What is a "Reach" and How Do I Handle It?

Look at all those emails! $$

Wouldn't it be awesome if you came into work every week to an inbox full of emails from people interested in your business?  We thought so too, so we developed a system and strategy to deliver "Reaches" to our clients. 

Our Social Media | Web PR & Advisory program works to deliver a Return on Investment (ROI) for a business.  In addition to improving your company likeability and brand awareness we deliver applicable companies with "Reaches".  "Reaches" are more valuable and relevant to sales than a lead or prospect.  A "Reach" is someone who has been pre-qualified as your target public and then introduced to your company story and products/services through appropriate Social Media Sites and mediums.  When the "Reach" responds to you the sales process is already well on its way to closing a deal.

Now that we've delivered "Reaches" we find some clients wondering what to do with them.  We have written this step-by-step recommended guide on how to successfully handle "Reaches".

1)    Setup “Discovery “Call/Meeting – “Reaches” are people who have expressed strong interest in your business, the sooner you can setup a “Discovery” meeting/call with them the better. It is important to continuously follow up with the “Reach”  via phone or email until you can set up a “Discovery” call or meeting.  Once the “Discovery” call/meeting is confirmed send them a calendar/appointment invite to ensure it is guaranteed and scheduled. 

"Oh Hi there, I'm your Target Public,
and this briefcase is full of cash for you!"

2)    Have “Discovery” Call/Meeting – A “Discovery” meeting should focus on the “Reach” and their needs/wants.  Ask questions about their business, what they do, what their needs/wants are, and what they need help with.  Prior to the meeting it is recommended that you research and familiarize yourself with their business. Listen and take notes.

A “Discovery” meeting should result in you finding out how your company can help the “Reach” with their needs/wants.  At the end of the meeting offer to send the “Reach” a proposal and then set up a second appointment to review/discuss the proposal.  The second meeting will allow you to sell the “Reach” on your products/services. 

3) Send Material – After the “Discovery” meeting send a proposal and key sales material that will keep the “Reach” interested and re-iterate your key value propositions. 

Follow up.  Stay on the prospect’s radar and consistently provide them with valuable information that they can use to make a decision.

4)    Ask – Always ask for the business. “Reaches” won’t close themselves, they must be closed.  If you have successfully sold your product/services and provided them with enough information to make a decision there is no reason you shouldn’t ask for the sale.  There are many different ways to ask for the sale, here are a few examples that have proven to be successful for us;

·        If everything is in order, let’s get started on this. Here are the first steps...

·        Are you ready to get started?

·        Here is what is needed to get started..

·        To move forward, we will need the proposal signed back faxed back to..

·        What would you need to get this started this week?

How To Build a Facebook Following for your Organization

At Cruise Media Group we often get asked by organizations how they can build more "likes" on their company page. When Facebook first introduced the ability to “like” things people were in hysterics.  Everyone was scrambling to “like” as many pages, brands, companies as they could.  The more ridiculous sounding (ex. – Greg just liked “To Move It, Move It”), the better.  But now you have to work to be “liked”.  “Liking” someone is essentially the equivalent of subscribing to a page’s news-feed and endorsing that product/company.