Fishing, Hunting and Farming: Which combination of sales techniques is right for you?
Fishing
Many businesses, especially retail, rely heavily on ‘fishing’ as a sales technique. By placing their business in a location with many other similar businesses they rely on the customers ’swimming past’ and getting caught or hooked. Customers are hooked by using the right bait or lure. For example; your store signage or window display, specials, deals, music and images all designed to catch the eye of the customer.
Just like using the right bait for the right fish, your display needs to be carefully targeted to suit your potential customer. This technique works well when you understand your customer and carefully watch how their needs and reactions change. If you use this method you’ll need to make sure you regularly check your competitors to make sure they are not using more attractive lures. A bright shiny sign, a new paint job or fresh message can make you look more appealing.
Fishing does has problem of being limited to the flow of fish currently swimming by. Potential customers outside of this immediate area will not be drawn by your bait. This means that while fishing is a relevant and effective technique you may need to consider adding other approaches to your sales and revenue generation techniques.
Hunting
Hunting means deliberately seeking out your ‘prey’ or potential customers, and targeting them in that location in order to draw them to you. Advertising is a perfect example of a hunting sales technique. By using particular advertising mediums it is possible to target and work on a particular audience. Direct mail marketing, telemarketing and cold calls are other hunting techniques that provide opportunities to identify and target a particular market audience. Understand your target market before you choose your hunting tool though. Hunting for an elephant with a slingshot is probably not going to offer the best success!
Both these techniques are valuable tools to obtain new customers. One well identified weakness in many businesses is, once the sale is made the customer is then ‘let go’. To make a new sale you need to repeat the process, but to keep a customer long term you need to become a Farmer.
Farming
Farming is a technique used to build repeat business with existing customers. In other words, instead of letting them go they are put in a safe enclosure and taken care of. To do this successfully you will need to make sure your enclosure has good fences to make customers feel secure, safe and cared for. Fences can be anything from newsletters to customer loyalty schemes or something as simple as a follow up phone call. Remember - fences need maintenance to keep stock in and keep predators (competitors) out!
It is much more cost effective to farm a customer that to keep hunting or fishing for the same or new customers. It is also much more pleasant and productive for the customer to develop a friendly, ongoing relationship. Properly maintained customer relationships result in strong customer loyalty and reduces the effectiveness of your competitors lures and decoys. Keep in mind though, elephants are harder to keep and maintain than sheep, so target customers that you can farm and support!
Divine Branding can help you coordinate all three methods to generate and maintain customers. From Brand Identity Discovery right through to Brand Maintenance let us be your partner on your next fishing, hunting or farming experience!