Mining for Information.

Every time you talk to someone it’s an opportunity to gain valuable information about your market. Learning about your competition, your peers—will help you learn where you are at, in the grand scheme of local businesses.

Some would say “Keep your eyes on your own paper!”

 I am not one of them.

Keeping your head down will give you tunnel vision.  You’ll be in an echo chamber. Seeing and hearing about what other competing outfits do will allow you to tailor your business to beat them out for work!

Get in the habit of typing in your competitions’ website and checking out their site. Grab their business cards, look at their logos and marketing material. Rank their copywriting in your head to see if it’s persuasive.

That’s one way of market research.

This post is something totally different though.

Start soliciting the public for intelligence when they call you for services. Start mining them for information!

One of your scripted phone sales qualifying questions should be, “Are we the first company you’ve called for this project?”

“No, I’ve called 2 other companies.”

STOP. Most operators will leave it at that. I recommend at this moment you ask them who those other companies are! See who’s earning their call!

You might say, “Oh, they won’t answer that!”

Do you know that in all my years of working the phones, I’ve never had a person not tell me that piece of information?

We’ve learned to build trust on the first phone call, they’re happy you called them back…use that good will to ask questions about the market. Take that information and research the companies mentioned.

Here’s another one:

We’ve sent out the bid…You get the prospect on a follow up call after they’ve seen your number…They say, “You were the highest bid!”

Of course we are, we are the best!...Again, most operators would leave it there…

NOT YOU. Ask them, “Can I ask you a question?” When they answer in the affirmative, which they always will…Ask “What were the numbers of the other bids?”

As you’re reading this, don’t you think that would be handy information, for you as a business owner to know? Ask a follow up question…

”What did that bid include?”

There’s an opportunity for a conversation about the differences between the bids!

Heck, ask them to send you the other bids so you can see what’s on them to help them decipher if they’re getting the same service and product! You’ve built up the trust…WHY NOT!?

THAT is what a businessman will do…Not put your tail between your legs—-tuck and RUN.

No!!!! MINE for INFORMATION that you can use later on. How invaluable will it be to see someone else’s bid. To see what it looks like, to see what they’re doing…?

Okay, your company isn’t booking this job anyway…what do you have to lose other than:

·         Your time on the phone

·         Going to see the project

·         Measuring the project

·         Marketing material

·         Writing a bid

·         The follow up call

·         ALL THE TIME INVOLVED IN THAT

Your time and effort was SUCKED by the prospect---DON’T let them do it without getting SOME value out of them.

That value will be MARKET INFORMATION

Market research will help you grow your business and see where you are at. Always be looking for the opportunity to gain the upper hand with information.

KNOWLEDGE IS POWER. It’s not a bumper sticker, it’s true!

Always keep your head up and look around, open your mouth and ask about your peers. They say they weren’t happy with someone else’s work…ask WHY?

There’s a great NEW SUBJECT for your next AD.

You can remain deaf, blind and ignorant to your competition by “focusing on yourself”. But we aren’t out here alone!

I’m recommending you do INTELLIGENCE GATHERING. Always be gathering intelligence that you can use to build yourself and your company to greater heights. Ask for the information you want to know!

Where are the weaknesses in my competition?

What are they charging?

What are their strengths?

If you’re a worker, you keep your head down and do your thing.

When you’re a businessman…we pay attention to our surroundings and our market and make changes (or not) based on what we see and hear!

Ask the extra question. GATHER THE INTELLIGENCE. Use it to your advantage.

You are a STUD.