‘Paper Touch Points’
‘Paper touch points’ should be an intergral part of your personal branding (along with voice mail message(s), weekly email tips, Facebook, LINKEDIN, hand written thank you notes, Twitter, etc., etc., etc.)
A ‘paper touch point’ is simply another way to get in front of and stay in front of your client and/or prospect.
Since, depending upon how good you are, the number of contacts you will have to initiate before you are able to set up that first crucial ’face to face’ meeting can be somewhere between 6 and 10*, you had better employ creative tools (think ‘paper touch points’) other than just the telephone, or you’ll be lost forever in the deep, dark abyss of voice mail.
Here’s the very simple concept (that you can begin to implement tomorrow): on a daily basis, peruse your local paper for articles that pertain to your industry or ( if you want to be even more impactful) for articles that would be of special interest to your clients or prospects. Cut ‘em out, make a copy, attach your business card, and stick it in a #10 envelope. Keep a file of what you find for future use; make looking for ‘paper touch points’ a part of your prospecting plan.
Better yet, subscribe to the New York Times and/or the Wall Street Journal - making sure you are covering blue and red states . If the subscription cost isn’t in your budget, take a look at the paper while you’re waiting for your $5 latte at Starbucks; or if you live close to a library, you could head there after work every so often and review past issues.
WARNING: make sure you keep track of what you send and to whom.
Will a link to the article attached to an email accomplish similar results? Perhaps, but this is not nearly as memorable as something from the USPS; and remember, you want to always be working on creating your personal brand. YOU have to be memorable.
If you have a client whose son plays little league baseball, perhaps an article about the dangers of metal bats. If you have a propect with a teenage son, a ZITS strip from the comics. Or, for the client with a daughter heading off to college, an article on the Greek system.
Rocket science? Far from it.
Brain surgery? I don’t think so.
Time consuming? Hardly.
Memorable? Absolutely.
TGIF; enjoy the weekend.
*I am partial to 13: the number of times Sam I Am asks for the order in the Dr. Seuss classic Green Eggs and Ham.
**By the way, if you’re not in sales, sending out’ paper touch points’ is just a nice thing to do (and a good way to keep in touch and maintain your network).
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