prospecting ideas (continued)
- Sponsor a car wash. Let them use your company’s name as the front to expose you to the public. Try to use high school seniors. After all they are your future prospects and they may soon need your service or product, or they may know someone who needs what you offer. They can also greatly influence their parents.
- Mail out an invitation to visit your store. A by invitation only sneak preview. Always mention it’s “a no obligation preview” start with graduating seniors including college students and keep an eye out for sharp personnel you can hire.
- Set up a display at a college campus and ask for feedback. Exposure & potential clients are here, now!
- Always send your best customer a thank-you note and a box of chocolates. Everybody likes chocolates and it’s a symbol or gesture of love. Attach your business card and ask for new business by them or by referral.
- If you can find a way to track your customer’s birthday, send them a happy birthday card signed by all the staff.
- Read the newspaper engagements, divorces, retirements, new births, and promotion announcements they are all great sources of information and they might fit right down your ally on your product, service or your line of work.
- Your local scandal sheet is another great source of information. (You can get this information from your local county clerk) find out who has applied for a marriage license, and who got a divorce. Divorces give you 2 possible prospects. Divorcees must be contacted as soon as possible, before one of them ruins the others credit.
- Set up other sales representatives as your “bird dogs1”. Especially commission salesman. I am sure they would not mind and extra side income. I recommend insurance salesman. They are doorknockers and meet a lot of people.
- Do not forget to set up your barber and your wife’s beautician as bird dogs. They also meet and talk to a lot of people. In a lot of cases they are like psychiatrists. They know everything about their clients, and their clients’ friends.
- Your bartender and your waiters are also darn good bird dogs. They meet and talk to a lot of people.
