When I was in eighth grade, my friend Scott Rivenbark had broken up with his girlfriend Corey. She was upset, but it didn’t matter to him. Scott moved on to some other interest within about 90 minutes. (BTW, this wasn’t an eighth grade thing … this was a Scott thing.) A few weeks later, he and I were playing basketball at the courts at Tropical Elementary, and somehow Corey figured out we were there. She called a friend and the two of them mysteriously showed up to shoot baskets. I doubt either of them ever shot baskets before or since that day, but there they were – 40 feet away from us. Guess what? It worked. Scott took the bait, sparked a conversation with her, and they went on to another long romance over the next 10 – 11 days. Which brings me to our second strategy of the week…
Strategy #2 to waking up a dormant customer: Bump into them somewhere outside of work.
This is easy to say, but where? You can’t stalk their family and be seated next to them at Outback one night. No, but you can strategically show up to the networking events, association meetings, and other social gatherings where there is a high probability of their attendance. Are they a season ticket holder to the local NBA team? You should go to a few games. How about Rotary? Offer to be a speaker at their next meeting. This strategy goes perfectly in line with our networking strategy that we’ve discussed in the past. Even if they don’t show up, you’re still meeting other potential leads and positioning yourself as an expert. Now, here’s the powerful secret:
When you bump into them, don’t talk business. Allow them to bring up business. Talk about the game, their jacket, mutual friends, etc. Do not bring up business. Your goal is to make sure they’re looking at you with enough respect to bring you back into their world. If you bring up business, you’ll sound like everyone else. Be cool, and let them bring it up. If they don’t, then follow-up two days later with an email or phone call to schedule an appointment – maybe one to ask them for the favor we discussed on Monday?
What do you think? Is this realistic?
