Building a database of prospects and clients is an essential part of running a home business.
Recently a marketing coach spoke about customers that make your heart sink when you talk to them.
In other words, they're either the people who have a total resistance to speaking to you, are not interested in your product, or are just not nice people.
My whole focus this year is to only work with absolutely incredible, intelligent, women who love my service, my products and who actively search me out.
Prospecting people who have no interest in what you offer makes no sense.
For years I have heard that the larger your database, the better.
I suspect the people who say this are the ones who bombard my email inbox with spam emails every day.
If I subscribe to an ezine and then receive constant, nonstop promotional emails from them, with no useful content and only a buy my product now message, I will unsubscribe immediately.
The shotgun approach where you keep sending emails to anyone who has an email address is annoying for the prospect because in most cases they have no need or desire for the product or service.
Would you not agree that an email sent with content that is of interest to the clients or prospects will be received readily and will also get opened? An excellent, highly targeted, database of prospects is the lifeblood of your business because it potentially increases your client base.
Sending occasional emails to them keeps you on their mind and opens the door for further contact or business.
In a home business, follow-up requires speaking to your prospects and clients as well.
In the past, there were names in my database that when I thought of calling them, my heart would sink, often due to several different reasons; they were rude in the past, they seemed uninterested but still said I should call again.
The resulting feelings always created the lack of desire to get on the phone and actively work my business.
A number of years ago, somebody posted a link to my web page on a freebee website.
Within a week I had over two thousand requests for free samples.
Most of these people were only interested in how many free samples they could get and they didn't care whether or not it was something they would actually use.
A very small percentage of people out of that group have gone on to be good customers of mine.
The majority of those contacts were "heart sinkers"; the ones that when you look at their name and you think about contacting them, motivation leaves you.
When you don't feel good, you don't perform well.
You want prospects and clients who lift your spirits when you talk to them because you're of service them and they are happy to talk to you.
Anything that you sell them is going to be a win-win situation and an ongoing, positive relationship ensues.
It doesn't matter so much about the size of our database, as much as the quality of our database.
Ultimately, I find that my good customers, in a lot of cases, also become good friends.
If we have to work, it needs to be enjoyable as well as stimulating.
We all know the result of feeling good! When we are happy, we are more productive and perform better.
We get better results and are much more likely to get referrals which will increase or build our database with solid leads and many more new customers and friends!