Know Velocity

Honestly, this IS advice for those in business, and not just colorful local lingo!

People have a tendency to do two things when closing that first big sale, or watching the hit counter fly due to the newest supermonster-nothingbeatsit-trafficgeneratorX: A)sit back, start filing your nails, and say “wow, I did it, smooth sailing from here on in”…or b)jump around, pat your self on the back and celebrate-go fishing, buy a car, start writing acceptance speeces for business of the year … but both hold a highly dangerous common thread: neglecting the immediate future.

It’s ok-even appropriate and deserved-when you finally start seeing those results you’ve been working toward, to take a deep breath and relax. It’s super to think in grandiose terms; without dreams, life would seem small indeed.

BUT, come back to earth quickly; the supermonster might crash, your big customer can also go bust, and your silver lining might tarnish fast. Go ahead and start reeling in the next “big one.”

This IS actually the best time to either prospect or close other sales; when you’re on a sales high (yes, you athletes, it happens!), you’re feeling your best, and that energy will be reflected!

Hopefully your business plan includes daily income producing activities (IPAs). These can be small; send a new ad to a different type of ezine, add a new product or try a new type of service (eg ppc search engine or lead generation program). They are also the activities that bring you up in unexpected setbacks, because just at the point something falls through, those seeds sown start springing up. If you put all your eggs in one basket, what happens if you drop it?

Don’t neglect outside opportunities: pass out business cards, make specialized auto tags, magnets, pencils, feather caps, whatever might be appropriate for YOUR type business; join organizations, talk to people at the grocery store checkout or your child’s ballgame, conduct a local class or volunteer to present a free seminar at the communicty center…Use Your Imagination! How many IPAs a day? Just depends on how much you want back.

It’s important to cater to your present customer now too; you want to retain them. Remember THEY are your most valuable asset-they ARE buyers, and know others!

I like to do my KGA (Keep it Going Activities) right after a major accomplishment; trying out new software to see how I might improve efficiency or presentation, revising/editing website content, reviewing data, implementing plans to improve those places which are lacking or deficient, updating keywords…this is sort of my ’round tuit’ list! These activities primarily are for the benefit of current customers.

After all, a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.

(c) Shelly Rich Friedling

Filed at 5:10 pm under Sales Tips + More
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If you want a great sales organization to emulate, you only have to look as far as your local church. Consider these points:

PRODUCT OR SERVICE: What does a church have to offer, but faith? They sell faith to millions of members nationwide. This is not a tangible. It is not even like a life insurance policy. A life insurance policy leaves money for your family when you are gone. Faith leaves only hope. If they can get people to buy faith alone, shouldn’t you be able to sell people your opportunity or products?

FREE DISTRIBUTORS: Religious organizations have many thousands of organization members out beating the bushes each week, trying to bring in new recruits. Best of all, they do all this without compensation! If religious organizations can fire up thousands of people to go out and promote their interests for free, why is it you have so many problems firing up your downline when they get paid for their efforts?

How is it a religious organization is able to accomplish these feats? It is simple. They have it down to a system. One that has been tried and proven for centuries.

Take your typical church service. Almost all of them are the same. They start out with singing to get the crowd fired up and motivated. Then they immediately hit them with the collection plate, when the excitement of the singing will insure they are willing to give the most. They then follow up with the sermon, which usually has a fiery message and a strong close, and then almost beg those who are willing to join to come on down and sign up!

Why is it most church services are so similar? Because, it works! Wouldn’t this be a good model for an opportunity meeting? Of course, the singing might be a little awkward, but you could replace it with a very strong motivational speaker.

What happens when you go to a church you are not already a member of?

You walk in the door and are immediately approached by people welcoming you to the service. They are warm, friendly, and not overly pushy. But, they let you know they are happy there and they feel you will be too.

They talk to you about your possible involvement, and how you will fit into their organization. They will often even offer you a position on a committee or some other area of responsibility, to draw upon your ego and encourage you joining.

After you join, it is almost certain you will be offered a position of responsibility. This is to get you involved, to make you feel needed and obligated to participate, and, of course, to draw off your ego.

You are invited to functions to socialize with the members. This helps you develop relationships with other members, creating a new circle of friends with whom you will want to spend your time, and making it more difficult for you to leave the flock.

Don’t misunderstand the purpose of this article. I am not belittling churches, I admire them for not only for their marketing abilities and what they add to the community, but for the hope they offer their members, of which I am one. But, if we want to be successful with our marketing efforts, who better to emulate than one of the greatest marketing organizations in history, your local church.

Filed at 5:05 pm under Sales Tips + More
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EFFECTIVE E-SALES COPY

———————————————————— copyright (c) Pavel Lenshin ————————————————————

Selling online is mostly about psychology of people. Consumer marketing evolves to the extent when right psychology attitude to the customer plays the crucial role in the game called product selling. This process like any other has two opposite effects: positive and negative.

Firstly about positive effect, which is that companies start to find SOLUTIONS to people’s problems and needs more actively. No need to develop feature that doesn’t solve any particular problem of the consumer market. Customer becomes the epicenter of professional marketing activity.

What may be negative with this process? The answer is HYPE! People don’t compare products’ features any longer, in other words, they don’t compare facts, hard cold facts about products/services. They compare professionalism of the copywriters, who have written respective sales copies. The more trustful sale copy sounds, the more beneficial it will seem to potential buyers and, therefore the more chances of closing a sale. Have you noticed any reminder of the quality of the product itself anywhere? Neither do I. That is what I meant by mentioning negative effect.

I truly believe that your business offer is of high quality and rich on both features and benefits. Below we will examine the most adequate elements of your sales copy.

Headline

Your headline should point to the biggest advantage or solution your product offers. It must be catchy and clear. Some hidden, but understandable meaning may reinforce your headline. If the design of your web-page is not too amateurish, you will have all chances that visitors will read your web-site headline and behave in accordance with psychological effect they got.

Short Description

One, two sentences of the core idea behind your offer. While “surprises” or “pleasant secrets” you may leave for a desert, visitors should have clear understanding of what your offer is. Your one line headline may not be able to explain visitors what your product is all about. On the other hand, if you are web-hosting reseller, there may be no point in the additional description as anyone who wants to put his/her web-site online knows what web-hosting is about.

Sub-headlines

Those who don’t have much time or just check your sales copy for “relevancy” will scan your copy by sub-headlines making decision about is your copy worth their time spending. In this regard your sub-headlines should be intriguing and develop the positive image about your offer. With their help you also have an ability to point visitors’ attention to some crucial ideas or explain some controversial moments.

Features/Benefits

For me benefits and features are twin-brothers. I don’t like much when I am being told about “unbelievable benefits”, when I cannot compare the features and make my own judgments. Average customer cannot make right decision basing solely on benefits – it is not hard to write that your offer is the best. To make a picture clear you should also provide visitor with features, to reassure him/her you don’t have to hide anything, because your offer is THAT Damn Good! I hope it really is :0). For pleasure reading it is suggested to present them in the form of a bullet list.

Clients’ feedback

If your first clients are glad and delighted with your product, then ask them if they wouldn’t mind your putting their unsolicited feedback online. This tactic may substantially increase the credibility of your offer in potential buyers’ opinion.

Analysis

Guide your visitor to the sole and obvious conclusion that your market offer is a worthy purchase. If your product doesn’t have competitive advantages, then your research and planning on the stage of product development has failed and I would advice to stop promoting that product. It has little or no future at all. The analysis part of your sales letter is important. The buyer should not be “pitched” with your promotional advertising or selling advices, s/he must be presented with objective facts that would help her/him to see the obvious benefits of your offer. While almost all yelling about stressing the benefits not features, product/service benefits are not enough in today’s world of marketing. 99.9% of businesses would tell that their market offer is the best in the whole Universe, saves thousands of dollars and months of time. You should prove that it is true with the facts and clear arguments, no marketing fluff. In this way you will much easier gain people’s trust in your product.

Action

Ask or even demand for taking an action. The action you want is a closing a sale itself or having autoresponder course, visitor’s sign up may be second satisfactory action. Popular way to do this is to create a limited tme offer, stressing the importance of making a purchase right now! Guide the reader to click on the order link by reminding the product biggest strengths, mentioning an unconditional iron-clad money back guarantee that should waive the remaining doubts and then point to the shortage of time for decision making process. Explain, if needed, the ordering process in details, as it may be disappointing to lose sales due to the buyer confusing caused by your complicated ordering process.

P.S.

Use it as a summary of your sub-headlines. “PostScript” is also very often scanned for “relevancy”. Describe with its help the main benefits of your offer; repeat the guarantee terms and/or other.

Sales copywriting advices

* Identify yourself with your potential buyer. Write your copy from the customer’s point of view. What does s/he want, feel and think? Your copy should be addressed to personality in the clear to your target market way. * Try to be cheerful, positive and optimistic. People are attracted by joy and positive mood. They also want to feel like you, so they associate your positive attitude with your product. At the best your writing style should contain an intrigue, provoke curiosity and excitement. * Don’t forget to address to people’s emotions. Textbooks are boring to read because they don’t have a bit of author’s emotions. Your task is to make your prospect feel the way you do. * Provoke curiosity to read further. Visitors should be kept excited while they read your sales copy. Excitement may play the role of final buying or non-buying verdict. * Refer to losses reader will suffer if s/he turns your offer down. It is proved that people are afraid of losing the opportunity. Everyone wants to be with winners, not losers. You can take advantage of it. * Try to avoid any assumptions about visitors’ origin, religious identity etc. Your claim or joke may be faulty interpreted and you will convert “almost a client” to “an irritated visitor”. Even if you deliberately want to select some particular group of people, it is better to clearly state from the very beginning. * The final advice is to be honest, even at the sacrifice of the correct marketing strategy. My own viewpoint is that it is better to have 7 sales than 10, but enjoy clear conscious.

Filed at 10:40 pm under Sales Tips + More
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The Top 7 Sales Blunders

We all make mistakes when selling our product or service. Here are the most common mistakes people make. I have to admit I have made many of mistakes listed in this article even though I have been teaching this stuff for almost a decade. I hope you can learn from them. 1.Allowing a prospect to lead the sales process. The best way to control the sales interaction is to ask questions. This is also the best way of learning whether or not your product or service meets the needs of your prospect. Quality questions that uncover specific issues, problems, or corporate objectives are essential in helping you establish yourself as an expert. 2.Not completing pre-meeting research. After several weeks of voice mail I finally connected with my prospect and scheduled a meeting. Unfortunately, I entered the meeting without first researching the company. Instead of presenting a solution to an existing problem, I spent the entire meeting learning fundamental information, which to senior executives, is a complete waste of their time. This approach is one of most common mistakes. I have received countless phone calls from sales people hawking their wares and trying to sell me ’stuff’ I have no need for. As a sole proprietor, I do not need a complex telephone system, additional employees, or an automated payroll system. Invest the time learning about your prospect before you call them and before you try to schedule a meeting. 3.Talking too much. Too many sales people talk too much during the sales interaction. They espouse about their product, its feature, their service and so on. When I first bought carpet for my home I recall speaking to a sales person who told me how long he had been in the business, how smart he was, how good his carpets were, etc. But this dialogue did nothing to convince me that I should buy from him. Instead, I left the store thinking that he did not care about my specific needs. A friend of mine is in the advertising business and often talks to prospects who initially request a quote for a specific advertising job. Instead of talking at great length about the ad agency’s experience and qualifications, he gets the potential client talking about her business. By doing this he is able to determine the most effective strategy for that prospect. 4.Giving the prospect information that is irrelevant. When I worked in the corporate world I was subjected to countless presentations where the sales person shared information that was completely meaningless to me. I don’t care about your financial backing or who your clients are. Make the most of your presentation by telling me how I will benefit from your product or service until I know how your product or service relates to my specific situation. 5.Not being prepared. I remember calling a prospect expecting to receive his voice mail. That meant I was completely unprepared when he answered the call himself. Instead of asking him a series of qualifying questions I simply responded to his questions, allowing him to control the sale. Unfortunately, I didn’t progress any further than that initial call. When you make a cold call or attend a meeting with a prospect it is critical that you are prepared. This means having all relevant information at your fingertips including; pricing, testimonials, samples, and a list of questions you need to ask. I suggest creating a checklist of the vital information you will need and reviewing this list before you make your call. You have exactly one opportunity to make a great first impression and you will not make it if you are not prepared. 6.Neglecting to ask for the sale. I recall a participant in one of my workshops expressing interest in my book. I told him to look through it but at no time did I ask for the sale. Later, I heard him express this observation to other participants in the program. If you sell a product or service, you have the obligation to ask the customer for a commitment, particularly if you have invested time assessing their needs and know that your product or service will solve a problem. Many people are concerned with coming across as pushy but as long as you ask for the sale in a non-threatening, confident manner, people will usually respond favorably. 7.Failing to prospect. This is one of the most common mistakes independent business make. When business is good many people stop prospecting, thinking that the flow of business will continue. However, the most successful sales people prospect all the time. They schedule prospecting time in their agenda every week. Even the most seasoned sales professional makes mistakes from time to time. Avoid these blunders and increase the likelihood of the closing the sale.

Copyright 2004, Kelley Robertson

Filed at 5:26 pm under Sales Tips + More
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While these are bigger enterprises, I see some otherwise good sales people make the same mistakes repeatedly. If it makes the offending holiday rental owners feel any better let me tell you that even some sophisticated firms do no better. So – to help owners rent more days I’d like to give you a short list of things you can do to help make your revenue go up.

Contact Data

Include all your contact data on your website or advertisements. Personal name (full name), telephone, fax. This same information should be conspicuously posted on all your sales materials too. What you have to remember is that this person does not know you, you aren’t a person they can talk to face to face at a travel agent, if you advertise in newspapers they can’t even see the property, one vital word sums this up TRUST.

Create literature

Create written documents that completely describe your property and your terms and conditions. Include photos, floor plans, list of amenities and so forth. While a professional brochure is great it is not essential. The information can be a simple typed document. But include everything – the good and the bad. If you don’t allow pets, smoking or parties say so up front. It avoids problems later AND is a selling point for guests who don’t want those things. You can never include too much information. It’s impossible.

Answer Enquiries

Answer every single email, answerphone message and letter even if your property is booked – why? Simply because that person will remember you the next time they are looking to rent a holiday rental and potentially they could be a future customer. I know it’s time consuming but a simple, sorry but the property is rented for that property, but this is out website, and contact details in case you would like to rent next time.

Telephone

No matter how the inquiry comes in ALWAYS try to phone the person. If they ask only to be contacted by email you should honour that. But if they email, or fill out an online form and include their phone number it means they are willing to be called. So call them. Make friends. Invite them to be your guests. You don’t have to be a “closer” or arm twister. Simply call them back and use the most persuasive words, “May I help you?” You’ll be surprised as how easy it is.

Keep records

The great majority of guests do not rent after a single email or phone call. They have a general interest, they look around over time, they talk with people, they get side tracked considering other locations and then, maybe they decide to go to your area. It might be a day or a week, a month or years. Wise sales people keep a long list of everyone who has ever inquired. These are your leads and they are money in the bank.

One word of advice though that you have to be careful of is the data protection act. So please make sure you contact the guest and say to them is it okay if I keep your details on file, or have a disclaimer in your emails or literature that way the guest knows that you are holding confidential information on them. I don’t know how it works in Europe but in the UK the data protection is a legal act – and you can personally be held responsible for missing or leaked data.

Filed at 6:46 pm under Sales Tips + More
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