The world has changed in the last decade. The old adage, “Your customer won’t care what you know until they know how much you care,” has never been more true. A new generation has been raised with a focus on helping others. People of this generation not only do more themselves, they give higher ratings to companies that help others and are good corporate citizens.
All these factors combine to mean that just selling without doing good and earning trust does not work as well as it did 10 or 20 years ago. You now need to earn trust before you sell. Many companies are doing good for others while they increase sales and good will for their companies. Helping others can provide satisfaction and help recruit better people while helping a company sell more.
Charity Events
One way to generate leads is to participate in charity fundraising events. The most effective events seem to be golf outings. We suggest calling a group organizing a charity golf event and offering to help by giving out cold water at one of the tees. Salespeople attend the tee with a cooler full of cold water and offer it to people waiting to tee off. The recipient usually says thank you and you can say something like, “To thank you for participating in this event, my company is offering you a $100 professional evaluation of the water and energy used in your home at no charge.” You can set the appointment right there. You will be helping a good cause, and clients tell me that on average they set 20 or 30 appointments in just a couple of hours of work.
Stuff a Bus
Before Christmas, most towns hold a drive for donations of new toys for underprivileged children. The drives usually are supported by radio stations mentioning it on the air. Many of these promotions park a school bus somewhere and challenge the community to “stuff the bus” with toys.
If you have a visible location, volunteer to have the bus parked outside your building. You also could donate toys. Many times a day, the station will mention your company and address and encourage people to come by with a toy. While accepting the toy, your staff can offer a complimentary energy audit to thank them for their generosity.
Food Bank or Habitat for Humanity
Your local food bank helps people with food, but what about water? You can meet great people and help out by donating water.
When a home goes up for Habitat for Humanity, why not bring out cold water for the workers or donate an RO? The cost of an RO is a small investment for the good will you will generate and the number of people you can meet. Another benefit of this approach is the fact that it attracts good staff members.
People have always said that “what goes around comes around” and it is more true than ever with businesses. I hope you will participate in some of these programs just to help others and that business benefits will come to you as well.
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