When it comes to strengthening the special event side of your business, landing elusive plum jobs is more than half the battle. When the county fair is in town, for instance, you know every restroom contractor in a 100-mile radius is going after that contract.
These are high-value targets, the clients that can make as much for your company in a weekend as a small-but-loyal construction or municipal customer can make for you in an entire year. So you should expect to have to court special event customers as if you were planning to ask for their hand in marriage someday.
Well, OK, flowers and candy on Sweetheart’s Day won’t be necessary. But there are many ways you can show these desirable clients that you mean business, that you’re serious about landing their festival, sporting event or concert … and keeping it for years to come.
How do you rise above the deep line of suitors waiting at the special event planner’s doorstep? By doing just a little bit more to get noticed. Nobody said building a client list was going to be easy, and the customer prepared to order 50 to 100 units at a crack for a weekend may be the toughest nut to crack. While you might be able to woo a construction client with a bag of Krispy Kremes down at the work site, you’ll probably have to be more deliberate and patient when it comes to landing event work.
David Frey, a marketing expert who is an occasional contributor to PRO, is a believer in making constant contact with prospective clients. Through his website, www.marketingbestpractices.com, Frey often preaches that frequent, personal attention paid to potential and existing customers is a key to prospering in any small business. In a recent article, Frey shared his “Top Seven Ways to Stay in Touch’’ with customers. I’d like to mention a few of his ideas and put a portable sanitation industry spin on the tips:
Send out greeting cards.
Frey suggests sending out greeting cards to clients for several holidays throughout the year. This is a great idea because it gives you an obvious reason to make contact and naturally spaces your contacts out so your leads aren’t getting a constant barrage of mail from you. Christmas and the year-end holidays are a great time to reach out to summertime event clients who probably aren’t thinking about your service at this time. Fourth of July is another obvious choice, followed by Memorial Day and Labor Day, which means these customers are hearing from you three times at a point where they might need you most. Unlike more blatant marketing efforts, holiday cards are a “feel good’’ approach that hopefully will leave clients with a positive impression about your business.
Send an article.
As you read local business journals or newspapers, Frey suggests looking for stories that would be interesting to your customers. This is a habit you might already have when it comes to friends and family. If the local paper published a story about your nephew playing in a baseball tournament, you clip it out and send it to Aunt Mildred who lives on the other side of the state. If you see a story on the value of hand-wash stations at special events in, say, PRO magazine, clip it out and send it to the organizers of a local art fair or auto racing venue. Or even easier yet, email them a link to the story at the PRO website. A reminder like this will show you’re thinking of their challenges throughout the year and that you’re a professional who pays attention to industry advances and trends.
Send a gift.
Sending a client a gift for no particular reason can make the greatest impact, Frey says. I’ll add that a client gift doesn’t have to bust your marketing budget, but could be a simple token of appreciation that keeps your name top-of-mind for the event decision-makers. It could be some of the traditional trinkets of the trade, like a pen or a calendar embossed with your company’s name and logo. Or if you really want to wow them, how about sending a gift card for lunch at a favorite local restaurant? Make the amount large enough to cover lunch for the client and a friend. This sort of gift is a softer sell of your company than a standard promotional item, and food has a way of leaving a lasting impression.
Invite to lunch.
Speaking of lunch, Frey argues that breaking bread with a customer is a great way to deepen that relationship and could push your company over the edge when seeking a new account. Frey suggests small business owners should be having lunch with prospective referral sources at least twice a week. He makes a good point. You always break for lunch anyway, so what about inviting each of your current regular customers out for a meal once or twice a year, and strategically sprinkle your calendar with several invites to potential new customers? This is a good way to demonstrate your continued concern for loyal customers and keep tabs on where prospective customers are with contract offerings.
Invite to an activity.
Frey talks about inviting prospective customers to sporting events, the theater, anything of local interest. Talk to your leads and find out about their hobbies and interests. If one event planner enjoys golf, offer to include him or her in your foursome this weekend. If another likes auto racing, get a pair of tickets to the local track and invite him or her for the evening. Strike up a friendship that could lead to a profitable business relationship.
THE BOTTOM LINE
Cultivating good special event leads can take time, creativity and patience. You’ll spend some money and almost surely you’ll face a fair bit of rejection along the way. But the payoffs can be big if you land one, two or three new clients who need 50 or 100 restrooms for a weekend, and maybe even a VIP restroom trailer now and then.
