Tips to help you increase visibility with your customers and win more business.
Customer A:
I need to order some signs. It’s actually a large order of double-sided 4-color process, corrugated signs and stakes. I was at the Midwest Brewers Show last month and I know I met someone there who sells signs. Who was that? I can’t remember her name. Oh well, I guess I’ll just do a google search of sign shops and find the one closest to me.
Distributor:
What?? No!!! This is not how it’s supposed to go. This customer is supposed to remember that they met ME because WE had great conversation at that Midwest Brewers Show and made a real connection. Now they’re going down the road to Joe’s Sign Shop to have their signs printed and I am a distant memory.
Is this a bad dream? Maybe. Could this happen to you? Definitely. What can you do to make sure this bad dream doesn’t become reality? Read on.
Let’s face it – there are a lot of people who do what you do. Sign shops, embroiders, printers, trophy shops – your customers have plenty of choices when it comes to finding someone to fulfill their printing and promotional needs. How do you compete? What can you do to stand out in the crowd?
Leave a lasting impression. It’s a simple sentence but it has big implications. You leave a lasting impression and Customer A’s corrugated sign order comes your way, not Joe’s. And when Customer A needs to place a decal order next month, they come to you. The next month it’s their t-shirt order, and the next month…….you get the picture.
Let’s try this again, this time from the Distributor view.
Distributor:
I’m at the Midwest Brewers Show and I meet a potential customer. We have great conversation and make a connection. I immediately ask for the customers’ business card. I use my lead retrieval software (or just a pen and paper) to jot down what we talked about. When I get back to the office, I enter them in my database. I will forever be connected to them now.
I send an email thanking them for stopping by my booth. I include a coupon to use on a future order. I also include something useful for them to use like my digital brewery brochure (the one I got from Stouse and branded with my name). Now my customer can see what else I can help them with.
I follow up on any to-do items from our conversation.
I also look for their business on Facebook or Instagram or for their profile on LinkedIn. I connect with my customer there too.
I do all of this in the first few days after meeting my customer. I’ve left a lasting impression that I can start to grow into a lasting relationship through targeted marketing, email campaigns, phone calls, great customer service and more. Customer A is now My Customer A and my bottom line is growing.
Who knows, maybe they’ll refer Customer B to me too!
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