The Acme (not its real name) company cleans commercial carpets. Many of its clients (about 50%) are on a semi-annual schedule as part of a contract. The rest are on an as needed basis or once-a-year, perhaps as part of Pesach or Spring cleaning. Ronnie, the company’s marketing manager, put an aggressive marketing program in place to attract new customers that he and the CEO figured should represent 25% of the company’s sales.
Ronnie’s marketing program included sending out regular “cute” reminders about service. One even said: “Hi, I’m your carpet. I don’t mind being stepped on but I could use a shower once in awhile.” Another had a before and after picture with the heading. “I promise I will change...if you take care of me!” It then went on to remind the customer about the need for cleaning the carpet.
Despite all these efforts Acme’s leadership felt that the company was really not growing. While Ronnie’s program was working, many customers were dropping out, either because they were trying to save money by cutting out one cleaning a year or because they found a young start-up company that offered the service for less money. Ronnie decided to hire Rona, an experienced saleslady with an impressive track record of selling by phone for a communications company. Her job would be to contact existing once-a-year clients and offer them a contract, past clients who have dropped out and potential new clients.
Rona turned out to be the perfect person for the job. For the customers who were the once a year or infrequent customers, she would explain that the infrequency of the cleaning shortens the life of the carpet. She followed up the conversation with articles from several well known magazines that she sent along by e-mail. For the drop-outs, she had a whole array of tools, ranging from a Welcome Back special to a free mat designed by a well-known artist. She was particularly effective in making cold calls, usually adding: “So who’s taking care of your carpets?” Rona says that the question always evokes a response and ultimately leads to business.
Finding people like Rona is not an easy task. It is difficult to find good salespeople in general, but particularly someone who is good over the phone. Recognizing that they may not always be successful in finding experienced people, many companies are prepared to train, provided that the person has some experience in a business environment, is intelligent, well spoken (particularly over the phone), and not afraid of rejection.
Selling by phone is not for everyone. Ronnie made sure that he gave Rona enough of a client mix that assured her of some success even if the potential new clients were hanging up on her. Rona herself wasn’t sure if she could handle a day that was exclusively reserved for cold calling, although in some businesses that is the case. Many businesses overlook the potential of generating more business from their existing client base and certainly from drop-outs.
Rona’s pitch to the drop-outs begins with the soft-sell of chatting about both Acme and the company she’s pitching. She treats it like calling a relative you haven’t been in touch with for a while. Her next step is to make the person on the other side of the phone feel that they were missed and then comes the embrace with the promotion.
Rona and others that try to revive old clients say that the communications itself can be a positive step. She found that many of the companies were simply “tickled pink” that Acme had not forgotten about them, which resulted in a positive outcome. Many companies, through newsletters and other communications, never quite allow the communications to stop altogether, which makes it much easier for people like Rona to solicit a positive response. Sometimes Rona would suggest that a more senior person, and perhaps someone who handled the account previously, follow-up with a call to restart the relationship.
A case in point was when a major customer for a home decorating manufacturer had taken his business elsewhere. The reason given at the time was the obvious: someone had offered the items for cheaper. For 3 years, the manufacturer simply accepted the fate and did nothing to stay in touch with this major client. They thought that there was nothing that could be done to bring the client back into the old.
When a consultant had challenged the CEO to “call anyway,” the former client was upset. “We did business for 5 years. You stopped sending me holiday cards and you never called after Jackie’s operation.” Jackie’s operation? How was he to know if he never kept the contact. The two ultimately got together and restarted the relationship, leading to a significant jump in the company’s sales.
Sales by phone can be a very important part of a company’s marketing program. It is imperative that salespeople sound like they are part of the company and not just a hired gun. The more knowledgeable a sales person is about the company, the more likely they are to generate a positive response. The more passionate a salesperson sounds about the product or institution they are selling, the greater the chance of success.
In only a year’s time, Ronnie’s strategy paid off with a remarkable 20% increase in sales, much of it due to his aggressive marketing program, but also a good deal of the credit has to go to Rona, who could be successfully used by any business.
Out of the Box is a collection of strategic marketing articles that Lubicom has published on various topics, trends and ideas in the marketing world. The articles have been published in the Hamodia weekly newspaper circulated on three continents to a readership of well over 100,000.
The name, "Out of the Box" is a term used frequently in business nowadays to describe creative thinking that is not the norm. It is meant to help a business pull away from the pack or separate oneself from the competition. It is to some extent fraught with risk, simply because it is not the run of the mill thinking, but it is at the same time the key to reaching the next opportunity.