I spend time marketing a damage restoration business to prospects. I visit insurance agents, property managers, apartment building managers as well as managers of assisted living facilities.

If I'm not careful I would make the same pitch to an insurance agent that I make to the assisted living manager. Instead, before I make my initial call; I check out the business online. How long have they been in business? Do they have a special focus? If I am able to identify the owner, can I learn anything about them from LinkedIn or Facebook? When I make my initial inquiry, I check out the office. Are papers scattered?  Is the space disorganized? My approach may be different for a disorganized manager than when I see a clean, well-organized office.

Readers of my articles will likely recall that I frequently advise them to lead with benefits and follow with evidence. Frequently, we treat glowing generalities as evidence.  For example:  “We're the best carpet cleaner in town. We do a great job.”  Or we say, “Our customer satisfaction is outstanding,” without backing up the claim with evidence. Customers prefer evidence.

Paul gave us a good example when he wrote, “but test everything that is said. Hold on to what is good.” (1 Thessalonians, 5:21 NLT) Part of my takeaway from this verse is to test what people tell us.  Part of testing is to seek evidence.  Evidence allows us to hold on to what we validate.

Consider the Flex Seal commercial example.  These commercials demonstrate how the product stops all kinds of leaks, including filling holes in the bottom of a boat. The commercial shows how you can plug Flex Seal into a boat leak and drive the boat around the lake. These pictures provide evidence for prospective buyers.

As we prepare to celebrate Christmas, we consider sharing gifts with customers and prospects. The Lord instructs us to give thanks many times in scripture. Our gifts are one way to show thanks. However, we should keep several principles in mind about gift giving.

1. Give gifts that aren’t questionable.

In other words, make sure the gift has no possibility of offending.  Gifts of wine or liquor are in this category.   Also make sure that a concert or theater ticket is for wholesome entertainment.   

Reuters recently ran a news story that caught my eye about how banks are coming up with all kinds of gimmicks to entice customers to come into a branch. The article led with, “Free Wi-Fi, discounted cappuccinos, artwork, and a dancing robot are among the features banks across the United States are touting to convince customers that even in an era of smartphones it is still worth it to visit a bank branch.” My first thought was that banks are making a serious mistake embracing this marketing approach.

Many years ago I participated in a high school glee club.  The good part was that a multitude of voices overcame my ability to sing like a cow. A local television station wanted to highlight the group and asked them to perform three Christmas songs.  In the spirit of full disclosure, the program’s producer was the father of one of our members. When the producer came to watch part of a rehearsal, he thought the music was pretty good but he was clear about one thing: we needed to look like we were thoroughly enjoying ourselves.