I was sitting in my office earlier this week when the UPS deliveryman walked in with a box. A big box! And I wasn’t expecting anything.
When I looked at the label to see who sent it, I saw that it was from Fracture, the ‘photo on glass’ people. Ooh… my daughter is sending a new photo of our granddaughter, I thought.
I was wrong.
While the package was shipped from Fracture, it was actually a gift from SharpSpring, the marketing software provider. It was a 2’x2’ piece of glass art, with our logo printed right in the middle of it, surrounded by the image of a maze. [See the attached photo.] They even sent along a dry-erase marker if we wanted to play with it and find our way through the maze.
Here’s the thing… we are NOT – I repeat – NOT a client of SharpSpring. They sent the art to us as a way to earn our business.
The list price of the art they sent is $125… and they probably spent another $25+ on packaging and shipping. But that wasn’t all. They also offered to buy lunch for our entire team… for up to $250! Seriously?!
This may be the most impressive “door opener” I’ve seen in 30+ years of selling. They clearly targeted marketing agencies with this promotion – and since I’m quite sure we weren’t the only one they went after – their out-of-pocket expense on this program will easily be in the tens of thousands of dollars, and likely much, much more.
Did it work? So far. Their willingness to invest in earning our business genuinely impressed me. That’s the kind of company I want to do business with. So, to this point, I have agreed to sit in on a software demo. Then we’ll see what happens after that.
Would I have agreed to the demo following some unsolicited emails or seeing an online ad? No… and I know the answer is ‘no’ because that’s how SharpSpring’s competitors have been trying to get my attention.
So, if your current sales & marketing efforts to attract and connect with prospective clients isn’t yielding the results you want, it might be time to create a “wow experience” for your prospects! Do something different, exciting, wild and loud! Do whatever it takes to capture and hold their attention… giving you the opportunity to engage them in meaningful dialogue.
Does it guarantee success? Of course not… but if what you’re doing now isn’t working, it might be time to “up your game.” And following the SharpSpring playbook is not a bad idea…
- If you’re going to invest in something “wild & crazy,” give yourself the best opportunity to succeed by carefully and purposefully targeting your top prospects.
- Make it personal, if at all possible. SharpSpring didn’t just send me a nice piece of artwork, it was artwork with our logo on it. Note: It’s now hanging on the wall in our office.
- It was big! And while bigger isn’t necessarily better, there was a genuine ‘wow’ factor when the UPS man walked into the office… and again when I opened the box and saw the art.
- Be willing to invest. And measure. If you’re considering going down this road, you have to give yourself a chance to be successful. Stick with it over time. And track your conversions to measure ROI.
Think of it this way… you have a limited amount of money to invest in sales & marketing. And for every one of those dollars, you have to ask, “Is this the best use of that money?” Maybe creating a “wow experience” for prospective clients is.
Who knows? Do something really special… and somebody might blog about it! 😉
Good luck and good selling.