One quick idea to encourage prospects is to assign an inside person as their direct contact. Then train those insiders to know a lot about the prospects and to be ready if they call. It gives each prospect a name and a face with which to connect and can be tremendously encouraging in getting them to make that first call to your company.
ACTION ITEM
Use vendors who work with digital photography to produce affordable and classy business cards that can be updated and kept fresh at little or no cost. There are many sources for photo business cards and, with today's technology, you can have them made up faster than ever.
One large car dealership, upon learning about this idea, made a dramatic change in how they approached their prospects and customers when they realized they were actually trying to sell people not cars. They began using business cards with associates' pictures printed on them. On the back of the cards were brief stories about the associates, their history with the company, and their commitment to customers. They also printed an 8 1/2″ × 11″ page with pictures of all their inside customer-service people along with their names, titles, and extension numbers. Now, when customers call that dealership, they know more about the people with whom they're dealing. It has been very successful for them, and it will be for you as well.
TAKEAWAY
Periodically, have customer-service representatives
and prospects meet face-to-face. It helps to
foster personal relationships, which makes it
easier for them to do business together.