Mar 10
4
How many of your business cards does your banker have? Your personal banker, or local branch manager probably gets asked a lot of questions about
the value of old paper money and coins, — after all they’re a bank — that’s where the money comes from and where it goes.
Typically, most branch managers, tellers, and bank executives do not know what to tell their customers, or where to send them.
So, help them out. Provide your banker with a batch of business cards and a small brochure along
with a little handwritten note letting them know that you can help them, by helping their customers.
Better yet, the next time you’re at the bank, pop in and see the branch manager for a friendly visit. Tell him or her how referring you to their bank customers can help their customers and help themselves as well.
OK, so maybe you don’t appraise coins and currency, but you certainly know someone who does. And let’s face it, you probably know a whole lot more about coins and currency than the banker. Remember, all you really want is to get your entire market (geographical, regional, or by specialty) to call you first when they have any personal property value questions.
Get on the phone, stop by your local branch or send a letter to your bank’s branch manager and tell them how you can help them help their customers.
But why stop there? Don’t you have an accountant, a lawyer, a financial planner, and an insurance agent? Each of these professionals have a relationship with their clients and customers. Help them help their customers by offering your services. And what about libraries, museums and historical societies?
Leon often refers to these professionals as ‘gatekeepers.’ Typically the term ‘gatekeeper’ refers to someone who keeps you from reaching a potential customer or client. In the traditional definition, gatekeepers are secretaries that screen calls and prevent your message from getting to the
decision maker. But a gatekeeper can also OPEN the doors to other clients. So that’s why using the professionals you know, can help you get to their clients. It’s an easy and very productive marketing technique. Start with the bank, develop the other professionals you use, then develop the institutions mentioned above.
Things to offer to your gatekeepers:
·Your business card
·Your brochure
·A free lecture/mini-seminar at their office for their
customers, patrons or clients
·A small brochure on the type of personal property most
likely to be in the hands of their clients
·An article on how to protect or care for valuable items
Create a plan to visit at least three potential gatekeepers each week. Then develop a system to make at least one touch per month. It can be in the form of a telephone call, a visit, an e-mail or a newsletter. Create your plan, then implement it.
The plan is the easy part — it’s making it work that’s tough.
As Thomas Edison said; “Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration.”
Now get off the computer and start marketing.
Brian Kathenes is the host of a weekly radio show, and a TV personality. He is a published author and the Managing Partner of National Appraisal Consultants, a full service personal property valuation firm.
He is past Chairman of the New York Winter Antique Show Vetting Committee on Autographs, Manuscripts & Rare Books, and works regularly with Lee and Leslie Keno and Cash in the Attic ’s Tim Luke.
Mr. Kathenes has presented seminars and symposium for over 472,000 participants and clients including the International Society of Appraisers ISA CAPP Course and Appraisal Techniques and Practical Information for Archivists and Librarians from the National Archives and the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C.
He offers a special antiques and collectibles free report : “How To be Your Own Appraiser,” which can be found on: http://www.BestAntiqueTips.com