Probably you have noticed that there are numerous companies competing for a
single service. For instance, in athletic shoes alone, you will be able to count
more than ten competitors. In the airline industry, there exist more than ten
competitors in providing air travel services for travellers both inside and
outside the United Kingdom.
By what method will you define one competitor from another competitor? this
is where branding comes into action. In fact, that is one of the important yet
unappreciated aspects of Internet marketing.
Before you will be able to understand the goal of branding on Internet
marketing, let us first discuss the branding on conventional conduct of
business. It is an advertising method that is used to spot the products or
services of a seller or a group of sellers and differentiate it from those of
other sellers offering the likewise products or services. Establishing a brand
name for your own products or services will help you achieve the following:
1. Deliver the point clearly to the public about your reason of marketing
your products or services;
2. Validate your credibility as an independent and
reputable seller;
3. Stimulate your purchaser to patronize your products or
services; and
4. Construct a concrete and loyal customer base.
In other words, the goal of branding is to give your products or services its
own distinctiveness apart from other sellers offering the likewise products or
services. You will only succeed in the investment you are into if you have
established yourself as an independent and reputable seller through branding.
What are the ramifications of branding in your investment?
The brand of your products or services will rest among the hearts and minds
of your customers and future clients. this will sway the way they patronize your
products or services that can even result in the expansion of your customer
base.
It is what the people will recollect about you. For instance, you have
branded your pet products as “Pet Lovers”. Once the brand name is consistently
patronized by the people, you will be able to achieve success and your lines
will really have an edge above unbranded items.
As previously mentioned, branding is one of the most essential yet the most
unappreciated aspects of Internet marketing, especially in terms of web
advertising. Since nearly all advertising programs are focused on click-through
rates (since it is the basis of earning through online-based affiliate
programs), Internet marketers often neglect the significance of branding in
terms of Internet marketing. This is somewhat unfortunate since the success of
Internet marketing is additionally dependent on branding awareness. In other
words, branding is essential in promoting the brand of the product or services
of the affiliate. Without branding, there is no sense that the product or
services you are endorsing will be in demand to your customers.
Keep in mind that your goal here is to earn money and not to lose any penny.
Thus, it would be better if you will invest on branding-based Internet
marketing. It is easy to promote products and services that are already famous
to the public rather than unbranded ones.
However, you may additionally help building brand awareness of not well-known
products or services that will help a lot in executing your online advertising
successful. Here are a few of the strategies that you can use:
1. You may think of a brand name that will suit to the products or services
of your customers. Such brand name should not be too formal yet too lousy to the
eyes and ears of your customers. You may consist of interesting words that will
produce the required “twist” to the name of the product or service.
2. Since a brand name is an intellectual property, you need to check with the
Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) if the brand name is already taken by somebody
else. Once the selected brand name is still available, you will be able to apply
for the registered patent of that brand name.
3. Once the patent has been approved, you want to consistently advertise the
name so that it will improve popularity with prospective clients. You may
additionally suggest to the merchants that the brand name needs to be advertised
through various affiliate programs through the net for greater visibility.
Branding must not be taken for granted. It is one of the factors that will
help you achieve success in Internet marketing. Keep it as your goal and stick
with it along the course of your investment.
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Showing posts with label marketing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label marketing. Show all posts
Monday, September 3, 2012
Thursday, April 26, 2012
What to Expect from an Online Moneymaking Opportunity
There is no limit to the number of online business opportunities
right now. So many of them are vying for space out here on the Internet
that it becomes difficult to separate the wheat from the chaff. However,
you don’t want to waste your time and money looking for the right
opportunity. You have to be discerning here. The following are some
things that you need to look for.
Get Hold of a Proven Method
Though there might be umpteen methods to make money online, the one you should choose is something that has been proven. Visit online discussion boards and use social networking groups to find people who have really made money online and see how they did that. Try to use those methods. You may choose something like an SEO business, for example, or an affiliate marketing business. These are things that people have really made money from.
You Need a Mentor
Everyone starts sometime, just as you are starting with your online business right now. That’s all right, but things will go much more smoothly for you if you are able to get hold of a mentor. Your mentor should be someone who is interested in Internet marketing and has already made money from it. Only such a person can coach you in the right methods and techniques that you can use to earn your wealth on the Internet.
What Tools Will You Use?
Internet marketing is a very huge term; it includes a lot of things. There are several tools and features that you can use to make money through the Internet. So, what tools is your chosen method going to use? Does it talk to you about SEO, about blogging and article marketing, about using social networking websites, about using autoresponders, about generating email lists, about product branding and purchasing resell rights? These are all the things that you should take a look at. Look at the technique of the thing. The most important thing is that you need to be convinced with what methodology they are planning to implement.
Are the Methods All Legit?
This is a very important thing to check. You don’t want to be part of a scam and get embroiled in a legal tussle for no fault of yours. Hence, when you are choosing a method on the Internet, don’t be swayed by those get-rich-quick schemes that sound too good to be true. Most times, they are illegal and can get you in trouble. Also, when you are using methods to promote your business on the Internet, stay on the legitimate side. For instance, when using SEO, try to make sure that you use one of the white hat methods. These are some of the basic things that you have to bear in mind when you are trying to choose any opportunity to make money online. An important ingredient is, of course, the right education. There are many fantastic ecourses available right now that you can take advantage of. It is always good sense to attend a good SEO course, because this is what becoming popular on the Internet is all about.
Get Hold of a Proven Method
Though there might be umpteen methods to make money online, the one you should choose is something that has been proven. Visit online discussion boards and use social networking groups to find people who have really made money online and see how they did that. Try to use those methods. You may choose something like an SEO business, for example, or an affiliate marketing business. These are things that people have really made money from.
You Need a Mentor
Everyone starts sometime, just as you are starting with your online business right now. That’s all right, but things will go much more smoothly for you if you are able to get hold of a mentor. Your mentor should be someone who is interested in Internet marketing and has already made money from it. Only such a person can coach you in the right methods and techniques that you can use to earn your wealth on the Internet.
What Tools Will You Use?
Internet marketing is a very huge term; it includes a lot of things. There are several tools and features that you can use to make money through the Internet. So, what tools is your chosen method going to use? Does it talk to you about SEO, about blogging and article marketing, about using social networking websites, about using autoresponders, about generating email lists, about product branding and purchasing resell rights? These are all the things that you should take a look at. Look at the technique of the thing. The most important thing is that you need to be convinced with what methodology they are planning to implement.
Are the Methods All Legit?
This is a very important thing to check. You don’t want to be part of a scam and get embroiled in a legal tussle for no fault of yours. Hence, when you are choosing a method on the Internet, don’t be swayed by those get-rich-quick schemes that sound too good to be true. Most times, they are illegal and can get you in trouble. Also, when you are using methods to promote your business on the Internet, stay on the legitimate side. For instance, when using SEO, try to make sure that you use one of the white hat methods. These are some of the basic things that you have to bear in mind when you are trying to choose any opportunity to make money online. An important ingredient is, of course, the right education. There are many fantastic ecourses available right now that you can take advantage of. It is always good sense to attend a good SEO course, because this is what becoming popular on the Internet is all about.
The great age of commentary is here. Here’s how to take advantage of it and make your blog distinguished and profitable.
by Dr. Jeffrey Lant
When I was growing up, America’s opinions were shaped
by a handful of influential people whose advice on any subject
under the sun (but usually national affairs and politics) could
be read, first, in newspapers… then heard on the radio and television.
These are great names, masters of pungent comments, wry humor,
intelligent observations, and refined styles all their own. Here
is my (partial) Honor Roll… one could add many others, the
very best of the very best:
Westbrook Pegler of the United Press (died 1969).
H.L. Mencken of the Baltimore Sun (died 1956).
Edward R. Murrow of CBS (died 1965).
Walter Winchell of New York Daily Mirror (died 1972).
Paul Harvey of ABC (died 2009).
And now another name, destined for greatness and the prosperity
that generally accompanies it, can be added to the list:
YOU!
I’m here, your advisor and friend, to assist your rise to global
eminence, as Internet blogger and meaningful commentator par excellence.
The Internet has made it possible to become such a commentator.
You now have a power, and at your fingertips too, previously reserved to the few;
now available to anyone.
You are now able to comment on and draw forth the true meaning
of events great and small, events of cosmic significance and the little
secrets that someone (usually office holder or government official)
didn’t want anyone to know, thus motivating the commentator to be
sure to disclose.
Now you can be a new, soon to be important voice… a voice of humanity,
intelligence, stern admonitions and home truths, resoundingly delivered.
In short, you can be an unceasing engine for truth, justice, and the
improvement of mankind, in a style and with a spin all your own.
Kool.
Here’s how to begin and prosper.
Most bloggers, think small, picayune, trivial. You cannot.
Their authors, that is, chew more than they bite off. (Sadly, I cannot take credit
for this telling mot. Mrs. Henry Adams rendered this artful observation on the
ponderous American author Henry James. She later killed herself, but probably
not as a consequence of this remark.) Your view must be different, broad, cosmopolitan,
catholic in the best (non-sectarian) sense.
If you want an important blog, write on important subjects. This formula is
tried — and true.
Always talk directly to your readers.
The great commentators of any age and culture never address the world
en masse. They talk directly to you, as in a personal conversation between
someone with Something Important to say… and someone anxious to learn
it, all of it.
Use your blog to tell stores.
People need more than facts, assertions, and (worst of all) windy
pontifications to attract them, though this is what they get from most
blog writers.
People have always liked… and will always like… interesting tales. Great
communicators like Jesus, Gandhi, Franklin Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln
were expert at capturing the full attention of their audiences… and what’s
more, keeping it with stories with a beginning, middle, end.
Develop a format. Make it your signature.
All the great commentators, like the ones listed above, delivered their
comments in a certain, defined way which the folks who followed them
immediately recognized. You must do the same.
Enter into the lives of the people you are commenting on… and the
ones you are delivering your comments to.
The best commentators enter into the situations and conditions, nay
into the very skins and brains, of the people they are writing about.
This is what gives their comments an edge and credibility.
The goal of the great commentator is most assuredly not to
set up a card board effigy of the person he is writing about. That’s
unfair, inadequate, infra dig.
The objective, instead, is to show that you truly understand the
people and events you are writing about… then make your comments
about them, pungent, fair, honest, aphoristic accordingly.
This is not easy to do… but it is what great commentators do…
and which makes them irresistible to readers.
Avoid pedantry, but never the chance to instruct.
The purpose of a blog is NEVER to show how smart you are. It is
to inform, educate, edify and instruct your readers, all done with
the lightest, but always sure, touch. In short, it about enhancing
their smartness…never merely dazzling with your own.
Thus, don’t use your blog as the opportunity to demonstrate how
clever and intelligent you are. Commentators are not, and always eschew the
opportunity to be, ponderous. That’s the role of too many professors from
the Academy. Such people do not flourish, in blogs or elsewhere,
because their readers flee andante.
You must capture and enthrall them, not as professors do by forcing
attendance, but by entrancements, the apt selection of topics, the
masterful presentation of what you have to tell… and the unique way
you present it.
Master the great information sources you will come to rely upon
to glean critical facts for your comments.
Read, on line now, the New York Times and Washington Post,
to name but 2 key sources. These publications, soon to be history
because of the Internet, will inspire you with both facts and story
ideas. Scrutinize them closely.
Use too the Associated Press reports and those of UPI and Reuter’s.
They are crucial for providing both story ideas and the hard details
which give your commentaries backbone and grit.
Learn to master the art of searching the great search engines,
where the crucial supporting information is available whenever
you require it,which means whenever you want a comment
taut, never flaccid, girded by fact.
Use the Wikipedia, one of the greatest information sources ever. It is
a noble idea, essential to commentators, ever available. Bravissimo.
One last thing. Set your blog publishing schedule… and stick to it.
Your readers want, indeed insist upon, predictability and regular
delivery of your blog. Give it to them. If your publishing date is
each Thursday at 12 noon Eastern time… adhere to it, religiously.
“Punctuality,” as King Louis XVIII of France observed, “is the
courtesy of kings.”
Nowadays your readers are the sovereigns, each and every
one. Succeed with them… and your results and benefits, financial
and otherwise, are assured, abundantly so. These are your masters,
your audience. Treat them accordingly and soar.
When I was growing up, America’s opinions were shaped
by a handful of influential people whose advice on any subject
under the sun (but usually national affairs and politics) could
be read, first, in newspapers… then heard on the radio and television.
These are great names, masters of pungent comments, wry humor,
intelligent observations, and refined styles all their own. Here
is my (partial) Honor Roll… one could add many others, the
very best of the very best:
Westbrook Pegler of the United Press (died 1969).
H.L. Mencken of the Baltimore Sun (died 1956).
Edward R. Murrow of CBS (died 1965).
Walter Winchell of New York Daily Mirror (died 1972).
Paul Harvey of ABC (died 2009).
And now another name, destined for greatness and the prosperity
that generally accompanies it, can be added to the list:
YOU!
I’m here, your advisor and friend, to assist your rise to global
eminence, as Internet blogger and meaningful commentator par excellence.
The Internet has made it possible to become such a commentator.
You now have a power, and at your fingertips too, previously reserved to the few;
now available to anyone.
You are now able to comment on and draw forth the true meaning
of events great and small, events of cosmic significance and the little
secrets that someone (usually office holder or government official)
didn’t want anyone to know, thus motivating the commentator to be
sure to disclose.
Now you can be a new, soon to be important voice… a voice of humanity,
intelligence, stern admonitions and home truths, resoundingly delivered.
In short, you can be an unceasing engine for truth, justice, and the
improvement of mankind, in a style and with a spin all your own.
Kool.
Here’s how to begin and prosper.
Most bloggers, think small, picayune, trivial. You cannot.
Their authors, that is, chew more than they bite off. (Sadly, I cannot take credit
for this telling mot. Mrs. Henry Adams rendered this artful observation on the
ponderous American author Henry James. She later killed herself, but probably
not as a consequence of this remark.) Your view must be different, broad, cosmopolitan,
catholic in the best (non-sectarian) sense.
If you want an important blog, write on important subjects. This formula is
tried — and true.
Always talk directly to your readers.
The great commentators of any age and culture never address the world
en masse. They talk directly to you, as in a personal conversation between
someone with Something Important to say… and someone anxious to learn
it, all of it.
Use your blog to tell stores.
People need more than facts, assertions, and (worst of all) windy
pontifications to attract them, though this is what they get from most
blog writers.
People have always liked… and will always like… interesting tales. Great
communicators like Jesus, Gandhi, Franklin Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln
were expert at capturing the full attention of their audiences… and what’s
more, keeping it with stories with a beginning, middle, end.
Develop a format. Make it your signature.
All the great commentators, like the ones listed above, delivered their
comments in a certain, defined way which the folks who followed them
immediately recognized. You must do the same.
Enter into the lives of the people you are commenting on… and the
ones you are delivering your comments to.
The best commentators enter into the situations and conditions, nay
into the very skins and brains, of the people they are writing about.
This is what gives their comments an edge and credibility.
The goal of the great commentator is most assuredly not to
set up a card board effigy of the person he is writing about. That’s
unfair, inadequate, infra dig.
The objective, instead, is to show that you truly understand the
people and events you are writing about… then make your comments
about them, pungent, fair, honest, aphoristic accordingly.
This is not easy to do… but it is what great commentators do…
and which makes them irresistible to readers.
Avoid pedantry, but never the chance to instruct.
The purpose of a blog is NEVER to show how smart you are. It is
to inform, educate, edify and instruct your readers, all done with
the lightest, but always sure, touch. In short, it about enhancing
their smartness…never merely dazzling with your own.
Thus, don’t use your blog as the opportunity to demonstrate how
clever and intelligent you are. Commentators are not, and always eschew the
opportunity to be, ponderous. That’s the role of too many professors from
the Academy. Such people do not flourish, in blogs or elsewhere,
because their readers flee andante.
You must capture and enthrall them, not as professors do by forcing
attendance, but by entrancements, the apt selection of topics, the
masterful presentation of what you have to tell… and the unique way
you present it.
Master the great information sources you will come to rely upon
to glean critical facts for your comments.
Read, on line now, the New York Times and Washington Post,
to name but 2 key sources. These publications, soon to be history
because of the Internet, will inspire you with both facts and story
ideas. Scrutinize them closely.
Use too the Associated Press reports and those of UPI and Reuter’s.
They are crucial for providing both story ideas and the hard details
which give your commentaries backbone and grit.
Learn to master the art of searching the great search engines,
where the crucial supporting information is available whenever
you require it,which means whenever you want a comment
taut, never flaccid, girded by fact.
Use the Wikipedia, one of the greatest information sources ever. It is
a noble idea, essential to commentators, ever available. Bravissimo.
One last thing. Set your blog publishing schedule… and stick to it.
Your readers want, indeed insist upon, predictability and regular
delivery of your blog. Give it to them. If your publishing date is
each Thursday at 12 noon Eastern time… adhere to it, religiously.
“Punctuality,” as King Louis XVIII of France observed, “is the
courtesy of kings.”
Nowadays your readers are the sovereigns, each and every
one. Succeed with them… and your results and benefits, financial
and otherwise, are assured, abundantly so. These are your masters,
your audience. Treat them accordingly and soar.
Thursday, April 5, 2012
Five Things You Don’t Know About Closing Sales Which Are Eviscerating Your Profits
It isn’t just that most people are lousy at sales…
far more shocking is the fact that most SALES PEOPLE
are lousy at sales.
far more shocking is the fact that most SALES PEOPLE
are lousy at sales.
If you’re one of them, this article is for YOU!
The plain fact of the matter is that the overwhelming
majority of sales people rely on their charm, gift
of gab, and ability to “wing it” to make sales… instead
of being prepared to make sale after sale. STOP IT! Following
these sensible steps means more money:
majority of sales people rely on their charm, gift
of gab, and ability to “wing it” to make sales… instead
of being prepared to make sale after sale. STOP IT! Following
these sensible steps means more money:
1) Closing sales is not a matter of motivation or pressure.
Instead, it’s a question of having the right information readily
at hand, so you can answer customer questions quickly, easily,
thoroughly.
Instead, it’s a question of having the right information readily
at hand, so you can answer customer questions quickly, easily,
thoroughly.
Thus, consider what you have readily available when
you are talking to a customer.
you are talking to a customer.
2) Do you have (readily available, mind) a sheet of “you
gets”, that is a list of PRECISELY what your customer
gets when using your product/service?
gets”, that is a list of PRECISELY what your customer
gets when using your product/service?
Dollars to doughnuts, neither you nor any member of
your business has sat down and written out the features
of what you’re selling; then converted each and every
feature into a benefit that the customer gets. Treat each
and every benefit like scoops on an ice-cream cone;
the higher you stack ‘em, the more enticing to the customer!
your business has sat down and written out the features
of what you’re selling; then converted each and every
feature into a benefit that the customer gets. Treat each
and every benefit like scoops on an ice-cream cone;
the higher you stack ‘em, the more enticing to the customer!
3) Do you have a sheet of offers?
Products do not sell themselves; a sales person bragging
“Our product sells itself” is wrong, naive or both. What sells
products is offers; the better the offer the faster the sale.
“Our product sells itself” is wrong, naive or both. What sells
products is offers; the better the offer the faster the sale.
Thus, have you got a sheet of offers; “add-ons” you can
use to motivate immediate customer action? This list should
make it very clear just what the customer gets for fast action.
AND when the customer must act, for ALL offers must be
limited by time, quantity, etc.
use to motivate immediate customer action? This list should
make it very clear just what the customer gets for fast action.
AND when the customer must act, for ALL offers must be
limited by time, quantity, etc.
4) Do you have a sheet of results testimonials?
People what to be assured and re-assured about what
they will get when using your product. Here’s where “results”
testimonials come in. These not only provide a happy
customer’s experience in using your product (“I loved it”),
but the specific results that customer achieved. The greater
the specificity and the benefits, the better and more
effective the testimonial.
they will get when using your product. Here’s where “results”
testimonials come in. These not only provide a happy
customer’s experience in using your product (“I loved it”),
but the specific results that customer achieved. The greater
the specificity and the benefits, the better and more
effective the testimonial.
Note: whenever possible ALL testimonials must include
full customer and such relevant details as title, location, etc.
In short, testimonials must be detailed and complete to be
completely credible.
full customer and such relevant details as title, location, etc.
In short, testimonials must be detailed and complete to be
completely credible.
5) A page of objection responses and rebuttals
Face it, not every customer will leap for joy upon hearing
of what you are selling. That’s why you must be prepared for
the nay-sayers, the procrastinators, the cautious, and
the merely foolish. For these folks, a list of every possible
objection and your strongest response is required.
of what you are selling. That’s why you must be prepared for
the nay-sayers, the procrastinators, the cautious, and
the merely foolish. For these folks, a list of every possible
objection and your strongest response is required.
Commmon objections include:
“I must ask my spouse.”
“I’m on vacation for the next 2 weeks.”
“I have to check you out.”
“I don’t have the money.”
Now hear this: there isn’t an objection under the sun
which cannot be effectively answered, only not by
“winging it.” EVERY successful sales person knows
that preparation here is mandatory; the rebuttals may
seem spontaneous… but they must ALWAYS be
rehearsed. Brainstorm all objections; then work on
the responses. As new objections surface, add them
to your list… and, again, perfect the perfect, objection-
demolishing response.
which cannot be effectively answered, only not by
“winging it.” EVERY successful sales person knows
that preparation here is mandatory; the rebuttals may
seem spontaneous… but they must ALWAYS be
rehearsed. Brainstorm all objections; then work on
the responses. As new objections surface, add them
to your list… and, again, perfect the perfect, objection-
demolishing response.
Last Words
The key to sales success is NEVER a “wing and a prayer.”
It is ALWAYS a matter of total, complete, deliberate effort.
Such effort can turn a mediocre sales person into a stellar
performer. That, of course, is precisely what your goal
must be, and now you know how to achieve it!
It is ALWAYS a matter of total, complete, deliberate effort.
Such effort can turn a mediocre sales person into a stellar
performer. That, of course, is precisely what your goal
must be, and now you know how to achieve it!
Friday, January 27, 2012
5 Things You Should Do When Your Customer Buys (if you want more business in the future!)
You SAY you want more business and the money
that comes thereby. But unless you do these 5
things, you’re just whistling “Dixie”.
1) Smile & Say Thank You
Do a little survey. For the next few days, take a
look at how you’re treated in the various stores
you patronize.
When you buy do you get a radiant smile from
the check-out clerk and a warm thank-you? Or
is the action meagre and perfunctory; or even
absent altogether?
The warmth of the thank you, the brilliance of
the smile are indicators of just how much you
value this customer and desire his business.
P.S. Whenever possible, use the customer’s
name. “Thanks so much for your business,
Mrs. Smythe. We do it appreciate it you know!”
And be SURE to make eye contact. This is
essential.
2) Hand the customer a bonus coupon.
ALL businesses live or die by repeat customer
business. That’s why you need to give each
customer a bonus coupon,
First, make the bonus a valuable one, nothing
cheap and insubstantial for your vital customers,
please.
Second, make sure the bonus coupon has
an expiration date. Remember, offers work
because they are meaningful in value… and
because they expire.
Third, hand this valuable gift to the customer
and deliver with a smile!
3) Offer to carry the customer’s purchase
to her car.
Want to make an especially good impression…
the kind the customer will convey to her
social circle?
Then carry her purchase to her car!
This courtesy may not always be possible;
you may be the only one in the store, for
instance. Very well. But don’t throw the
baby out with the bath water. If you cannot
always offer this special courtesy, do not
for that reason never offer it.
And, remember, in offering this special
benefit, don’t stint on the accompanying
smile… or customer’s name.
4) E-mail the customer a thank you and
bonus offer.
What should be awaiting your valuable
customer when he gets home? A terrific
bonus offer e-mailed at once!
Speed here is everything. That offer should
be e-mailed right away. The speed with which
you send this bonus offer will be a clear
indication to the customer of how much you
value her business.
You’re able to achieve this result if and only
if you have created one or (even better) more
offers before you need them!
It goes without saying that you must have
the customer’s e-mail address. You do request
it from every customer, don’t you? Semper paratus
is not just a motto for Boy Scouts.
5) If your product runs out, make sure to e-mail
the customer when you’ve estimated he will need
more. THAT is your moment to appear supremely
customer-centered… and put more money in your
pocket, too.
Say the average customer uses up this product
in 60 days.
E-mail a bonus offer 30 days before renewal is
necessary… then 15 days… and 7 days. Make
SURE you include a special offer with every
e-mail and make sure this offer has a clear
expiration date: like 5 days from e-mailing.
Last Words
As every smart business person knows, your
success (and comfort) derive mainly from one
source: your customers. Right now you SAY this…
but you may not run your business properly to
derive maximum profit from customers. This article
should help. Read it! Print it! Live it! You will
start seeing the pay-off at once!
that comes thereby. But unless you do these 5
things, you’re just whistling “Dixie”.
1) Smile & Say Thank You
Do a little survey. For the next few days, take a
look at how you’re treated in the various stores
you patronize.
When you buy do you get a radiant smile from
the check-out clerk and a warm thank-you? Or
is the action meagre and perfunctory; or even
absent altogether?
The warmth of the thank you, the brilliance of
the smile are indicators of just how much you
value this customer and desire his business.
P.S. Whenever possible, use the customer’s
name. “Thanks so much for your business,
Mrs. Smythe. We do it appreciate it you know!”
And be SURE to make eye contact. This is
essential.
2) Hand the customer a bonus coupon.
ALL businesses live or die by repeat customer
business. That’s why you need to give each
customer a bonus coupon,
First, make the bonus a valuable one, nothing
cheap and insubstantial for your vital customers,
please.
Second, make sure the bonus coupon has
an expiration date. Remember, offers work
because they are meaningful in value… and
because they expire.
Third, hand this valuable gift to the customer
and deliver with a smile!
3) Offer to carry the customer’s purchase
to her car.
Want to make an especially good impression…
the kind the customer will convey to her
social circle?
Then carry her purchase to her car!
This courtesy may not always be possible;
you may be the only one in the store, for
instance. Very well. But don’t throw the
baby out with the bath water. If you cannot
always offer this special courtesy, do not
for that reason never offer it.
And, remember, in offering this special
benefit, don’t stint on the accompanying
smile… or customer’s name.
4) E-mail the customer a thank you and
bonus offer.
What should be awaiting your valuable
customer when he gets home? A terrific
bonus offer e-mailed at once!
Speed here is everything. That offer should
be e-mailed right away. The speed with which
you send this bonus offer will be a clear
indication to the customer of how much you
value her business.
You’re able to achieve this result if and only
if you have created one or (even better) more
offers before you need them!
It goes without saying that you must have
the customer’s e-mail address. You do request
it from every customer, don’t you? Semper paratus
is not just a motto for Boy Scouts.
5) If your product runs out, make sure to e-mail
the customer when you’ve estimated he will need
more. THAT is your moment to appear supremely
customer-centered… and put more money in your
pocket, too.
Say the average customer uses up this product
in 60 days.
E-mail a bonus offer 30 days before renewal is
necessary… then 15 days… and 7 days. Make
SURE you include a special offer with every
e-mail and make sure this offer has a clear
expiration date: like 5 days from e-mailing.
Last Words
As every smart business person knows, your
success (and comfort) derive mainly from one
source: your customers. Right now you SAY this…
but you may not run your business properly to
derive maximum profit from customers. This article
should help. Read it! Print it! Live it! You will
start seeing the pay-off at once!
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Five Things You Don’t Know About Closing Sales Which Are Eviscerating Your Profits
It isn’t just that most people are lousy at sales…
far more shocking is the fact that most SALES PEOPLE
are lousy at sales.
If you’re one of them, this article is for YOU!
The plain fact of the matter is that the overwhelming
majority of sales people rely on their charm, gift
of gab, and ability to “wing it” to make sales… instead
of being prepared to make sale after sale. STOP IT! Following
these sensible steps means more money:
1) Closing sales is not a matter of motivation or pressure.
Instead, it’s a question of having the right information readily
at hand, so you can answer customer questions quickly, easily,
thoroughly.
Thus, consider what you have readily available when
you are talking to a customer.
2) Do you have (readily available, mind) a sheet of “you
gets”, that is a list of PRECISELY what your customer
gets when using your product/service?
Dollars to doughnuts, neither you nor any member of
your business has sat down and written out the features
of what you’re selling; then converted each and every
feature into a benefit that the customer gets. Treat each
and every benefit like scoops on an ice-cream cone;
the higher you stack ‘em, the more enticing to the customer!
3) Do you have a sheet of offers?
Products do not sell themselves; a sales person bragging
“Our product sells itself” is wrong, naive or both. What sells
products is offers; the better the offer the faster the sale.
Thus, have you got a sheet of offers; “add-ons” you can
use to motivate immediate customer action? This list should
make it very clear just what the customer gets for fast action.
AND when the customer must act, for ALL offers must be
limited by time, quantity, etc.
4) Do you have a sheet of results testimonials?
People what to be assured and re-assured about what
they will get when using your product. Here’s where “results”
testimonials come in. These not only provide a happy
customer’s experience in using your product (“I loved it”),
but the specific results that customer achieved. The greater
the specificity and the benefits, the better and more
effective the testimonial.
Note: whenever possible ALL testimonials must include
full customer and such relevant details as title, location, etc.
In short, testimonials must be detailed and complete to be
completely credible.
5) A page of objection responses and rebuttals
Face it, not every customer will leap for joy upon hearing
of what you are selling. That’s why you must be prepared for
the nay-sayers, the procrastinators, the cautious, and
the merely foolish. For these folks, a list of every possible
objection and your strongest response is required.
Commmon objections include:
“I must ask my spouse.”
“I’m on vacation for the next 2 weeks.”
“I have to check you out.”
“I don’t have the money.”
Now hear this: there isn’t an objection under the sun
which cannot be effectively answered, only not by
“winging it.” EVERY successful sales person knows
that preparation here is mandatory; the rebuttals may
seem spontaneous… but they must ALWAYS be
rehearsed. Brainstorm all objections; then work on
the responses. As new objections surface, add them
to your list… and, again, perfect the perfect, objection-
demolishing response.
Last Words
The key to sales success is NEVER a “wing and a prayer.”
It is ALWAYS a matter of total, complete, deliberate effort.
Such effort can turn a mediocre sales person into a stellar
performer. That, of course, is precisely what your goal
must be, and now you know how to achieve it!
far more shocking is the fact that most SALES PEOPLE
are lousy at sales.
If you’re one of them, this article is for YOU!
The plain fact of the matter is that the overwhelming
majority of sales people rely on their charm, gift
of gab, and ability to “wing it” to make sales… instead
of being prepared to make sale after sale. STOP IT! Following
these sensible steps means more money:
1) Closing sales is not a matter of motivation or pressure.
Instead, it’s a question of having the right information readily
at hand, so you can answer customer questions quickly, easily,
thoroughly.
Thus, consider what you have readily available when
you are talking to a customer.
2) Do you have (readily available, mind) a sheet of “you
gets”, that is a list of PRECISELY what your customer
gets when using your product/service?
Dollars to doughnuts, neither you nor any member of
your business has sat down and written out the features
of what you’re selling; then converted each and every
feature into a benefit that the customer gets. Treat each
and every benefit like scoops on an ice-cream cone;
the higher you stack ‘em, the more enticing to the customer!
3) Do you have a sheet of offers?
Products do not sell themselves; a sales person bragging
“Our product sells itself” is wrong, naive or both. What sells
products is offers; the better the offer the faster the sale.
Thus, have you got a sheet of offers; “add-ons” you can
use to motivate immediate customer action? This list should
make it very clear just what the customer gets for fast action.
AND when the customer must act, for ALL offers must be
limited by time, quantity, etc.
4) Do you have a sheet of results testimonials?
People what to be assured and re-assured about what
they will get when using your product. Here’s where “results”
testimonials come in. These not only provide a happy
customer’s experience in using your product (“I loved it”),
but the specific results that customer achieved. The greater
the specificity and the benefits, the better and more
effective the testimonial.
Note: whenever possible ALL testimonials must include
full customer and such relevant details as title, location, etc.
In short, testimonials must be detailed and complete to be
completely credible.
5) A page of objection responses and rebuttals
Face it, not every customer will leap for joy upon hearing
of what you are selling. That’s why you must be prepared for
the nay-sayers, the procrastinators, the cautious, and
the merely foolish. For these folks, a list of every possible
objection and your strongest response is required.
Commmon objections include:
“I must ask my spouse.”
“I’m on vacation for the next 2 weeks.”
“I have to check you out.”
“I don’t have the money.”
Now hear this: there isn’t an objection under the sun
which cannot be effectively answered, only not by
“winging it.” EVERY successful sales person knows
that preparation here is mandatory; the rebuttals may
seem spontaneous… but they must ALWAYS be
rehearsed. Brainstorm all objections; then work on
the responses. As new objections surface, add them
to your list… and, again, perfect the perfect, objection-
demolishing response.
Last Words
The key to sales success is NEVER a “wing and a prayer.”
It is ALWAYS a matter of total, complete, deliberate effort.
Such effort can turn a mediocre sales person into a stellar
performer. That, of course, is precisely what your goal
must be, and now you know how to achieve it!
How to stay focused and make money on days you DON’T feel like it!
Did you lay in bed this morning unwilling, unable
to get up? Did every fibre of your body demand
more time in the sack? Was it a struggle to
open an eye… and get up?
Sure enough, if today wasn’t like this, some
of your many tomorrows will be. You need to be
prepared for such inevitabilities… because they
can and will occur and can and will sabotage your
ability to make money. Here are some suggestions
that’ll help you rise and shine… suggestions I use
myself when getting up and getting going are most
decidedly NOT my first priority!
1) Create a “to do” list before you go to bed.
The key to making tomorrow organized, efficient,
and profitable is what you do today. Make it a
rule before you retire for the night to draw up a
clear, clean, specific “to do” list. Write it, read it
over, put it next to the bed… then turn off the lights.
While you’re sleeping your subconscious mind
will be busily at work helping you organize and
implement the items on your list. Even when your
body is screaming for more sleep and all the
creature comforts it can get, the brain — and
your crucial “to do” list — will be helping you get
up and at ‘em.
2) Take a cold shower.
The British empire, the largest the world has ever
known, was practically built on a cascade of frigid
water. Its young men, pillars of the imperium, were
shipped off to prep schools and immediately
subjected to the jarring temperatures which will work
for you as well as it worked for them. Don’t stand
there and debate…. turn up the cold tap and plunge!
You’re about to be invigorated, rejuvenated, primed
to run your empire.
3) Do some exercise.
Are you huddling in a corner of your kitchen,
hands gripping a cup of joe, comfy in your bunny
slippers? Whoa! This isn’t helping getting your act
together. You need some brisk, bracing exercise…
the kind guaranteed to send vital oxygen to that all-
important brain.
Put the steaming liquid down and kick up your
heels… or quick-step around your back yard or
up and down your street. With every step your
brain will exult. The key isn’t coffee… it’s oxygen.
Move bristly and infuse it where it must go for
maximum good.
4) Give yourself an easy, immediate success.
Don’t feel like doing anything? Then give yourself
an easy, immediate success. This should, of course,
have been indicated on your “to do” list. Before you go
to bed be sure to post on your list an easy thing,
a thing that will start today’s sequence of successes.
Once begun, as we say in New England, is half done.
What could this “easy” thing be?
It could be calling a long-time customer to get
a nice re-order or following up with a new customer to
whom you’ve already sent a proposal and quote.
One success engenders another. Even a small
success is sufficient. Start successful, remain successful.
It all begins when you least feel like it.
5) Put on your head phones and engage with
some stirring music.
Still need help getting into gear? Go to the play list
on your computer and choose something rousing.
What? You don’t have such a play list? Start it
today. I can assure you, you are going to need it.
Here are some of my sure-fire upbeat selections,
guaranteed to get you going:
Wake up Little Suzie by the Everly Brothers (most
appropriate, don’t you think?)
Think by Aretha Franklin.
Natalie Cole’s version of Pink Cadillac, and
J.P. Rameau’s always motivating Tambourins I-II
from Dardanus.
Your list may well be different from mine; the
important thing is to have a list you can access at
once. Turn up the sound… and move your body.
Your uplifting selections are moving you towards
another successful day.
6) Visualize what you’ll get when you turn this day
into a success.
All too often we work without conceptualizing why.
We work today because we worked yesterday.
This is not nearly good enough.
Remind yourself just why you’re working and what
special thing today’s successes will help create.
In my case, for instance, I have a pile of auction
catalogs stacked high next to my computer. I motivate
myself on days when such motivation is needed by
looking at the things I want from auctions coming up
quickly. Getting myself focused and together is a
precondition for maximum acquisition. Visualize
success; then do what’s necessary to achieve it.
7) Still not alert and moving? Then take the day off
formally and properly.
Like most people these days, you are working
more and longer than either your parents or grand
parents. We are the most leisure-challenged
generation ever.
The plain fact is, you may be unable to get up and
resolutely face the day because you’re just worn
out. If so, take the day off… sleep in, sleep properly,
sleep, relax and goof off without guilt. You’ll be the better
tomorrow if you take what is necessary and do not
regard it as an indulgence but physical need. Enjoy!
Monday, January 23, 2012
Putting the most powerful word in marketing to work for you!
There’s a word — a single word — which can fill
your coffers day after day. Smart marketers
triumph with it… while the also-rans scratch
their heads looking for the formula which
invariably yields those golden results.
You’ve simply got to know the word…and how
to use it ….] to make sale after sale and expand your
profits, even in dismal economic times.
Tah-dah! The all-powerful word is “free”!
Smart marketers know that the power of free
NEVER diminishes. People have always wanted…
and they will always want … free stuff.
Your task is to use the power of free to make
sales and increase profits… while not fatally turning
into merely a dispenser of free stuff and nothing more.
Brain storm all the things you give away already
The truth is, right now you’re probably already doing
and/or giving away one thing after another… while not
getting any credit for them whatsoever. Whoa! This is
because you have not brain stormed what you do in
your business. In other words, you are now doing things
that could be leveraged into more sales… but you
either don’t know what they are…or haven’t even begun
to consider how to use them.
Here are some examples:
* free shipping.
* free product use instructions
* free customer service
* toll-free number
* free web site with all kinds of product use
instructions and examples
* free recipe booklet
* free articles
* free newsletter
* free catalog
* free ebook
* free blog
To create this list, you must be thorough and
take pains. This list will alter the way you do
business. You will no longer just do something…
you will do something and leverage it to make
more and faster sales. In short, you’ll market
the most intelligent way!
Sleuthing for List #2
In business to make money? Of course you are! That’s
why you need to start researching how other businesses
use the word “free.”
The great thing about business is that you can learn
from what others are doing, starting with but not
limited to people in your particular field. Of course
you want to know what your competitors are giving
away… but don’t think of limiting your researches to
them. Your task is to discover the best uses of “free”
by any company or organization whatsoever.
Keeping everything you find
Question! If you knew that doing something in your
business would produce constant profits, would
you treat that thing with the utmost care? You’re nodding
your head, aren’t you? “I’m no dummy. Of course I would.”
But the truth is… despite the fact that you KNOW
“free” works… your “free file” with all the pertinent
examples is still in your head and no where else,
right? Mistake!
Your free file is one of, if not the most important,
file in your business. No wonder! It contains exactly
what you need to profit… whenever you want to
profit. In short, your file and what’s in it are pure,
unadulterated magic.
Use “free” liberally
My dentist has a memorable poster on his wall.
Under a photo of a mouthful of decaying teeth it
says: “floss only the ones you want to keep.” Let’s use
the sense of this message to improve your marketing
prowess:
“Use ‘free” only on days you want to profit”; in other
words, on every single day you’re in business.
Where should you put these offers?
* top of all marketing/sales letters
* email subject lines
* post script on all correspondence
* on business cards
* in brochures
* in your shop windows
* on bags and packing containers.
Get the picture? Use them EVERYWHERE and ALL
the time. You see marketing never stops, and that means
your use of “free” never stops either.
Keep tabs on what works…. and what doesn’t.
It’s important that you know what works… and what
doesn’t… in your marketing. This means always
coding offers and/or (where you cannot tell yourself)
asking folks what they’re responding to. Always ask them!
Have your staff ask! Ask with a smile and get a million-dollar
response, the response that helps you determine what
to do and where to spend your time in future.
And, friend, start now. Don’t wait a single day to increase your
“free” repertoire and your use of this essential and
always special word. Remember, every day you use “free”
is golden!
your coffers day after day. Smart marketers
triumph with it… while the also-rans scratch
their heads looking for the formula which
invariably yields those golden results.
You’ve simply got to know the word…and how
to use it ….] to make sale after sale and expand your
profits, even in dismal economic times.
Tah-dah! The all-powerful word is “free”!
Smart marketers know that the power of free
NEVER diminishes. People have always wanted…
and they will always want … free stuff.
Your task is to use the power of free to make
sales and increase profits… while not fatally turning
into merely a dispenser of free stuff and nothing more.
Brain storm all the things you give away already
The truth is, right now you’re probably already doing
and/or giving away one thing after another… while not
getting any credit for them whatsoever. Whoa! This is
because you have not brain stormed what you do in
your business. In other words, you are now doing things
that could be leveraged into more sales… but you
either don’t know what they are…or haven’t even begun
to consider how to use them.
Here are some examples:
* free shipping.
* free product use instructions
* free customer service
* toll-free number
* free web site with all kinds of product use
instructions and examples
* free recipe booklet
* free articles
* free newsletter
* free catalog
* free ebook
* free blog
To create this list, you must be thorough and
take pains. This list will alter the way you do
business. You will no longer just do something…
you will do something and leverage it to make
more and faster sales. In short, you’ll market
the most intelligent way!
Sleuthing for List #2
In business to make money? Of course you are! That’s
why you need to start researching how other businesses
use the word “free.”
The great thing about business is that you can learn
from what others are doing, starting with but not
limited to people in your particular field. Of course
you want to know what your competitors are giving
away… but don’t think of limiting your researches to
them. Your task is to discover the best uses of “free”
by any company or organization whatsoever.
Keeping everything you find
Question! If you knew that doing something in your
business would produce constant profits, would
you treat that thing with the utmost care? You’re nodding
your head, aren’t you? “I’m no dummy. Of course I would.”
But the truth is… despite the fact that you KNOW
“free” works… your “free file” with all the pertinent
examples is still in your head and no where else,
right? Mistake!
Your free file is one of, if not the most important,
file in your business. No wonder! It contains exactly
what you need to profit… whenever you want to
profit. In short, your file and what’s in it are pure,
unadulterated magic.
Use “free” liberally
My dentist has a memorable poster on his wall.
Under a photo of a mouthful of decaying teeth it
says: “floss only the ones you want to keep.” Let’s use
the sense of this message to improve your marketing
prowess:
“Use ‘free” only on days you want to profit”; in other
words, on every single day you’re in business.
Where should you put these offers?
* top of all marketing/sales letters
* email subject lines
* post script on all correspondence
* on business cards
* in brochures
* in your shop windows
* on bags and packing containers.
Get the picture? Use them EVERYWHERE and ALL
the time. You see marketing never stops, and that means
your use of “free” never stops either.
Keep tabs on what works…. and what doesn’t.
It’s important that you know what works… and what
doesn’t… in your marketing. This means always
coding offers and/or (where you cannot tell yourself)
asking folks what they’re responding to. Always ask them!
Have your staff ask! Ask with a smile and get a million-dollar
response, the response that helps you determine what
to do and where to spend your time in future.
And, friend, start now. Don’t wait a single day to increase your
“free” repertoire and your use of this essential and
always special word. Remember, every day you use “free”
is golden!
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