Suspects, Prospects, Clients and Allies
by Jonathan McGaha | April 1, 2013 12:00 am
The King, Slide Rule and Igor were out for their daily constitutional. Following closely behind them were the Knights in Shining Armor who always accompanied their King.
“So, Igor, you’re my most dependable moat contractor. If I may ask, what do you attribute your success to?”
Igor, owner of Moat Designs, was quite animated in his response. “Well, your Majesty, while I’m successful, sometimes I think I should be a lot more successful.”
“Slide, you’re the owner of Building Blocks Inc., what do you think?”
“To be honest, I agree with Igor. We are each successful in our own way. But we could do better in obtaining more clients.”
They arrived at a shady spot overlooking the river near the Castle. “Let’s stop here for a rest and a bite to eat.”
Immediately everything they needed appeared before them.
“This might be a good time for another Master Class,” announced the King.
A cold brew was offered to them as Igor rolled his eyes at the thought of another Master Class. The King, who had his back to Igor, said, “I wouldn’t act that way if I were you, Igor.”
Igor was shocked that he had been caught mocking the King. “Oh my, I’m so sorry.”
“No problem. Both of you just listen to what I have to say. You both need more work, right?”
“Yes,” they answered in unison.
“If that’s the case, consider this quotation: ‘I am a part of all that I have met.'”
Igor and Slide just looked at each other. Slide decided to speak out. “Your Majesty, those are very profound words, but they mean nothing to us.”
“I could have guessed that. That was a quotation from “Ulysses” by Alfred Lord Tennyson. He was saying that everyone you meet has an influence on who you are today.”
“Makes no sense to me at all,” said Igor.
“I suspected that. So, listen and I’ll give you an example. But first, how many contacts do you have in your suspects, prospects, clients and allies database?”
Igor and Slide exchanged worried glances. “Database?” questioned Slide.
“It’s a future thing. Do you have any contacts at all?”
“I have a client list,but I don’t correspond with them as I’ve already done their work,” answered Slide.
“Listen, you must always market to your clients for two reasons: they will come back to you for more work, and two, they can also refer someone to use your services. They become one of your allies. You must, of course, market to suspects, someone who might use your services, but needs a push to move into the next category, and that is a prospect. You must market to a prospect until they sign your contract. The last categories are allies.”
“Are you saying there are other people who are allies besides your clients?” said Igor.
“The answer is yes. An ally is someone who is a chief recommender to your company, someone who can make a difference by making a phone call, sending an email, or just telling someone, that if your going to do a project you need to have Slide do it.”
“OK. Who are these allies?”
“They come from your professional network, such as architects, engineers, lawyers, sub-contractors and people you know in your social network.
Consider this story: a business developer, who was also responsible for marketing, had an outstanding reputation with a wide professional network. He was let go from the company he was working for, so he went into consulting. The business developer could have become a great ally to his former company as he had the network, knew the players, projects and the market. But instead they never bothered to contact him in any way.”
“Wow. I can even see the benefit of making him a friend of the company. That was a big mistake. Huge,” said Igor.
Slide was getting excited. “So, what you’re saying is we really need to concentrate on marketing in those four different categories?”
“Exactly right,” answered the King.
“But I have a question. How does this tie into the quotation by Alfred Lord Tennyson, ‘I am a part of all that I have met’?”
“Think about it. It means that everyone you meet in your life and in your business shape you. Your environment shapes you, and you become the person who you are because of the people you meet and the experiences you have, including the suspects, prospect, allies and clients.”
“I get it,” said Igor. “It’s why we hang around you, the King. We become part of you and because of that, we are a better person.”
“Hooray for Igor!”
Ronald A. McKenzie is president of COMPASS Consultants Corp., a strategic planning and marketing company specializing in developing business growth. He is a published author and has made nationwide presentations on the subject of strategic planning and marketing. He resides in Las Vegas and can be reached at ramckenzie.compass@gmail. com and www.compassconsultantscorp.com.
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