Ask Julie

Continuing on with the post from last week, this will be part two in answering the question:
How much should I budget for marketing?

A: Factor #2 The competitive environment. If you are surrounded by competitors viewed by your prospects as offering a similar level of products or services, you will likely need to spend more on marketing that intrudes through the clutter of marketing messages and establishes a compelling unique reason for prospects to want to do business with you.

Ask Julie

Q: How Much Should I Budget for Marketing? 

A: This is a question I am often asked. My response is almost always, “That depends.” over the next four weeks I will be sharing a weekly budgeting factor with you to help answer that question. So without futher adeu, on to number one!

1. How new you are in the business or in your community of buying publics. Newer businesses usually allocate a greater percentage of revenue to marketing to fund activities that establish identity, build awareness, research primary target audiences, and drive your brand.

Making It Easier To Do Follow-Up

Tips on making it easier to do follow-up:

• Get your prospect’s address and telephone number. Whether captured in a guest book, on your website, or in an inquiry phone call, this information will make timely follow-up easier for you.
• Be creative with follow-up. For instance, send a Valentine to your customers that says, “We love having you as our customers!” Think about what follow-up you could send that communicates the image of your farm or ranch in a creative, attention-grabbing way.
• Refer prospects to your website. Encourage them to return for updates and important considerations about your business.
• Use a contact management system. Whether you use a software program such as ACT or a hardcopy tickler system, this time management tool will help you follow-up when you said you would.
• Make an appointment with yourself to follow-up. Set aside one day a month as the day you will do all your follow-up beyond the initial post-inquiry mailing and call.

Just a quick post today! Hope you are having a great week!

–Julie Wassom
http://JulieWassom.com

Mail-Mail-Call; The Fortune In The Follow-Up

M-M-C stands for Mail-Mail-Call, and refers to the periodic follow-up activity you schedule with each qualified prospect or customer of your business.

The “M-M-C” Follow-Up System
Step One: After an inquiry call or visit, mail a personal note and information of interest to your prospect immediately so he/she receives the mailing within 2-5 days after he/she spoke with you.

Step Two: Within the next 7-10 days, place a brief follow-up call to inquiries or visitors, offering your help in this decision-making process.

During this call, request permission to put prospect on your mailing list, with a question such as, “Would you like me to periodically send you information that will be of value to you as you consider purchasing (X Product/Service)?”

Step Three: Add all those who have given you permission to follow-up into your monthly contact file. Designate one day each month to follow-up.  (These prospects HAVE ALREADY RECEIVED the initial mailing and follow-up call – Steps One and Two. Follow-up for existing customers begins with Step Three of the M-M-C System.)

                         Call            Visit       Oct          November         December          January

Prospect A      10/27                                           Mail                   Mail                 Call                 

Prospect B       9/22                     Mail                Call                    Mail                 Mail

Prospect C      10/25     10/30                          Mail                   Mail                 Call

Each time you call, ask prospects or customers if they would like to remain on your mailing list. If they have not yet come to our farm or ranch for a visit, attempt to schedule one during this call unless their location or situation dictates otherwise.

Prospects and customers stay in your M-M-C Follow-Up System until they tell you to discontinue contact.

–Julie Wassom
http://JulieWassom.com

For information on taking the work out of your follow-up, contact me at Julie@JulieWassom.com

Ask Julie

Today’s Ask Julie is specifically for those of you in the child care industry. Enjoy, and hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Question: How can you get a teacher involved in enrollment?

Answer: Great questions! Let your teachers know they are your partners in converting enrollments.Three ways they can do are to be responsible for explaining their classroom to a visiting parent, for engaging the visiting child in an activity, and for writing a brief follow- up note to the parent, welcoming them to the center or program. How your teachers communicate with visiting parent and child is one of the four ways your staff can impact the enrollment decision.

–Julie Wassom
http://JulieWassom.com

Professional Image- Fortune In The Follow-Up

Whether you follow-up with personal calls, written communications, or directives to your web site; make sure the image you project is professional, creative and consistent. Use the same look and unique message everywhere your prospects and customers come in contact with the image of your business.

Something about you grabbed your prospects’ attention, or they would not have inquired. But advertising research shows that people forget fast. Jay Conrad Levinson, author of the Guerilla Marketing series, says most people are exposed to more than 1800 messages a day (and that is an old statistic, now it is more like 3,000). In order to intrude through the clutter, your follow-up must be consistent, with the same image and message throughout all your marketing efforts, so your prospects remember you and want to pursue the opportunity to visit you and consider becoming your customer.

Make every type of follow-up message your prospects encounter consistent with your image, and you will help create the kind of retention of that message that generates their desire for future contact with you.

–Julie Wassom
http://JulieWassom.com