In a prior article I mentioned that my accountant has been using various marketing devices.

He hasn’t received any bites on the Harry & David gift basket that he has offered for referrals, and nobody has even said “Nice newsletter!” upon receiving his quarterly mailings.

So, it would seem that his efforts are for naught, right?

Not so fast!

Just because marketing doesn’t produce tangible sales that can be traced back to a single initiative, it may still be working hard for you, racking up less visible results.

For instance, my accountant’s efforts aren’t bringing in any new business, but they probably are reinforcing my decision to stick with him. His newsletters, postcards playing off the March Madness basketball theme, and the like are reminders that he’s active, not sitting on his laurels, trying to stay relevant and current.

And somewhere in my unconscious I probably link his topicality with basketball to keeping pace with the tax code. Are they really correlated?

Not at all, but we attribute a lot of positives to people who make an effort, any effort, whether relevant or not.

I’ve received unsolicited referrals from past clients after sending them an article or two.

Why did they choose that time to make such a generous gesture? Perhaps it is a sense of gratitude that they’re expressing, or my current ideas have reminded them of how valuable I’ve been to them in the past.

Marketing for professionals is somewhat like watering a tiny seed. You just can’t stop doing it because nothing has sprouted that you can see.

Keep watering, because growth and results are on the way!

Dr. Gary S. Goodman, President of Customersatisfaction.com, is a popular keynote speaker, management consultant, and seminar leader and the best-selling author of 12 books, including Reach Out & Sell Someone® and Monitoring, Measuring & Managing Customer Service, and the audio program, “The Law of Large Numbers: How To Make Success Inevitable,” published by Nightingale-Conant. He is a frequent guest on radio and television, worldwide. A Ph.D. from USC's Annenberg School, a Loyola lawyer, and an MBA from the Peter F. Drucker School at Claremont Graduate University, Gary offers programs through UCLA Extension and numerous universities, trade associations, and other organizations in the United States and abroad. He holds the rank of Shodan, 1st Degree Black Belt in Kenpo Karate. He is headquartered in Glendale, California, and he can be reached at (818) 243-7338 or at: gary@customersatisfaction.com.