work. Think about the ability to send your attention getting message to an entire list of potential prospects once a month for a few dollars per lead per year. Of course you must also realize that it can be a tremendous waste of time and money if not properly targeted and the proper message and package is not used.

The reason most direct mail fails is that people for some reason expect it to sell for them the first time every time. Does that even make sense if someone does not yet feel like they 'know, like, and trust' you? Most of the junk that shows up in my mailbox is characterized by name of the company as the headline, a little bit about the services they offer, and a phone number. From my experience these types of mailing don't get any response at all.

What is anyone's incentive to call with that kind of approach? What you need is to make a low-risk offer and provide a call-to-action on how to take advantage of the offer. To get a response you need to make valuable, risk-free offers like a free report, free newsletter subscription, introductory seminar, free gifts, etc.

Zairmail Direct Express offers a convenient on-line service to design and send direct mail right from your PC. If this is a technique you'd like to be using in your business, then it's worth requesting their Free Sample Kit.

How To Make It Work

It's a bit like an investment strategy where you put some money in every month - no matter what the market is doing. Over time your visibility, value and credibility will build. It's not a get rich quick strategy, but if you're patient, your stay in touch will likely be most responsible for your long-term success.

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