Little Missed Opportunities Adding Up To Hefty Losses

Missed Opportunities: When’s the last time you stopped and evaluated the materials you’re putting out in the world to build your business?

For those of you like me, you complete something, and then you move on to the next thing. You might rarely evaluate your brochures, your business cards, your photos, etc. They become background noise. You print more when you need them, but don’t take the time to evaluate it before you print it or post it on social media. And yet, these things we create, hand out, post, all represent us and in some way impact our business.

The impact can be positive, and it can also be negative.

The last two months I’ve had the great pleasure of speaking to 10 different networking and professional organizations and as a result, I’ve ended up with a lot of people’s business cards. The purpose behind them giving me their business card is they are requesting a bonus training. I manually enter their contact information into a database to get the training emailed out to them.

Through this process, there have been some fascinating discoveries. These discoveries are being shared with you so that you may slow down long enough to evaluate your materials and make sure they are representing you in the best possible way.

Discovery 1: Missed Opportunities 

A huge (and I mean huge) amount of people use incredibly small fonts on their business cards. The fonts are so small that sometimes I have to take a picture of the business card and then enlarge the picture to read their phone number and email address.

The question this brings up, “Are you making it easy for people to work with you or are you making them jump through hoops?” Your clients should be able to contact you from the information on your business card easily, and even those of us who wear glasses shouldn’t have to use a magnifying device to read it.

Discovery 2: Missed Opportunities 

Entrepreneurs are using email addresses that have nothing to do with their business. It’s so common to read an email address that is either a jumble of letters and numbers with no rhyme or reason (to the reader) or an email address that reads less than professional.

Remember you’re making an impression with everything you put out into the world for clients to see. Are you projecting a professional vibe or are you coming off as a hobbyist in your business?

Discovery 3: Missed Opportunities 

A small percentage of people are putting their picture on their business cards. And thank goodness they are, it makes it so easy to remember people when you look at their card and see their smiling face. This is something I encourage all of my clients to do.

On your desk, do you have stacks of business cards right now?  Chances are you do. Are you able to conjure up an image of every one of those people? Probably not. When their picture is on the card, it makes it so much easier to remember them, the conversation you had, and why you might want to connect with them further.

Your Savvy Sales Tip this week:

Be sure your business cards are enhancing the client experience. Make it easy for people to remember you and contact you.

For those of you who have no control over your cards because you work for a larger corporation, I get it, I’ve been there myself. However, you might ask the person in charge if they’re willing to consider a larger font, adding a picture, etc. You never know until you ask, you might get a yes.

Consider applying these same points of discovery to your brochures and other marketing materials.

The other day I was recommending someone’s service to a friend, and when asked for the person’s phone number I happily proclaimed, “I have one of her flyers right here in front of me.” I proceeded to scan the flyer to share her phone number, website or even an email address only to discover none were listed. It only had her name. My friend said she would look it up. About a week went by, and when I checked in with my friend, she still hadn't looked up the person's contact information. Who knows if she ever will. And yet, had she been given it right then and there, she may have gotten off the call with me and immediately called and booked an appointment.

Missed Opportunities Continued…

When we make clients jump through extra hoops to work with us, they put it to the side with the intention of coming back to it when they have more time. And let's be honest, how many of us ever find more time in our schedules?

These little missed opportunities may be adding up to hefty losses in your revenue.

When you make it easy for clients to work with you, they do.

Wishing you continued success in all areas of your life and business.

Agree? Disagree? Have additional comments or thoughts on this article? Please share.