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The Bermuda effect: why clients mysteriously disappear? |
| Alessandro Meloni |
You know the story: from the 70s onwards in the triangle of sea defined by Bermuda, Bahamas and Puerto Rico planes and big ships have inexplicably disappeared together with their crews.
What does the Bermuda triangle have to do with your company?
Did it ever happen to you? You are talking with a client who is showing interest in your products or services and, suddenly, she mysteriously disappears without a trace. Vanished.
Or the client seems interested, you know you've done a good job and think you've won her over. You have an agreement and your client has promised to call you back. Days go by and the client has disappeared; phone calls, emails, faxes seems to have no other result than pushing her further away.
Why do clients disappear without a trace? The point of no return
The point of no return is when your client stops talking with you and abandons the marketing dialogue. She backs off in order to carry out her decision process.
There are many reasons for last-minute client disappearance and they vary with the kind of activity performed.
Some of the elements can be:
• Fear to buy the wrong product/service
• A pushy salesman. This element too can be put down to fear. The client experiences unpleasant feelings during her interaction with the seller and to flee is one way to get relief from the psychological pressure of selling.
• Insufficient trust in the product or service offered (or in the seller who is offering it).
• Opportunism: the client has enough information to decide and prefers carrying out the process alone or with others.
Investigating on the point of no return can be a vital element in your marketing strategy
Finding out the "point of no return", investigating, dissecting it into its details in order to understand which elements caused the client to back off from the transaction is one of every entrepreneur's duties.
Fantasizing on the causes leading to the point of no return is an ineffective strategy.
Clients silently walking away are a priceless resource to understand how we can improve our marketing and selling strategies.
Trying to understand why a client pulls away can be useful or not, why?
The client abandons the dialogue for her reasons, not for ours.
A client who reached the point of no return and who is willing to discuss the reasons for her withdrawal is an opportunity we cannot miss.
Why is it necessary to investigate on our point of no return?
If, in the marketing strategy you are using, there is one (or more) point in which your clients show an inclination to hide or abandon the dialogue, this element, this part of the dialogue is probably in need of special attention.
How can we avoid the point of no return?
Try to spend some time analyzing the marketing structure of your company. Split each element into various parts, trace and separate single passages and organize them into phases. Find elements that enable you to use precise, reproducible and reliable measurement systems.
Find the point of no return in each phase and highlight strategies to prevent the prospective client from reaching that area.
Ask clients for a feedback exactly in the moment of their withdrawal, you will find out that they are happy to help you understand how you can improve communication with them.
Try it: you will be astonished by the results!
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| About the Author |
©2006 All rights reserved
Alessandro Meloni is the founder of Business Doctor Marketing, a small business marketing agency located in Italy.
He can be reached at http://www.businessdoctor.it
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