Giving Away “Green”

In light of the current economic woes, sellers need to pay attention to what’s important. By now, my guess is that their knives are dull from the cutting and slashing of anything considered non-essential resources. Unfortunately, you can’t cut your way to profits. Now is the time to hug your best customers and nurture relationships with prospects.

As buyers rotate hats and spins like a hamster on a wheel, in-person meetings with sellers keep dwindling.

How can sellers make an impact with a less available audience?

How do you create value even when you’re not in front of your client?

One of the best ways is free sampling. Give something away for nothing. I know – that’s counter-intuitive given the mad scramble to reduce costs. Now I don’t mean discounts, rebates, or promotions. Free means free, with no strings attached. Free.

In my article from last year Free Medium Coffee (No Purchase Necessary) I shared a surprisingly refreshing and effective approach the new neighborhood Dunkin Donuts took to introduce themselves to the community by giving away free coffee.

One of my clients, Perry OP, an independently owned and operated office products and furniture dealer headquartered in Temple, Texas, “walks the talk” when it comes to their core values of service, integrity and community. Earlier this year, they gave away a $25,000 Office Makeover that garnered local radio and TV attention, and on the flipside in a much quieter effort, delivered a check to a battered women’s shelter, selected by Perry employees who volunteered to have contributions through payroll deductions. This they did behind the scenes and without any fanfare. They just showed up with a check and blessed the shelter.

Perry’s current initiative is free “green”. Their “Bright Ideas for Going Green This Spring” campaign unashamedly occupies half the real estate on their homepage. Perry’s genuine customer focus demonstrates to prospects and customers alike that they are less interested in selling you something than developing a relationship with you. Their customer and lead nurturing program is sure to build trust between the Perry team and prospects/customers. Their “free samples” are real, fun and unique, for example:

• Bringing emphasis and awareness on Green “days” to calendar (St. Patrick’s Day, Earth Day, First day of Spring)
• Win a free HP tote bag by taking a green quiz
• Offering “green” product alternatives
• A Blog : “5 Easy Ways to Add Some Green to Your Office”

What do you think Perry had to budget to give all this away? My guess is HP will donate the branded tote bags and everything else is just time invested in electronic information in the form of articles, blogs, and website pages.

How big a deal is this? A very big deal. It’s easy to have days turn into weeks, and weeks turn into months between contacts. In fact, according to a recent CSO Insights study, 80% of sellers fail to follow up after the initial contact. Since relationships are the essential ingredient that differentiate sellers, out-of-sight can easily translate to a decrease in buyer loyalty. Therefore, nurturing relationships electronically is a great way to stay in touch between visits (however, nothing replaces face-to-face visits).

So what can you do to provide free sampling to your clients?

Here’s my top 5 list:

1. Blog (500-800 words) on something of interest to your audience, yet not self-promoting.
2. Publish an electronic newsletter. For about $15 per month, Constant Contact or iContact offer a user-friendly way to develop and track email marketing efforts with your audience.
3. Offer a free one-hour “strategy session” with a prospect. This is a great way for them to “free sample” you.
4. Send them out a timely email with topical information. Industry trends, regulation news, competitor updates, your new offerings that will help them (note: careful not to self-promote)
5. Client Spotlight – you’re reading an example of a “client spotlight” that features something unique from one of my clients. Why not show some love to your clients by sharing the things they care about that others can potentially learn from?

We’re really just scratching the surface of ways sellers can create value for buyers.

Let me offer up a contest – submit your best “free sampling” idea and share it in the comments box below. I will provide a free one-hour private strategy session to the winning entry. If you’re uncomfortable leaving your email below, send me your email address to markslatin@truecolorsconsulting.com.