Is the the same-size company offering a broadly similar service?
Is it the bigger competitor with a well established brand name and deeper pockets who can afford to pay more to get a client?
Is it the hundred other ways that the money can be spent?

No, the biggest competitior is simply inertia.

It may not be anything as concrete as a definite NO but simply the inability or unwillingness to take a decision at all. It is said that in the corporate world it took 18 months to get a decision, which has probably stretched out a whole lot longer in the recession.

Modern sales techniques are all about qualifying the prospect so that these hidden time-wasters are eliminated. If you can get a “NO” from a potential client that is a much more energising result than a “maybe.”

So what do you do with the “maybe” type of prospects? (And indeed, the ones who said No).

You develop the relationship. You get prepared for the long haul and speak to them in the way they want to hear. You weave them effortlessly into all your marketing communications so they feel they get to know you.

You give them valuable information which they can take away and use. They will remember that the information came from you. Next time they hear from you they will feel indebted to you… and the chances of them coming to you to buy is dramatically increased.

Pain and pleasure are the big motivating factors at every stage. Excitement will make them want to be part of your world, and scarcity or fear will moitvate them so they don’t miss out.

Inertia is a big deal. Prepare. Small business marketing can be brillliantly effective when planned with inertia in mind.

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The Budget will be the focus of many breakfast and lunch meetings, the hot item of radio and TV news and a perfect way to connect with your clients. It will be part of the conversation already taking place in their head. It can create a link between you in conversation, in emails, letters, newsletters and be the ice-breaker in a presentation or even the subject of a joke.

At this stage I have no idea what will be in the budget as it is a few days away. Of course when the news is known or the parliamentary leaks are broadcast there will be even more material to use to create the conversation. The Budget can of course link back to the recession conversation which is being spoken in different intonations throughout the world.

Nobody is drifting casually through 2009 which is a great opportunity for businesses great and small. We have all woken up. We have all had to think and that is a great business opportunity. We all share certain aspects of the same type of conversation.

It was Robert Collier who first advocated getting into the conversation already taking place in the mind of the customer 70 years ago, and it is just as relevant today.

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