CUSTOMERLOYALTY
Courting our Prospects: Marketing Tactics that Say “I Realize that You are Special” by Dawn Westerberg
Y
ears ago, a coworker shared the account of meeting the woman who was to be his future wife. In courting her, he was relentless in making sure that his sweetheart was receiving regular
deliveries of cards, candy, flowers and later jewelry. His strategy? “If there was anyone she was even remotely interested in, they would have to run very fast to keep up with me.” Through a variety of actions and behaviors he was telling her “I realize that you are special.” “I will go out of my way to make you feel special.” Good marketing has that kind of energy and focus behind it.
particular communications preference they have. Use email
Good marketing says to your prospects: I realize that you are
to congratulate them on the good news about the company
special and I will go out of my way to make you feel special.
that you learned through alerts. Use snail mail to send an interesting article or helpful tool. Use lumpy mailing to send
Do you have a sweetheart list? A sweetheart list is a short
a logo’d item.
list of accounts you would love to have. Maybe it’s based on the characteristics of the company. Maybe it’s based
This could also be called guerilla marketing. All of your
on the fact that the company has name recognition or is a
activity is saying “I realize that you are special.” “I will go out
forward-thinking leader in your market. Whatever the reason
of my way to make you feel special.” After 6 months of this
– doesn’t it make sense to approach them with the following
kind of focus, you will have mindshare. You may then chose
purpose in mind? “I realize that you are special.” “I will go
to place them on your nurture marketing list and select
out of my way to make you feel special.”
another company to take a spot on your sweetheart list.
Let’s say you have a sweetheart list of 12 – set up a Google
Here are possible results:
Alert for both the company and the contact. Every time you get interesting news via Alerts you have a reason to email
Nothing will happen. (Rare, but a potential reality.)
or call. The efforts of their current provider will be compared to Have you searched them out on Twitter, Facebook and
your efforts. Chances are very good that (sadly) their current
LinkedIn? Try to make a connection via social media. If
provider isn’t in the “I will go out of my way to make you feel
they are on Twitter, you can respond to their Tweets or RT
special” mode. You will have preferred mind share.
(retweet) their observations and links. If they are posting on Facebook, you can leave a comment. If they connect
They may not be in a position to buy from you yet, but your
with you on LinkedIn, you’ll be alerted as to any change
efforts have been noticed, and there is a likely chance that
in their status (promotion, move to another company) and
when faced with an opportunity to make a referral, they will
if they participate in any groups, you’ll know that as well.
point another prospect to you.
It’s probably worth your time to join the group as well if it’s When they are ready to buy, you will have done such a good
appropriate.
job of distinguishing yourself from the competition, the odds Do they have a blog? The fastest way to a blogger’s heart is
will be in your favor to win the business.
a thoughtful contribution to the comments section. Remember, it’s not enough for them to decide “I need to Use every platform to communicate (I’m not suggesting
buy XYZ product or service.” Rather you want them to be
you spam them). Observe their habits and see if there is a
thinking “I want to do business with [Your Name Here].”
bell•weth•er -noun: one who takes initiative or leadership
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