“Nothing Happens Until You Make a Sale.”
-Allen Bostrom
-Allen BostromWhat a Shark and a Pilot Fish Have In Common Has the Power to Make Your Business More Profitable
Let’s talk about the shark. Believe it or not, a shark can show you a really effective way to market. I remember when I saw the movie JAWS, it made me a little nervous to swim in the pool, let alone the ocean. But it might surprise you to know that a shark provides a really great model for an effective and easy-to-execute marketing tool.Sharks aren’t too picky about what they eat. In fact, a shark’s day is spent either eating or looking for something to eat. They’ll eat just about any fish that comes close enough, except for the pilot fish.You might ask, “What’s so special about the pilot fish?”
A Mutually Beneficial Relationship… that’s What
The pilot fish does a lot for the shark. Right after meal time (which is all the time), the pilot fish acts like an automatic toothbrush, eating the leftover food lodged between the shark’s teeth. The shark gets a free visit to the hygienist and the pilot fish gets a meal without the effort of the hunt. That’s a mutually beneficial relationship. In other words, both parties benefit and help each other in the process.
What Does That Have to do With Marketing?
Lots of businesses in related, and even some unrelated fields, service the same clients you serve. We all know the saying, “You scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours.” I call this “Tag-Team Marketing,” one of the easy to use marketing tools we’re going to talk about in this newsletter.Tag-Team Marketing perfectly compliments what we talked about last time, referrals, because you can even Tag-Team with your customers.Click Here to Learn More About Referrals
Increase Your Sales Force Without Hiring New Salespeople!
Remember the pilot fish? Grab a pencil and let’s brainstorm for a minute. Write down the businesses that don’t compete with you, but might service the same people you do. These are the folks that can act as your pilot fish. Remember, as a freelance bookkeeper, you’ll find a lot of potential pilot fish.
What Do Hulk Hogan and a Pilot Fish Have in Common?
Don’t tell anybody, but yes, I watched the “Hulkster” wrestle a time or two. I used to work with a guy who was really into the whole “Wrestle-Mania” world. But you don’t have to be a wrestling fan to appreciate Hulk Hogan.He wrestled in an event called the Tag-Team wrestling match. Instead of two wrestlers going head-to-head, four guys wrestle in teams of two (but they wrestle one at a time). As one team member was “puttin’ the hurt” on his opponent, if he needed a little extra to win the match, he would extend his hand and “tag” his teammate so he could finish him off.But that’s not all. If he got in trouble himself, he could “tag” the other wrestler on his team and get relief. They worked together like the pilot fish and the shark to take care of each other.
Let’s Create a Mutually Beneficial Relationship for You
Now… pick one of those businesses on your list and create a mutually beneficial “Tag-Team.” For example, if I were a florist and wanted to do wedding flowers, I would try to create a relationship with a wedding photographer.I’d give away his card and brochure to my clients and recommend him as “my photographer”. In return he would do the same for me. We might even create a special promotion together to make the “Tag-Team” even stronger. It could go something like this, “When you use Tender Moments Wedding Photography for your wedding pictures and Bloomin’ Blooms for you wedding flowers, you’ll get a special discount,” or whatever else makes sense for the photographer and the florist.By giving customers a reason to use both businesses together, we strengthen our own marketing position and create a mutually beneficial “Tag-Team.” Both the photographer and the florist benefit and reap the rewards.Just like Automatic Referrals, “Tag-Team” marketing becomes an easy, low maintenance way to increase your marketing sales force. Oh… don’t forget your customers either. (Sometimes the best Tag-Teams are created with your customers.)Click Here to Learn More About the Automatic Referral For example, do you think you could create a very effective “Tag-Team” with your insurance agent? You bet you can! Even more importantly, you should. There’s not a better “Tag-Team” partner than somebody who uses your services. And if you’re smart, you’ll use his or her services too.
“Do You Want Fries With That?”
Jay Abraham, marketer and author says, “When you close a sale, it’s the perfect time to make an additional sale – particularly if there’s a very good reason and benefit for the client to buy your package deal. Sixty percent of all clients will increase [buy more services] if you do it right and offer true value.“What a powerful marketing tool! Try saying something like, “I really appreciate doing the bookkeeping for your company Mr. Brown. Did you know that I also do payroll? I’d welcome the opportunity to do your payroll as well. Since I’m already familiar with your books.” That’s often all it takes.Believe it or not, many times you will find it just that easy to get more business. Don’t let yourself say, “thank-you” and “goodbye” in the same sentence. You need to think of all the additional things you could offer your clients each time you transact your regular business with them.”Do you want fries with that?”, is one of the most powerful marketing tools available to you. What did Jay say? Wouldn’t you like 60% of your clients to add additional services to your billing? That’s nothing to sneeze at. McDonalds has built an entire empire on this kind of upsell pitch.Click Here to Learn More About Up-Selling Your Clients by Offering Complimentary Products or Services
Marketing is Not an Intrusion. It’s an Opportunity to Provide Additional Benefits
Look for opportunities to help your clients and you’ll find marketing opportunities present themselves every day. The Professional Bookkeeper program offered by Universal Accounting is a great place to learn the ins-and-outs of marketing your own bookkeeping business. This makes us unique. Other training also teaches accounting, but only the Professional Bookkeeper program shows you how to earn $30 to $60 per hour with those skills.
Remember, “Nothing happens until you make a sale.” And Universal backs it up by offering the most complete marketing training for small business bookkeeping and accounting anywhere. College might teach you accounting, but we’ll show you how to make a great living.All the personal and professional rewards of owning a professional bookkeeping business are only a couple more mouse clicks away. Follow the link below and discover how the exciting and profitable business of small business bookkeeping will create a better income and lifestyle for you and your family.
A Great Deal On the Most Complete Small-Business Accounting Training Available Anywhere!
Having a solid understanding of the Accounting and Bookkeeping methods and procedures is a great first step in learning the concepts behind Financial Business Analysis. You will learn to do books for small to mid-sized companies and how to analyze the books to prepare reports. You will learn to interpret reports so that you can advise your clients how to reduce costs and to better understand their financial standing and profitability. Your clients will look to you as an invaluable source of information about the financial health of their organization.
