Who Fires the Bullets?

22 Apr 2011

In the current economic climate, it can often feel as if you're on your own in a battle zone struggling to develop your business - too many people competing on price for a small slice of action. However, there are basically two types of trades' people fighting to win customers in this difficult environment.

The first type is those people who join associations to receive leads and benefits, and who tend to be purely reactive in their business development. The second type is more perceptive - they immediately see that involvement in such organisations is a great opportunity to be proactive in attracting and keeping customers. These people use their membership to sell their services, add credentials and demonstrate their professionalism - with leads and benefits viewed as a bonus.

So irrespective of how good an association or scheme is in providing benefits (let's call them 'bullets') for its members development - who should actually fire the bullets?

Any association that did it all for you, including firing the bullets - where all you had to do is sit back and watch your leads come in - would never need to spend money on recruitment and would be able to charge an extremely high membership fee. This would probably be an exclusive 'club' with a very few wealthy and privileged members. Whereas organisations like TrustMark that are great at making and providing the bullets rely on you to take responsibility and fire your own.

If you do actually fire your own bullets, then you can also choose your type of weapon - being a sniper is more rewarding than blasting away indiscriminately with a shotgun!
Moving away from the analogy of warfare for a moment, let's use an example customer relationship and look at a potential customer who doesn't yet know you. They may have got your details from your website, professional association, Yell.com, TrustMark or Google, but one thing is certain - you will be quoting against at least two other businesses who may well be in the same associations and offer the same services as you. One question I get asked more than any other is how a trades person can increase their strike rate (jobs won) in this particular scenario from less than 50%, to winning more than they lose.

The answer is simple. Ask yourself who your potential customer is, and what type of ammunition (or benefits) do you need to persuade them to deal with you?

TrustMark have some great ammunition to help you that is freely available, and will support any presentation to a potential target customer, adding to your own credentials. Don't think of the TrustMark logo on its own being enough - it's actually just the ammunition box and it's up to you to open it!

If you're talking to a homeowner, it may help you to mention that you are TrustMark approved, which means your work is delivered to a strict code of practice to protect consumers. You may wish to include on the bottom of your quotations or estimates that you are endorsed by Trading Standards through TrustMark. How many of your competitors can say that? Or if they can, actually do so? This very explicit and visual approach has helped many businesses win work even when they are more expensive than their competitors - consumers are often prepared to pay extra if they feel they will be getting a more trustworthy, reputable service.

Today, due to faster and more accessible communication via the media, many homeowners feel vulnerable and require more reassurance about using a trades person. One way to help these people choose you is to state that you are approved by TrustMark who work very closely with consumer groups to look after the homeowner's interests. Don't forget that your insurance backed warranty on jobs over £250 will actually be worth the paper it's written on because of who is backing you.

To top up your ammunition box, why not go onto the TrustMark website and look at the 'key benefits' page? You could print off the page, and using a highlighter, mark out all the benefits available to you, then list them in order of the ten most helpful. Then ask yourself how many you already use - if any - and if you do use them, is it in a proactive way?

You are also a member of a great professional organisation which is a TrustMark Scheme Operator. Why not spend some time interrogating the support and services they provide for you? Undertake the same exercise as above. You may be surprised how many great selling points (bullets) you have available to you and how you can tailor them (remember the sniper) to enhance your credentials and add worth to your quotes and estimates.

you may then have the key advantage you need to win extra business - and that Golden Bullet may be easier to find than you think.

Alan Slaney is Chairman of Diversity Ltd, a TrustMark Scheme Operator and Board Member.

He is also a retained business consultant for several companies in the RMI sector and is a Fellow of both the Institute of Directors and Chartered Management Institute.

By Alan Slaney FCMI FIoD MIBC