Parents Talk to Parents - Part 3

     In "Parents Talk to Parents - Part 2," the proposed title was "Parents Talk to Parents, Kids Talk to Kids, Pastors Talk to Pastors, Principals Talk to Principals, Teachers Talk to Teachers."

     Continuing the theme with today's Marketing Matter, it should be called "Businesses Talk to Businesses, and Organizations Talk to Organizations."

     "Word of Mouth" is just as powerful between businesses - witness the popularity of sales lead groups that meet for breakfast once, twice or four times a month to exchange potential prospects based on the conversations they've had with current and prospective customers.  In sales, "warm leads" (a recommendation from a trusted colleague) is ALWAYS better than a cold call.  But a recommendation could be just as bad as a cold call.

     For instance, when a salesperson asks a customer, "Who do you know that could benefit from the service I provide," the customer could provide a name and contact information.  Sometimes, however, the transaction ends with, "But don't tell the person I told you to call."

     Well what good is that?!?!  If that's the case, the call will be akin to picking a name and phone number from a phone book.  There's a good chance that the contact will take the call, but may not have time to listen to a sales pitch (which is, in development, referred to as a case statement).  They may not even want to set up a meeting since they have no clue as to who is now bugging them.  In fact, continual bugging could strain the relationship between the newly found prospect and the customer who supplied the name in the first place.

     But if the customer is proactive and calls his friend, and then the salesperson takes them both to lunch, a relationship has been begun among the customer, the salesperson, and the prospect.  The dynamic changes from a "back and forth" conversation to a meeting where two people have the potential of being of like mind opposed to the third.  Moreover, this dynamic of conversation can change within the course of a meeting, which actually grows the relationship.  It allows the businesses (the customer and the prospect) to talk to each other, with the salesperson as a facilitator rather than a "closer."

     Remember, "A three-ply cord is not easily broken." (Ecclesiastes 4:12)  In terms of marketing your school, don't just ask a parent if they know other parents who have children that would want to come to your school; have your current parents bring the potential parents with them to have a meeting/conversation/sit-down with a cup of coffee with you.  Don't just ask a new business to sponsor an event; find a current business that has a relationship with your school, ask them if they know of a business that would also be interested in supporting the great work your school does, and then invite both of them to a meeting to discuss your project and present your prospectus.  It's amazing what happens when business people talk with business people about something they're passionate about.

© Michael V. Ziemski, SchoolAdvancement, 2007

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