Last week my wife gave me a gift of getting a massage by one of the top massage therapists in New York City. Since it’s been years since I’ve gotten one, I jumped at the chance.
The session was intense and extremely helpful. As we were finishing, I suspected the therapist was interested in working on me more in the future on some things he noticed during our session.
I was very open to this conversation, but it never happened.
He did not say a word to me about what was next.
In fact, two other people came up to me mentioning I should consider doing more with that massage therapist.
But I wanted the “expert” to take the lead on our next steps together.
Most entrepreneurs leave serious business on the table by not having a clear and powerful call to action in place for situations like that. Instead they hope or expect the customer to take the lead
Well, that works… about 10% of the time.
The other 90% is lost!
Most consumers prefer to be taken down the sales process by the one doing the selling.
ALWAYS be prepared with a Call To Action for your:
- Website—home page to capture their name and contact info. Can be things like a signup for a free report or your ezine.
- Blog—sign up for your RSS feed, social media accounts or subscribe to your ezine.
- Email—your signature should have an invitation to connect on the various social media sites or ezine.
- Ezine—what’s your call to action? NOTE: Notice our Be UnReasoanble Power Boost Calls To Action here?
- Live Events—signup for your free report, ezine, evaluation, etc.
Do anything less than this and you are most likely leaving business (and money) on the table.
5 Top Tips For UnReasonable Calls To Action
- Remember You Have Nothing To Do With It! “Follow Me!” or “Sign up for our newsletter” does not work. Make it about them. Why would they want to sign up? What is in it for them? Remember to focus on benefits, not features!
- Give Perceived Value—the significance of what you offer is in the eyes of the beholder. Just because it only took you an hour to put something together doesn’t mean it is not valuable. It may save the recipient untold amounts of time, money or anguish. Leverage this perceived value in your Call To Action.
- Make the Steps Easy—Remove any barriers to entry. One click sign ups, or it’s easy to pay or “follow”. If it is too much trouble, too big a leap, or not clear what you are asking, you won’t get optimal results.
- Do Quick Follow Ups—People like confirmation that they 1) signed up correctly, 2) made the right choice in giving you their business, and 3) are appreciated for their interest in your business. This can take the form of personal autoresponders, fast return calls/emails, and follow-ups to meetings.
- Be Disciplined—If you tell someone you will follow up tomorrow, do it! If you have a weekly, or bi-weekly newsletter, then issue it like clockwork. It is a direct reflection on who you are as a businessperson. People do not like doing business with people who don’t do what they say they will.
BONUS: Re-Assess in 90 Days—after setting up your Calls to Action for each of your marketing “touches”, create specific and measurable outcomes you want. Agree to evaluate in 90 days.
When you implementing Calls to Action, results will start to happen.
And when done with consistency, things grow quickly.
As for the massage therapist, he now knows the importance of initiating a Call to Action.
And he has me as a customer to show for it.
Action Steps for the Week
What marketing tools are you using? EZine? Live events? Blog? Company email address?
Do you have Calls to Action on each of these?
If not, make a list of what needs a call to action. Then prioritized this list by which get the most eyeballs.
Next, determine your success criteria and metrics for each. Make the criteria as specific and measurable as possible.
Commit to implementing the first three on your list this week.
Then schedule this in your calendar to review your Calls to Action in 90 days.
Lastly, revamp and re-implement as necessary.
By doing this simple plan, you will be much less likely to leave business on the table the next time you are in front of a prospect.