“THE LITTLE RED ROOSTER AND THE OLD BLACK HEN”
Author: Anonymous
Said the Little Red Rooster,
“Believe me, things are tough!
Seems the worms are getting scarcer,
And I cannot find enough.”
“What’s become of all those fat ones?
It’s a mystery to me.
There were thousands through that rainy spell,
But now, where can they be?”
But the Old Black Hen who heard him
Didn’t grumble or complain.
She had lived through lots of dry spells;
She had lived through floods of rain.
She picked a new and undug spot,
Where the ground was hard and firm.
But the Rooster watched and jeered,
“That’s no place for a worm!”
The Old Black Hen spread her feet,
And she dug both fast and free.
“I must go to the worms,” she said,
“For the worms won’t come to me.”
By habit, the Rooster spent his day
Waiting for worms to appear in the rough.
At night, he growled and complained,
“I’m so hungry. Conditions sure are tough.”
The Old Black Hen hopped to her perch,
And dropped her eyes to sleep.
Then she murmured in a drowsy tone,
“Young man, hear this and weep.”
“I’m full of worms and happy,
For today I’ve eaten like a pig.
The worms were there as always,
I just had to know where to dig!”
As you read the classic poem above, The Little Red Rooster and the Old Black Hen, the moral of the story has a lot to do with how to drive business in the off-season. You would do well to read it now and come back here and finish reading this article.
Because the way you sell in the off-season is the same as the way you should be selling in the busy season.
Success in every business, including yours, depends on mastering critical competencies of the business – one of which is ALWAYS marketing.
Somebody already has your customer. The real question is, what are you willing to do to get the business?
Did you know American Express rents lists of their card members buying behavior? So, if you sell a fitness product, for example, you could rent their Fit and Buff Buyers Mailing List and use direct mail to reach people who use their AMEX to pay for a gym, spa, or yoga center membership.
You can target the exact people in your area who are already paying for something similar somewhere else.
And, as you know, a buyer is a buyer. What if you could convince just 5 or 10 percent of that business to give you a try?
The same types of lists are available for restaurants, doctors and dentists, professional services, retail shops, and whatever else you can imagine.
Like the Old Black Hen, you just have to dig for them.
But to use this information to your advantage, you need to take action now. As the saying goes, “Without deep roots, the tree falls over in the storm.”
Think about how you are currently attracting new business and what you need to do differently.
One of the most successful marketing strategies of all time is called “gift with appointment.” It brings new patients to dentists, investors to financial advisors, new home buyers to developments and resort communities, and can be used in hundreds of other businesses to create sales and appointments.
All by adding value WITHOUT lowering prices or offering discounts.
If you’ve ever eaten at a Japanese restaurant and been given a free sample of sushi or sashimi, you’ve experienced the strategy in action.
So, take action. Marshall your best resources. Target the best, most loyal, profitable customers.
Who are the prospects most likely to be ready to buy from you? You can get your message in their hands with direct mail. The smart companies blitz the market to make things happen.