Your Mother Taught You to Avoid Strangers… and That Was Darn Good Advice When We Were Children
We were taught that strangers meant danger and that we should avoid strangers at all times. That was great advice from Mom, but it’s horrible advice for an entrepreneur trying to build his/her business. In fact, in order to grow your business, you must talk to strangers. That’s where many entrepreneurs start the process of plateauing their business. My observation is many entrepreneurs are adverse to the concept of talking to strangers. Maybe Mom’s training is lasting far too long.
But, you must understand you must reach out and touch strangers regularly, before they can even begin to understand or appreciate your value propositions. I suggest that you talk to strangers in as many ways as possible. For instance, email marketing is a great way to stay in touch with people that you know. Or, you can practice non-permission email marketing to introduce yourself to strangers. Postcards, letters, magazine ads, webinar invitations, lunch-and-learn invitations… are all great ways to meet strangers.
Now, when you’re introducing yourself to a stranger, regardless of the tactics you use, the key is that you must offer the stranger something seductive enough for that stranger to say “I’d like to talk to you further.” If you are offering something that they aren’t interested in, expect to be rejected. If, on the other hand, you’re offering them something that is engaging, you can expect that they will want to stay in touch with you at some level.
So, now, step back a little bit and take a look at your marketing message. Are you saying that you’re just like everybody else? Or, are you saying that you can produce valuable results? Without exception, the introductory message to a stranger, which focuses on the results that the stranger may anticipate from 1) engaging in your sales process and 2) ultimately becoming a customer, should be uppermost in the conversation.
If your introduction does not stress the valuable results that a customer can and will derive when they do business with you, then you’re wasting your time talking to strangers. On the other hand, when you include the quantity and quality of results that may be anticipated, you will engage strangers consistently and you will be able to have those strangers become friends and customers.
Good Luck and Good Selling!!!
