Tell Your Prospects What To Do Next.

How do they know what to do if you don't tell them what to do?

I’ll bet that no matter what you do for a living, you can dig the problem that recently hit my mailbox…

“Dear Doc:

“My problem is really one of launching a brand new digital signage business from scratch. First off, I did a small flyer mailing to retailers in a high-end shopping street here which got zero response.

“I think the flyer itself was pretty good but in my follow-up calls, I got the impression some other vendor had already approached them and may have somehow angered a lot of them.

“Now, I’ve done a postcard mailing which began arriving at prospects’ mailboxes yesterday and today; and that went to 335 potential customers -retailers and physicians.

“The phone has yet to ring.

“I am getting very nervous.”

The reader also sent along a copy of his one-page flyer which did a good job in explaining the benefits of digital signage for small retail operations.

However, it missed the Good Mojo Mark by leaving out two seemingly insignificant (but absolutely critical) details: the sales sheet didn’t tell the prospects exactly what to do, and when to do it.

And that’s the point of today’s sermon:

You’ve got to tell people what you want them to do!

People don’t always get the message. People are forgetful. People don’t always pay attention to the details. People sometimes don’t want to have to figure out what to do by themselves -they want you to tell them…

…and that’s why you need to tell them what you want them to do, and tell them when they should do it.

Now…here’s your homework.

Take a few minutes to drag out the marketing materials that you use for your own business. Yeah -your sales letters, your website pages, your brochures, ads and newsletters and fliers -whatever materials that you’re currently using to get potential clients to notice you. Grab any stuff you might have in development, too. This is important.

If you’re like a lot of people, you’re making a big mistake with those materials. Because a lot of people assume that their prospects know what to do next –and when he or she should be doing it –instead of providing them with clear, precise directions on how they are supposed to respond if they’re interested.

Every document or demo or newsletter or blog post you produce has to motivate the prospect into taking action, right? Otherwise, what’s the sense of producing stuff?

But motivating just isn’t enough these days. You’ve also got to tell your prospect exactly what to do –and exactly when you want him or her to do it.

Never leave it to the prospect to figure out the next step.

Or when to take it.

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Your prospect should never have to figure out questions like these:

“When should I call you?”

“Is it okay to call after regular business hours?”

“What about calling on weekends? Is that cool?”

“Can I call right now?”

“Who should I ask for?”

“What’s going to happen when I call?”

“Can I email? Who do I email?”

“Should I mail in my reply? Instead, can I fax it to you?”

It’s of critical importance because when your prospect is sitting around trying to answer questions like these, he or she is not taking the necessary action to connect with you –and this action is the one thing you really want to happen.

Remember, when you make people stop and think, you’re stopping them from taking action.

Not good.

So, here’s the Mojo Method: Spell out for your prospects, in simple terms, the action you want them to take.

“Pick up the phone right now, and call to get more info. Call anytime. We’ll handle your request right away.”

Then, give them yet another reason to call right now:

“Don’t wait. Remember, by calling now you get (the prime benefit you’re offering them) immediately!”

It also helps to tell your prospect precisely what to say when he or she responds.

“Ask for your <free report> <free sample> <free quotation> <free video>. We’ll be happy to send it to you immediately.”

:::

Remember, if you don’t guide your prospects, you’ve asked them to stop, mull it over, think about it, dither, ponder it -which means more than likely, they’ll do nothing.

This isn’t the result you want.

Tags: building relationships, business marketing, How to Sell