Here are some of the things I’ve experienced where the person lost my attention.

1. Opening the conversation by introducing themselves, their company and what they do.

2. If they are in my office, making small talk about the “stuff” they see.

3. Explain to me how your product or service will benefit me. (This is not a misprint. Read below to understand.)

4. Telling me what other companies they have worked with.

5. Showing me the awards they have received.

6. Giving me a brochure immediately.

7. Starting a telephone conversation with, “Hi, how are you?”

Again, these are just a few of the things that have turned me off and you have probably experienced the same.

The moment your prospect senses that you are trying to sell them something that they don’t need or want, they will tune you out and look for a way to disengage or disconnect from the call.

They really don’t care about you. They don’t want to know about your company, listen to you talk about your products or services, or making small talk.

What they do want is a solution to a problem. They want to know how you can help them improve their business. Here are some thoughts on how you can accomplish that.

You must direct all of your attention on their situation and resist the opportunity to talk about you or your company.

When you meet someone, say something like the following, “Mrs. Prospect, many of our clients are currently experiencing (insert the problem here). How does that compare to your company’s situation?”

This demonstrates that you are knowledgeable about their business and/or the industry, and it gives them the opportunity to tell you about their most important concerns.

Over my last 40 some odd years, I have found that most people will tell you anything you want to know providing you give them a reason to do so. The key is to develop and ask high-quality questions.

Here’s really the bottom line…

The more time you spend talking about your product, the less inclined a prospect will want to continue that conversation.

The more you focus your attention on their situation—their problems—and demonstrate how you can help them improve their business, the more you differentiate yourself from your competition.

And this goes for anything you do in life. Whenever you are in any situation, if you talk about yourself, you lose them.

You only have a few moments to connect with a prospect, so keep it brief. Keep it focused. Keep it about them and you will keep their attention.

You’ve all experienced this, so tell me one of your stories.

Technorati Tags: differentiate yourself, differentiate yourself from your competition, differentiation, network meeting, Networking, phone contact, phone conversation, prospect's attention, sales meeting

There are lots of opinions in the press about whether the social media work, or whether they are just time wasters.  Different people report different results. 

Remember, these media are only tools, and the only determinant as to whether you use them or not is whether they increase your bottom line.

Ignore the hype and focus instead on how to make them work for you as the tools they are.  Don’t drop everything else you are doing to pursue them, expecting they are going to make you wealthy overnight, as some claim.  They are not.

Dedicate a portion of your time and budget to learning how to implement them.  But make sure you don’t neglect what’s already working for you.  Just add these tools at a pace that compliments, rather than disrupts, what’s already working.

When you see these new media for what they really are… tools…not miracle workers, it becomes not a matter of whether or not you should use them.  Instead the question becomes how do you best use them to get the results you are after.

Don’t let fear of these new media, or lack of knowledge, stop you.  Begin by focusing on creating systems and processes which are easy to implement, and can be repeated over and over.  This is a great basis for eventually outsourcing the work, so you can put it on automatic pilot.

With social media you now have the potential to spread your message farther and wider than you could before.  Like any tool, you just have to learn how to use it to your advantage.

Besides blogging, your social media efforts should start with Facebook and/or Twitter.  Your profile on these media is an important way by which media users can find you.  So make sure you create a profile pertinent to your purpose for the page.  Use keywords that can help them find you.

Probably, the best possible scenario when using Facebook is to build a Fan Page for your business.  A fan page has a similar feel to your regular Facebook page, but it allows you to create a public profile so that you can share your business and products with Facebook users. You can find out more by going here: http://www.facebook.com/advertising/?pages

Here is a good example of a fan page: http://www.facebook.com/search/?q=mari+smith&init=quick#/marismith?ref=search&sid=1386575769.1132394570..1

If you’d like to learn more about Facebook and Twitter marketing, here is a good inexpensive resource: http://www.kickstartcart.com/app/?af=1081671
 
What are your thoughts or experiences with social media marketing?  Let me know in the comment box below.

Technorati Tags: Facebook, Social Media, Twitter

Seth Godin, Chris Anderson, and Malcolm Gladwell are going at it about “FREE”, the book recently written by Chris.

Personally, I side with Chris and Seth, even though Malcolm makes a strong argument for his position. 

I think it’s clear that if you look at the trends of “free”, you can see how it has grown more and more pervasive over time, and people expect free samples or free trials of whatever they are considering buying. 

For instance, whether it says “Free Trials” or not, people expect 100% of their money back if they are not satisfied.  This amounts to a free trial.  “Free” has been woven into the fabric of American society so much that I believe most people see it as an economic birthright.

As such, I believe everything is trending towards free first-time usage. The “free line” (the amount of free things given) will move higher and higher as competition continues to grow and “free” embeds itself even deeper and deeper into the American psyche. 

As more and more companies build “free” into their business models (not just as a marketing cost), it’s going to force other companies to lower their prices or change their models.

Sure “free” has been with us for a while, but it has been slowly evolving and has been slowly changing the game.  Chris Anderson is giving us a status report.  Read it.  You definitely want to know where we are now so you have a better chance to get where you want to go.

If you want to follow the debate, check out Seth’s, Chris’ and Malcolm’s positions.  Chris’ and Malcolm’s debate center around paid versus free journalism; Seth’s expounds on ‘free”:

Seth: http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2009/06/malcolm-is-wrong.html
Chris: http://www.longtail.com/the_long_tail/2009/06/dear-malcolm-why-so-threatened.html
Malcolm: http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/books/2009/07/06/090706crbo_books_gladwell?currentPage=all

To get a FREE 25 PAGE EXCERPT from the book, go here:

http://books.google.com/books?id=lLZbXN2odVYC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_v2_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q=&f=false

To buy the book, go here:

Technorati Tags: business model, Chris Anderson, Free, Malcolm Gladwell, Seth Godin

What a question!   And what different answers!

Many individuals have a blank look on their faces.  And it’s understandable.  Many individuals who work for a company really don’t know what they are selling.

Let’s take a car dealer for example.  You can say he sells cars.  Or, I know all of you on this blog will say, “It’s the benefits they get from what they are purchasing.”  And you’d be correct.

A person doesn’t purchase just a car.  They purchase a car for what benefits they receive from it.  And the benefits will vary from car model to car model.  An example is a Corvette. 

Does a person really need a Corvette?  Is it economical?  Is it reliable?  I could go on and on.  The real reason someone purchases a Corvette, is because of the heads that will turn as he drives the car.  By the way, those heads will be mostly females. 

Another example is a fitness center.  Most of the individuals are members because they are overweight or want to keep fit.  One would think that what they are selling is weight loss and looking fit. 

What they are really selling is the feelings and benefits the customers get when they lose weight and look fit and trim.  The looks they get when they walk down the street. Or the whistles one gets.  The confident feelings that they get as they strut down the street. Or how about the special look in her husband’s eye, when……….

Just in these two examples, you can see the real things the two of them are really selling.

Spend some time thinking about your own company and what you are really selling.  The answer you get will lead to much success and just might explode your sales.

Let me know any other ideas you might have.  Give me your input on your own company and what you think you are really selling.   I’ll work with you on improving it, and as I said before, so that your sales will explode.

Technorati Tags: increase sales

Too see a larger version of the ad below, click on this link: http://www.kenvarga.com/Oregon_Fishing_Person_Ad.jpg

Technorati Tags: ad copy, ad story, ad writing, story telling

The beaches are almost empty, and from what I hear from the Aruba Hotel Association, the island is experiencing a 45% reduction in tourism. 

Besides the hotels low occupancy rate, the restaurants are virtually empty.  The deteriorating world economic condition is affecting everyone.

So you might be asking what do season tie-ins have to do with the economy?  Well I was there during the holiday season and I didn’t see any businesses taking advantage of season tie-ins.  Yet, in looking at the state of affairs on the island, it is indicative of most of the countries in the world. 

The various businesses, whether they were catering to the local Arubans, or the tourists, should have been capitalizing on the season to increase sales.  Unfortunately, they didn’t.

People are very aware of holidays and the seasons and tend to be very responsive to offers that logically are linked to any of them. 

There are dozens of holidays you can choose from.  Think of ways to tie your business or products into the seasons or holidays.

Here’s one example.  Send out a mailer to your customer data base and say that because of the spirit of X-Holiday, you would like to give them a special gift.  Take whatever you have to offer and package it into an offer that your customer can’t refuse.

Or let’s say you do home cleaning.  You can make a tie-in with Spring, which is just beginning.

Here’s what you can say: “We will give your home a complete spring cleaning for ‘half price’ and help you to permanently ‘resign’ your position as home cleaner at a surprisingly low cost.” 

Again, the same approach can be used at any time.  In September, for example, you can make the same offer for getting the home ready for Thanksgiving. 

I’m sure you get the idea.  So start thinking of ways to tie in the seasons with your product.  Let me know some of the ways you implement this idea.

Technorati Tags: holiday promotions, holiday tie-ins, seasonal promotions, seasonal tie-ins

Remember, a Joint Venture involves two or more professionals or businesses, who have common prospects, or possibly complementary services.   These entities now join together for mutual marketing and sales, usually for specific prospects. 

They will work together to create joint marketing materials, joint sales calls, referring of prospects, joint direct mail, e-mail or advertising campaigns.  They might even combine their services, talents and assets to create a larger base of potential customers. 

When I had my Insurance Agency, I would do Joint Ventures with accountants, financial planners and various attorneys.  Each individual professional benefited from wider exposure, more referrals, and marketing that is more efficient.

I would venture to say that every professional and company has many opportunities to create joint Ventures.

Here’s an important part of a Joint Venture.  Both parties must assume responsibility for marketing the joint venture. A Joint Venture Partner who expects to ride the back of the other partner will quickly find themselves alone. 

Here are a few things to keep in mind:

1. When you form a Joint Venture,  your partner will define your company and will directly impact your sphere of influence and reputation.  Each Partner’s reputation “rubs off” on the other. So make sure that you take care when approaching someone as a Joint Venture Partner.  As the initiator, you have the advantage of choosing who you want to join forces with. Do Joint Ventures only with those partners that have the reputation you want for yourself and the market reach that you desire.

2. When you approach another business to become your Joint Venture partner, you will have to sell them on the idea that the partnership will be beneficial to them, not just for you.  They will have a real profit benefit. You must always be ready to give before you receive.

3. You must also be the one to assume the responsibility for the Joint Ventures success and you will have to do the vast majority of the work, at least at first.  You will be approaching individuals who may like the concept and want it to work, but they will also be skeptical.  You will have to carry the ball and show them that you are committed to the Joint Venture and that you will produce results for them.

If you follow thru, the Joint Venture will be an ongoing marketing strategy that will create more and more new customers for you and your business. 

Technorati Tags: joint venture secrets, joint ventures

Email, when used properly, is really a great way to increase your sales and profits. A single email sent to a list of people who have asked to be on your mailing list can bring in business immediately, either through your online shopping cart (if you have an online store), or through phone calls or email inquiries about services you provide, if you are in a service business.

If you don’t have an online presence, the email may help more people to find their way to your establishment, especially when you have an inducement to visit your place of business.

The more targeted prospects you have on your email list, will result in more business being done by them, with your business. When I say targeted customers or prospects, I mean individuals who have asked to be on your mailing list.  It doesn’t mean emails you have because someone gave you a business card.

Have an email signup form on every page of your website. Make it prominent on the page. If it’s buried on the bottom of one page on your site, few will see it.  Make sure you offer something for free for them to sign up.  If you don’t have a free product to offer, you could use one of my e-books (after getting my permission), or even use a coupon for a discount they can use when they purchase from you.

If you don’t have a website here are some further suggestions:

1.  If your place of business is a physical store or clinic setting, ask customers if they’d like to receive emails from you notifying them of special offers. Have forms available or some other mechanism to immediately capture their email address.

2.  Produce an informational newsletter that appeals to your customers and prospects. Print up one issue and mail it the traditional way, being sure to include a prominent ad telling readers how to get the newsletter delivered to them regularly in email.

3.  In addition to sending the printed copy through the postal system, if the newsletter you produce is informative, talk to local libraries and other community resources to see if they would make it available to their patrons.

4. Give out your printed newsletter at your booth at local trade shows. Encourage visitors to take an extra copy to hand out to others who might be interested in the information you provide.

5.  This last method is one that I see very rarely used effectively…include a flier promoting your free newsletter or promotional mailings in every package you ship, or in every bag you pack in your retail store.

So go to it and use these ideas to grow your business and create more customers. I’m sure over a period of time that you can think of many other ways to get your customers to ask to be on your mailing list.

Technorati Tags: build email list, build your list, grow email list, List

I told him that it didn’t have anything to do with referrals, advertising, or any of the other methods used to create a customer.

Before any of those methods will ever have an impact on your business, you have got to uncover and communicate a way in which your business is different from every other business that says they do what you do. You have got to create a simple idea or position in the mind of your prospective customer or client.

You must create an environment where your prospective customer or client will think of you immediately when they need what you have to offer.

Fed Ex with its “Overnight” theme, and Domino’s Pizza with its “Delivered In 30 Minutes Or It’s Free” promise, are a couple examples.

Another example is how I am offering those of you who do business-to-business selling to put your own title page on my “10 Marketing Mistakes That Steal Your Cash” book and gift it to your B2B customers…free of charge to you.  I also allow you to use this newsletter to help you grow your business; you can use it in your newsletter, on your website, or any way that will help you grow. Just let me know when you do so. 

When you offer additional benefits like these to your B2B customers, you now become not only the person who provides your product, but also someone who wants to help them grow their business and get more customers.  See the difference?

Here are a few more examples:

Whatever business you are in, you can make arrangements with a car wash to detail your customer’s vehicle whenever they visit you.  If you’re an accountant, while you are preparing their return, you can have their vehicle cleaned.  I bet when they leave, they will rave to their friends about this unique touch.

How about becoming dominant with your offer?  I know of an accounting firm that offers their clients a 100% refund on their preparation fee when they refer four new clients.  They are known as the 100% refund guys.

Here’s the last one.  Solve a problem.  Is there something that customers or prospects fear in your market or seem to believe is universal for what you do?  If so, create a system of communicating how you have the answers. For instance: “Painless Dentistry”.

I’m sure you can offer a guarantee that no one in your industry would dream of doing. When I had my insurance company, the department of Insurance said that our customers had a free 30-day look.  They could ask for a refund if they didn’t want the product.

I turned that into a guarantee.  “If within the next 30 days you feel our product doesn’t meet your expectations, just return it and we will refund the money you gave us.”

I don’t know why a guarantee scares most business owners.  You probably guarantee your work anyway.  You just don’t say so. Boldly announce that you guarantee results and watch what happens.

Put your creative head gear on and I bet you will come up with a few ways to dominate your market and become the “one” to buy from.

The last step is to communicate your difference in all your promotions and marketing tools, literally shouting about that difference.

Technorati Tags: dominate your market, dominate your niche

Direct mail puts your message right in front of your prospect in their own home or business. If you send the right mailing to the right list at the right time, your direct mail is cost-efficient and an easy way to get customer attention and sales.

Here are a few ways that I’ve used direct mail in a few of my businesses.

As a reminder:  Car dealers and other businesses who rely on residual income a number of times during the year, use this tool very well. 

In this fast paced world that we live in, it is hard enough to remember birthdays, let alone when our last doctor visit was.  That is where your direct mail piece comes in. 

A reminder could be anything from a postcard reminding your customer when they are due for an oil change, or a suggestion to repeat the purchase of a birthday cake.

As long as the service or product is something that needs to be repeated or gets used up, this method will work for your business. Your customer will appreciate this service and will be happy that you provided them with such individual attention.

As a promotion. I don’t think there is a customer who doesn’t like to save money.  This is a great method to grab attention and offer an opportunity to save money.

Sending a postcard with a chance to win a new product or offering $20 off a purchase of $60 or more, will inform new and existing customers about what you have to offer and induce them to visit your place of business again.

Make sure you set an expiration date and make it prominent on the mailing so that your customer will rush to save money NOW, before the promotion is over. You can simply say that those taking advantage of this offer within the next 5 days, before (date) will receive (such and such).

To notify your customers of New Products or Services. It is always an exciting time for any business when they decide to offer a new service or handle a new product. This is a great time to share this excitement with your customers.  For example, if you sell software, you can say that you developed an update that will enhance their ability to (whatever) by 45%, therefore saving (Xdollars). The more specific you are, the more you will educate and motivate your customer to take advantage of the offer. Whatever business or service you are in, you can utilize this method to increase sales. Your customers will appreciate your honesty.  And don’t forget the human nature side of this method…people like to be kept informed.

The best way to keep your customers informed is by sending them a newsletter.  In your newsletter, you may want to include articles that relate to your business, special offers, or even stories about your staff.

When customers and prospects see your newsletter on a regular basis, they will start to remember you and your company as an authority and a reliable source for the products and services you sell.  There are several newsletter software programs that you can choose from to format a newsletter.  There are even online programs you can use at very inexpensive prices.  We use a service called Constant Contact.

Here is a very important point.  As you utilize direct mail in your business, be very careful not to bombard the customers with mail. A barrage of mail may invoke an unfavorable response whenever your company is mentioned.

If you have successfully used direct mail in other ways, let us hear what you’ve done. Leave a comment in the Comment section of this blog article.

Technorati Tags: customer acquisition, direct mail