Will they come?

The theme of the movie, "Field of Dreams," was, "Build it and they will come." I still hear people refer to it as a viable strategy for success. But I think they are in error.

I'm sure that this passive approach is at least somewhat effective and certainly it is a theme we all would like to believe. In a business context, if you open a store, have a booth at a trade show, open an office, build a Web site, or invent a new product or process, some prospects will show up. Some even will buy from you. If enough of those prospects buy, you might be able to build a sustainable business.

Maybe you get lucky and your company becomes amazingly successful. It's possible. It has happened.

But, imagine if, instead of sitting back and waiting passively for "them to come," you did something proactive to excite them to come, make them want to come, or entice them to come.

If you did the "something proactive" thing, they would come faster, more often and with more enthusiasm, instead of just showing up. Activities in the "something proactive" category can be lumped into one word: "marketing."

Marketing can be broken down into many different activities such as advertising, branding, selling, networking, public relations and building personal relationships.

I see way too many companies that "build it" and wait barely, surviving instead of thinking of the "build it" process, as just the first step into creating a viable, sustainable, successful business. They sit and stare at the phone, waiting for it to ring instead of using that phone to proactively call prospects, past customers, or referral sources.

They wait for customers to return because "we did such a good job for them that they will come back" instead of designing a system to entice those customers to return faster and purchase more. They expect, just because they "built it," that their prospect base knows they exist.

They don't realize that their more successful competitors are proactively grabbing their prospects while the passive marketer is waiting for "them to come."

Opinions expressed solely are those of the writer. Larry Galler, of Larry Galler & Associates, is a marketing and management consultant for small and mid-size companies. For more information or to get his free report, "Tolerations driving you nuts? Eliminate them now!" contact larry@larrygaller.com or call (219) 464-9463.