Hyperlocal Jackpot – The Small Client Counts

Two days ago I received the email.

The small hair salon who has advertised with me over the past
six years was canceling their monthly newspaper ad.

I had a feeling this might be coming. Many local businesses
seem to be having a difficult time right now but here is what really surprised me.

I went into the books and pulled up the clients account:

Over the past six years this small hair salon had invested more than
$10,000 USD with our business.

Now, that’s a lot of money for a rather small player, which
just goes to show you at the hyperlocal level all these little leads
add up into big results.

As I took some time to think about this equation I pondered on how easily
I had captured these guys as advertisers.

Essentially I had walked into the Salon – Cold Call
Off the street, made my pitch and they said “Yes”.

I highly doubt they were expecting to pay over $10,000 over the course of the
next six years but I also never stopped to consider that this was
an essentially a $10,000 contract.

If I had I might have actually taken steps to prioritize this a bit more
or at least send them a Thank You Letter with a box of chocolates.

So with that in mind, as we move forward into 2012
how will you view your customers?

What true value do they bring to the relationship with you and more importantly
what are you willing to do to win this and keep it?

Of course I was lucky in the above senario, but now that they are gone,
you better believe I am not going to see my next client as
only a $200 / month prospect but rather as a $10,000 jackpot.

Keep up the good work in the hyperlocal trenches.