Many of you might use the water cooler at work to do it, some people use Facebook for it, others Link In.
I go to coffee mornings to do it. I’m talking of membership of various associations which helps me keep abreast of the latest issues and developments in my profession and network. And naturally what’s involved with association membership? Attending meetings.
My wife jokes and calls them my coffee mornings.
But a days’ attendance at an association meeting is worth 25 points to me and well worth it.
Leaving a mobile phone message with a client is worth 5 points, if I get through and have a brief conversation, that’s worth 10 points. Writing this article is worth 10 points, making it into a podcast and uploading to iTunes is worth 15 points, speaking to an industry event pro bono gives me 50 points. Getting a testimonial to put on my website carries 3 points; a new client meeting culminating in a proposal weighs in at a portly 75 points.
And my weekly marketing and prospecting target is 100 points and I make doubly sure I achieve it every week as one of my sales metrics.
Think about your sales role. Do you prospect and market continually, a little everyday. Can the point system work for you? Try writing down all the methods that you employ to market your business and just like everything in life, variety is the spice.
You might have:
- Running Seminars
- Mailings
- Newspapers ads
- Email publications
- Networking – breakfast clubs etc
- Articles in trade magazines
- Referrals
- Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook etc
- Testimonials
- Cold Calling
Now make a note of how effective they are and how much effort is required and then give each one a points score. Finally decide how many points you need to achieve each week and make this a personal metric or target to achieve.
It makes you do it, it ensures you have a variety of methods of prospecting, it lets you do a little everyday and you get to reward yourself at the end of the week when you’ve done it.
One of my favourite pieces of marketing is association meetings, also known as coffee mornings to my wife. But the homemade Blueberry Cake I had last Friday was to die for, well worth 25 points.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
