🖐 Happy Wednesday!

Issue #47 is 675 words and a 3.0-minute read.

1 big topic: The 1st Impression Tells a Prospect Everything

Prospects form opinions about your business in seconds, and they won’t become clients without quick and helpful attention.

• Why it matters: The digital marketplace has tons of sellers, and it’s easy for prospects to click away if your website, emails, or calendar slow them down.

Between the lines: Fast, accurate service shows your prospects that you value their time.

Give them examples of how you can work across platforms and on their schedule to solve their problem.

Four areas show how your tech systems provide fast service and boost your odds of winning a new client.

Nail these, and prospects will remember when they turn into clients.

👇 Go deeper:

💻 Fast load time for your website: The rule is three seconds or less. Any longer, and prospects click away.

Mobile matters more than desktop, so make sure your site gives fast, easy-to-follow info across all mobile devices.

Pingdom has an excellent site that you can use for free to check your site’s loading time.

📧 Smart, timely email sequence: Emails tell prospects you appreciate understand, and can help.

Your ‘welcome email sequence’ sets the right tone with your prospect, and your email blasts remind them you’re the obvious choice to provide a helpful change.

🗓 Prompt 1st meeting: It’s shocking when a business waits more than a few hours to schedule a first meeting when a prospect shows interest.

Use a simple, automatic calendar system to make it easy for a prospect to meet with you.

⌚️ Immediate follow-up: It’s powerful and memorable when you send a summary email right after a meeting.

This shows prospects that their problem is a priority and you’re ready to give them a positive transition.

The bottom line: There is no guarantee that a prospect will buy from you, even if you show them fast, courteous attention.

There is a 100% guarantee they’ll run the other way if your technology and response time are slow or confusing.

Clients always remember their first impressions.

This week’s business story:

Hallmark Gives Viewers a Spicy Holiday Gift

The Hallmark Channel is breaking tradition and launching its first streaming service, according to a festive July 11 article in the NYT. ⁽¹⁾

The big picture: Hallmark Plus will give customers instant access to nearly 300+ Christmas films, along with hot new programs. ⁽²⁾

• Why it matters: This move highlights the huge role that distribution and new products play in the fight to engage current customers and attract new ones. 
  

• Distribution gives Hallmark’s audience the content they want on a platform they use.
  

• New products satisfy customer demand for hot new content and show prospects Hallmark can adapt to programming trends as necessary (Remember your SMaC recipe, here)

🔑Your takeaways:

• Review your current products to make sure they solve the actual problems your clients want to fix and are available on the right platform
  

• Test new ideas in public to show prospects and clients that you can meet their needs as demand and tastes change

1 fun idea: Dress the Part at Home

Put on a sharp outfit when you work from home and get an instant boost in your ability to focus.

Why it matters: When you dress down day after day, it’s easy to slip into a funk that puts you into a low and slow mode.

The t-shirt / sweats outfit tells your brain that your tasks don’t need your full attention.

What’s next? Put on the work clothes that give you confidence, and wear them when you have big projects to tackle.

You’ll feel a fast, positive change when you check yourself out in the mirror, and your brain will kick into top speed.

🔑 Stay curious and keep opening doors.

-Erik

Notes:

⁽¹⁾ Brooks Barnes, Cue the Christmas Music: Hallmark is Finally Joining the Streaming Fray, The New York Times, July 11, 2024, https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/11/business/media/hallmark-plus-streaming.html

⁽²⁾ Ibid.