Hooked – How to Get Remembered (Part 2)

(In the last article we talked about the difficulty buyers have in remembering you by name when they get ready to buy. This article will look at ways to make sure they never forget your name.)

Why don’t people remember you? You never give them a reason, a “hook”, to remember you by.

If the real estate mantra is Location Location Location, the sales mantra should be RememberMe RememberMe RememberMe.

How do you get people to remember you? Persistence. Time. And a hook.

Trigger isn’t just a horse

Give them something – a reason, a hook – to remember you by. Make it visual, tangible, and/or auditory. Practitioners of NLP, neuro-linguistic (brain-language) programming, talk about “triggers” and “anchors” that cause you to create thoughts that affect you and change your behavior. The objective is to get you to go from getting the results you don’t want to creating the results you do want. A trigger can be that slice of the six-layer Claim Jumper Motherlode chocolate cake that just passed your table. You start salivating and thinking of how good those three different chocolates must taste together. But NLP wants that Motherlode trigger thought to set off another, immediate counter-thought: the anchor. The anchor thought replaces the Motherlode.

The anchor thought in this case is the picture you’ve created of your 20-year class reunion coming up in six months and you’re hearing everyone compliment you on the 25 pounds you’ve lost since they last saw you. The anchor thought replaces the trigger thought and gets you to take the required action: “No dessert. Check please.” The shorthand version: chocolate cake = class reunion.

Hooked for life

Advertising employs the same exact concept as NLP. When an event (the Superbowl) triggers a thought (I need a big screen HDTV) the automatic response (I want a Sony) is an anchor to provide the desired result Sony wants because they have been heavily promoting the Superbowl as seen on a Sony HDTV.

Another example? Here, touch this hot burner. No? Why not? Because when you touched it as a child, you jerked your finger away in pain, screamed, and put your blistered digit in your mouth to soothe the pain. The jerk, scream, and finger in the mouth becomes your anchor for life. The next time you see a hot burner (the trigger) you’ll recall the anchor (jerk, scream, finger in the mouth) and you get the desired result: don’t touch the burner. This little trigger/anchor episode took a split second to be ingrained into your memory for life. You’ll always remember it.

Most trigger and anchor lessons take longer. Unlike the hot burner which takes an instant because it involves immediate physical and emotional suffering, advertising uses repetition to create the effect. For example, if you’re tired and want a good night’s sleep, do you remember the television commercial that uses the green, translucent butterfly? Lunesta’s trigger is your desire to sleep. Their anchor to get you to remember Lunesta is the butterfly. They’re not trying to sell you the product at this time. What they want is for you to remember them so that when you’re tired and can’t sleep (trigger) you’ll remember the butterfly (anchor) and tell your doctor to prescribe their product (their desired outcome).

Create your own memories

As a salesperson, you have to do the same thing. You want people to specifically remember you by name when they decide to buy. When they’re triggered by the benefits your service provides (e.g. filling a staffing vacancy), you have to provide an anchor, a hook, to get them to remember you by name when they call. It’s not enough that they remember your company’s name. Someone else may get the sale. They must, must remember your name if you’re to get the commission.

And here’s something else that’s important to remember. Create the hooks with every person within the organization that you meet and not only with the company’s decision-maker. Create hooks with the influencers like the executive assistant, office manager, receptionist, service manager, service people, controller, bookkeeper, salespeople, and other executives. They could recommend you to the boss. They could influence the outcome. They could get you that elusive appointment. They could get your phone calls taken and returned. People get promoted and change responsibilities. People leave. They could take you with them. They could recommend you to their friends they network with. If they remember you.

8 ball, corner pocket

Like NLP and advertising, getting people to remember you first will take time, persistence, and a hook.

What are some hooks? From my personal experience, having a Southern accent in a Northern state is like gold. They may think I talk funny, but people always remember me because of it. But that’s not easy to do if you don’t have an accent or if you’re not willing to move.

How about a simple thank you card (95% of salespeople never send them, so you stand out immediately) followed by other cards each month with humor or entertaining ideas? Robert Liodice, the CEO of the National Association of Advertisers, said “Customers want to be involved with your message. Capture their attention in intriguing ways. Get them comfortable with you. Sell without really selling. Let the customer know we’re always here when they need us.” (The Lunesta effect.)

How about calling and asking for their voicemail (auditory hook) and then leaving management ideas or motivating ideas that you’ve read that they can pass on to their staff? (Keep them under one minute – no exceptions!)

How about a monthly email to say “Just making my monthly check-up to see how we’re doing for you” and follow it with something of entertainment value like, “Did you know that on this date in history…?”

Another hook is to include prospects and customers in your personal networking group. Network on a postcard without requiring formal or informal meetings. Introduce new members to other members via the postcards. Each week, tell your members what one other member does or sells. Pass on referrals. Let members know of new businesses coming into their area that they should be contacting.

And next time when the prospect you called on receives a trigger thought (I need to hire two new bookkeepers) your hook (cards, emails, voicemails, or visits) will immediately create an anchor thought (I need to call Kathy at Fully Staffed Personnel).

Keep in mind that selling is like playing pool or billiards where every shot sets up the next shot. In selling, every contact sets up the next sale. Every contact is a hook to create an anchor thought, to get them to remember you first when they’re read to buy.

Give them a hook. Do that and they’ll remember you for life.