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3 Lessons I Learned From Having My First Sale

Jan 24

Posted by Alexandria Brown in The Customer Service Dept, The Marketing Dept, The Sales Dept | No Comments

From past years of experience in selling information products online, I knew that December sales are generally always slow. So this year I decided to try something different – have a sale.

I was always nervous in the past about having a sale. Would it diminish the value on my information in people’s minds? Would it turn off my 15,000 subscribers? Would the short-term cash flow be worth the risk? I didn’t want any of my readers to start associating my website with Wal-Mart, having sales every other week, prices going up and down.

But something told me to try it… just once. Nothing could go wrong; it was just an experiment. So on Monday, Dec. 13, I sent out a special announcement to my e-zine list that said, “I’ve never done this before, but this week only, I’m giving 50% 0FF all of these eight great audio programs I’ve produced over the past 18 months. This is my gift to you, to thank you for being a Straight Shooter subscriber. Which ones do YOU want to grab today at 50% 0ff?”

I then listed all my audio programs’ catchy titles, each linked to its own sales page.

That one mailing resulted in over 94 sales, and most of the orders were for multiple products.

My regular ezine issue came out that Thursday, and I mentioned the sale in that as well. That resulted in another 31 sales.

But here’s the biggie…

When Friday morning arrived, I wasn’t sure whether to send out one more email or not. I was concerned it would be too much and my subscribers may be ticked off. The sale ended at midnight, and I’d already sent two notices about it – should I send out one more reminder? My rational mind said no, these folks are aware of the deadline. But my instincts told me yes. So I did. One more solo mailing, very similar to the original, but with a big reminder that the sale expired at midnight Eastern (NY) time.

The result? An additional 116 sales JUST from that last reminder email! These are sales I would have never gotten unless I sent out that one last reminder. Unbelievable! And you wouldn’t believe all the orders coming in just before the stroke of midnight. (I was thinking, “What are all these folks doing home on the Internet on a Friday night?” And then I remembered that *I* was sitting home on the Internet on a Friday night. : ))

I grossed over $11,000 from this event alone. (Not a bad experiment, yes?) Plus I gave many of my readers a chance to sample my audio information products at a lower price than usual. Ideally they’ll realize how good my stuff is and purchase my higher priced products.

So here are three lessons I learned from this whole experience:

1. Don’t be afraid to have a sale. But don’t have them frequently, and have a REASON for the sale. For example, my reason was to thank my subscribers for staying on my list throughout 2004.

2. Don’t be afraid to send out a few reminders. The key is to not overdo it. In the beginning, do less than you think your list will tolerate. As you get to know your readership and their preferences, and get them used to receiving more emails from you with special announcements, you can increase your mailings. (But remember, the reason my readers love to hear from me when I have something special to offer is because I give them so much great content every week, and I don’t overload them with promotions.)

3. If you set any type of deadline, be prepared to get the most orders close to the deadline. I was surprised that I gave people five full days to take advantage of the sale, but many people didn’t take action until the last minute – orders were piling in right up until midnight, and people were begging me to let them “slide in” after! Be strict with your deadlines though, or no one will take them seriously in the future.

Many of my internet marketing guru friends tell me not to share numbers with my readers, but I wanted to share them with you for a few reasons. One, to show you that this is very possible, and two, to show you that I have nothing to hide. I’ll always share my secrets for success with you — there’s plenty of money to go around for all of us.

Now, go plan your next sale!

Verbal Legibility: The Secret To Understandable Messages

Jan 23

Posted by Michael Crooks in Excellence!, People!, Personal Development, Starting out in business, The Customer Service Dept, The Marketing Dept, The Operations Dept, The Sales Dept | 1 Comment

After my third attempt to de-code the phone number from my voice mail … I gave up. Seems Frank Janson … Johnson …  Jorson or something like that from some company in Mauzoula or Missouri wants me to call him back. His number is 269-6 something, four, 36 or maybe it’s 3 zero then 6, 8 then something. Whatever! Point is, I’m not calling him back. And if he ever does get a hold of me, I’ll be less than enthusiastic about dealing with him since he’s already wasted my time and caused me a fair amount of frustration by leaving a message I can’t understand. He has what I call a “Verbal Legibility” factor of zero.

Where I come from, the whole point of leaving a phone number is so people can call you back. But too often, the person leaving the message is too bored, tired, lazy or busy to put a cohesive, understandable sentence together. Or they try to be cute with the way they say 55 triple 4 oh 2. Is that 50 then 5 or is it 55? And by the way, it’s a zero not an “oh”.

It seems silly to tell people to speak clearly and slowly. But an enormous number of people talk way too fast, way to soft, talk “mush-mouthed” or combine 2 or more of these traits to create a message they themselves couldn’t possibly understand. So yes, while it seems silly … I’ll do it anyway. “At the tone, PLEASE, speak clearly and slowly.”

As far as the number goes, here’s a tip I use. While you’re saying your number — write it … neatly.  Say your number NO FASTER than you can write it. Then repeat it. If you have no writing utensil, pretend to write it in the air.

Another tip, leave your phone number at the beginning of the message. In the event your target doesn’t get your number the first time they hear it, they don’t have to listen back through your whole boring message to get it.

How’s your verbal legibility when leaving messages? Record yourself some day when you’re busy returning phone calls. Listen to yourself … you just might learn something.

Refusing Work

Jan 21

Posted by Robert Gerrish in People!, Risk Management, The Board Room, The Customer Service Dept, The Sales Dept | No Comments

It would be lovely to think we only ever attracted dream clients to our businesses, but unfortunately we also get the occasional stinker.

Examples include those who ask us to undertake work that’s beyond (or beneath) our expertise. In these cases we have to weigh up ‘income versus annoyance’ and ensure we are mindful of the potential risk to our reputation.
In my experience, client-funded experimentation is rarely a smart move and work that’s beneath us may well pay the bills, but it sure numbs the mind.

Then there are the ‘payment pest’ brigade. These are the prospects who either don’t want to pay; insist on haggling; expect more than you intended to deliver, or make every conversation about money the verbal equivalent of root canal therapy.

Sometimes trouble can brew because of a simple personality clash. If this is the case we’ll need to determine how that will impact our working relationship and tread carefully before making a commitment.

Finally, we have those prospects who are either devoid of values and ethics or who found theirs in some parallel universe. The easy answer? Run a mile.

So what to do when confronted with the far-from-ideal client? In many cases if the terms of engagement are crystal clear, relationship issues can be overcome and indeed gradually go through a total transformation.

I hate to be harsh, but in most cases we attract ‘bad’ clients through our own actions (or inactions). Ouch!

What you need to know about hiring a professional speaker

Jan 3

Posted by Debbie Carr in Excellence!, Human Resource Management, Leadership, People!, Planning, The Board Room, The Customer Service Dept, The Sales Dept | No Comments

Debbie Carr - Coyote Management IntlChoosing a professional speaker or corporate trainer can be a daunting and risky task.  There are thousands of speakers all over the world so how do you choose?  My advice is to engage a bureau. The reason for this is that we know who the best speakers are and have existing relationships with them.  Many bureaus have hundreds to thousands of speakers, but we at Coyote, stay with a stable of about 140.  There is a very good reason for this, we have built good solid relationships and know that our speakers deliver.  All are experts in their topics.  I would personally find it very hard to represent people I do not know and have no relationship with.

To ensure you gain the maximum benefit from your investment when hiring a speaker you should consider the following:

  • What is the purpose of the event; Is it to motivate staff, build up a team spirit, launch a  new product, customer service training, are your sales team in need of some serious motivation?
  • Is there a theme to your event which the speaker can tailor to?
  • Who is your audience; age range, percentage of females and males, their roles in the company or organisation?
  • What are the challenges in your organisation that need some expert advice?
  • What do you want your delegates to walk away with after hearing the speaker?
  • What message does your speaker need to convey to the audience?
  • What is the most important thing you want the audience to remember?
  • What don’t you want the speaker to say?  This is very important and needs to be made very clear to the speaker.
  • Will the speaker be permitted to sell his/her products?
Once you have chosen your speaker some other things you will need to consider are:
 

  • Contract - Do you have the contract in place? Your bureau should arrange all this for you.
  • Materials - has the speaker sent up the materials for the conference i.e. workbooks? Have arrangements been made for distribution?
  • Signage - ensure that the event is clearly signposted.
  • Phone numbers - do you have the speaker’s mobile number, work number, home number and emergency number i.e. the bureau?
  • Dress code - have you informed the speaker of this?
  • Emergency - have you briefed the speaker what to say in an emergency situation?
  • Catering – have you advised the catering staff NOT to serve food whilst the speaker is presenting? If you are going to serve food have you checked with the speaker?
  • Contact on arrival - have arrangements been made for the speaker to make contact when they arrive on site?
  • Speaker’s introduction - Has the speaker’s introduction been given to the MC or introducer? Ideally, the speaker should brief the introducer.
  • Recording – are you intending to record the presentation? If yes, have you written agreement with the speaker?
  • Promotion – have you promoted the speaker? You can ask the speaker to write an article or press release.
  • Brief – have you discussed in detail the speaker’s brief?
  • Check in - have you spoken with the speaker at least two days before the event?
Contracts

Always ask the speaker or bureau for a contract. Our bureau has a standard practice of issuing the contract between the client and the speaker. Ensure that the following clauses are included in the contract.

  • Material Costs – if workbooks are being provided who is paying for them? Is it included in the speaker’s fee? Also, stipulate who will distribute the workbooks, will this be the responsibility of the speaker or will the meeting planner organise to have them distributed?
  • Travel Expenses - is the airfare business or economy? Many Australian professional speakers fly business class although sometimes trainers may fly economy. The meeting planner/client are not responsible for paying for fares other than the speaker, e.g. spouse, unless that is part of the contractual arrangement.
  • Speaker transportation- it is standard practice for the meeting planner/event organise to arrange for transfers to and from airport and venue.
  • Props - what equipment is needed, i.e. projector, whiteboard, what type of microphone? etc. Stipulate this in the contract.
  • Assistants/Staff - will the speaker be bringing an assistant; is this necessary, and if so, is it included in the speaker’s fee?
  • Transport of Materials - costs should be arranged between the event organiser and the speaker.
  • Recording - always obtain permission in writing from the speaker before the recording of any of the session.
  • Promotion & Publicity -is the responsibility of the event organiser.
  • Seating Arrangements - ensure that you have discussed the layout of the meeting room with the speaker and put this in the contract.
  • Audio-Visual Needs -discuss with speaker and have requirements stipulated in the contract.
  • Lectern, Podium -discuss with speaker and have requirements stipulated in the contract.
  • Venue Check - stipulate in the contract what time you want the speaker to arrive and whom to contact on arrival with phone number.
  • Meals - appropriate meals are required as part of the accommodation expenses.
  • Contact Details – always have both speaker and client mobile phone numbers in the contract.
  • Date of Meeting -ensure this is written in the contract.
  • Duration of the Presentation - ensure this is written in the contract.
  • Guarantee - is there a guarantee from the speaker if the conference organizers are not happy with the outcome?
  • Fee - always stipulate the fee and include any other costs, ie. accommodation, meals etc.
  • Cancellation Fee – have this stipulated in the contract. Most speakers will charge a 50% cancellation fee if the engagement is cancelled.
Phew! A lot of work but remember your bureau’s job is to save you time and help you make an informed decision that will bring you praise – not one that will cause you regret.

So what should you do when your prospect says, “I want a better deal – take it or leave it?”

Dec 7

Posted by Wayne Berry in Leadership, Negotiation, People!, The Board Room, The Sales Dept | No Comments

“Negotiating is the
most highly paid work
you will ever do. You
are generally making
more per hour when
you negotiate than
anything else you’ll
ever do!”"

Wayne Berry

This situation is NOT the negotiation. It’s the end result of the negotiation. It’s the symptom, NOT the cause of the sales person’s dilemma.However it’s not all over for the sales person if they possess some good negotiating skills.

It’s not too late to salvage the situation.

A better strategy would have been to avoid getting into this situation in the first place.

The problem is most sales people do not understand that negotiating is a process, not an event.

I hear sales people say things like, “It was all going well for 2 hours until the end, and then the prospect wanted to negotiate.”

I’m sorry but I’ve got some bad news for you if you’ve ever felt this way.

The negotiation did NOT occur at the end of the 2 hours.

It began at the beginning of the interaction with the prospect, and if the prospect is a good negotiator, it actually began long before the prospect started talking with you.

Too many sales people fail to understand this, and end up with an event called “being pressured for a discount”. They think that this is the negotiation. It’s not. They been negotiating for 2 hours and just didn’t realise it!

So what can you do to avoid ending up as “Shark Bait”?

How do you avoid being forced into an unprofitable deal, or even losing the deal altogether?

Here are a few quick thoughts.

1. Learn about negotiating.

It doesn’t come naturally in our culture. It’s a skill that you should develop if you are serious about your career in sales. Not having these skills is costing you big time in lost sales, lost profits, lost commissions and lots of stress.

By the way, many of your prospects ARE developing these skills – ON PURPOSE. They are not just playing it by ear. That’s for amateurs.

The next important thing to do is…

2. Understand what’s happening

There are 6 stages in every negotiation. They are;

a. Preparation.
b. Rapport.
c. Gathering Information
d. Exploring Options
e. Trading Concessions
f. Nailing Down The Deal

We don’t have the space here for a full explanation of each of these phases, however realise that all negotiations involve these phases. They can take seconds, hours, days or months depending on the negotiation. Learn about them and understand what happens in each phase.

3. Know that you have more power than you think in every negotiation

The problem is most sales people think that their prospect has all of the power. That’s simply not true. There are more than 20 sources of power in most negotiations. Problem is if you don’t know what they are, you will feel helpless. Find out about them.

Next…

4. Beware of the ploys, gambits and dirty tricks

Negotiating is game. However it’s a game where a sales person can get hurt if they don’t understands the moves, the ploys, the gambits and the dirty tricks that people use. I teach sales people how to spot and counter more than 30 “popular” ones. If you don’t understand them, learn about them.

Sales people who understand negotiating don’t become “Shark Bait”. They write profitable business and enjoy success.

I received an email about a month ago from one of our clients in London…

John King is a graduate of one of my negotiating workshops and his company sells large scale manufacturing equipment in the UK and Europe.

John wrote in his email…

“Wayne we were getting murdered in deals where we were up against cheaper competitors. My sales people were slashing prices and our margins were suffering badly. We were going backwards fast. I remembered that negotiating game we played in your workshop and thought that’s the answer. You probably didn’t even know about it but I ordered a copy of your audio programme, “Get the best deal every time”. I wanted my sales people to learn the lesson that I learned that night.

Well I thought you might be interested to know that this decision has added more than $5 million good old Aussie dollars to our GP over this last 12 months. I sat my guys down and we went through each CD one at a time at our sales meetings and also they listened every day in their cars and at home. We developed some new strategies and used that 15 page check list of yours. Well you’re right, negotiating skills make all the difference. When I think of all the dollars we gave away before my guys got “Top Gunned”, I could cry. Thanks mate. I owe you a big beer.”

I love getting emails like John’s and his story will shortly join our collection of Inspiring Success Stories and Testimonials at our Web Site. You’ll read another one there too from Michael Giuliano who tells how developing his selling skills through Top Gun has added more than $2 million to his earnings over the last 10 years.

The lesson is – get those negotiating skills!

Anyway until we speak again… Have a great week this week. Make it a great week!

Filling Your Marketing Funnel

Dec 1

Posted by Alexandria Brown in Innovation and Creativity, The Customer Service Dept, The Marketing Dept, The Sales Dept | No Comments

A client of mine, whom I’ll call “Mary,” is a financial planner. She’d had a Web site for a few years that pretty much served as an online brochure for her. When Mary came to me, she was looking for other ways to generate income besides working directly with clients.

During our first conversation I introduced her to the MARKETING FUNNEL. If you picture a funnel, you know it’s wide and open at the top, and tiny and narrow at the bottom. At the top of the funnel is where you want to get as MANY prospects in as possible. At the bottom of the funnel is your HIGHEST PRICED service or product. And in the middle are in-between levels of services/products and prices.

So as you go down the funnel, the products are priced higher and higher, and the idea is to keep people flowing down from the top to the bottom.

First, Get Them IN the Funnel

Offering something for FREE is the ideal way to get tons of people into your funnel. Most people collect prospects by giving away something free, such as a report, an e-zine, or a teleclass. When people sign up for these goodies, you get their names and e-mail addresses, allowing you to contact them again.

At the top of Mary’s funnel was her e-zine. And at the bottom was her pricey one-on-one services. But there was nothing in the middle of her funnel.

I see this often with many solo professionals, such as coaches and consultants. There’s either free or high-fee. This is the reason many of them have so much trouble converting prospects — people usually aren’t ready to make that big jump from $0 to several thousand dollars!

So I helped Mary brainstorm several information products (“info-products”) she could quickly create and begin to sell.

Info-Products Are Your Solution

By packaging your knowledge into info-products, you give your prospects the chance to “sample” you at a lower price, filling the middle of your funnel. Here are a few ideas to get you started:

* Books
* E-Books
* Special Reports
* Manuals
* Workbooks
* Journals
* Audio (downloads, CDs, or cassettes)
* Video (downloads, DVDs, or VHS tapes)
* Home Study Courses or Tutorials (usually a mix of media)

Even better, selling these products on your Web site gives you passive income. That is, it’s money coming in automatically. It didn’t require your working X hours for Y dollars. Sales can come in 24/7, even while you’re sleeping! (For help in getting started, see my program “How to Create, Sell, and Profit from E-books and Special Reports“.)

And don’t forget about teleclasses or teleseminars, delivered over the phone, or even Webinars, taught over the Internet. These require your direct involvement, but allow you to teach many people at once. These formats allow you to make much more money per hour, and they give your prospects access to you for a lower fee than hiring you one-on-one. (For help in getting started, see my program “Insider Secrets to Making Money With Teleseminars“.)

Here’s an example of my own product funnel:

TOP OF FUNNEL:
free e-zine
free teleclass

MIDDLE OF FUNNEL:
teleseminar ($47)
home study system ($197)
telebootcamp ($497)

BOTTOM OF FUNNEL:
one-on-one coaching/consulting ($350/hour)

Now, your funnel may look entirely different. For example, here’s what Mary’s funnel now looks like:

TOP OF FUNNEL:
free e-zine

MIDDLE OF FUNNEL:
workbook ($29)
teleseminar ($49)
2-CD audio program ($69)
4-week tele-course ($149)
2-day live workshop ($599)

BOTTOM OF FUNNEL:
one-on-one services ($250/hour)
personal mentoring ($6,000/year)

Take a few minutes right now and sketch out YOUR funnel. See where the holes are, and start thinking about what products you can add to make it easier for your prospects to sample your expertise and buy from you.

Fatal Traps of Negotiating Exposed

Nov 26

Posted by Wayne Berry in Leadership, Negotiation, People!, The Board Room | No Comments

Don’t Make These Mistakes!
As I work with sales people and sales managers I see some  fatal mistakes being made as they negotiate.

May I share some of these here with you now in the hope that their “learning experiences” will benefit you and remind you of the importance of not falling into these “traps”.

Indeed, you may care to use them as a check list to ensure that you develop and use good negotiating habits every time.

1.  Poor Planning

This has got to be the biggest killer of most negotiations and the major reason for not creating a win/win outcome.  Poor planning is the hallmark of the amateur negotiator.  They do no preparation at all, and it shows.  Particularly in our culture there is a tendency to simply “wing it”.

Don’t make this mistake!  Take the time, do your homework and do it right.
2.  Rushing The Negotiating Process

This is the second most common reason for creating disastrous outcomes in a negotiation.  Remember that negotiating is not just about reaching the bottom line in the shortest time possible.

Ours is a culture where we have become accustomed to instant coffee, 5 minute meals, pizzas delivered to our door in 15 minutes, and so with negotiating there is sometimes a tendency to want instant results.  Don’t make this mistake, take your time, and have the person you are negotiating with

Take your time, and have the person you are negotiating with invest more of their time too. The more time that you can have the other party invest, the more rapport you can develop. The more time the other party invests, the more interest they will have in getting something out of the negotiation rather than having it end with no agreement reached.

This is one of the best strategies for getting what you’re really looking for too.

3. Setting Low Goals

We don’t get always get what we deserve in life, more often than not, we get what we expect. In my opinion we often expect too little, and so it is too, in negotiating.

Don’t be afraid to aim high. Ask for what you think is fair, but don’t be afraid to ask. Recognise that negotiating is just a game, and if you ask for more than what you are prepared to settle for, either you might just get it. Or if the other party is a keen negotiator and wants to negotiate you down, you’ll be able to give a little and still be above your own bottom line.

If you start too low, you’ll have nowhere to go and being able to trade some concessions in a negotiation is often a part of allowing the other person to feel good about their negotiating abilities.

Next big mistake is...

4. Forgetting That Good Negotiating Involves Counter
Instinctive Skills

Before you respond, STOP, and think. Most instinctive responses are not the best response. The best responses are often counter instinctive. If you are feeling excited because the deal looks better than you thought, restrain yourself, don’t appear to be too eager.

This is a natural and instinctive response but lowers your power. It will be very hard to ask for a better deal if it’s obvious the other person that you want it no matter what.

A better response would be to play “reluctant buyer”. This is a counter instinctive response. Adopt the attitude, “I care… but not that much!” This is a much more empowering attitude and you are much more likely to gain concessions or a better deal from the other person.

So the lesson is, if your instinctive response is excitement, show the opposite, indifference. If your instinctive response is to get angry, be calm and so on.

Next…

5. Failure To Understand The Real Needs And Intentions
Of The Other Party.

When people negotiate they often fail to reveal their real needs and real intentions. So get that X-Ray vision working. Look below what the other party says and seek to understand their real needs and intentions. Broaden the base of the negotiation,

Once you narrow a negotiation to just one issue, like price, there has to be a winner and a loser. What we want to create is win/win.

Remember to use in-depth questions.

For example in a recent negotiation the person I was negotiating with was insisting on receiving $1,500 per event for services they would be providing me. I was prepared to pay only $1,000 per event. This was my objective (my HAP) and I thought this was a fair and reasonable expectation as I wanted to book 12 events over 12 weeks.

This was excellent business for them. However they wouldn’t budge on the price. By probing a little deeper, I discovered that while price was important to them, cash flow was even more important and a greater need than the profit margin per event. They had a cash flow problem, and I had a solution for them.

If they would agree to $1,000 per event, I was prepared to write them one cheque for $12,000 up front. In this manner I got what I wanted and they got the cash they needed to slve their immediate problems. It was win/win.

Anyway the lesson is – get those negotiating skills!

The next big mistake is…

6. Talking Too Much.

This is one of the biggest mistakes I see. Learn to to listen, more than you talk. Listen for the real meaning too, not just the words that people use. Use silence too. It’s classy, it’s a powerful tool and it gives you time to think.

Slow is often a better strategy at times than fast, in a negotiation.
I was negotiating recently with a young man for the rental of some sound equipment and a sound engineer for one of our seminars in New Zealand a few years ago. I asked him about his rates and he responded immediately with a figure. I didn’t respond. I was thinking.

Before I could say anything, he offered me a discount. Again I sat quietly. I was converting those New Zealand Dollars to Australian Dollars in my head and I am just naturally slow doing this. Again before I could respond, he offered me an even better deal. Again, I said nothing.

He couldn’t bear the silence. He jumped in again and this
time offered the services of the sound engineer free. He was negotiating himself down and I hadn’t even uttered a word.

Remember to listen more than you talk. Don’t be afraid of silence. Use it.

Anyway until we speak again…

Have a great week this week. Make it a great week!

So why do prospects say, “It costs too much?

Nov 17

Posted by Wayne Berry in People!, Starting out in business, The Customer Service Dept, The Sales Dept | 2 Comments

“More sales are lost by sales people who fail to get to the “real objection” than for any other reason!”

Wayne Berry

As I was saying…

A company which I eventually did some sales training for a few years ago decided to put this to the test. Their product (actually a service) was priced at $3,100 and the company authorised their entire sales team to go out and see all of their prospects who were procrastinating on their decision, or had said “no” and offer the same product for just $1,500. They were allowed to do this for a full month.

So what do you think happened?

Did their sales go through the roof as their sales people said they would because “price was the problem”?

Here’s what happened. Less than 10% of these procrastinating, price sensitive prospects actually decided to go ahead and buy or reverse their decision not to buy.

That’s right less than 10% bought!

You see price was not the problem! These prospects were not going to buy at any price. The “promotion” (which incidentally I did not agree with) was a complete failure but it did show that price was not the real problem…

The real objection was “I don’t see the value”!

Over the weeks ahead we trained these sales people to sell on value and not on price. They sold at full price from that day on and this involved developing a range of skills including; .

  • Rapport building
  • Trust building
  • Asking questions to understand their prospect’s real needs – both “logical” and “emotional”
  • How to present the benefits of their products in a way that addressed their prospect’s real needs
  • How to ask their prospects for a decision without pressure or “clever tricky closes”, and most importantly…

How to answer the price objection when it came up

So what happened? Over the first 30 day period sales rose by 43%. During the next 30 days they rose by a massive 80%, and in the next 30 days by more 100%.

That’s right, sales doubled!

So how do you sell the value?

Well a prospect determines whether your proposition is value for money or not by weighing up the benefits your proposition offers, versus the cost (or more correctly the “investment”).

Value is a perception and you can change this perceived value by explaining the benefits in detail (not the features) as they relate to your prospect’s needs (determined by your skillful use of questions before making yor presentation) and this can then tip the “value for money scale” in favour of good value for money.

If you do this well, then you will often eliminate the “It costs too much” objection entirely.

If however it does come up, this is how to answer it.

“Mr Prospect I understand how you feel, I’ve had other clients who also felt this way, but when they went ahead here’s what they found…”

At this point you go on to sell the benefits.

This technique is called the “Feel, felt, found technique”

This is just one of the strategies and techniques we trained those sales people to use and the increase in sales was dramatic.

And this is not an isolated case, over the last 12 months alone I’ve shown tens of thousands of sales people across Australia, New Zealand and South East Asia how to sell on value rather than on price and…

How to get past objections that stop 90% of sales people.

And while the price objection can be a tough one to handle, there is an even tougher objection to handle and get past to make the sale than the price objection.

So what is this toughest of all objections?

Well it’s the one that costs sales people more commissions and sales than any other objection.

It’s the un-stated objection!

It’s often disguised as, “I’d like to think it over!”

Well this is not a real objection. It’s an excuse, a “smoke-screen” to hide the real objection. However there is a brilliant way that we have developed to handle the “smoke-screen objection” and to use it as a springboard to close more sales than you ever have before.

Have a great week this week. Make it a great week

How to ask questions so your prospects will sell themselves…

Nov 9

Posted by Wayne Berry in The Marketing Dept, The Sales Dept | No Comments

The dual purpose of asking questionsMost sales people have some understanding of asking questions to reveal their client’s needs, but most have no understanding of the other equally important reason for asking questions.

Why you’ve got to “disturb” your prospect before you offer a solution

The second purpose of asking questions is to disturb our prospect about their current situation and turn indifference into a desperate need to come up with a better way or a solution to their problem. I spoke about this in the last volume of TOP GUN® Sales Tips.

Such is the power of using carefully chosen questions.

They create a real desire in the client’s mind to take some action NOW to solve the problem. The sequence of the questions is important too. People buy for emotional reasons and “disturbing questions” will turn an indifferent prospect into a red hot buyer who is saying “SO WHAT SHOULD I DO?”

Why selling themselves is better than you selling them

You see if you ask the right questions, your prospect will start to tell you what they need, why they need it and what is important to them. They will begin to describe features and benefits of the solution you have in mind for them. When these benefits are coming from their mouth rather than yours, then they must be true. This is a much more persuasive way of selling, and it avoids any hint of “high-presssure” selling.

During these workshops I’ll be helping participants to develop their own customised set and sequence of disturbing / needs revealing questions, and showing how this system has worked for thousands of Top Gun Graduates who sell everything from investments, computers, cars, insurance, real estate, etc. It works regardless of what you sell.

Relationship / Consultative Selling strategies are the key to sustained success in selling

Questions are the hallmark of today’s true Consultative / Relationship Sales Person. What I call the “5th Generation” Sales Professional who builds a high level of trust and an on-going relationship with their clients, who then will NOT buy from a Generation 1, 2, 3 or 4 Sales Person and who will send their friends to you, their “Friend In The Business”.

If you’d like to be sure that you are in the top 10% of sales achievers in Australia today, who are 5th Generation Sales Professionals, you might like to consider attending this next TOP GUN® Sales Mastery Workshop where I’ll be explaining in detail about “5th Generation Selling” and teaching this vital skill of asking questions and using relationship selling strategies.

Have a great week. Make it a great week!

Are your prospects dissatisfied?

Nov 6

Posted by Wayne Berry in The Customer Service Dept, The Sales Dept | No Comments

“If you ask the right questions, your prospects will become so dissatisfied with their current situation, they will want to buy from you more than you want to sell to them!”

Prospects will not buy if they are totally satisfied with their current situation.

The fact is that no matter how good a product or service is, a prospect generally will not buy if they are totally happy and comfortable with their current situation. They will only be motivated to buy if they become dissatisfied with their current situation or supplier.

Play a waiting game?

So should we wait around until our prospects become dissatisfied?

Or should we just keep knocking on doors and ringing telephones until we find dissatisfied prospects?

Well that’s one way, and yes I do recommend that you keep up your prospecting, but there is a better way. Its called…

Being a creative sales professional

Let me give you an example. A few years ago I was speaking at a seminar for insurance sales people. There were some good sales people there too, and as good sales people will, a few prospected me for insurance. However I told them that they were wasting their time.

I once believed in insurance, but I didn’t any more. A pretty good objection I thought and it worked too.

It stopped them dead in their tracks.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t like to break the hearts of sales people, but I really wasn’t interested.

On day two however, a very creative sales person struck up a conversation with my business partner and instead of trying to sell insurance, he simply asked her a few harmless questions about our business. (Did I forget to mention that she didn’t believe in insurance either. She was even more adamant me!)

He was just being friendly and showing an interest in us I guess.

He began by asking my partner how busy was I making presentations and running training workshops all over the world? Her answer was of course, “very busy”! (Still smiling at this stage.)

Next he asked, “What happens if Wayne gets the flu and can’t present? How would that affect your business?”

She had to admit it was a disturbing thought and she didn’t really have a good answer.

“If you had to cancel a presentation due to illness what would that cost you?”

Well the answer was quite a few thousand dollars.

“How much exactly?” he asked and when she told him and he recoiled in horror - “How much!!” (We call that ‘Hollywooding” it!) “And that’s only for one day, if he missed just one day?”

“What would it cost the company (and you) if he missed a week of presentations?” Again he gasped in disbelief – “That much!!”

My partner had gone from having a nice morning to feeling down right sick at the thought of me being sick. (Ah concern for my good health – I like that!)

He then asked her, “What would happen if Wayne had an accident and couldn’t present for several months, or worse what if he died, how would that affect the business?”

“How would that in turn affect you and your security and lifestyle?”

After considering for about 10 seconds whether our clients might accept listening to tape of me presenting at their conference, she realised that such an event would be catastrophic.

Now the time was right.

Clearly she was disturbed, and it was then and only then, that he came to her rescue and said, ‘Well the reason I asked this is because I have been able to help many business people like you and Wayne to protect themselves against loss of income due to accident or sickness and I can help you too. Would you like to know how?”

At that point, do you think he had her full attention?

Let me tell you that at the next break, my business partner told me that she had decided to take out income protection, disability cover, life insurance – everything. Within a week I was now worth more dead than alive!

Here’s the point I’m making.

Your prospects will not really be interested in what you can do for them, until they are first disturbed about their current situation.

How can you achieve this?

Skilful use of well thought out questions.

Consider what questions you can ask your prospects to disturb them BEFORE you make your next sales presentation. Good questions are the real key to success in selling.
Have a great week. Make it a great week!

How to Charge More and Work Less

Nov 5

Posted by Alexandria Brown in Starting out in business, The Board Room, The Customer Service Dept, The Sales Dept | No Comments

I remember when I first launched my first business as a copywriter seven years ago, I had no clue what to charge. Without putting hard thought into what type of results my work gave my clients, I started out with an hourly rate that didn’t scare ME! I would still even stutter when I said to clients, “My rate is si- si- si- sixty dollars an hour.” Deep down, I wasn’t confident in myself, so of course I wouldn’t let myself charge more. And of course, as a result I attracted lame clients, worked like a dog, and stayed broke all the time.

Well, things are VERY different today. I have no problem saying my consulting rate is $500 an hour, or that a private mentorship with me starts at a minimum of $9,700. And, here’s the kicker: Because I take on so few clients now, at higher rates, and the bulk of my income comes from information products, I work LESS than I used to!

Obviously this shift didn’t happen overnight. Here are a few things you can do NOW to move in the same direction:

1. Become an expert in something.

Experts are more respected, get media attention, get paid more, and get less price resistance (meaning people are happier to pay you what you ask). I went from being a general copywriter to one who specialized in newsletters. Then in email newsletters.

Then I dubbed myself “The Ezine Queen”. I had no idea at the time how much that would help me get famous and be remembered. Did you know that Muhammad Ali became known as “The Greatest” because Ali himself said it? Yep — he just kept saying it, and then eventually so did the media!

There’s a reason people happily pay more to get to the wise man at the TOP of the mountain! (Meanwhile the man at the bottom can’t even seem to give it away.)

2. Raise your rates.

This may seem like a given, but you wouldn’t believe the resistance I get from clients when I poke and prod them about this. Last year, I hired a personal trainer for a few months who only charged $50 an hour. Honestly, because his rate was so low compared to other trainers in the area, I was worried he wouldn’t be that good. I learned he was actually great.

He often complained that his schedule was so jammed it was killing him. To make a living at that rate, he obviously had to take on clients morning, noon, night, and weekends. He was also disorganized, frazzled, and late most of the time due to his schedule.

He had no idea that he was such a good trainer I would have been happy to pay him $75 or even $100 an hour for his time. I remember suggesting he raise his rates, and he replied, “But then not as many people would work with me.”

Well of course! That’s the idea. Let’s say he decided to double his rates, and half of his clients dropped off. Why wouldn’t you want to work HALF as hard as you are now for the same income? This also opens up more time for you to work on new projects, like creating information products and programs. (See #5.)

If you’re having trouble raising your rates across the board, bring in fresh clients your new rate, maintain old clients at current rates, and drop off clients that are pains in your bum.

3. Restructure how clients can work with you.

For many solo-professionals, a much better way to approach working with clients is on a project basis, or “flat fee”. That way you simply assign a value to the *results* you’re giving them. For example, my friend Lorrie Morgan-Ferrero is a copywriter who charges $10,000 to write a sales letter. Does that price-out some clients who can’t afford her? Of course! But she much prefers to work on a few projects at a time with stellar clients who truly value her work.

Or instead of taking on one-shot projects, work with clients on retainer (a set fee per month) or require them to sign up for a number of months with you. One trend in coaching and consulting right now is moving toward six-month or annual contracts with clients. Not only does it help guarantee your cash flow, but you attract better, more qualified, and more committed clients.

Example: After I was tired of doing so many one-shot consultations, I created my
VIP Private Access Mentorship Program so I could only work with a handful of select people at a time and coach them closely for several months. Right now the program costs between $9,700 and $16,700. It’s especially rewarding for me to see my clients implement the recommendations I make, follow along with their progress, and share in their sales successes!

4. “Clone” Yourself.

Have you ever wanted a “Mini Me?” Or a whole team of them? Well there’s no reason you can’t. If you have a duplicatable system or process you use in your work, why not teach others how to do the same? Then have them work for you on a freelance basis, or consider “licensing” people to use your method or teachings.

Consider working with a team of other coaches and consultants. For example, one of my early life coaches, Talane Miedaner, offered me this choice when I was interested in coaching: Be coached by her personally for a high fee, or work with one of her associate coaches at a lower rate. Because I wanted her personal help, I paid her the higher fee and she did all the work. But if I chose one of the other coaches, I’d still pay her company, the associate would do all the coaching work, and Talane would keep a good portion of the fee. (Smart lady!)

5. Create and Sell Information Products

If you’ve read other articles of mine, you know I’m a big fan of transcending the exchange of time for money. You simply will never make the big bucks if you keep getting paid solely for your time. I’m at the point now that about 90% of my income comes from selling my knowledge via information products such as ebooks, manuals, courses, audio programs, and occasional live events. This has helped me almost TRIPLE my income in the past two years!

Instead of “work, get paid” … you want “work, get paid, paid, paid, paid, paid, paid, paid, paid, paid!” I may spend a good chunk of time creating a new product, but then it can sell forever. I may put a lot of effort into creating a one-time seminar, but I also record it and create a home-study version that can sell forever. (I did this with my recent Online Success Blueprint Workshop.)

I hope you get the idea! There are many other strategies to restructure your fees and leverage your knowledge, but these are great ways to get started.

© 2005 Alexandria K. Brown

Prospecting is easy when you know how…

Nov 1

Posted by Wayne Berry in Human Resource Management, People!, Personal Development, The Sales Dept | No Comments

“If you do it right, you should be able to make 10 calls and get 5 appointments”

Most sales people hate prospecting.

Why is that? If prospecting is such an important skill, why do so few sales people enjoy doing it? I guess the reason is fairly obvious.

Fear of rejection

So why are so many sales people rejected when they get on the telephone and seek to make appointments with strangers? I think there are three main reasons. The first can be summed up with what most sales people tell me is the number one objection that they get from prospects on the telephone…

“I’m not interested!”

We’ve all heard it, haven’t we? And we’ve all used this line with a sales person or telephone canvasser who has called us too haven’t we? So why would a prospect say that they are not interested?

I believe it is because¦

1. What most sales people say is not interesting!

What you say within the first 30 seconds of a cold prospecting telephone call is critical to the successful outcome of the call. What you say has to “grab” the prospects attention and get a response (either spoken or unspoken).

“Tell me more!”

So my advice is spend some serious time developing a written script for what you are going to say in those first 30 seconds. Some sales people say, “I don’t want to use a script. I want to sound natural.” You will sound natural if you develop a good script and then practice it. The second reason I believe most sales people fail to gain appointments on the telephone is because…

2. Most sales people talk too much about their product or service on the phone

The purpose of your telephone call should not be to sell your company, your product or your services. It should be to sell the appointment. Nothing else!

The third reason I think most sales people do badly with telephone prospecting is because…

3. Most sales people have never learned how to prospect effectively

Prospecting is a skill and like all skills we are not born with them. Skills are developed. Yet so many sales people fail to understand this. They jump on the telephone with lots of enthusiasm and optimism but no real skills and strategies, and then wonder why they fail to make appointments.

Having experienced a lot of rejection, they then avoid prospecting, and if you don’t generate new leads or you wait for your company to provide them to you, then you’ll always be an average sales person, producing average results and living an average life. So how can you become a Top Gun sales person?

Develop this vital skill of prospecting

Learn them! Don’t leave it to chance with a hit and miss approach to prospecting.

I’ve seen sales people come to our TOP GUN® Mastery Workshop on prospecting with no confidence, and a dismal conversion ratio (eg. 1 in 45. That is, one appointment made for every 45 calls) and within 7 days they were able to confidently get on the telephone and convert 5 out of every 10 calls into appointments. Amazing? No – not really!

Brad’s story

About 2 years ago a young sales person came to our Sales Mastery Workshop on prospecting. His name was Brad and he worked for an IT company. Brad was struggling and his sales results placed him near the bottom of the list of 26 sales people in his company.

After attending this workshop, Brad’s ability to gain appointments and get in front of qualified buyers improved dramatically. Within 2 months Brad had moved up to near the top of the list of sales achievers in his company. Since then Brad has continued to produce exceptionally good results and Brad credits this dramatic turnaround with the development of his prospecting skills.

By the way, Brad is happy to tell you his story if you’d care to call him. His number is 0405 100 840.

When I last spoke to Brad his conversion ratio on the telephone was 6.3 /10. That is, on average for every 10 calls Brad makes, he gets 6.3 appointments.

So how does that compare to your conversion ratio on the telephone? Would you like to be in front of more prospective buyers? My advice to you if you are in sales or in business for yourself, is develop your prospecting skills.

A tip on prospecting if you are a Sales Manager

If you are in Management, don’t expect your sales people to be able to get appointments and gain new and extra business for you if you haven’t provided them with this vital skill training. Investing time and money into this vital skill will provide an enormous return on your investment and will go on paying you, year after year after year.

Have a great week. Make it a great week!

Demise of a Salesperson

Oct 30

Posted by Steve Gray in Excellence!, Innovation and Creativity, Leadership, People!, Planning, Risk Management, The Board Room, The Customer Service Dept, The Sales Dept | Comments off

“To succeed, your business must not focus on selling, but on providing solutions to your customers. When you focus on providing solutions, something awesome happens: your business product offerings will never become obsolete. Instead, they’ll thrive toward meeting customer needs–no matter the era.”

Inspired by Theodore Levitt

The challenge is knowing what they need, on knowing that would you… be selling videos, DVD recorders, or hard disk recorders for TV’s?

Clue? The latest generation of stuff generally (if you want to be up there and happenin’ but remember there are many sorts of people out there buyin’ so beware the trap it might provide.)
If you are seriously selling with the aim of thriving in business, you would want to be setting up the next ‘big thing’ so that when it comes on line for consumers you are ready for it, not fumbling to try and accomodate it.

Example, there are a bunch of computer shops that have amassed old stock (not that old really in ‘normal’ terms but in computing things alter so quickly.) Sure they got a good deal but they are soon going to be passed by others with more savvy and edge.

The aim is figuring out how to be one or three steps ahead of the competition so you can develop a solid edge, perhaps not so much to ‘beat the competion hands down’ but to be equal or just ahead of it.

Remember thrive not just survive.

There are plenty of ways to tackle creativity in business and now more than ever businesses need to think outside the square.

So will you search for solutions or focus on sales?

Do I or Don’t I?

Oct 29

Posted by Debbie Carr in Human Resource Management, Leadership, Negotiation, People!, Personal Development, Planning, Starting out in business, The Board Room, The Sales Dept | No Comments

Fear stops many of us from truly expressing who we are and achieving our dreams. Some of us are risk takers, all of us make mistakes and I would say all of us have experienced fear at some stage or another. In this article I am talking about the type of fear which stops us from moving on, achieving what we want in life and being happy.

The  lesson I have learnt through my own experience is that if you move through the fear, acknowledge it’s there, but just do what you want to do anyway, it gets easier and easier until the fear no longer exists. I remember the first cold call I had to make.  I kept putting it off and putting it off, until eventually I picked up the phone shaking with fear and made my call.  To my delight, the lady on the other end was very pleasant.  It took a lot more calls before I got to the stage where I can happily pick up the phone and cold call anyone without even thinking about what I’m going to say, it is such a natural thing for me to do now.

I am a risk taker. I take calculated risks. Taking risks is good, I’m not talking about anything that could physically harm you, end your life, investing in Acme’s latest Road Runner Extinguisher shares without proper investigation, or God forbid, riding on a roller-coaster! (My friends and family will find that very amusing). I am still working on my roller-coaster fear!

Let’s take for example speaking in front of people. The thought used to make me break out into a sweat, and I’m sure many of you will know what I am talking about. Now, I don’t think twice about it, because I made myself get up in front of the mic whenever the opportunity arose and I just got used to it. This is a good thing, because my goal for next year is to be on the speaking circuit. To prepare myself for this professional speaking goal I have taken some other steps. I am writing a book about my very interesting and at times challenging life. Once upon a time I would have been too scared to think of myself as an author. To overcome this fear I started to write articles for others to read. Because I took the step to have some of them published on various online article websites, I have the confidence to keep writing.

The biggest risk I took was leaving my full time job to start the bureau. In hindsight I think I should have kept the full time job for a bit longer, as it was very challenging, now of course, I am glad I did because I am so passionate about what I do. It was terrifying making the decision to leave that paid security but I did it anyway, I figured I could always get another job if things didn’t turn out.

Sometimes in life we miss out on the things we really want because we are too scared to move out of our comfort zone. We won’t ask that person out because we might get rejected. We won’t commit to a relationship because we might get hurt. We won’t write that book because it might not get published. We won’t stand up and do that comedy routine because we might get booed off stage. We won’t leave our job because our new one might be even worse. We won’t spend that money on a holiday because we might need it in an emergency. We won’t ask that question we want to in a seminar because people might think we are stupid. We won’t enter the talent contest because we might not win. We won’t say I love you because they might not love us back. If you are fearful of doing something that you really want to and you try and it doesn’t work out the way you planned, so what? Another chapter of your life closed…next one please!

Being heard amid the noise

Oct 26

Posted by Robert Gerrish in The Marketing Dept, The Sales Dept | No Comments

In the busy, noisy world of solo business it can be a challenge to be heard and get noticed. One thing is for sure – it’s far better to be heard well by one person than ignored by thousands.Our solo ventures stand the best chance of growing by word of mouth when those around us really understand what we do and are able to talk easily about our work to others. Too often this simply is not the case. Our messages frequently suffer from being too complex or, at the other end of the spectrum, too general.

To help get further into this topic, let me share an analogy.

Some years ago I went on a self-defence course. The instructor talked to us about what to do if we were set upon in the street by a mugger.

“There’s no point in simply screaming out for help” he told us, because as he explained, the natural tendency of others is either to not get involved, or to assume that someone else will do the helping.

Instead we were told to, in effect, ‘appoint’ a passer-by to help. Here’s what was suggested:

Instead of a ‘general’ message he told us to ‘get specific’.

His example was: “Hey you, in the green shirt with the brown briefcase, help me!”

By doing this – by explicitly assigning someone to the task – it was far more likely that help would be given. Of course it would! If you were the person in the green shirt are you going to walk by? Of course not. At the very least you’d turn to someone nearby and enrol that person to your cause.

And this is precisely what we need to do in our solo businesses. We need to tailor our messages to specific people if we are to be truly heard.

Let’s look at this applied more directly to business. Picture an accountant who does basic tax accounting. Chances are you can think of three of four soloists who do precisely that. No doubt each does a good job, but not much is standing out here is it?

Imagine instead an accountant who spoke in terms of ’helping professional service firms pay less tax and retain more profits’.

Compelling language along these lines stands much more chance of being heard, remembered and passed on.

So how do we go about finding the right words? The answer is: Listen to your clients. Ask them what they really get as an outcome of your work and start to talk in these terms.

Use straightforward, clear language and keep it brief. Don’t get all knotted up in processes. People are looking for solutions, it’s how referrals are generated.

There’ll be plenty of time later to talk processes. For now, concentrate on being heard amid the noise.

Got a Card on You?

Oct 21

Posted by Tory Favro in Starting out in business, The Board Room, The Marketing Dept, The Sales Dept | 2 Comments

Have them, carry them, never run out. Business cards are a physical reminder to others that you have had contact with them. Business cards should also contain all your contact details. This may sound extremely obvious, but it never ceases to amaze me when I run into clients or people wanting advice, who essentially have an incomplete business card.

Here are some key details to always have on your business card.

Do:

Have your business logo somewhere prominent on the card
Have your name in an easy to read location
Have your job description or title
Have your phone number
Have your fax number
Have your mobile phone number

and finally, never ever overlook having

Your email address & your business’ web address

Do Not:

Have single sided business cards; once a plain card is up the wrong way, it becomes a blank piece of paper, otherwise known as a scrap that will ultimately be written on and thrown out. Make sure that your card is eye catching on both sides and is clearly a resource to those who you wish to deal with. If your card is as comprehensive as possible, then people will hold onto it.

Do not have blank cards where your staff can write their names. It is unprofessional, looks bad to the customer and is also detrimental to the morale of the staff who are giving them out.

It’s simple; your staff are assets, either they have cards or they do not, don’t have blank business cards with a space to write their names. It merely reinforces a number of key points to both the staff and the customer.

1. To the customer it says that they are not dealing with a decision maker
2. To the staff it says that they are dispensable.

Do not EVER, EVER, EVER put a line through details on your card and hand write the new ones. This is one of the worst mistakes that businesses make when trying to save a dollar after some of their details have changed. Put those old cards straight into the bin and get some new ones made up with the new details.

A talking point……

A neat thing that you can do is have multiple styles of cards. As long as your logo is intact across all design elements, it is a great point of interest to your customers and associates to have these different cards. It leaves them wondering what you are going to do next and even sets your card up to be a collectable of sorts. We launched 3 business cards within one year and the feedback was tremendous. I would often go to see a client and they would have all three cards lined up in their card holder. When I asked why it was simply that the client thought that they looked great. The upside of this is that now I occupy a whole side of one page in their card wallet.

Now ask yourself, what would you prefer…….to be a scrap or something worth holding onto? The answer is obvious, isn’t it?

Till Next Time,

Tory

12 Ways People Make Business GREAT!

Oct 20

Posted by Steve Gray in Excellence!, Health and Safety Dept, Human Resource Management, Leadership, Negotiation, People!, Personal Development, Risk Management | No Comments

I love working with businesses as they are made up of people as the main part of the mechanism to make the organisation work, but all too often companies run into negative people issues and that can mean things may not go quite as planned some times. I developed this list in response to a cry for help from David, a client of mine. He was feeling under pressure having 25 staff that were ‘all over the shop’ to use his term. Some of the issues were to do with his style of leadership and some to do with the people.

In the end the result was great, absenteeism fell, and before long profitability and productivity was on the rise. Occasionally it does not take much, but when you need to take stock, check the list and see how you might pick up the game.

Points to creating a great workplace

  1. Don’t change people – You picked them, you wanted, you got, now work with what you have to get a great result, if you want something to alter make it you, not them.
  2. Play by their rules (sometimes) – Work with them, if they have rules, they have them for a reason, is it that your rules are not filling the gap/s? Or perhaps they think their rules are better. Be flexible in your approach and check out what they have before running it down, try it you just might like it.
  3. Check list you – Check out what you do, what you can change to better fit the situations you may find yourself in with the workplace. Check your attitude, your communication style, your presentation, your expectations and probably a whole raft of other things.
  4. Look after you – Change can happen at any time, the control of that is up to you, no one else. If you are in control of you and your needs chances are your esteem will allow you to be more, do more, and have more.
  5. Discuss the good and the not so good! – Have open and frank discussions and ensure they stay free form personal attack. Create an environment where people can say how they feel, see how things are going, hear from others and keep in touch with the team and each other.
  6. Listen and do – Talk less about things and go for more actions, doing can make a world of difference to the organisation you are a part of. Remember two ears for listening, and one mouth for talking. So use them in that order. But to add to that cliché, you have two hands, two feet as well, so your capacity to do is greater than the capacity to talk and listen! I won’t even touch how many brain cells you have and how they could come into the equation.
  7. People are different – Neither right nor wrong, just different. Males and females, religious beliefs and ideals, vales and general beliefs. So go with the flow a occasionally, know there are the ‘bad bits’ but learn to be flexible enough in your approach to work with these differences, remember great leaders love people.
  8. Go into battle carefully – Jumping in without too much information from two sides of an argument can be costly, VERY COSTLY! So be careful and choose your battles wisely. Every business has bad bits, they may alter over time, they might get better but love them for what they are at the time. It might also be bothering your staff and they are just waiting for the right time to do something about them.
  9. Develop choices – It’s easy to blame others for things going wrong, but how many choices were there at the time? By developing choices you may just make a powerful difference to the way thing turn out.
  10. Don’t play psych – Psych is for psychs, use your understanding to advantage, but you don-t have to tell them the research and methodology behind what you say and or do. E.g. a plumber does not tell the customer how a pipe is made, the customer just wants it to do its job.
  11. Accuse and lose – Point the finger of blame and you had better watch out, it might just get bitten. People will dodge, lie and leave in no time flat over the smallest issues, why? Because we all want to do good things, and to have the finger of blame leveled at us is not a good feeling.
  12. Let them know you love what they do – Sometimes this might happen very discretely, and others as an over the top display of a job done brilliantly. It might be a few words, a gift, a badge of recognition, but be fair about it and make sure they know they are special people working on a very special task.

Tradeshow Tactics: Cash In On Fun

Oct 16

Posted by Michael Crooks in Excellence!, Innovation and Creativity, People!, Starting out in business, The Marketing Dept, The Sales Dept | 10 Comments

My client was dumbfounded. The answer wasn’t complicated, costly or hard to do. The question was, “How do I effectively engage people at the tradeshow?”

“All you gotta do,” I said, “is invite people to take a sheet of your letterhead, make a paper airplane and see if they can fly it into the open window of one of your units.”

My client was a Recreational Vehicle (RV) dealer selling motor homes, travel trailers and 5th wheels to the upscale camping crowd. She was spending a wad on tradeshows but wasn’t getting the results she wanted. So I went to an RV show and had a look around.

Talk about BORING! Every booth was staffed with polite people standing outside their RV’s smiling and saying, “Hi. Howyado’in” to everyone that passed by. RVing is supposed to be exciting and fun. But not one dealer at that show had a mechanism by which to break the boredom, arrest and engage attendees.

I went back and told my client, “You gotta give these people something fun to do. Something that captures the spirit of RVing.”
That’s when I shared the paper airplane concept with her. “If they get the airplane through the window,” I explained, “then they have to go inside to retrieve it and receive their prize. You’ve got ‘em where you want ‘em — INSIDE THE UNIT!”
Too often, tradeshow exhibitors believe that handing some cheap do-dad to everyone who walks by their booth is effectively promoting their business. Key words in that sentence are, “everyone who walks by.” The whole point of a tradeshow is to find qualified prospects. That means you have to find out who is interested in your product or service AND can afford it. You can’t do that if everyone is walking by.

Here’s how I engage people at tradeshows. I use a water globe game where you attempt to get a golf Read the rest of this entry »

Branding, it’s the little things…..

Oct 15

Posted by Bren Ryan in Excellence!, Starting out in business, The Board Room, The Customer Service Dept, The Marketing Dept, The Operations Dept, The Sales Dept | 5 Comments

What’s so hard about branding?

I think it’s the little things that are hard sometimes. Well, at least it seems to me the little things can be the easiest to get wrong.

Read the rest of this entry »

You are what you think!

Oct 7

Posted by Tony Alessandra in Leadership, People!, Personal Development, The Sales Dept | No Comments

Occasionally we hear stories of people who struggle against great odds, prove the naysayers wrong, and achieve the nearly impossible. They turn around a defunct company; they stop a highway from going through virgin land; they beat the odds on terminal cancer.

In order to do extraordinary things, these people – and you! – don’t need to be superhuman, you just need some positive tools to get you through rough times. You need a positive philosophy to give yourself direction and an understanding of what you can do yourself and when you need help from others. Dr. Norman Vincent Peale’s book, The Power of Positive Thinking, was published over 50 years ago and it continues to sell well because it contains such a universal truth: the attitudes we hold help shape the reality we experience.

Having a positive attitude isn’t something you just tack on to your old personality. It comes from deep within you; it has to or it would get wiped out with the first sign of a countervailing negative force. But you also have to have some other source of positive energy outside yourself that keeps you going. Most probably it is other people you can rely on for support, who are also positive about your ability to succeed. Perhaps you are also motivated by the example of some historical or spiritual figure. (Martin Luther King was inspired by Gandhi…who in turn was inspired by Thoreau).

The point is, you don’t do it alone – a positive state of mind comes from within and without. It requires that you embed yourself in a context of positiveness – to tap sources beyond yourself. If this trait isn’t already in your repertoire, then begin here. The trait of positiveness is so attractive, other people will be drawn to you.

On Leadership: The Difference Between Great and TRULY Great.

Oct 4

Posted by Michael Crooks in Excellence!, Leadership, The Board Room, The Operations Dept, The Sales Dept | No Comments

***ATTENTION /NOTICE*** Please read the entire article before drawing any conclusions or posting any reply. This article uses extremes to make a point in a thought-provoking manner. Absolutely no malice is intended.

Hitler was a great leader. Through his guidance, dedication and sense of what was right, he changed and influenced the lives of millions of people. So did another great leader. Jesus. Hitler and Jesus. Both great leaders of our past. Both possessed classic leadership qualities and characteristics. Each had a strong belief in what he was doing. Each, possessed the quality of selflessness, an absolute devotion to his cause. And both, had the outstanding ability to influence and motivate people and events to facilitate their cause. You see, these men were really no different from one another … Hitler and Jesus. Except for the fact, that Hitler was sick, deranged and twisted! While Jesus was virtuous, pure-hearted and immaculate.

In my mind, it is unjustifiable to describe both men with the same words. Words like great and leader. There has to be a way to distinguish between a leader of people who brings death and destruction, like Hitler. And a leader who spreads hope and salvation, like Jesus. A way to distinguish between the evil that lurks in one leaders heart, like Hitler. And the good that dwells in another leader’s heart like Jesus. There is a way.

In his book, “The Essentials Of Leadership”, Herman H. Horne describes the philosophy of greatness. In chapter three he writes, “To be great involves only 3 things: to have extended influence, recognition and QUANTITY of influence. But, to be truly great, is to have QUALITY of influence.” Where Hitler had quantity of influence and was a great leader. Jesus had quality of influence and was a truly great leader.

Now, a question comes to my mind. How do leaders like Hitler get into leadership positions and garner such power? How does that happen? It happens, because people just like you and I let it happen. People, just like us, sitting around waiting for someone else to take responsibility for minding the store. FOLLOWERS, who drop the ball. Followers who don’t know an issue from a snowshoe … who won’t state a position … let alone defend one. One reason? A lack of knowledge. Folks, you have to get involved to assure yourself quality leadership. Knowledge is the key to that involvement. Knowledge of the issues, of leadership and of history.

Knowledge of the issues gives you a stand you can defend intelligently. But how can knowledge of leadership and history help assure quality leadership? I’ll tell you.

The study of leadership yields a better understanding of what leadership is and what a leader’s responsibilities are. That way, you’ll know when leaders are abusing their power. The study of history sheds lights on how terrible leaders got to power in the past, the mistakes they made and how they affected people. This knowledge allows you to foresee and prevent history from repeating itself. Knowledge, is the key to ensuring a quality future.

But you have to become involved now! Because the future isn’t a year from now. It’s … 2 seconds from now. Now it’s the present. Now it’s the past. Become involved and knowledgeable now.

Leadership is a responsibility. To be able to lead in a way and direction that only serves to benefit and give value to the lives of every man, woman and child your actions affect. To be wise, merciful and benign. To achieve good, like Jesus. A TRULY GREAT leader. Not to spread grief and despair like Hitler — a great leader who was virulent, poisonous and demented!

Followership is a responsibility too. To follow with knowledge. And instead of being led blindly like a herd of sheep over a cliff …. having the intestinal fortitude and the knowledge to say, “Hey! Wait a minute! Something is wrong here” or “I have an idea that might work better.”

I have used two extremes, Hitler and Jesus, to formulate a quality continuum if you will. With evil on the left and good on the right. Great on the left … Truly Great, on the right.

Where on this continuum do you sit? What kind of leaders do you want for your government, for your country … for the world. What kind of leader do you want to be? What kind of follower? Great … or TRULY GREAT?

Exceptional excellence

Oct 4

Posted by Steve Gray in Excellence!, Human Resource Management, Innovation and Creativity, Leadership, People!, Personal Development, Risk Management, Starting out in business, The Board Room, The Marketing Dept, The Sales Dept | 3 Comments

There are so many average businesses, so why are the excellent ones few and far between?

If you start out to do something, do you start with excellence in mind or mediocrity? I guess the answer is excellence, after all why would you want to create an average thing, where is the logic in that?

So go for excellent marketing, excellent management, excellent products and services, excellent staff, excellent premises…

Then make it exceptional! (and don’t give me a line about having nothing to aim for if its already excellent!)

Excel at excellence… (What is there to lose, there’s plenty to gain!)

“You Want To Put My Logo WHERE?!”

Oct 2

Posted by Michael Crooks in Innovation and Creativity, Starting out in business, The Marketing Dept, The Sales Dept | 2 Comments

I should have known better to say what I said, seeing how the caller was from an accounting firm. I merely suggested she put the firm’s logo on the back of a baseball cap. Her silence caused the sort of anticipation you experience when someone keeps blowing up a balloon until it pops. The words came slowly at first … finally she blurted, “You … you want to put my logo WHERE?!”

Trying to regain control of the conversation I asked, “Claudia, why is your firm’s sign out front?”

She replied, “What?  Well, because that’s where everyone will see it.”

“Right. And if everyone could see your sign out back, you’d put it there too, right? “ I asked.

“Of course,” she replied.

“Well,” I said. “When your employees are sitting in the stands at the baseball game, or standing in line for a hot dog or to use the restroom — everyone behind them will be looking at the back of their head. Would you like all those people to see your logo?”

“Hmmmmmmmmmmm.”

Placement of your logo on promotional marketing items, such as baseball hats, should be given as much thought as is given to selection of the item itself. For sake of this article, lets assume you’ve chosen an appropriate item for your event or promotion. And, your primary goal is to broaden your name id.  Now, let’s give the same serious thought to logo placement. Consider the following: how will the product be used, where will it be used, venue, day or evening event, indoor or outdoor, will people be sitting or standing?

With ball caps worn to a sporting event, most want to put the logo on the front. But if you want to maximize the advertising potential of a cap, put the logo on the back as well.

Folding, portable chairs are another place people commonly misplace the logo. Why put the logo on the front of the chair, where it is covered up when the chair is in use? Better to put the logo on the backside of the chair where everyone behind the user can see your logo.

What about pencils and pens? If you thnk about it,  you’ll ensure that the imprint is as near the eraser end as possible. This way, your logo remains to be seen  … even after multiple sharpenings. Same goes for pens but for a different reason. People hold a pen towards the bottom. If your logo is imprinted toward the bottom it will be covered up when the item is used properly. Fat lot of good that does you.

With mugs, ask yourself, “Who do I want to see my logo? The person drinking? The person sitting across from the person drinking? Both? Pick up a mug and drink from it paying careful attention to what you see. Imagine your logo or message on the INSIDE lip of the mug. How about the bottom inside of the mug. And remember the bottom outside of the mug too. All these areas are imprintable with your logo. You need merely decide who you want to see your logo and how much you can afford to invest in a mug.

Say you want to have your name seen at the beach. “Hey! How about beach towels?”, someone yells. Beach towels are an ok idea, except for the fact that when people lay on them they’ll cover up your logo. And while some people may leave your towel stretched out while they take a dip or play beach volley ball, many will scrunch the towel up to keep sand off of it …. and use their beach blanket anyway. So a beach blanket may be a great idea. But again, when in use, your logo is covered up.

A better idea for the beach may be a cooler. Here again, most people will want the logo on the lid of the cooler. That’s fine and dandy … if you pretty much want your logo to be seen only by the owner of the cooler and then only when they’re darn near right on top of it getting in it. Better, is to put the logo on the front and/or back of the cooler. This way your logo can be seen by most who walk by the cooler and from a greater distance.

As far as the accounting firm? After some thought, Claudia put the logo on the front AND back of the hat and had a successful ballpark outing. She said that once at the ballpark, the back of the hat made perfect sense.

My next article will delve into how role-playing and a little research can pay big dividends regarding logo placement and promotional product election. Until then remember:  big or small, put your sign (logo) where people will see it.
©Michael Crooks 2006

How To Target Left Handed Buyers of Blue, 4 Door Fords

Sep 29

Posted by Michael Crooks in Innovation and Creativity, Starting out in business, The Marketing Dept, The Sales Dept | No Comments

How do you target a market as specific as left handed buyers of blue four door Fords? Pretty much the same way you target – mothers to be, pink toilet owners, and those who have a bobble-head on their dash.

First ask yourself, “Who has access to those I want to reach?” the answer is the opportunity I call, ‘Reciprocal Partnership Marketing’ (RPM). RPM is a powerfulmarketing concept. It allows you to literally, and effectively, put your message into the hands of your prospects.

Here’s an example of how:

Mr & Mrs Baker buy a $1000 necklace from Rolling Gold Jewelry Store. Aftr completing the transaction, the clerk hands a package to the Bakers and says, “Rolling Gold Jewelry and Jim’s Insurance want you to have this jewelry cleaning cloth as our gift.” Inside the package is a jewelry cleaning cloth bearing the logos and phone numbers of the jewelry store AND the insurance agent. A card explains the importance of ‘protecting your investment’ by keeping it clean. The card also points out under what circumstances a jewelry insurance policy might be beneficial to ‘further protect your investment’. The card carries both the logos and contact information of both the jewelry store and the insurance agent.

The insurance agent reciprocates by referring peole to the jewelry store for appraisals in advance of writing insurance jewelry riders. In addition, upon completing an insurance sale, the agent gives the client a nice document / policy holder, again bearing the logos and phone numbers of the agent AND the jewelry store. Inside, a card reinforces the value of annual insurance check ups. The card further points out that nothing ‘insures’ (creative license, the correct word is – ensures) fond memories of annual events such as anniversaries and birthdays … like fine jewelry.

The concept works across a broad spectrum.

A clothing store that wants to target women for a Friday sale partners with an appropriate nightclub (bar) that features a Thursday Ladies’ Night. Specially imprinted cocktail napkins, a cople of drawings for dual-logoed prizes and a few posters could drive sales for the clothing store’s Friday event. Of course, the clothing store hypes next Thursday’s ladies’ night for the nightclub by handing out the nightclubs promotional item, other promotional info, and displaying posters.

And the targets I mentioned earlier? To target mothers to be, partner with an OB-GYN. Pink toilet owners – partner with a plumber. hose who have bobble-heads on their dash boards – partner with an instant oil change firm. And if you really want to target left-hande buyers of blue Fords. It’s as simple as partnering with someone who sells Fords.

Who has access to those YOU want to target?

The power of Reciprocal Partnership Marketing can be as simple as passing out each others literature. However, through creative thought and the right promotional products and approach, you can really drive up the RPM’s on the ‘ole sales meter.

5 Ideas for Writing Effective Sales Letters

Sep 29

Posted by Alexandria Brown in Starting out in business, The Marketing Dept, The Sales Dept | 1 Comment

Sales letters, sent via e-mail or snail mail, are an effective and inexpensive way to get your message out. Even if your letter goes out to thousands of people, it can give the feel of a personal communication — IF you write it in a direct and conversational tone.

To get your creative juices flowing, here are five tried and true formulas that can work for either e-mail or printed letters.

1. Tell a story — from either your point of view or a customer’s.

Example: ‘”When I started my own business, I was very nervous about keeping my books. I’m not a numbers person and wanted nothing to do with it! Then I purchased ‘EZ-BOOKS’ software. Instantly, all my accounting “dirty work” disappeared. I gained instant peace of mind, and now I can focus on my real job — finding and keeping customers!”

Copy written in a story format has great appeal. By telling a short story that relates to the reader’s situation, you create empathy with her. People are also familiar with stories and enjoy hearing them (they appear daily in newspapers, magazines, TV, etc.). If your letter happens to be a long one, you can draw out your story for added suspense, saving the outcome for the end. (People WILL read long copy… IF they are really interested in it.)

2. Ask questions.

Example: “Have you ever stared at yourself in the mirror and wanted to cry? If we told you we have a product guaranteed to help you drop pounds fast, would you be interested? And what if we told you this product sells for less than $30?”

Basic psychology dictates that when you ask a question, the reader feels compelled to answer it. You’re involving them immediately in the issue at hand. Many effective sales letters ask a series of questions that are all likely answered with a “yes” from the reader.

3. Offer something for free.

My Own Example: “Would you like a complimentary copy of our FREE report, “The 3 Simple Secrets to Publishing an Ezine That Makes You Money?” Then just go to http://www.boostbizezine.com/ and you can download it instantly.”

Think of three free things you could offer right now. A free e-mail or printed newsletter. A helpful article, report, brochure, or booklet. A complimentary consultation or a discount on a first visit.

4. Point out a fear or problem the reader may have.

Example: “You may feel safe in your own home, but did you know that burglaries are on the rise in your neighborhood? This may be the ideal time to install that home security system you’ve been thinking about.”

This method may seem sly, but the advertising industry has been doing this to us for years. Remember how Listerine convinced all of us we have “halitosis”? (It’s the clinical term for bad breath, but it sounds like the plague!) Direct marketers call this “pushing the ouch button”. This method isn’t appropriate for all topics, but you’d be surprised at how many situations you can use it in.

5. Mention someone the reader knows.

Example: “Your friend *Jenny Smith* told us you could use a little ‘R&R.’ That’s why we’re inviting you to the grand opening of our new ‘Bath and Beauty’ Web store, featuring home spa products to help you relax.”

If you operate a referral program, this is an extremely effective way to reach out and touch your prospects. I wrote a letter using this format for a prominent day spa in New York City, and it generated quite a bit of attention. Why? The reader immediately sees the name of someone she knows — the letter makes an instant, personal connection.

(TIP: Ask your clients for the names of a few people who may be interested in your products/services, offering them an incentive if those people respond. These types of referral programs — or “affiliate programs”, as they’re called online — take some time to generate, but they’re well worth it!)

One Final Note:

Remember that your number-one goal is to “hook” your reader right away! We’re all bombarded with tons of e-mail and snail mail every day, so you have a limited amount of time to grab our attention.

Your best bet is to keep your e-mail sales letters within one or two computer screens, and your snail-mail letters to one or two pages.

© 2002-2005 Alexandria K. Brown

Try another way…

Sep 27

Posted by Steve Gray in Innovation and Creativity, The Marketing Dept, The Sales Dept | 6 Comments

Tried selling by walking in the door and telling them what you have? Lots of us have, here’s a thought though, try selling by not selling. Oh yeah you say how would that work?

Let me give you an example, two artist friends of mine want to be represented by an art gallery, so on a recent “gallery crawl” we discussed tactics while driving from one gallery to the other. I put forward that what people are doing is the same old, same old. Walk in the door and pester, or email and pester. Result… zero.

So we tried a little experiment, I call it the “Research Method” walk in and have the usual “hi how are you” chat, then walk up and start a conversation that is a bit more in depth, perhaps it’s about a particular art work… then let the questions flow further (flatter them a bit with, this is such a nice space) and get into the meat in the sandwich (stuff about how they hire new artists.) the information they share is amazing!

Then maybe ask what puts them off new artists… (this discovers what annoys them, then you know not to do that) All the while you are building rapport (learn to fake that and you’ve got it made!) Before long they are asking you what you have to offer and the relationship is now on a different footing altogether. Note; now they are asking you, not you offering.

The idea could work well in a range of industries I am sure. Go on make a few comments about this topic using the comments link at the bottom, I want to hear if you have an ideas on selling that could use this approach. Or tell us if you have used a similar method before.

Oh the artists… I hope they do well in the future, but we had a great time learning that day. The conversation on the way home was brilliant, discussing how things went and what worked better.

P.S. The other thing we noted was the three of us together gave a more rounded and interested front to the discussion and the gallery owners were more than willing to chat to us. At first they possibly thought we were art investors rather than artists.

What the BLOG???

Sep 25

Posted by Lorrie Morgan-Ferrero in Innovation and Creativity, Starting out in business, The Marketing Dept, The Sales Dept | 1 Comment

Blogs Are the NEW Secret Weapon for Reaching Your Tarket. Just like you, I hate being marketed to. Every day we’re bombarded with over 3,500 marketing messages. And frankly I’m sick of it! But blogs are different. Blogs are a two-way conversation between blogger and bloggee (plus all the readers in between). Through commenting and cross-linking, you can share feedback. You can
build your network. You can become, dare I say it, an Internet celebrity!

See blogs add humanity and instantaneous expression to the web. Like ezines, blogs are a way for your customer to get to know you.

However, unlike ezines, blogs help you with search engine rankings. Did you hear me? I said, unlike ezines, blogs help you with search engine rankings. That’s a big one.
Entrepreneur Magazine, Business Week, even the FCC (Federal Trade Commission) all believe blogs are here to stay. Just last month, Michael Powell, chairman of the FCC, started one. His initial post drew over 30,000 readers. A Microsoft spokesperson says Bill Gates is considering starting a blog. And filmmaker Michael Moore built a blog to promote his controversial new movie, Fahrenheit 9/11.

But who has time to read a blog anyway? Exactly! The job of a blog is to cut through the information overload and deliver searchable, relevant and current content. BlogAds.com recently conducted a survey of over 17,000 blog readers. Here’s what they report:

  • Blog readers are older and more affluent. 61% of blog readers are over 30, and 75% make more than $45,000 a year.
  • Blog readers are more cyber-active. 54% of their news consumption is online. 21% are themselves bloggers and 46% describe themselves as opinion makers.
  • Blog readers are media-mavens. 21% subscribe to the New Yorker magazine, 15% to the Economist, 15% to Newsweek and 14% to the Atlantic Monthly.
  • Whether on the left or right, blog readers have traits in common that often are absent in today’s public spaces: passion and initiative.
  • Blog readers have apathy towards traditional news sources. 82% say that television is worthless. 55% percent say the same about print newspapers. 54% say the same about print magazines.
  • Meanwhile, 86% say that blogs are either useful or extremely useful as sources of news or opinion. 80% say they read blogs for news they can’t find elsewhere. 78% read because the perspective is better. 66% value the faster news. 61% say that blogs are more honest.
  • Blog readers appear united in their dissatisfaction with conventional media and their rabid love of blogs.

Don’t you want to be a blogger too? How about looking at some samples of the good, the bad and the bizarre?

Model citizen blogs: http:/ /www.marketingsecrets.com/blog/ – John Reese’s blog. Hey, the guy just made $1,080,496.37 online in a single day. Here’s a good rule of thumb. If Reese is doing it, you should be too.

http://www.talkbiz.net/ramblings/weblog.php – Copywriter Paul Myers keeps us up-to-date on SPAM and other Internet marketing nightmares.

http://ww w.thinkbigrevolution.com/ – Michael Port’s weekly calls to inspire those who aspire now have an online connecting point. Designed by Andy Wibbels.

Loser Blog (for now): http://www.red-hot- copy.com/blog.htm – my blog today. Check it out now, then check it out in 5 weeks after Andy helps me out (see end of article).

Bizarro Blog: Jeff Bridges’ site is considered a “blog.” It’s hand-written! (Yes, really). http://www.jeffbridges.com

I’ve been dipping my toe into the blogging pool since earlier this year. Now I’ve decided it’s time to really learn how to do this stuff with an expert who will take me by the hand through the scary forest of the blog-world. I’m going back to school! Through another client, I met blogging guru, Andy Wibbels. Sure, he has a funny name, but he is adorable! And his writing style has me rolling on the floor. Well Andy is a self- professed geek. And Andy knows blogs. He holds a 5 week class to get you up and running with a blog. He says it’s easy and I trust him. Wanna be in a class together? Read more about it here. www.easybakeweblogs.com

Call me when your dog gets too tall!

Sep 24

Posted by Michael Crooks in Innovation and Creativity, Starting out in business, The Marketing Dept, The Sales Dept | No Comments

My friend Ken, the toy poodle breeder, called the other day asking about imprinted pens to give away at dog shows to promote his kennel. From previous conversations I remembered something about height restrictions. “Ken, isn’t there a rule that when a toypoodle gets to a certain height, you can’t show it any more?” I asked.

“Sure”, he replied, “Ten inches, then they have to get another dog.”

“So give poodle owners a ruler imprinted with your kennel name. ‘Breeder of Champion Poodles’, phone number and a line that says, ‘Call me when your dog gets too tall.’ ”

“Now that’s a great idea!” he exclaimed.

Developing great ideas to promote your business isn’t that hard. it simply takes a subtle shift in mindset and an understanding of what you really want to accomplish. The shift in mindset comes when you understand the difference between a giveaway and a promotion.

A giveaway is a one way street. A business gives away some cheap “doo-dad” thinking it will create goodwill and effectively promote their business, mindless of the fact that the item is irrelevant to their business. The recipient takes the item hame and; 1) Puts it in a drawer, 2) Gives it to the kids, 3) Throws it away. With a giveaway you cannot measure your return on investment. You gain practically nothing meaningful, certainly nothing you can actively follow up on. And as far as building business? Few will say, “Wow! They have given me a cheap piece of junk wih their name on it! I’ve really got to do business with them.”

 A promotion is a two-way street. You determine what you want your prospect / customer to do, then you figure out a way to get them to do it. Trade shows are a good example.

Most companies “give away” something cheap to everyone who stops or walks by. As a business owner / marketer, you don’t care about everyone – at least you shouldn’t. you should only care about those who are interested in your product or sevice, and can afford to pay for it. Being a smart promotional marketer, you offer something of value to those who will fill out a short “need assessment” sheet. This is how you qualify your prospects and obtain meaningful, actionable data. A financial planner who is giving away pens to everyone, would be better to offer an imprinted booklet about ‘Managing Your Finances’ to those who fill out the form. Sure the booklet costs more than the pens, BUT, the financial planner obtains information to effectively follow up on. The return on investment is measurable andthe prospect has a meaningful item that is relevant to their interest.

Cheap giveaways have their place when donating to “goody bags” or as prizes for contests or token thank you gifts. However, when your goal is to promote your business, secure qualified leads or increase traffic – effective beats cheap!

Precise numbers are much more believable than rounded numbers

Sep 24

Posted by Wayne Berry in People!, The Marketing Dept, The Sales Dept | 2 Comments

“The words we use in a sales presentation all carry weight. Some weigh more than others. Some are more believable than others. Knowing the words to use can increase your credibility dramatically.”  

Wayne Berry

For example…

If you’ve got around 50 happy clients using the particular product or service, don’t tell your prospect, “I have around 50 happy clients using this system”.

Instead give them a precise number.

“We have 53 clients currently using this system!”

The reasearch on this shows that your client is now far more likely to believe you, and your credibility will be much higher than if you than if you had simply said 50.

Similarly, if you are quoting a price.

A price of say $4,873 will “seem” more non-negotiable, than a price of $4,800 or $5,000. That is to say, you are less likely to be asked for a discount if you say the price is $4,873 rather than $4,800 or $5,000.

The reason for this is obvious enough. A price of $4,873 has obviously been calculated from a precise formula, using actual costs etc. (or so it will seem.) Hence it is less likely to be regarded by your cleint as a “flexible price”.

It’s important to always tell the truth.

When I offer my CD programmes from the platform at seminars, I tell my audience that we have a Money Back Guarantee, so they can return any programme that they purchase, if they are not totally happy with it.

I then ask them, “How many programmes do you think we’ve ever had returned?”.

Because people rarely expect a sales person to tell them the truth anyway, they give me the answer they think I want to hear. They always say the same thing. They always say “None”!

However, this is simply not true, so I tell them this is not true!

It is inconceivable that we’ve not had any returns in 14 years, so I always tell them the truth. I say, “No that’s not true, we’ve actually had 11 programmes returned over the last 14 years and we’ve made 11refunds”.

Notice that I use exact numbers again.

I used exact numbers for both the number of programmes returned and the number of years.

By the way, that’s 11 out of 12,658 audio programmes that we’ve produced and sold since October 22nd 1991. That’s a pretty good record and we are proud of it. By the way those figures are accurate because I’ve just looked them up on our computer system, so I can be precise.

Notice too the numbers I always use under my signature in this and every newsletter.

Go on, have a look.

Also notice that some of the most effective advertising you’ll ever see that quotes figures uses this technique.

In the USA one of the most popular brands of soap is Ivory Soap. Decades ago, Ivory set themselves apart from their competition and grabbed a large share of the market by claiming that “Ivory Soap is 99 and 44/100ths percent pure”.

They could just as easily claimed that “Ivory Soap is 100% pure”.

However they chose not to

The truth is, Ivory Soap isn’t 100% pure. Anything manufactured in bulk can’t be 100% pure or perfect and when we make a claim that something is 100%, people say to themselves;

“Oh really? I’m not that stupid. That can’t be entirely true and you know it too!”

And when a prospect feels this way, you lose points on your credibility scale with them.

Lose enough points, and as your credibility goes down, you become less believable even when you are telling the whole truth, and nothing but the truth!

From now on, be as precise as you can be and see what happens.
Have a great week, make it a great week!

Faux Guarantees, Guaranteed! Or your Money Back!

Sep 24

Posted by Michael Crooks in Innovation and Creativity, Starting out in business, The Customer Service Dept, The Marketing Dept, The Sales Dept | 3 Comments

I hadn’t come unglued for quite some time and, I suppose, I was due. Cause when the guy in the TV ad said, “Satisfaction guaranteed. Or your money back!” … I lost it.

“If my satisfaction is guaranteed,” I shouted, “then what’s with the “or” part. A guarantee is supposed to be an absolute. It’s supposed to be without fail. There should be nothing like “or your money back” after a guarantee. All the “or” does is tell people that the guarantee really isn’t a guarantee. It weakens the whole premise of a guarantee. It waters down the very thing you’re attempting to lure your customers with!”

At this point, I realized that my sudden outburst had scared the bejesus out of the cat who plowed through the popcorn bowl on his way out of the room at Mach I. As my wife and two kids retrieved popcorn from all parts of the room, it was strongly suggested that I give the subject of guarantees some additional thought … in another room.

Fine. Here’s my admittedly philosophical thinking. Time was, a guarantee was a solemn edict that meant something. Today, it’s almost a cliche’. Let’s say you’re guaranteeing “On-time” delivery. The very nano-second your delivery is late, the guarantee is null and void — proving that your guarantee really wasn’t a guarantee. That makes you a liar.

Part of the problem with guarantees is with the wording and the fact that people are attempting to guarantee that which they have no control over.

When developing a guarantee, think in terms of what you control. I can guarantee I’ll give you your money back, ie; “If you’re not satisfied, I’ll give you your money back… guaranteed.” In this case
I’m guaranteeing I’ll give the money back. I’m not, however, guaranteeing your satisfaction.

See the difference in the way the next two are written:
1) On time delivery guaranteed – or your money back.
2) On time delivery or your money back – guaranteed.

The first one guarantees on time delivery, as though I have control over mother nature, mechanical failure and a million other things that can prevent a delivery from taking place on time and ruin my reputation. With the second, I’m guaranteeing your money back. The first may ultimately prove to be an empty promise, which discredits me and gives my client or customer no reason to believe in my “faux guarantee” in the future. The second has teeth. It’s strong. It sounds good. But most importantly, I’m guaranteeing what I will do.

If you offer a guarantee, or are in the process of developing one, read it carefully to determine exactly what it is that you’re guaranteeing. Ask yourself, “Do I have control over what I’m guaranteeing?”

You see, I can’t guarantee my family uninterrupted tv time, because apparently, I can’t control myself. And I can’t guarantee they’ll let me back in, even if I make more popcorn. But, I can offer them this, “If you let me back in, I’ll make more popcorn. Guaranteed!

Closing the sale – It’s Highly Overrated!

Sep 18

Posted by Wayne Berry in The Customer Service Dept, The Marketing Dept, The Sales Dept | No Comments

When I first got into selling I was told that to be successful I would have to learn how to CLOSE the sale. Indeed in that company, there was an elite group called “THE CLOSERS”.

This was a small band of highly experienced, highly regarded sales people, whom I was told, knew the “secrets” of closing the sale. Their powers were mystical and their fame legendary.

I was in awe of them, and occasionally had an opportunity to accompany one of them on a sales call to observe up close the magic they could work.

Mostly this involved asking confronting questions, bamboozling the prospect with clever answers to their objections, and then using silence to apply pressure.

I couldn’t believe the audacity of these manoeuvres.

I remember sitting in silence one day for at least 5 minutes waiting for one prospect to respond to a particularly confronting close. 5 minutes sitting in silence is a very long time. Try it sometime and you’ll see what I mean.

It was embarrassing… and it worked!

I just couldn’t see myself being that high pressure. I thought to myself, “I’m not going to make it if I have to do that”.

The truth is, high pressure, tricky closing techniques used to work, and to some extent they still do.

This is one of the reasons that many sales people and sales managers still believe that the most important phase of the sales process is closing the sale. Frankly I disagree.

Almost every week sales people tell me that if I could show them how to close, then they will immediately become more successful.

Some Sales Managers invite me to speak at their Sales Conferences and tell me that what their sales people need, is to be shown more effective ways of closing the sale.

Mistakenly they believe this will provide the much-needed “magic wand” for immediate success.

30+ years in sales and training sales people have taught me…

The 5 SECRETS to closing the sale

I’ll share these with you in a future article,

In the mean time have a great week – make it a great week.

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