The Iridium Rule

You were taught to live by the golden rule but recently you may have run across the platinum rule (treat others they way they want to be treated). The platinum rule has been postulated by Tony Alessandra as a tenet for a more effective approach to selling.

Well, today, I would like to offer up The Iridium Rule. Come on, you know iridium. It is element number 77, right next to platinum on the periodic table, very similar in characteristics, costs about the same, and is even found in the same deposits when mining. We don’t really talk about it much however.

We do talk much about how to sell. So it is no surprise that the platinum rule along with its namesake precious metal gets more exposure. So what the heck is the iridium rule? It is for the marketeers – “market unto others the way they want to be marketed to”. Sounds silly? Better not – it is a new requirement of today’s demand creation. We need to talk about this more. Let’s make iridium a popular metal too.

OK. You conduct a campaign that sends an e-mail to a high potential contact from a company that should want your product or service. You got the contact details through a purchased list and you made a proposal to those on it to check out the quality of your offering through a no risk promotion. A portion of those on the list are going to be interested in taking the next step with you, but what is that next step?

Are you hoping to call them next to set up a sales call? Do you want to send them a white paper? Are you hoping they will download a software demo, or maybe attend a webinar? Perhaps they want to stay connected but not take the exact action you are proposing. Is it to subscribe to a newsletter? Do they want to open a chat session because they are ready to take an action sooner, but have questions?

Are you prepared to offer all or any of these? Because, that is what is necessary to increase your chances of keeping the prospects in your funnel rather than swirling over to your competitors. Buyers today expect to connect up with your marketing efforts in a way that satisfies them. They might be able to chat but not e-mail. They may be interested in your newsletter for a future action, but not ready for the software download. They might want to read the whitepaper, but have no desire, yet, to speak to a telemarketer. And, if you only offer the action that you want (or are capable of) a percentage of those prospects are going to land somewhere that offers the medium or action that fits their requirements or preferences.

So, The Iridium Rule – market to your prospects the way they want. Build your capabilities to match the different ways your prospects neet to connect with you. Flood your funnel. Engorge your pipeline. Strike gold.