All rise... this local court is now in session! In swept the Magistrate, bowed and told us all to sit. And so started a very interesting day for Barbara and myself.
We sat, somewhat enthralled as a parade of Drink Drivers, Speeding Drivers and some petty (and not so petty) criminals in handcuffs came before the Magistrate.
Now I should hasten to add we weren't there for anything so dramatic.
For the first time in 11 years, one of our "clients" had refused to pay our bill, claiming we didn't have an agreement even though he'd agreed terms, then asked for and received significant consulting.
Frankly, we don't like being cheated, so took him to court. He didn't turn up for 2 hearings, so we got a default judgement against him. Once he felt the heat from the court, he tried to get the judgement set aside, hence our day in court.
Now you may well be thinking, "What's this got to do with marketing and business?"
Well, the "drama" revealed some significant marketing and sales lessons.
Enter the players.
There was the Magistrate - who effectively was the client who needed to be convinced to be lenient and "buy" the story.
The Solicitor or Barrister who acted as the salesperson. And finally the defendant hoping to get off.
A couple of things became obvious very early on.
Your past behaviour and reputation had a great influence on the level of "punishment".
If you were up on a drink driving charge, the Magistrate looked at your past driving history (every speeding fine and other offence was listed), the years you'd been behind the wheel and the level of alcohol in your blood.
Two people "got off" without a criminal conviction being recorded as they'd been driving for over 30 years - with pretty much unblemished records and had made a mistake by not realising how long alcohol took to metabolise in their bodies.
Younger people got far harsher sentences. They didn't have the "long reputations" as safe drivers.
So how does this relate to your business?
The longer you've had a great reputation for delivering, the more you'll be trusted in your marketplace. And yes, small issues could be forgiven.
However, make a lot of mistakes, have lots of unhappy clients, and you're sunk.
The second factor was being an excellent marketer and salesperson.
Defendants with solicitors representing them always got a better deal for their clients The solicitor was not emotionally involved and could cogently present arguments often overturning the Magistrate's initial opinions.
Case in point...
There was a chap in his mid 20's there with his Mother. As he sat in the front row, 2 burly policemen came and sat behind him.
His solicitor commented to the Magistrate that she hoped they weren't there for her client...
"Yes they are - your client is going to jail for 2 years!"
But 10 minutes later, the solicitor had convinced the Magistrate to have her client assessed for the "Intensive Correction Programme" - and avoid jail if accepted.
The Magistrate commented that she'd done an excellent job in saving her client using her arguments.
Which showed something else.
When trying to market your business, get professional help. As outsiders to your business, we see things that you don't (simply because you're too familiar with what you do) and can create "arguments" that have a greater impact when it comes to convincing your prosects to take action.
Yes it will cost you money - but it could make all the difference between success and failure and in this case, jail.
I learned some profound lessons in court. While I'm a good persuader and marketer in my field, I knew nothing about how the court operated and what was required.
There was a system that needed to be followed. Follow it and you'd likely be successful. Don't and you'd get slammed for wasting the court's time.
Marketing your business is no different.
There are systems (which involve strategies and tactics) that will make you more successful.
If you go in ad hoc and half cocked, you may get lucky, but most of the time you'll expend time, money and energy for very little result - i.e. new clients.
At Revealed Resources we design and implement marketing and sales systems that will help you steadily bring in more clients. Our systems and strategies make sure you don't leave things to chance and hope for the best.
Give me a call on (02) 9499-7958 for a confidential discussion regarding getting your marketing and sales on track, so you get more clients.
And if you're wondering what happened with our case...
It eventually got called - and our "client's" request was thrown out. So the judgement against him stands. All in all, a very interesting experience.
Rashid.
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