-or- absence makes the brain get calmer.
It’s been awhile (a while?) since I’ve thrown you a Seth Godin bit. Sometimes he can overwhelm me and I shut down and stop hearing the message. I have to take a short break and come back to his stuff with a fresh, open mind. This post welcomed me back the other day. It is quite brilliant and so very applicable to our industry.
Better than nothing (is harder than you think)
Most of the time, particularly in b2b and luxury sales, the competition is nothing.
“I will buy this treat or I will buy nothing, because I don’t really need anything.”
“I will buy your consulting services, or I’ll continue doing what I’m doing now on that front, which is nothing.”
None of the above.
“I will vote for you or I’ll do what I usually do, which is not vote.”
“I’ll hire you or I’ll hire no one.”
While you think your competition is that woman across town, it’s probably apathy, sitting still, ignoring the problem… nothing.
Stop worrying so much about comparing yourself to every other possible competitor you can imagine and start comparing yourself to nothing. Are you really worth the hassle, the risk, the time, the money? Or can’t the prospect just wait until tomorrow?
Most of the time, the alternative to getting massage = DON’T get a massage. Even when people are in pain. The tendency is to ignore the nagging pain, insomnia, whatever, and just wait it out. You’re probably not losing traffic to the bodyworker down the street. That’s rare. What’s truly common is losing business to the clients’ own complacency.
What’s the solution here?
Remind your clients how much they love you. Remind them of how they feel when the leave your office. How to do this? You send an email newsletter. Or get active on facebook. Or a postcard or note to the non-techy’s (puh-lease, make sure the card encourages them to subscribe to your email list. Keep at it). Try a really sneaky headline, something like “HEY, you’re neck hurts from sitting at that computer, remember how we fixed that 3 months ago? Get in here already!” Okay, maybe try something a little less obnoxious. (FYI- I’m totally using that in next week’s newsletter, but my clients are used to my humor, that may not work for you.)
Create a sense of urgency. “Your kids are back in school and I’ve got some morning appointments open! Don’t miss out!”
Make it easy. Be clear about how a client can get in touch with you. Make the phone number BIG and the email address an easy link. Oh, return their call/email quickly.
AND there’s another lesson in Seth’s post. Did you catch that? I’ll help you out.
“I will buy your consulting services get my marketing & business crap together, or I’ll continue doing what I’m doing now on that front, which is nothing.”
or “I will actually follow through on that crazy Allissa’s suggestions, I could even come up with my own nifty idea, or I’ll continue to do nothing and blame a crappy economy/stupid clients/bad luck/ for my business’s stagnancy (failure).”
Which option will land you more clients this month? Your call.
OH! if you come up with you’re own nifty idea, will you share it with us in the comments? Pretty please? Be part of the solution.
1 more thing.
This is Kat. Her blog about being in massage school is inspired, this is my favorite post so far. You’re going to laugh out loud, for real.
Consumed while writing this post- Soup. Veggies from the garden share & ramen noodles. Classy.
Image: Salvatore Vuono / FreeDigitalPhotos.netPossibly Related Posts:
- A very special guest post
- Blogging for your Massage Business. I do, will you?
- Massage and social media: when only “just right” will do
- How to shut off the faucet
- Communication for Millenials. And everyone else, too.
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Hey Allissa, As usual, right on target with the nudge! I had a creative writing teacher in high school who said that the secret of being a great writer was nothing more than applying the seat of the pants to the seat of the chair. Your post echoes that. No more excuses! Too often we trade inertia for action and wonder why nothing changes. I’m thinking of a saying, “That’s like changing seats on the Titanic.” Or we could just circle back to that dead pet thing if you’d like, since that was pretty successful!
True dat, my friend.
Hi Alissa – I found you through ittybiz and I love your blog! I’m a recovering lawyer-turned Reiki practitioner/massage school student. As a lawyer I was horrible at drumming up new clients. Hated that part of the practice and yet, here I am in a situation where I have to actually work harder at getting new clients than ever (how’s that for a kick in the ass). But I love, love what I’m doing and believe in it and all that. Which makes it somewhat easier. Anyway, thanks for the tips. So very helpful.
I can’t even imagine the psychic detox necessary to go from law to reiki. (Secret, I was pre-law for about 15 minutes in college. then I saw the application for the LSAT and switched right back to Bowling, with a minor in paint-by-number.)
This has to be a short reply because I intend to be up all night reading your blog. Welcome to the massage jungle. I think we’re gonna have some fun together. And if you haven’t already, check out http://lmtorbust.com/
{ 3 trackbacks }