“Top Of Mind Awareness” (T.O.M.A.) is the guiding principle of my unconventional ideas for follow-up and encourages your clients to do business with you and your company. But your clients are not the only people with whom you communicate! Their administrative staff are your support staff too, and it’s just as important to make the T.O.M.A. connection with them as with your clients themselves. My innovative methods, used by many of my one-on-one clients and companies, if implemented correctly, will make the support staff and clients pay attention to you and in some cases might make them WANT to do business with you!
“My client received the package I sent her last week. It consisted of a couple of promotional items that Sales Coach Chuck had taught in his “Marketing Yourself Shamelessly” course. I was beginning to think she hadn’t received it, because I hadn’t heard back from her. By the time she got it this morning it had made it’s rounds in the office. My client said it was the most creative sales idea she had seen in terms of getting someone’s attention. I told her I wish I could take credit for it, but the idea came from Sales Coach Chuck Bauer. In my opinion it was a resounding success in regards to “Top of Mind Awareness.” – David Wright, Sales, A.F.T.S. Addison, TX
Creating T.O.M.A. with your clients’ staff introduces fun and personalized touches in unique ways that enhance your relationship with them and your clients and advocates. Pull ahead of your competitors and get their attention with original, thoughtful reminders of who you are and what you do. And the more fun you have giving them, the more fun they will have receiving them. What cool follow-up ideas are you using that will cause clients’ support staff to THINK OF YOU when the clients are ready to enter or reenter the marketplace?
Valentine’s Day is a perfect holiday to implement a T.O.M.A. sales procedure. First, the rush of holiday cards is over—this means much less competition in the mail box, thus more attention on YOUR business. Second, I guarantee that 99% of all salespeople will miss this timely opportunity to be noticed and appreciated. Valentine’s Day provides a perfect time to touch your clients’ support staff with an entertaining follow-up technique.
1. Resist stopping before you start; tuck away your pre-conceived notions about follow-up ideas. Watch out for that little voice in the back of your head saying “I would never do this” or “This won’t work.” If you buy into that thinking, you become like all the other salespeople who just exist rather than succeed. As taught in my SalesMastery courses, I say “You had better become distinct or you will become extinct!”
2. Find and invest in kiddy Valentine’s Day Cards just like the ones you used in 2nd Grade, the little goofy ones that you exchanged at school and the ones your children still exchange on this holiday. Find them in Hallmark, WalMart, Target, and most neighborhood groceries. The choices are abundant and colorful with many different messages–the dorkier the better.
3. Find some fun stickers to use on the outside of the envelopes. The stickers need to be small because the kiddy Valentine’s Day cards are smaller than most standard card sizes. Place one or two stickers on the outside of the envelope.
4. Personalize the envelope by HAND WRITING the recipient’s name and address on the envelope. Better yet, use a calligraphy pen for a unique and professional touch. DO NOT use a return address on the outside of envelope. The lack of a return address creates curiosity on the part of the receiving client. When the mail is delivered, your T.O.M.A. will be the first envelope opened and your message the first message read.
5. Poem time! Yes, you need to create a poem to add to the envelope and card. You should keep the poem short, crisp, and fun. Now, I know none of you are professional writers. Writing a dorky poem is not something you may want to do, so I will help you write one right now.
It’s really simple, easy, and fun. Brainstorm with your family or associates. Check out the verses in the cards in the stores or the ones your children buy for school. Write a few different rhymes, play with them, and then pick the best one for your sales process. As soon as your verse is polished to perfection, copy it for as many cards as you need to cover your client support staff base.
Consider adding a gift card, a tea bag, your business card–anything slim and thin–or something else to get your recipient’s attention.
For postage, a first-class stamp at .44 cents should do the trick. But not just any .44-cent stamp. Never miss an opportunity to attract positive attention to yourself! Visit your local post office or go to www.usps.com to purchase your stamps. Don’t use the regular type of stamps: find something unique. There are various types of .44-cent Valentine’s Day stamps, or select something relevant to you or your business. You can also get customized stamps at http://www.zazzle.com/stamps to make this T.O.M.A. touch even more memorable!
Last but not least, plan on having the cards arrive around 3-5 days BEFORE the actual holiday.
For those of you with a large database of clients, here is a solution to give you the maximum bang for your buck—implement an 80/20 rule for these follow ups. If you have 100 clients in your database, take the top 20% who are clients, those you value the most (VIP’s), and send your T.O.M.A. cards to their support staff. For the other 80%, send their support staff an e-card or a nice Valentine’s Day message via e-mail. This method works for 1,000 or 10,000 in your database, and maintains your high level of sales efficiency.
A rule of thumb to follow: “Reach the people who count versus counting the people you reach.” In other words, you should not treat all clients’ support staff the same way. You must put in more personal time and place more significance on the support staff of those clients who advocate you and your business. Spend less time on those clients who may be prospects. When they become VIP’s, move them over to your T.O.M.A. list. Remember, return business and referral business is good business.
T.O.M.A. touches are unique and your VIP clients’ support staff and the clients themselves will certainly appreciate the value of such a personal touch and an indirect method of follow-up. Pass-through marketing usually occurs when your clients pass along your unique follow-up ideas and T.O.M.A. pieces to others. This small effort will foster referrals and place you on a pathway of sales distinction.
Next major T.O.M.A. Holiday – April Fools Day!
Open up MS Word.
On the “Tools” menu, point to “Letters and Mailings,” and then click “Envelopes and Labels.”
Click the “Labels” tab.
Click “Option.”
In the “Product” number box, click “Name Badge #5883.” This is a perfect label size for your poems.
Click “New Document.”
A new page opens with 8 boxes, and thus room for 8 poems on one page.
Save and title your document.
Great so far! Now let’s create a nice border around the eight squares, and add your poem to the boxes.
Click on format, then select “Borders and Shading.”
With the “Border” tab selected, click on “All.”
Pick your style, color, and width. Click “ok” when finished.
Highlight your poem. Make sure your website or e-mail address
is included with the poem—the recipient is apt to show the poem to someone! It may lead them to your website. (What, no website?
Ya gotta be kidding me. Call me at once! We have to chat!)
Right click and select copy
Go back to the document with your boxes. Place your cursor in the box in the upper left hand corner of the page.
Right click, select “Paste,” and presto—your poem has now been imported into the box!
Clean it up graphically. Make sure the text is either centered or aligned left. Check your spelling and then add some different colors: red for the “Roses are Red” line and blue for the “Violets are Blue” line, of course!
Once you have that box the way you want it, cut and paste into the remaining seven boxes.
Remember to save your document and save often.
Other things you can consider if you have above-average computer skills: maybe add your logo, some other type of graphic, etc. Regardless, try to keep it simple.
Now you are ready to print your pages. Consider using colorful paper to print your poems on. Once printed, cut out the poems with scissors. Then put a poem along with a card into an envelope, address it, stamp it, add cute stickers, and you’re ready to send a special T.O.M.A. touch that will have the recipient talking– the special Valentine Card—and YOU!
Questions and/or Comments?
Please respond to my blog at the bottom of this article!
Higher PROFITS and higher levels of Sales EFFICIENCIES - typical results that are experienced by Chuck Bauer's clients. Chuck has over two decades of sales experience and on a daily basis you will find him consulting with many sales organizations and salespeople nationwide. He is a highly sought after speaker and a member of the National Speakers Association. His information is widely published in many print and internet based publications. He is an instrument rated-private pilot, committed body builder, and mountain biker. Chuck is typically in the following cities: Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston, Austin, San Antonio, Arlington, El Paso and does sales consulting in the United States, Canada, and Mexico.
Sales Coach Chuck Bauer is on the LOOKOUT for HIGHLY SUCCESSFUL Sales People — Sales Managers, Sales Executives, Event Planners, Business Owners — who want HIGHER PROFITS and EVEN GREATER SALES EFFICIENCY. If you know ANY of these people or companies in the Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston, Austin, San Antonio, Arlington, or El Paso areas who would be interested in any of Coach Chuck's programs or services, CLICK HERE to find out about Chuck's REFERRAL INCENTIVE BONUS.
"Your SalesMastery course was a great two days! You not only filled our minds, but hearts and souls as well. You're point of what I'm going to do, well, I am going to tag that "The Force!" Thank you for your positive encouragement and patience. Thanks for all you do!"
Becky Thompson
Benchmark Securities, Dallas, Texas
February 4th, 2010 at 8:37 pm
Does this let me in to the blog?
April 13th, 2010 at 9:09 pm
I benefit from reading your articles. I came across you on youtube. I have not been doing too well at sales lately and have lost courage.
I am doing a little better since reading your articles.
You are amazing!