So your finishing up a sales meeting with a potential client, you are pulling out your best closing statement to give them every reason to use your services and they utter those dreaded words…”Let me think about it and get back to you”.

More often than not you will hear this phrase however don’t think of it in any negative way. It’s just another opportunity to market yourself again and here is a marketing tip to consider: Make sure your prospect is left with a “leave behind”. If your meeting with a client face to face, not only is a business card essential, but a leave behind is something that may sway the decision down the road.

A leave behind is exactly what it says, something you leave behind to make the customer remember you. It’s literature about your service and/or business. It should be a standout piece that will speak to your potential clients what you are all about.

Some great tips on creating a leave behind from Zan Jones, founder of SalesJaz:

• Make it juicy! Think of some great facts about your business and how you approach them. An insurance agent might leave behind an article on “7 Facts that Contribute to Auto Insurance Cost.”
• Go for functionality. Office supplies or business aids that your client will use on a daily basis will keep your name alive. Mouse pads, pens, or post-it notes with your logo are hard for people to throw away because they are usable.
• Know who you are. Make sure the leave behind accurately reflects your business and has obvious tie-in to the product or service you provide. For example, a carpet cleaning company might leave a calendar with monthly stain cleaning tips to help maintain a spot free carpet.
• Let your business card do the work. A car dealer’s business card might have “5 Things to Consider When Buying a Car” facts printed on the back. I worked with someone at Hershey Chocolate who taped a small Hershey bar on the back of her cards. Create a reason for your business card to be saved.
• Use pictures and market to the pain. Think about the pain your clients might experience without your product or service. An attorney might leave behind a brochure with a photo of a smiling family and list reasons to have a will in place.
• Wait until you actually leave. That’s the idea of the “leave behind.” You don’t want the client to be checking out your golden nuggets of information while you are still talking to them. It has to be enticing enough for them to look at it, read and save after you have left.

Tags: brochures, leave behind, Marketing, Marketing Tips, sales tips, small business marketing

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 30th, 2008 at 5:47 pm and is filed under Marketing Tips. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.