40 Ways To Prospect More Creatively!

byPAUL CASTAINonNOVEMBER 29, 2010

You know, I could be way out of line in this assumption but prospects need creative solutions to the challenges they face in their world. More specifically they need your creativity.

Million dollar question coming atcha in 3,2,1 . . .

Do you demonstrate your creativity?

I took the liberty of putting together 40 ways for you to hunt more creatively. In the past, this was reserved exclusively for our Rock Star Academy students, but in the spirit of paying it forward . . .

1) Consider leveraging funny days of the year like “National Thank God It’s Monday Day”, “Bring Your Manners To Work Day” and numerous other ones as a fun excuse for you to reach out to a non responsive prospect! Here’s a calendar with mucho funny days!

2) Make a humorous Top 10 List as to why someone hasn’t returned your call or why they would want to do business with YOU!

3) Give that boring calendar you give out a very cool make over. Have each month designed with a theme of you trying to get in to see your prospect (complete with your prospect’s name in the design) Example: One month you could have a hitch hiker holding a sign “Need to get to (Your Prospect’s Name) Office” Perhaps you could play the themes in with the seasons or non religious holidays? Oh, and don’t forget to include some of those funny days we discussed in idea #1.

4) Get a giant cookie from your bakery and have them write “I want to take a bite out of your business” Note: This can also turn into a handy dandy Thank you when you get a new client or even an order from a client. You could change it to read “Thanks for letting me take a bite out of your business”

5) Send a Telegram

6) Send a personalized singing email.

7) How about some Customized M & M’s ?

8) Send a lottery ticket with a note that reads “Why gamble on (fill in what you do)” When you call to follow up have some fun and ask them if they won!

9) Get some sunglasses, a cd with some good rock songs and print up some All Access Passes they can use for a tour of your facility. Play on that theme with a message like: “I take pride in making my clients look like rock stars!”

10) http://klutz.com has a superhero starter kit complete with mask, cape etc. .Consider sending that to a prospect as a follow up to the rock star approach.

11) Send some special occasion ice cream with this cool website!

12) Try this two step approach: Leave a voicemail that you will be in the area on (date) and will stop by with some things of value and to say the worlds quickest hello. Take a gift bag and fill it with some company info, a pen with your logo, a pad, your business card etc. Drop by to see your prospect and present them with the goodie bag. You might want to consider Francey Nathan for some of those cool imprinted specialty items. Click here to check our her website!

13) Purchase one of those prepaid cell phones. Send it to your prospect and tell them a time you will be calling on it and give a specific day and time.

14) Consider having the balls to send a ball (Thank you Jamie McLennan)

15) Go to http://www.choconet1.com/chocolate-foot.html and order chocolate feet for a few bucks a piece. Send them to your prospects with a note that reads “I’d like to get a foot in the door”

16) Take that letter you were about to stuff into an envelope with your company name and logo and use a colored envelope instead. Hand address that bad boy while you’re at it. It will resemble a personal card and have a higher probability of getting opened.

17) Take a picture of you staring at the phone with a caption “I thought for sure that (name of prospect) would call” Follow it up with a picture of you like nose up to the computer screen with the caption “Thought for sure (name of prospect) would write” Fed Ex it so it arrives separate and doesn’t blend in with the other mail.

18) For a more personal touch when sending information, place Post Its with handwritten notes.

19) Consider sending something that is representative of your geographic area to folks who are out of the area. Example: I know someone who sends their clients and prospects Pretzels someone else sends Maple Syrup etc. I have a client who married this concept in with a “Behind The Scenes” video with employees looking in the camera and addressing the prospect by name.

20) Next time you are rejected on the phone, but you at least had a friendly conversation, send a handwritten thank you. Note: You obviously won’t win a creativity award on this one but you will stand out simply because hardly anyone does this!

21) Sales Leadership: Send a note to your entire sales organization asking for at least 2-3 creative door openers. Compile a list of all the new cool ideas that get generated and send everyone a PDF!

22) Send greeting cards at off holidays (July 4th, Labor Day, Halloween, Thanksgiving etc Stonehouse Collection has a great selection at a reasonable price. Click here to check it out!

23) I know someone who drops off carnations for all the moms she has as prospects the Friday before Mother’s Day. What could we do for the dads out there? How could we leverage other holidays with a drop off of some sort?

24) Call the wrong extension and ask for your contact. Once they tell you that you have the wrong extension, ask to be transferred. Transferred calls look different on the caller ID than typical calls and you might just get through.

25) Send your prospect a humorous letter with options as to why they haven’t gotten back to you. You can even create a “While You Were Out”message.

26) Carve time out each day to think quietly. Ask yourself the following question “In what ways can I be more creative?” This is a great creative brainstorming question for you to ponder. You can even make it more targeted by rephrasing it like this “In what ways can I creatively approach (name of account).

27) Go for a walk or exercise while asking yourself that same question.

28) Study creative people. Pick their brain or just study them from afar. I won’t tell anyone!

29) Use that handy dandy camera on your smartphone to shoot a quick intro of who you are, and a kick ass elevator speech. In that video, make sure you call your prospect by name Tell them a specific day and time you will call to set appt. Include popcorn and candy to make it festive. Remember to use some of the ideas we discussed earlier such as hand delivering this or FedEx so it arrives at a different time of day than the mail.

30) Shoot that same video as a private YouTube video and email it to your prospect.

31) Consider packaging your capabilities into a fun PDF like I did! Click here to have a look!

32) Create a fun bio for yourself and start including it in with your proposals, pricing and even when you’re trying to get in the door. If you got it, flaunt it baby!

33) Send handwritten “Blank Cards”to potential customers. Click here to see how your Uncle Paul does this!

34) How about a “Mission Impossible” type of theme where you send a series of things including that 3 minute intro, a Fed Ex or Telegram and maybe even give yourself a kick ass theme song from this royalty free music site.

35) T.G.I.F. Kit: Create a kit of fun things for your prospect. Perhaps some candy, funny sunglasses, a funny book or comedy cd, etc. Drop it off nice and early. Write your cell number on your card so hopefully you get the thank you call before you are out of the area.

36) Have some cheesy fun by picking up any or all of the following and tailoring a corny message: Payday candy bar, mints, Mounds, seeds, nuts etc. Example attach a note to a Mounds candy bar with a message centered around you saving them mounds of extra work etc.

37) Add this phrase to any of the above “(name) If you think I’m working hard to get your business, you are 100% right. Think about how hard I’ll work to keep your business!”

38) SendOutCards has some customizable cards you can send to your clients and prospects. You can also send Starbucks cards and various treats along with your card!

39) I know a printer who bought some really fancy pens with their logo imprinted on the top half. Each was packaged in a really nice box. They would send the box with only the top half of the pen and a note. The note expressed that they would be calling on a specific day and time to set up a quick appointment to discuss their needs and to bring the business end of that pen!

40) Ask yourself this question every day: “How will I be memorable today?”and don’t leave the scene of that question until you get some actionable answers!

Did You Like These Tips?

Then you might want to check out our Rock Star Academy program!

In this program, we talk about how you can marry creative approaches, phone, snail mail, FedEx, traditional networking, social networking, referrals etc into a really lethal communication plan!