Unless you are one of the few people who has all the business you need, you are always working to generate new business. And to generate new business, an investment is almost always required.
Most of us, when we think of investing, we think of investing money. The truth is that we have two types of assets to invest in our marketing. It is true that one of the assets is our money, but the other asset we have is our time, and there is a time and a place to invest each of these assets. Problems arise when money is invested in marketing when, in fact, time must be invested. Deciding which asset to invest is pretty straightforward. There are two basic factors that determine the appropriate course of action. The first is deciding which asset you have the most, and the second is deciding if there is a fundamental difference in the quality of the prospects obtained with each marketing approach.
Start by simply asking yourself which has more: time or money? Although this seems pretty basic and pretty obvious, I am always amazed at how many people, although they have more time than money, choose to invest their limited financial resources. I regularly meet professionals who invest their financial capital in finding prospects online, buying prospectuses, direct mail campaigns, and buying advertising in local newspapers, billboards, or the yellow pages. Most of the time, they don’t get the ROI they anticipated (read it as: “the ROI they really, really need!”) And they end up in the position of deciding whether or not to quit.
Why is it that when someone has more time than money, they still choose to invest their money? Typically, the decision is due to two reasons. The first reason is that everyone else is doing it. Everyone around them is building their business, or at least trying to build their business, by investing in what I call “passive” methods of marketing. And while they complain about poor performance and / or poor prospects, they continue to do so.
The second reason people choose to invest their money instead of their time is that many people don’t know what else to do. How else can you find leads if you don’t advertise, buy leads, or use the internet? The alternative means of finding quality leads and prospects is by investing your time, or what I call “active” marketing. It’s “active” because you actually have to get out from behind your desk to do your marketing. The key, of course, is to “invest” your time rather than “spend” it, and the way to invest your time is to meet as many people as possible. I have identified five proven marketing methods to spend time successfully. These are the same methods that I promote in my popular booster programs. Are here:
1) Personal Observation Conversations (Success is based not only on having these conversations, but conducting them effectively, an art).
2) Effective networks (how do you make networks effective?)
3) Make good use of centers of influence (do your COIs send referrals your way?)
4) Constant generation of customer referrals (most people stop asking because they don’t get results, because they don’t know how to do it effectively)
5) Finding prospects through public speaking (not about insurance)
By investing your time regularly, you will generate a steady stream of leads at no or low cost. Does this mean that if you have more money than time you should spend your money generating new business? No, not necessarily.
This brings us to the second determining factor. There is a fundamental difference in the quality of the results between those generated by time and those generated by money. In many, many situations, the quality of the prospects generated as a result of investing money is inferior to those obtained through personal effort (relationship building). Let me explain why. When you attract prospects by investing their money (passive methods), they do not come to you based on your relationship with them. For example, if you are looking for new customers, you will primarily attract price buyers (customers) rather than real customers. If you are looking for new agents, you will primarily attract candidates who are looking for a job rather than a business opportunity. On the contrary, if you search for prospects by investing your time (active methods), you will attract people thanks to you. You will find potential customers who want to do business with you because they like you. You will find potential agents who want to work with someone like YOU. Because the dynamics of finding prospects is so different with active methods, a much higher percentage of your interviews and presentations will lead to success.
Bottom line: Just because you have more money than time doesn’t mean investing money is the best marketing avenue to pursue. I know many successful professionals (and I suppose you do too) who do not advertise their business. Instead, your new business comes from a variety of referral sources. My recommendation for successful marketing is to take a step back and assess the quality of your business. Also, examine how you are going to generate new business. If the quality of your business is not what you would like it to be, if you have poor retention, a high drop rate, or small purchases, consider the source of your business. Consider changing your business model to one in which new business is generated through personal actions rather than impersonal methods. You’ll be glad you did.