One of the simplest (but sometimes hardest to do, emotionally) actions you can take to fulfill your marketing and business development goals is to ?. . . ask.
The request could be as simple as seeking some information about the market, RFP requirements, or the competition. Or it could be as natural as encouraging a testimonial, especially when you know one of your current clients is really happy.
In the more challenging range — because this steps into the world of selling and business development — you could ask for someone to post a positive comment on their website/blog, actually write a testimonial letter, or, in some cases, to give you an order or commission.
The thing about asking is that the person on the other side of the request doesn’t have to say yes (unless you have dictatorial powers, and that isn’t so much an ask as a command). And the ratio of “yeses” for ask to positive response can vary and, if you are pushing asks blindly especially to strangers with whom you have no good reason to associate, they can be downright hostile. (Try canvassing my home and you’ll experience the painful response to an unwelcome ‘ask’.)
But if you don’t ask, and simply passively hope for folks to say “yes” by calling you (most likely because of referrals or previous relationships, or perhaps because of your gives) you’ll lose out on much of the business that would be rightfully yours.
Great AEC marketing can set the stage to make the ask much easier and effective, but you still need to ask the question.
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