Every year the data is gathered and researched, and marketing predictions come out. They sound familiar: “We’ve researched x many companies in x many sectors and found – the best time to call your customers and prospects is x time and x day.” So what happens? Sales and marketing professionals read this and follow the advice. So they gather their list of contacts and start the drill. But let’s look at this advice a bit further.
This follows the herd mentality. Ask yourself: What will be the benefit of following the crowd? Is there a better way? Shouldn’t we be trying to distinguish ourselves from our competition and stand out from the crowd? Of course, we should personalize our message, but shouldn’t we personalize our communication modes with our target audience as well (see my blog post on thank-you notes and direct mail)? Come to think about it, shouldn’t we personalize when we reach out to our prospects and customers in addition to what we say and the communication mode we use to deliver our message?
Personalization takes on many forms. The word is so overused. How about learning to “distinguish” yourself from your competitors? Be different.
While I believe in analyzing past performance to chart my course for the future, past performance is not the only indicator for future results. Review your own past performance while considering current conditions to plan and chart your roadmap for the future. However, be different, be creative, be bold, and see the results you get!