Your most productive prospecting/'foot in the door' strategy?

The best foot in the door strategy is not to sell anything.
FACTS
Only 2% are ready to buy anything at any given time
Only 1% of sales are done on the 1st contact 80% of sales are done on 5-8th contact

Look at things from their point of view (You love your mother because your mother loved you first show them love and they will buy. )

I have learned that if you just go in there and make suggestions about what they could do to enhance their ROI and their margins. They will be more inclined to talk to you. Often times if they have someone refer you, that's even a better way.

I have used a few tactics but the best way to me is the round about way, talk to someone who is a HARDCORE networker and then work it all around. It works fancy.

I have gotten myself into many doors this way.

We all want instant gratification but building the ground work and what not is a LOT better.

Get some calling expertise on your side. Find out how you can make prospecting calls in a non-stressful way.

A while back I read a thread on another IM forum about putting together direct mail pieces.

Here it is in a nutshell:

Scout the local papers for advertisers.
Check out their online presence.
Here's what I looked at:
- SERP ranking
- Website analysis - just did a basic lookup on majesticseo and compared them to the current #1 placeholder.
- reviewed their placement in Google Places
- printed out search volume according to Google's keyword tool.

I then sent out a package with a brief intro letter and the above printouts with a bunch of notes written those pages with easy-to-follow suggestions on how to make things better - claim Google Places listing, add videos, images, etc.

I received a couple of calls thanking me, but declining my help (still a positive result) and one client was very anxious to meet with me. Just closed them on a 3k deal for the next 3 months.

These packages take time and money if you're mailing things out, but they are well worth the effort.

Here's an outside the box technique, but it may work for the upcoming season.

Find a CPA or accountant who's somewhat established in your area and looking for business this upcoming tax season. Talk to them about what they're trying to accomplish in their business, and help them through every method you know of internet marketing related (websites, videos, facebook accounts, craigslist ads, etc). Build a great relationship with them and don't charge them a thing.

CPAs and accountants (especially the ones that do business tax returns) usually have lists of small business in the area, and have a lot of weight with these businesses. They've been building their own relationship for years. Building this one connection with them can piggy back your efforts and can network your way to many more solid relationships if you play your cards right.

Last year I found out that my CPA wanted to get into bookkeeping. This is another gold mine of a resource. Small businesses that spend money on bookkeeping usually aren't afraid to spend it on advertising as well, so work with your CPA friend to make this aspect of their business flourish, and I can almost guarantee yours will too.

What I'm doing is creating a "how to" guide for small businesses related to bookkeeping and going to pass it out to as many local businesses as I can. The guide is really short and simple, and just explains how much time and money can be saved by having someone do their bookkeeping for them, and provides the CPA's name as the source to contact if interested in doing so, or a website to connect to for more information.

For my efforts, I at least get my taxes done for free. But as I build this relationship, it can open the door to many many more.

Again, this isn't a proven technique, just an outside the box one that I thought I'd offer up. Feel free to expand on the idea, but it's just basic networking.

Nate

Find a common second or third tier connection you have together and ask for a introduction. Networking and LinkedIn are great for this.

Patrick, did you see my Free videos?