Main > SCA Proc > Marketing Campaign Follow-up > Get a Vision!

SCC wish list [updated 1.08]

  1. Every year we hear the ‘wish list’ for SCC’s – the things they wish they had at a convention. It includes things like:
    1. the ability to follow up with every customer who fills out a contact card,
    2. they want to make a meaningful connection, build relationship with the prospect
    3. even more, the ability to follow up with every customer who actually spends time in the booth ---they try different ways to mark the cards, etc., but time and volume prevents the rep from doing as much as she’d like
    4. And I want to follow up at the point when they are ready to make the purchase decision – I just don’t know when that will be
      1. the ability to close a sale
      2. a customer comes into my booth and tells me that she stopped by last year, but ended up buying from My Father’s World, but now she is unhappy with MFW and is buying Sonlight
        1. These kinds of comments frustrate me – what could we have done to help this prospect understand Sonlight better so she wouldn’t have purchased elsewhere
        2. It makes me wish I could put a package in their hand when they leave the convention, so they don’t lose the vision of Sonlight – because I really believe SL is the best curriculum out there – usable by almost every homeschooler, maybe as much as 95% or more

Virtual convention: let’s use your imagination a bit: look at our website like an online - virtual convention. Now you can do what the SCC can't - close the sale!

  1. Picture those who listened to the tele-seminar as a prospect who filled out a contact card.
  2. They are at the convention – the website – because they are interested in homeschooling and our products – just like they attend a convention because they are interested in the products displayed there
  3. They are looking for information
  4. We want to serve this prospect by providing them with the desired information
  5. We want to tell them about the products that we think are the best on the market – we don’t want them to be the customer who comes back next year after using something else and is unhappy – or quits homeschooling because it is too hard
  6. Think like you would if you were getting commission on the sale as an SCC – that doesn’t make you a ‘used car salesman’ – but you do make a distinct effort to capture a sale, to help that person off the fence
  7. Some of those people fill out a card (at our ‘virtual booth’ or the physical booth), but the next time they walk by the booth they cross to the other side of the aisle and purposely look the other direction so they don’t make eye contact with us.
    1. In our initial contact on the Sonlight Touch program we completed only 51% of the calls – the remainder were NA, LM, invalid number, etc.
    2. So some of the time on our marketing follow-up calls we will get NA or LM or an invalid number – that is to be expected. From the first batch only 46% were sent an email – the rest – 54% - were contacted by phone!
    3. Some of them will not pick up because they don’t recognize the caller id or they may even hang up – this is the same as walking to the other side of the aisle and looking away
      1. I don’t take it personally when someone does it at a physical convention, why would I take it personally when they do it in a virtual one?
      2. If they do hang up or don’t pick up because they don’t recognize the caller id, I want to send a short email because I want to leave it on a positive note, but that is all. I’m happy to let them continue on their way.
  8. Once we get a prospect on the phone they are excited we called
    1. Just like when someone steps inside the booth at a convention - these moms are looking for information that we have, they are looking for products that we can provide for them --- we can make the presumption that they WANT to talk to us, because they do!
    2. I heard story after story about how happy they were that we called
  9. Our next step is to figure out the sales cycle – to identify how long it is from the time we first make contact, when they initially ‘fill out our contact card’ to listen to the tele-seminar
    1. Some had pulled their kids from public school and already purchased another curriculum before listening to the tele-seminar
      1. This is like the customer who stops by the booth, but takes a catalog and reads it
      2. Then, when they are at the end of their school year, they need information to help them make choices
        1. To replace what didn’t work
        2. To expand on the vision they have – to find the products that better fit their vision – or even to help them grab hold of a new vision of what homeschooling can be like
      3. This is the customer who we’ll want to call back around convention season or when they are a month or two away from the end of their school year, when they start thinking about the next year
      4. Example: customer who purchased FIAR
    2. Others are waiting for their tax return to purchase
      1. so setting a call back in mid-February is a good choice here
      2. We want to help them get the BEST products available – and we believe this is Sonlight materials!
    3. Others are just doing research, considering pulling their children for next year
      1. This is a great opportunity to set up contact when they are ready to make a decision
      2. We are willing to provide information – to be a resource, because we believe they will be interested in SL
      3. I.E. customer who had purchased who was amazed SL would take the time to provide info – she was interested in SL by the end of the call!
        1. A few are already customers – you don’t need to set a follow-up for these, remember the ambassadors step in for core purchasers, point out the resources available
    4. Very rarely you may run across a customer who isn’t a good fit for SL
      1. This is an opportunity to let SL know what products we might want to consider in the future; so take good notes and refer the ticket up to me.
      2. The goal here is to empower YOU to decide when this customer will be ready to click the purchase button and to contact them then
      3. You will almost always set a follow-up contact
      4. Presume they want to talk to you --- you have information they are looking for and products they need!
      5. The first call is a barometer, get the customer talking, you are on a fact finding mission
      6. Don’t ask ‘mother may I’ – instead say, “It sounds like you’ll be making some decisions in mid-February then, would Tuesdays be a good day for me to check in with you?”
      7. You will do the follow-up – you know your schedule, you don’t have to set it for a specific day if you don’t know what day you’ll be working
      8. Build relationship with the customer and share your passion about the product that you believe is the BEST!
      9. These customers are anticipating and expecting a call from Sonlight. The email series has been rewritten.
  10. You can do it!
    1. Goal is to help those customers who are sitting on the fence see how SL can work in their family – we don’t want them to become the prospect that uses something else and regrets it!
    2. Others, who felt they wouldn’t do well at this have found it easy once they got going
      1. ‘it was easy to make them feel like I was relating to them’
      2. Customer said, “it feels like the company cares” – even from someone who had purchased elsewhere!
        1. “I’m so excited you called”
        2. From advisor – when I remembered that I really believe SL is the best and I went into this with a positive attitude, it was easy
        3. Imagine you are getting commission on the sale – does it change the way you approach the call?
        4. The more I’ve talked to the advisors who’ve been doing the calls, the more I think we need to have this attitude on ALL our calls!
        5. I’m able to share a bit about my experience and they open up – they WANT the information and products I can offer them
        6. We WILL do a lot of extensive training on how to do this
          1. Some of you are naturals to sales
          2. Others are not – we are going to provide you with the tools!