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No Leak Marketing: Plug the Holes in Your Business Bucket

Wednesday, November 29, 2006

Do you have customers that you are currently working with
who are NOT your Dream Customers? Do they demand extra
time? Do they treat you with disrespect? Are they
unprofitable?

These customers are holes in your Business Bucket. They
drain your time and your energy. They prevent you from
having the time you need to market and provide service to
your DREAM customers.

Here are some simple questions to answer to see if your
Business Bucket leaks:

- Do you currently have unprofitable customers?

- Are there any customers you would like to have off your
plate?

- Are you spending too much time trying to "close the sale"
and convincing people to buy from you?

- Is it hard for you to convert prospects into customers?

- Are you getting a lot of repeat business from your
existing customers?

- Are your customers referring others to you?

- Are your customers loyal or are you scared they will
shift to your competitor on a whim?

- Are customers seeking you out for your expertise?

If you answered "no" to any of these questions, your
business bucket is leaky. It's time to implement a No-Leak
Marketing Strategy so you can get the absolute maximum
impact from all of your marketing efforts.

The first thing you have to learn is the word "NO." Don't
be willing to accept money from just anyone. You want to
get into the habit of "cherry picking" your customers. The
ones who aren't a good fit are unqualified and you are
wasting your time with them. You will spend too much energy
on these types of customers and you will often lose money.

Another thing you shouldn't be doing is spending a
tremendous amount of time and energy trying to convince a
prospect that what you offer is of value. Instead develop a
method to find out if people are a good fit for you in the
first 10 minutes of your conversation with them. This will
greatly decrease the time you are spending with unqualified
prospects and your sales closing ratio will go up. If your
gut says "no" and/or you see red flags early on in your
conversations with a prospect, then make sure you listen to
these signals.

ACTION ITEM: Take the time to list your customers who you
have worked with, but were NOT a good fit. Describe why
they were a bad fit. Review your "horror" stories. What
types of people cost you too much time, energy, and
profits? What strategies can you implement to "cherry pick"
your DREAM customers?

About the Author:

Wendy Maynard, the Marketing Maven, publishes REMARKABLE
MARKETING, a weekly ezine for business owners, freelancers,
and entrepreneurs. If you're ready to skyrocket your sales
and easily attract customers, subscribe today at
http://www.gomarket ingmaven. com/ezine. html

This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 29, 2006 at 5:20 PM. There are . If you want, you can leave your own response by clicking here. You may also send this post to a friend of yours via email, or bookmark it for yourself by using icons below;