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Establish Your Presence

Written by: Donald F. Pooley

Article Overview: You meet. You talk about his problems. You're sure he's a good prospect.

Establish Your Presence

You meet. You talk about his problems. You're sure he's a good prospect.
You send him some information, and describe the benefits he can derive from dealing with you. You suggest he call you to discuss his needs further.
You hear nothing.
So you call, and call, but are unable to connect. Finally he takes your call, but is disinterested in addressing the issues you'd previously discussed.
You get busy with other cases, and give up trying to contact him. Time passes. Finally he does act, but contacts another advisor to handle the problems you helped him to clarify.
I see and hear this scenario play out every day among the advisors I work with and talk to; prospects failing to do what we want, to act on the needs we can help them address when we think they should act.
It is all too easy to take their inaction personally---to believe that they don't like you, don't value your services, don't like what you had to say, and so on.
In reality, prospects---like all humans---act when they're ready to act, not when we want them to.
There may be any number of reasons that someone doesn't act today, tomorrow, or the next day, but will move three weeks from now. Something suddenly motivates them, and they move.
The key is to be present when they're ready to act. Your presence does not have to be physical. It can come through a number of ways that keep you in the mind of the prospect.
Establishing presence means acknowledging that people move on their schedule, not yours. It then requires a strategy of continuous, tasteful contact so they don't forget about you.
Therein lies the challenge to advisor success: finding and using ways to remind your target market of your potential value in ways that do not put them off, and that will have them think of you when they are ready to act.
Paul L. Franklin is Editor of "The Professional Consultant", #405-123 NW 2nd Av., Portland, OR 97209 USA * Copyright 1995

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Related Forum Posts
Re: 3 Steps To Startup Success - Emma's point about a website is a good one. One thing anybody who wants to start a business can do is set up a website. You can do this before you start your business, while still working in a regular job. Your website doesn't even have to sell anything at this stage (although I'd recommend that you monetize it using Google Adwords, Amazon, affiliate products etc)... Use your website as a kind of online resource centre where you can put together your ideas and build a knowledge base about the business and market niche you want to get into. Write articles about the business, products, problems people face. By doing this you will: 1. Have a place where you can focus and develop your thinking about your business idea. 2. Build an online presence NOW that will greatly assist you in marketing your business when you are ready to set it up. 3. Establish your reputation as an expert in your field before you set up your business. 4. Give you an outlet to test your business ideas before you take the plunge... Good luck! DH
Re: Forums Blog? - [quote="Evan":1yww01zw]Interesting idea Don. In my weekly newsletter I show the most recent forum posts and on the side of every page on the website (not the forums) I also show the most recent entries.[/quote:1yww01zw] The Newsletter update is great for people _already_ signed up to the forums. The Blog would be a teaser for those who are unaware of it entirely. [quote="Evan":1yww01zw]How often would you see the blog being updated?[/quote:1yww01zw] I would say no more frequently than once a week. It would be more an an ad than an interactive forum. Although, that can change. [quote="Evan":1yww01zw]Any other ideas out there on a blog or ways to show the most popular topics?[/quote:1yww01zw] If you really want a big Internet Presence, this is what I have learned works very well: 1/ Website 2/ Blog 3/ MySpace 4/ Press Release 5/ Ads posted on free & paid classified websites 6/ Networking 7/ website submission to search engines You will notice that only 1 out of the 7 requires human contact. The other 6 will begin to create a presence and if the right keywords are used, then people doing searches for those keywords will find many references to this site. Networking helps build your 'real world presence'. I haven't done any aggressive marketing of my site yet the hits just keep on increasing on a monthly basis. I'm on track to be making 20,000 hits (probably more) this year. Not bad for not spending a dime on advertising and being fairly casual about what I do with the site. That's what I have learned thus far online. The more I learn, the more hits grow.


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