March 12th, 2010
“The purpose of marketing is to make selling obsolete” said marketing icon Peter Drucker. If you are seeking to increase attendance to your live events, your goal should be to have prospects seeking you out to sign up, not the other way around. An effective marketing technique which accomplishes this precise goal is the free report.
Write your Free Report as a Sales Letter in Disguise
When the content of your free report is so interesting that the reader cannot put it down, they have likely become so caught up in the content that they didn’t notice that they were being sold to. A master of accomplishing this feat is Richard Schefren, who so clearly accomplishes this in his Internet Business Manifesto. His manifesto effectively works as a sales letter in disguise. How does he accomplish this? He follows the rule of thumb; he establishes need or greed in the eyes of the reader.
Establishing Need in the Eyes of Your Reader
One proven method of selling is to satisfy a consumer’s need. But, how can you accomplish this within a free report? The first step is to help identify the prospect’s need. If you are offering a course in time management, your goal in the report will be to discuss case studies of individuals and professionals who have dramatically improved their lives by implementing time management techniques. By building a clear need in the prospect’s mind for time management techniques, you can offer your solution as the answer they need.
Establishing Greed
The other angle that you can take is to establish greed. When a prospect salivates at the success possibilities outlined in a free report, they often strive to find out how they may be able to accomplish the same results within their own lives. To establish greed, share stories, testimonials and results that can be achieved with your system or by attending your seminars.
You don’t always have to limit your examples to existing clients, or even individuals who have attended your seminars. For example, if your seminar provides valuable time management techniques and you happen to know that Alan Sugar utilizes this exact technique, you can mention legitimately, that “This is just one of the things that Alan Sugar, powerful leader, has used to help him build an 800 million-pound business.”
Consider examples you can draw from to include within your free report to build credibility and to establish greed among your readers. This is especially important when you are just beginning, as you will not have the wealth of stories and examples of which to draw from. But, this fact does not have to limit you. Build a powerful association with your techniques and teachings by including relevant stories into your report.
So, you can utilize your free report to establish need or greed. As you sit down to map out your free report, ask yourself, “What can I include in my report to get people recognizing that they need the ongoing solution that I am going to offer to them?” Or, ask yourself, “What can I be adding into my free report that will get people excited or inspired regarding the possibility of acquiring and mastering the techniques and skills that I will be teaching to them?”
Answer these two questions as you create your report content, and you will be creating a powerful and effective marketing tool.
Bernadette Doyle is a marketing specialist who helps entrepreneurs become client magnets and attract a steady stream of their ideal clients. She publishes a free with invaluable tips and advice on how to attract clients with ease. Register at http://www.clientmagnets.com
Tags: attracting clients, buyer behavior, chasing clients, Market share, Marketing, Marketing Strategies, sales strategies, sales strategy, Selling, targeted marketing, types of buyers, Value
Posted in Advertising, Business Networking, Marketing, Niche Marketing, Sales Motivation, Small Business Marketing, Success Secrets, target audience | No Comments »
March 9th, 2010
Once you have a great sign-up page and an irresistible offer, it’s time to create some traffic. A steady flow of traffic to your sign-up page is essential to your success. Here are several strategies that can help you quickly build traffic to your sign-up page.
Visualize, Focus Your Efforts and Act. To create new traffic, you must first visualize yourself as having a large client list. This is important, because seeing yourself as successful helps focus your efforts. Set a target size for your list and give yourself a time limit for achieving it. Picturing that success can get a process going that will build your list.
Next, learn which forums your target audience frequents and hang out there. Read their questions and comments. It’s a good way to find out exactly what they want. Post comments and respond to questions, but be careful not to say blatantly, “Sign up for my free report!” Useful comments with your email address, photo and the URL of your sign-up page in your profile can be very effective in attracting traffic.
You can also borrow traffic from someone else’s client list by connecting with people who sell related products. Decide which related products will truly benefit your clients. Look for websites your target audience is likely to frequent.
Consider ways you can benefit those companies by featuring their products, and ask them to do the same for you. Ask for testimonials or links to your products, and return the favor. Doing so can expand your impact significantly. Use this strategy carefully, however. Handing out testimonials indiscriminately weakens your own reputation.
There’s another idea you might not have considered for quickly building traffic to your sign-up page. Run competitions with your existing clients. Reward them for referring others to your sign-up page. If you have a well-written newsletter filled with useful content, your clients will be glad to share it with other professionals.
Award a free copy of one of your digital products to the 1,000th subscriber and also to the person who referred them. Offer a free copy of that product to the existing client who generates the most traffic. It won’t cost you very much and you can gain loads of new prospects on your list. If you’re hesitant to give away a product you normally sell, consider the long-term benefit. Gaining new traffic for the cost of one product is a good trade-off.
Steady Traffic Equals a Strong List. Building a strong list requires a steady stream of new traffic to your sign-up page. Start by visualizing yourself with a great client list, and then focus your efforts on increasing traffic. Experiment with forum comments, product testimonials and client contests to encourage prospects to visit your sign-up page.
Traffic-building techniques such as these, combined with a well-written sign-up page and an irresistible offer, can put you on the path to a solid client list that sustains your business.
Bernadette Doyle is a marketing specialist who helps entrepreneurs become client magnets and attract a steady stream of their ideal clients. She publishes a free, weekly newsletter – If you’d like to receive invaluable tips and advice on how to attract clients with ease, register at http://www.clientmagnets.com
Tags: attracting clients, buyer behavior, chasing clients, Marketing, Marketing Strategies, targeted marketing, targeting clients
Posted in Business Networking, Direct Marketing, Email Marketing, Marketing Mastermind, Niche Marketing, Online Marketing, Strategies To Keep Good Customers, target audience | 2 Comments »
March 8th, 2010
“Begin with the end in mind.” Stephen Covey
Have you noticed that there seems to be a trade-off in every aspect of marketing and sales? Whether it’s trading information, trading money for products or even trading a free item for contact information….The reciprocity touches all parts of your business.
One aspect that’s important in reciprocity is that you have to give before you get.
I’ve always encouraged the use of speaking engagements as a way to establish your expertise in your field, generate leads, and hone speaking skills. All this is done whilst selling your product and offering valuable information to the audience. But there’s another trade off that can take place during a speaking engagement, and that’s gathering key marketing information for future use. Not contact information, which is another opportunity in itself, but information that allows you to develop an empathy towards your client’s business.
At the beginning of each speaking engagement, take a few minutes to talk with the audience and establish a relationship. Ask them what they’re looking to take away from the speech. Notice the key issues that come up over and over in their responses.
This is valuable information that will help you understand the issues that your clients are facing. Not only will you be able to develop empathy for them, you will also be able to transfer those issues into your marketing materials as well. The more you are able to empathise with your clients’ needs, the better you will be able to meet those needs.
The same can be said for overcoming objections. Empathise with your clients’ objections to your product or service. It could be the cost factor, or the ‘it won’t help my business’ objection. Use that information within your speech to address each of these points and detail why they are not valid objections.
When you’ve gathered important, helpful information from your audience, you’re going to be giving the same in return. Your audience deserves that since they’ve taken their valuable time to attend your talk. At the same time you’re “planting the seeds” of need and overcoming objections whilst offering valuable content.
It is this content that will help people arrive at their own conclusion after your talk. That conclusion should be that the next logical step they take is to accept the solutions that you present to them. When a client reaches the conclusion on their own that they should buy your product, it’s so much more powerful than when it’s done through a direct sales presentation.
Setting up your speech to give the audience the opportunity to make their own conclusion will help seal the deal of any special offers that you’ve put together for that event. Whilst making immediate sales is a nice feature of speaking engagements, the information trade off can be invaluable to your business.
Bernadette Doyle is a marketing specialist who helps entrepreneurs become client magnets and attract a steady stream of their ideal clients. She publishes a free, weekly newsletter for trainers, speakers, coaches, consultants, complementary therapists and solo professionals. If you’d like to receive invaluable tips and advice on how to attract clients with ease, register at http://www.clientmagnets.com
Tags: attracting clients, buyer behavior, chasing clients, Marketing, Marketing Strategies, sales strategies, Selling, targeted marketing, targeting clients, types of buyers
Posted in Business Networking, Business Plans, Marketing, Money Making Ideas, Presenting, Sales Motivation, target audience | 2 Comments »
March 7th, 2010
Before ramping up your marketing when sales are disappointing, take a step back and ask yourself, “Do I know what my market really, really wants?” Being able to answer that question is the key to growing your business. By focusing on what people want, rather than on what you hope to sell them, you can begin to see the kind of success you desire.
If you suspect you’re wasting time by marketing something people don’t really want, here are some principles to ponder:
People buy what they want, not what you think they need.
You’re going to get a lot of resistance to your marketing if someone thinks they’re being shoehorned into buying what they don’t want. No matter how loudly you proclaim your product’s benefits, your market won’t respond if they don’t want the product. To continue doing so is a lot like speaking a different language and shouting to be understood.
People need to feel good about what they’ve bought.
One way to zero in on what your market wants is to develop empathy with that group of people. You must connect emotionally with how they feel about purchasing. When you’ve put yourself in someone else’s shoes, you begin to understand how they feel. What are their hopes and dreams? What do they fear? What keeps them awake at night?
If you’ve done a good job of pinpointing a target market, you should be able to learn these things easily. Until you do, you’re wasting time on marketing that won’t work, because you don’t yet know what products they’ll feel good about buying.
People buy products when they feel they’ve been understood.
No matter what logical explanation someone can give for buying a product, underneath it is the belief they’ve been understood. Someone knew enough about who they were to make a product that fits them.
So, how will you know when you’ve learned what your market really, really wants? You’ll know, because that’s when it all becomes easier. There’s no need to push or shove someone into buying, because they want what you’re offering. It will be such a revelation to learn how easy selling your products can be when they’re what your market wants.
Once that happens, you’ll begin to hear from your clients how grateful they are for your products. Everything about how you do business will be transformed, because you’ve taken the time to learn what your market wants. You’ve made the effort to step into their shoes and understand what makes them tick. And that effort pays off in products that really meet the needs of your market.
So, if you’re still struggling to sell your products, or it feels as though you’re pushing people into buying what they don’t want, it’s time to take inventory. Here are five questions to answer before trying again to sell your products:
-
What is most important to the people in my target market?
-
What problems keep them awake at night?
-
What is the desired end result they’re hoping for?
-
Does my product help them solve their problems and reach their goals?
-
Do I need to change my products so that they do?
The process of stepping closer to your target market and understanding that group of people may take time and effort, but it will definitely be worth it. Once you know the people in your market very well, the products you offer them will meet their needs. And that’s what people really, really want.
Bernadette Doyle is a marketing specialist who helps entrepreneurs become client magnets and attract a steady stream of their ideal clients. She publishes a free, weekly newsletter for trainers, speakers, coaches, consultants, complementary therapists and solo professionals. If you’d like to receive invaluable tips and advice on how to attract clients with ease, register at http://www.clientmagnets.com
Tags: attracting clients, buyer behavior, chasing clients, Customer Loyalty, customer loyalty concepts, Market share, Marketing, Marketing Strategies, sales strategies, targeted marketing, targeting clients, types of buyers
Posted in Business Networking, Business Plans, Law Of Attraction, Marketing, Niche Marketing, Online Marketing, Sales Motivation, Strategies To Keep Good Customers, target audience | No Comments »
March 4th, 2010
You’ve worked hard to define yourself and your business. You have distinguished your area of expertise and identified your niche – and business is good.
But, somewhere along the line, as you work within your niche, serving those specific clients who are benefiting from your services and products, your business may start shifting in a slightly different direction. Keep a look out for this shift in direction. It can be a very positive step – presenting more opportunities available than you’d realized.
If this starts to happen in your business, it maybe time to reposition yourself. If you’re noticing that your skills and expertise lend themselves beyond the niche you created, don’t be afraid to refocus your vision.
For example, a client of mine initially established herself as an expert in helping working moms and moms who wanted to start a business.
She noticed the same things coming up over and again in her target market – guilt, confidence, work-life balance. She did a lot of research and gathered a lot of information because she was coaching, mentoring, and advising her clients.
Although she was very successful and very satisfied with her business, she uncovered an opportunity for corporate work. Though she is still working within her area of expertise by offering workshops and services for working mothers, the corporate niche is totally different.
What she is selling to companies isn’t mom coaching. She’s selling them the end result of retaining working mothers. This is a really important distinction. She isn’t abandoning what she’s been doing with her coaching of moms, but the corporate client is really a new direction. In essence, she has two clients – the corporation who hires her and the end user, the moms that she’s already been working with in the other part of her business.
In this case, the opportunity to expand and work outside her niche led her to reposition herself to accommodate these additional opportunities.
In some cases, you might find that certain aspects of your niche aren’t working for you. This is another instance of the need to reposition your business in order to find a more suitable direction.
Another of my clients spent more than 18 months putting large tenders together to submit to government organizations, where a particularly strict type of bidding process is required by law. It’s very difficult to establish personal relationships that lead to a sale in that type of environment. Though he’s had some success in his business, he began weighing whether it was worth the enormous amount of effort he was putting in. All of the bidders are essentially on the same level, with no personal rapport with the potential client to help win the bid. He was essentially operating in a buyer’s market. And that is not where you want to be. To attract clients, you need to turn that traditional sales dynamic on its head so that you’re operating in a seller’s market. You want to be the one with all of the advantage, and position yourself so that there is no competition. In his case, looking to private companies with whom he can establish relationships would put him in a better position.
Look for markets where it will be easier for you to build those personal relationships, and where you can position yourself as an expert.
Whether you have noticed the opportunity for additional business, or recognized the need to shift from your current niche, repositioning is an excellent way to expand your options.
You can still work within your area of expertise, but by repositioning yourself, those same skills could be very valuable on a larger scale.
Bernadette Doyle is a small business marketing expert. Get more tips and advice at http://www.clientmagnets.com
Tags: buyer behavior, chasing clients, Marketing, Marketing Strategies, niche, sales strategies, sales strategy, Selling, Success Secrets
Posted in Business Networking, Business Plans, Business Success, Marketing, Niche Marketing, Small Business Ideas, Success Secrets | 1 Comment »
March 3rd, 2010
When a potential buyer makes an inquiry, have you found yourself responding with an answer similar to this:
“Well, our process is that first, we find out about your needs. Next, we’ll put together a proposal and then we’ll let you know how much it costs. And then, you can take it from there.”
Why is this a mistake? The problem here is that you’re doing an alot of work – work that you’re not getting paid for – without even ensuring a sale. In addition to not closing the deal, this type of business practice also makes the sales process very labor-intensive for you. You have to take the time to find out the client’s specific needs. You have to write a proposal and you have to work up a cost for them. Then, they’ll decide if they want your product or services.
By customizing your approach for that client’s individual needs, you could conceivably put in a day’s work or more, and have nothing to show for it in the end.
So, the first thing you need to do is stop customizing. Instead, start creating packages of your services and/or products – packages that people can see and buy, right off the shelf.
This is a practice that can work really well for you. By creating a package, you are specifying what your product or service is, setting specific prices, and actually quantifying the benefits of your offer. It forces you to make your intangibles tangible. Customers are more apt to purchase when they can see, touch, taste and smell what they’re getting.
You can also create a variety of packages at a range of levels. Begin with a starter package. You might even consider creating a budget package, to make your services even more accessible. In addition to your base packages, I encourage you to develop a first class program or product – call it The Rolls Royce program – for those people that want the absolute best.
You don’t have to develop hundreds of packages. Two or three range levels are enough to begin with. By offering a range, you’re creating the illusion of customizing. People can basically ascertain their needs, look at your different packages and say, “Yes, that’s the one that’s right for me.”
When you develop your packages, design them so that your solutions match the client’s ideal end results. You want to highlight the benefits, not the features. Your clients don’t care so much about your process as they do about achieving their desired solution. If you’re a coach, for example, you probably focus on the coaching process, but your clients are interested in what that process will do for them.
Maybe they want to simplify their life. Maybe they want to find the confidence to apply for a promotion or find the support to start a new business. Or, maybe they want to find a new relationship or get through a difficult divorce.
There are many different things and many different end results. The important thing is to keep your client’s desired end result in clear focus when you create and describe your packages. Your packages need to clearly show clients how what you’re offering is so closely aimed at that desired end result.
You can still deliver the same quality results you would by customizing, but by turning your expertise into packaged information, you can spend a lot less time, get a lot more clients, and help a lot more people at the same time.
Tags: attracting clients, buyer behavior, chasing clients, Marketing, Marketing Strategies, product packages, sales strategies, sales strategy, Selling, Success Secrets
Posted in Advertising, Business & Money, Business Networking, Business Plans, Business Success, Marketing, Money Making Ideas, Small Business Ideas, Small Business Marketing | No Comments »
March 2nd, 2010
If you could put a figure on the net results your programmes, coaching services or training would have on a company, when implemented, what would that price be?
How much money can what you are offering save or make your client? This is what larger companies and corporations want to know.
When you are pitching your product or services in a corporate environment, always emphasize and focus on what the net benefit to the company will be. Will your offering increase their overall sales? Reduce expenses and costs? Will it make their staff more efficient and productive, thus saving the company valuable time – and money?
It’s relatively easy to calculate straightway the cost that lost sales have on a company. However, there are other factors by which companies need to measure net results.
Maybe your business specializes in softer skills, such as leadership, management and employee development. To quantify that, you need to zero in on the tangible results the company will receive from your skills. Show corporations how they will be able to conduct more effective meetings because of your trainings; how they will receive more productive feedback because your workshops will teach staff to communicate more clearly.
Highlight the long-term implications that services similar to the ones you offer have on other companies. Gather statistics and give examples of how retention rates in companies improve because of the type of workshops you present and the skills you teach.
Statistics for all sorts of elements come into play here. Lost sales, sick leave, lack of focus, clique problems. You can gather research on many different challenges and problems that big companies face, then use that as a starting point and connect the dots to the cost savings for the company.
You can start gathering your statistics online. Search relevant phrases and you’re sure to find that someone, somewhere did a survey and quantified the results that can be achieved. Obviously, you should quote your source.
Here’s an example to demonstrate …
“This survey from _____showed that 45% of employees who leave an organization reported poor management as the main reason for leaving. When asked to clarify “poor management” it turns out that one of the things identified was poor feedback.”
After you state the facts, you then share the conclusion that poor feedback is costing their organization X amount of dollars.
Though you may deliver your product or service to a different end user than the head management of a company, in the end, your corporate clients will make the decision to go with you based on the impact your services will have on their bottom line.
That’s why when pitching your service or product in a corporate environment you need to spell out the net results that will be achieved. Back it up with the data and statistics that support your offering. Show your prospect how they will benefit – bottom line - and watch the sales flow in!
Bernadette Doyle is a small business marketing expert. Get more tips and advice at http://www.clientmagnets.com
Tags: attracting clients, buyer behavior, chasing clients, Market share, Marketing, Marketing Strategies, sales strategies, sales strategy, Selling, targeted marketing, targeting clients
Posted in Advertising, Business & Money, Direct Marketing, Guerilla Marketing, Marketing, Money Making Ideas, Sales Motivation | 2 Comments »
February 25th, 2010
You may be fully aware of the tremendous difference that your services make to an organization or an individual, but you have to find a way to link that difference to end results.
One of the really important things you need to do in your business is identify the results you achieve.
One way that you can ascertain the results you’ve helped a client achieve is to go back and ask them. If your contact has told you that since they used your services or product, they got X number of results, find out the implications of those results – in terms of time or money.
I did some negotiation skills training for a client, who told me, “it really made a difference.” That’s all fine and good, but I asked them to quantify what difference it made. In their case, they were able to measure what their goodwill budget had been the year before compared to the current year, and I was able to get a statistic from that.
If you’re a coach, and you’ve been able to save a particular client 2 hours every week in their work week, that’s valuable time over the course of a month or two. But, if you factor those hours at the rate that client gets paid, it could work out to your helping the client make additional thousands of dollars a year.
You have to look at what you’re doing in terms of increasing sales, or reducing cost, or saving time, and then work through it that way. Calculate what the net benefit is for the client. Always remember, clients make the decision to buy something based on the benefits. You may need to do a bit of research to make those connections.
Think of yourself as a salesperson who is putting together a presentation that quantifies all the benefits. Or, as a bit of a lawyer, arguing in court and putting together a case. You have to bring together different pieces of information and statistics to make your argument.
It’s not that you’re stating you are definitely going to help a client save this amount of time or money, but you’re getting people to think in terms of end results for their business.
To get your potential clients those results, you must first prompt your existing and satisfied clients for a specific answer about how your service benefits them. Be willing to go back to your contacts and talk to them about the difference you’ve been making. Ask them to quantify it.
They won’t think about it until you ask them. But, by asking the question, you’re also raising your value in their eyes too.
Bernadette Doyle is a marketing specialist who helps entrepreneurs become client magnets and attract a steady stream of their ideal clients. She publishes a free, weekly newsletter for trainers, speakers, coaches, consultants, complementary therapists and solo professionals. If you’d like to receive invaluable tips and advice on how to attract clients with ease, register at http://www.clientmagnets.com
Tags: attracting clients, buyer behavior, Marketing, Marketing Strategies, negotiate sales, sales strategies, sales strategy, types of buyers
Posted in Cash Flow, Closing The Sale, Marketing, Sales Motivation | 1 Comment »
February 22nd, 2010
You know that you’re the best, but your customers need to believe that too. There are several ways for you to gain their confidence and trust so you can earn their business.
Sway potential clients in your favor by taking away the risk of doing business with you and making your offer irresistible.
• Offer a guarantee. Personally, I have a guarantee when I’m offering my products or workshops. There is some grey area here, however. Some of my higher-value coaching services are more time intensive for me and don’t include a guarantee. The reason I don’t offer one is that I don’t want to give people an opt-out clause. When these high-caliber people step up in a big way and want to get the results that a high level coaching from me can deliver, I want to know that they’re fully in the game.
It’s a big challenge to make a massive transformation or a big leap in business. You don’t want clients like these to be running for the door or the emergency exit the moment the going gets tough. So, in some cases, guarantees are counter-productive and could actually end up helping clients resist what you’re offering.
So, you have to decide whether or not a guarantee is right for your market.
• Alleviate their fears. Sometimes people won’t sign on or purchase something because they’re skeptical that what worked for other people won’t work for them. You need to show them how, even if they may have failed in the past, this time they will succeed. Include additional follow-ups or features that your competition doesn’t provide to show that you can help them accomplish their goal or fulfill their need. Be creative and really give some thought as to how you can remove the risk for your potential clients.
• Make your offer irresistible. Pile on so much value that there is just no way they can lose. Include all the things your targeted clients could possibly want so that they just can’t pass your offer by.
There are few different ways to do this. Quantify the benefits of your services. For example, if you’ve got a program where for a $1,000 investment, your client will be able to make or save $10,000 in the next three months, you need to tell them that. Don’t assume that they will figure that out. Quantify the benefits specifically.
If there isn’t an easy financial comparison in your business, you do need to dig a little because this can really help you and help your clients. They will be able to wrap their heads around what you’re offering and make an informed decision because you’re giving them all the information they need.
The more you quantify, make your offer irresistible, and remove risk, the more successful you’re going to be.
Bernadette Doyle is a marketing specialist who helps entrepreneurs become client magnets and attract a steady stream of their ideal clients. If you’d like to receive invaluable tips and advice on how to attract clients with ease, register at http://www.clientmagnets.com
Tags: buyer behavior, chasing clients, Marketing, Marketing Strategies, sales strategies, sales strategy, Success Secrets, Value
Posted in Business Success, Cash Flow, Closing The Sale, Customer Loyalty, Customer Retention, Marketing, Money Making Ideas, Strategies To Keep Good Customers, Success Secrets | 2 Comments »
February 19th, 2010
You can compete with the big name players in your market. You can attract corporate clients to buy your services, whether they involve negotiation skills, presentation skills, sales skills, or dealing with difficult clients and colleagues.
Sometimes, the idea that you’re at a disadvantage to the big companies is more in your own head than it is in your potential buyer’s eyes.
Here’s a simple formula to follow when competing for big business:
Be confident in your ability to deliver your product or service +
Distinguish yourself from the competition =
Clients will jump on your offering rather than you having to compete for their business.
Don’t be intimidated by the larger businesses who offer services similar to yours. Don’t let the heavy hitters in your area give you an inferiority complex.
Your business actually has a massive advantage over these bigger players…
• Many of these larger structures tend to offer fixed programs and fixed courses. There’s usually not a lot a room for customized, pick-and-choose type training. You’re not restricted in a way that a larger company would be. That actually means you can have a lot more flexibility for your client. You’re much more able to be responsive to their needs.
• Big companies tend to send in a very charming and persuasive sales person to close the sale. They go in with all the glitz, pretty brochures, maybe they even take the client out to lunch. Then they outsource to the most inexpensive person they can find to deliver the service, still charging the client a premium rate. Clients soon discover that the person who is actually put in front of them to deliver the training, do the consulting, or whatever the service is, doesn’t have that experience, that credibility or that authority.
Make it obvious, in your marketing material and also in your sales meetings, that the person the client meets going in, is going to be the same person that their end users meet. Without actually saying anything negative about the bigger company vying for their business, you’re planting a seed of doubt. You’re not badmouthing the competition, but you are giving the client something to think about that they may not have before. Where possible, you always want to sell yourself on your strengths as opposed to just going in and knocking the competition.
• When your business card is basically your name, you can sometimes feel, “I haven’t got the weight. I haven’t got this huge impressive organization behind me.” But, you have to start seeing that as a real advantage. Don’t underestimate a client’s ability to appreciate the fact that your business success hinges on your delivering the very best. You’re not just following some automated process. You’re really engaging with them and really getting to understand their business, so you can make recommendations based on your expertise and what you’ve uncovered as their real need. You’re literally staking your reputation on your service.
So, just because you’re not as big or as famous as some of the others, doesn’t mean you’re at a disadvantage. You’ve got to start to think about, “What do I have that these guys don’t have?”
Bernadette Doyle is a small business marketing expert. Get more tips and advice at http://www.clientmagnets.com
Tags: attracting clients, buyer behavior, chasing clients, Market share, Marketing, Marketing Strategies, sales strategies, sales strategy, Selling, Success Secrets, targeted marketing, targeting clients
Posted in Advertising, Business & Money, Business Plans, Business Success, Cash Flow, Marketing, Money Making Ideas, Presenting, Sales Leads, Sales Motivation | No Comments »
