Lay the Groundwork...Before You Call

A reader writes:

First, thank you for the nice article, but I'm still having a problem. I work for a multinational insurance company that doesn't do enough advertising in my country to make the brand more visible. We depend on referrals to penetrate the market, which makes it difficult to get an appointment, and more difficult to make a sale during the call. Are there any other techniques that I can use (besides having good referrals) to increase sales?

First, let's diagnose the problem. You're trying to sell into a region where your firm is relatively unknown. You believe that your efforts would be more highly rewarded if your company spent more money on advertising. That way, your prospects would be more familiar with your firm, thereby greasing the wheels of your sales cycle, as it were. In addition, more advertising would create credibility by illustrating that your company is serious about being successful in your region.

While that sounds plausible, your problem isn't a lack of advertising, it's a lack of brand awareness. Sure, you could raise brand awareness by a big advertising spend, but that's spending money to communicate to millions in order to reach the .001 percent who are actual prospects. What you need to do is to build brand awareness in a highly targeted manner so that your prospects know who you are and who you're representing. Here's how:

Step 1. Have your referrer make the first move. Don't just get a name and number from a current customer or business contact. Ask the referrer to make a personal call or send a personal email to your prospect. If you're not doing that, you're just making cold calls. Study this previous blog post and implement everything in it: Five Rules for Great Referrals.
Step 2. Send a high-visibility letter. Use the referrer's action as the excuse to send a personal letter expressing your intention to call the prospect. The letter should be handwritten, customized for the prospect, and should briefly communicate your understanding of the prospect's firm and illustrate that you can provide value. Have the letter hand-delivered. Think Fedex rather than snail mail.

Step 3. Send an email confirming your intention. The email should repeat, in different words, the content of your letter. It should also contain links to anything that could add credibility to you and your firm. Example: if your firm has run any advertisements in local media, provide a link to the ad. Have you gotten any positive local press? Provide a link. If you haven't, create your own publicity. Write a press release, and send it to all the local outlets.

Step 4. Make the phone call for the appointment. By this time, the prospect will be expecting you to call. The rule is that the prospect should have seen your name, and the name of your company, at least three times before you make your first in-person on on-phone contact. Essentially what you're doing is creating brand awareness, but targeted to the specific prospect. It's much more effective than scattershot advertising and cheaper, too.
By the way, my prescription is based upon a conversation I had a long time ago with Mark Shonka and Dan Kosch, co-authors of "Beyond Selling Value - A Proven Process to Avoid the Vendor Trap."