I have a client who owns a heating and air conditioning business. At first, he promoted his business through outbound direct-mail marketing. When I’d see him every few months, I’d ask how the program was going. I was curious how many responses it had generated and how many turned into sales. He never knew, which absolutely stunned me. Tracking responses is the only way to determine how effectively you’re program is working.
With all of the moving parts in a direct marketing campaign, he was throwing darts in a bar blindfolded. Odds favored him hitting the cocktail waitress long before the bull’s-eye.
By the end of 2010, he was still slinging darts helter-skelter and the waitress was on crutches. So, he switched to online marketing by purchasing “key words” related to his industry. He’d concluded online marketing would be more effective and cost less. But how?
I wished them well, but knew the waitress was in big trouble. When I checked in every few months, I’d ask about the new campaign.
“It’s going great!” he’d assure me. But he had no evidence. How did he know? “I don’t know, it just feels like it’s working.”
As time went on, he’d blindly abandon one marketing method and adopt another. He still doesn’t analyze response against sales. Of course, some responses do turn into sales and that apparently gives him that feeling that it’s working.
In truth, he’s still blindly slinging darts with his marketing dollars. Without any data, he has no idea how much better his programs could be working. I’m just hoping the waitress doesn’t get tetanus
My client may never learn. You, however, can hit the bull’s-eye with every campaign at no additional cost. Just repeat – and then act upon – my 3-Step Tracking Pledge:
I will track the source of all leads AND how they heard about us.
I will train my sales and reception staffs to without fail ask all prospects how they heard about us.
I will ensure that when prospects say they found us through our website, my sales and reception staffs will ask how they got to our website.
That’s it. Turn my pledge into action and use the tracking data to zero in your marketing campaigns until you’re hitting the bull’s-eye every time.
Waitresses rejoice!
If you currently track how prospects and sales came together or if you’ve decided to start, let us know the difference it’s made in your business. What secrets can you share that will make the process easier for all of us?
What other problems are you facing? Want to guest blog? Let us know.
Péllo Walker Scott E. Smith
Daily Digital Imaging Guided Message Communications
pello@dailydigitalimaging.com scott@guidedmessage.com
925-935-3621 925-566-4569
