The Power of 2nd Place

Hey everybody, Lindsey Smith here with your business tip this week.

I was walking down the street and I saw these new homes behind me and it reminded me of a business tip that I heard from two gurus named Chad Holmes and Harvey McKay.  And the tip is this, is that if you can’t be #1, make sure you secure your spot as #2.  And the way it works is this, I get questions all the time about how do I prospect builders or lawyers with divorce sales or perhaps it’s banks with foreclosures.  And the deal is this.  Is that you have to constantly be building relationships with these people.

Now, I’ve talked to people that said, “Oh, I can’t do it; they’re already working with someone.”  Well that is their number one pick because they made it and then chosen to  work with them.  But now think; if you could be #2 in these people’s eyes, and if they said, “Do you know what, if this relationship ever ended, we would give you a shot.”  Then that is almost more powerful because here’s the reason.

Imagine, you can be prospecting 50 of these types of clients, builders, banks, lawyers; and imagine that they switch who they do business with once every ten years.  That means on average, at every single year, this person; there would be five of these people that switched who they do business with.  And if you’re #2 in their eyes, then guess who they’re going to turn to for their business?  That’s up to five a year.  Now, some people aren’t going to switch as often.  Some people may switch more often.  But think about the power of that.  So if you ever can’t be first, make sure you maintain your relationships to ensure your spot as #2.

That’s the business tip this week.  All the best in doing a ton of business in 2009.

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