Do I need a pizza menu in my business?

​Does anyone else have that drawer in their kitchen which is crammed with menus from all your favourite takeaways? 

Have you ever thought about how you could use this marketing technique in your business for all those customers who have ‘filed you for later’?

Now, I'm not suggesting you go and print thousands of leaflets about your products or services and post them through every door in the country. First, that would be extremely expensive and, second, it just wouldn't work for most businesses. 

What I'm talking about here is something which you can give to those potential clients who aren't really “hungry” for what you offer now, but might be in the future.

This idea comes from Anthony Stears book The Telephone Assassin where tells the story of the time he bumped into the pizza menu delivery boy on the doorstep. The delivery boy was so apologetic for disturbing him, saying something along the lines of ‘here’s a pizza menu, sorry to bother you. I know you don’t really want pizza right now, but you could chuck it in a drawer and save it for later for when you maybe do want a pizza.’

​So how can you use this in your business?

Most small business owners are wary when it comes to cold outreach. People think of it as forcing a pushy sales pitch on the customer the moment they pick up the phone. Nobody wants that.

A pizza menu allows you to approach cold outreach in a way that connects you with new potential customers without the pushy sales pitch. Instead you offer them some free content which will bring them actual value so that you are top of their list when they are looking for what you offer.

I have found some of the most effective pizza menus to be: 

• A free guide providing useful content about your industry (click here to request a copy of my free guide ‘how to do marketing that actually works’)
• A symptoms quiz guiding customers toward the problem you solve
• A checklist
• A step-by-step case study that clearly shows the process and real outcomes
• A template or cheat sheet 

These are all something your potential customers will find useful which means someone with the problem you solve would never say no to it. It also demonstrates your authority in your industry, which builds trust.

What pizza menu could you create for your business? Share yours with me in my Facebook group!