The Chicken Claw Strategy

This guest post is part of our ongoing Micro Business Experts series, and is written by Bob Prentice, founder of www.mrattitudespeaks.com

Have you ever noticed the toes on a chicken? There are three main toes to be exact. The middle toe is longer than the other two. Years ago I developed a strategy in selling that worked wonders for me as I was developing new business. I call it the CHICKEN CLAW. Here is how it works.

Lets say I have an appointment at 10:00 a.m. across town with a client or even a prospective client in this example we will call XYZ. I will leave plenty early for the 10:00 a.m. appointment with XYZ and then before my scheduled appointment I will go next door on the right of XYZ and introduce myself, plant a brochure, a business card, a friendly greeting and say something to the effect that I have a meeting at XYZ next door to discuss some marketing strategies and I just wanted to meet a neighbor. I make this meeting very short and quick and ask permission to stay in touch. Then I quickly leave and go to my main appointment at 10. Then after that appointment with XYZ I go to the other side of the business on the left and go plant a seed with the neighboring business and say something to the effect that I was just next door working with XYZ on some marketing strategies and I ask if I may leave some of my materials with the decision maker and get permission to stay in touch with them also.

As I continue to work on my main relationship with XYZ many, many times over the years I also developed a new relationship with either the prospect on the right or the left of the XYZ client. In essence doubling my productivity and in many cases my profit.

This Chicken Claw Strategy saves a ton on travel and marketing costs and has greatly expanded my client base over the years. I usually get the extra client on the right or on the left of my main XYZ client and in some cases I have even gained all three as clients.

My encouragement to you is to try the Chicken Claw Strategy and expand your business.