Show notes
In our Total Market Domination course, we identified Three Pillars to Creating Top of Mind Awareness with the very best prospects for the products and services you offer. Today, we'll give you an overview of the 3 pillars so you can determine how well you're implementing them in your own business.
David: Hi and welcome to the podcast today co-host Chris Templeton and I will be discussing the Three Pillars to Creating Top of Mind Awareness. Welcome Chris.
Chris: Hi David. You know in previous episodes we've talked about the importance of top of mind awareness and today we're going to talk about three major steps that'll help achieve it. So what are the three pillars?
David: Okay, well, when we look at three pillars of creating top of mind awareness, it starts with positive, memorable, first contact. What's going to be that first impression they get of us? From there it moves to lightning fast follow-up, having interactions with people that actually move, that allows you to create a little bit of momentum and be able to accelerate things; and then the third pillar is intelligent repetition of contact. Something we've certainly talked about before, but it is critical when you're looking to create that level of top of mind awareness.
Chris: Let's start with memorable first contact. What percentage of businesses do you think do this effectively?
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David: Not a large percentage, at least in my experience. I think it's something that is often overlooked. People don't normally think about it. A lot of people don't even think of it in those terms. Many people think in terms of cold calling or prospecting or whatever. The reason that I use the term first contact is because I really like to make the point that whatever it is that you're doing first in your interaction with a new prospect is really going to set the tone and so when you're thinking about it in terms of what is the first contact going to be, you can be a little more fussy about it. You can really think through, okay, what would be the ideal scenario of a meeting with someone? Let's say you realized you're somehow going to end up meeting Bill Gates or somebody who has a lot of money and perhaps, an ability to spend money with you. You would want that interaction to be good. And the reality of the situation is that if you're smart, you want that kind of thing to happen with every prospect you meet; so that they're impressed enough to want to do business with you, regardless of whether or not you end up wanting to do business with them. You realize they're under-qualified, it's better if you get to say no than if they're saying no to you.
Chris: Boy no kidding. And one of the things that I think that's important to talk about in regards to this positive, memorable first contact, is I don't think that a lot of businesses really think this through. Like, what can I say? What can I do that's gonna make that memorable? And so, talk a little bit about what it is in your mind that businesses can do to be more memorable, especially on that first contact; which matters so much, doesn't it?
David: It does. And when I say positive and memorable and one of the analogies used in the past, a note wrapped around a rock thrown through a window is first contact, but it's not positive and it is memorable. So you want to make sure that you're accomplishing both. It needs to be positive and it needs to be memorable. And so when we decide what that's going to be, you initially think of something like a cold call and just the words by itself almost tells you, okay, is this really going to be seen as positive and memorable? And generally speaking, the answer is going to be no, but if you think through it and you say, okay, well what would that cold call have to be like if I wanted it to be positive and memorable? What would have to be said on that phone? And maybe there's no good answer to that, but the good news is that it doesn't have to be a cold call. There are lots of other ways of initiating first contact. It could be a direct mail piece, could be lumpy mail. You're sending them a gift in the mail in advance of contacting them some other way. It could be a video or some sort of post on social media. There are lots of different ways of initiating first contact. It could be a connection request on LinkedIn or a friend request on Facebook. So lots of different ways to do it that are going to each create a different impression. So when you think through the options and you recognize that there are really lots of different ways to do it, it just sort of opens things up for you. It allows you to realize that there's not just one way to accomplish this. And in most cases there's probably a better way than whatever it is that you're doing now.
Chris: At some level, I almost wonder if the place to start, whether you plan on doing it or not, is the cold call approach from the standpoint of if I can come up with some way to make it positive; right? Which is the toughest part and memorable. Then figuring out any other piece may even be simpler. I mean, if I can figure out a way that I can get comfortable with saying something in a cold call that is positive about me and helps that person to let their barriers down, I probably really have a good first start on anything else that I do.
David: Yeah. The challenge though is if I want to say something positive and memorable about myself to you, what's the likelihood that you're going to find that interesting?
Chris: Right, right.
David: It needs to be positive from their standpoint and memorable from their standpoint and that's why it's such a challenge and that's why I feel like there are so many other ways that in effect, it's easier to create something positive and memorable if it's not a cold call. Now that said, there are people who are great at cold calls and they're able to accomplish exactly that, and if a listener who is listening to this podcast is one of them, I'm certainly not going to discourage you from doing that. I'm just saying if you look at all the options, you can ask yourself, okay, is there something better?
Chris: Right. Absolutely. Finding whatever your method is. I think you've really hit it from the standpoint of it being positive, especially in this day and age where there is such an almost predisposition to have a negative reaction. I mean I think about the days of spam and there's been a sea change in how we react to a lot of marketing pieces out there. Wouldn't you say?
David: Yes, and if you think also in terms of advertising that's actually gotten your attention that you've viewed in a positive light, it can be done. It's not as if advertising is a terrible thing and it's all going to be viewed as people just trying to take over your brain. I mean there is some of that, but if you can create any sort of ad that actually engages people, attracts their attention and gets them to click through, watch a video and engage with you, that can absolutely be positive and memorable, but you really want to try to orchestrate that experience as much as possible. You don't want to just leave it to chance.
Chris: Do you think that having it be a little bit light or even a little bit funny is helpful?
David: It can be. I mean there's some people who are too funny for their own good. They're too cute for their own good. Right? And if you've ever seen an ad where you said, “Oh, I saw this great ad, it was really funny and this happened and that happened…” and they say, “Who's the ad for?” And you say, “I have no idea.” If that's ever happened to you. That's an example of people being too cute for their own good. But when people are able to create an ad that not only allows you to remember what happened so that you can talk about it and if it's entertaining, you can relay it to friends. But if it ties to the message of what it is that they're selling, then you actually get the benefit of the best of both worlds. You get the entertainment value, but you also get the content value.
Chris: So, let's talk about the second pillar. Lightning fast follow up. It seems so obvious to me and in a lot of ways it's easier than ever, but is it that necessary?
David: Well, yeah. These days, lightning fast follow-up is absolutely necessary because if you don't, someone else will and you'll lose the business. Communication has never been easier in a sense and more overwhelming in another sense. 10 years ago, 15 years ago, people primarily communicated in person and on the phone. Now you've got all these different methods of communication including texting and social media and messaging and all kinds of different ways to communicate. So people are more available, they're more accessible, but in a lot of cases they're also more guarded. And so when it comes to them actually wanting something from you, if you're not going to be responding quickly, you're at a distinct disadvantage because there will always be someone who is going to want the business more and as a result perhaps be more responsive. So it's something we really all need to focus on. I think probably anyone who is decent at business and who likes doing business with other people recognizes that they need to be responsive to people. And sometimes we get frustrated because we feel like we can't, we're just so busy doing other things that we feel like we can't follow up as well as we could and at that point we really need to address, okay, well how can I make this happen? Do I need to hire a virtual assistant? Do I need to better allocate my own time?