When customers are not buying, it’s very easy to take it personally, think the whole world’s against you and get very demotivated with the whole thing. And then of course, that makes the situation even worse – because customers can sense a mile off if you’re not happy and even though you desperately want more customers, they don’t want to work with you. 

So, what do you do to break out of this circle?  Well, an easy way (and often a better way) to think about your marketing is to focus instead on educating your customers. That means, rather than trying to convince them to buy, all you want to do instead is pass on useful tips and information to help people. 

The impact of this can be dramatic. Firstly, you start to perceive yourself in a different way. The emphasis is no longer on getting people to buy - you’re now an educator, a teacher in your subject. If you think of yourself in this way, you’ll find that you no longer worry if people don’t buy from you immediately. At least, if nothing else, you’ve been helpful to someone. 

The second impact is that the world of marketing suddenly opens its door to you. If you focus on educating your customers, there are a multitude of ways in which you can do this, from writing articles to giving speeches and seminars. These methods will help you to reach more potential customers who will also all perceive you as being an expert in your field – can’t be bad! 

Thirdly, customers receive a taster from you of what you can do. If you’re giving a seminar for instance, potential customers get to meet you and get to understand what you can do in a way they wouldn’t otherwise experience. Compare this method for instance to cold calling, where potential customers only get a call explaining what you do and no education at all. 

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According to the experts, new technology appears online approximately every two and a half seconds – and theoretically, every new application has the potential to transform your business.

How do you know what’s worth your time and what’s a total time-waster? That’s a serious question, when you only have 24 hours in a day and still have a business to run.

Save time and minimize frustration by adopting this six-step process for approaching new technology.  Followed consistently, this process enables you to identify viable promotional opportunities, discern which ones appear to have sticking power, streamline the learning process, and adopt best practices right from day one!

Step 1: Don’t Believe the Hype
Enthusiastic, cheerleading-style articles touting the lastest tech tool as the solution to all of your marketing challenges are fun to read, but they seldom provide enough information to make a solid business decision!

Put yourself on a short rein, and don’t let enthusiasm for the flavor-of-the-week by your only guide.
Do your research. Discover what demographics are adopting the touted technology. For example, the audience for Twitter-powered microblogs is different from the crowd downloading podcasts onto their cell phones.

Step 2: Seek Out Reputable Resources to Serve as Guides
While you’re doing your due diligence and your research, pay special attention to where your information is coming from.  Not all resources have equal value.  Look to those individuals who are consistently cited as an expert by others.  It’s wise to have a rule of three for this.  If three disparate sources all reference the same individual or work, there’s a better than fair chance that resource has some real value that can be of benefit.

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In this age of business scandals, it’s crucial to remember that businesses based on ethics and quality actually work better. With that in mind, here are ten easy resolutions to inspire your business to achieve a very profitable 2008.

1. I will base every aspect of my business on honesty, integrity, and quality.

2. I will make sure every employee, from janitor to CEO, is trained to view every interaction with a customer as a key step in the marketing process, and to always give the customer respect and
attention.

3. I will train and empower every employee to let the customer go away feeling good about the entire interaction.

4. I will stand behind my products and services. It is better to refund the money and create a positive buzz.

5. Understanding that it costs an average of five times more to bring in a new customer as to keep an existing one, I will see that the entire organization exceeds customer expectations.

6. Recognizing that my competitors can be my strongest allies, I will initiate at least one joint venture (after all, if FedEx and the Postal Service, Apple and IBM, and General Motors and Toyota can cooperate, surely I can too).

7. If my company is not the best answer to prospect’s needs, I will refer that prospect to the company that can best serve.

8. I will devote business resources to make the world a better place.

9. I will volunteer on a community project, and set up incentives for my employees to volunteer on the projects of their choice.

10. I will base decisions on the Abundance Principle that there is enough to go around, and not on market share.

11. I will reduce my firm’s use of water and energy, and reduce my family’s use at home, and inform others of the easy changes I’ve made.

12.

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The word ‘Autoresponders’ has been used more and more over the last few months and pretty much all of us have now experienced them even if you don’t yet realise it. 

But just what is an autoresponder and why should you think about using one in your business? 

Well, let me explain. 

The simplest form of an autoresponder is when you send a message to someone and you immediately receive an email back that tells you that person is out of office. This email will have been sent automatically (no human response was required) and it will have responded to you – hence the name autoresponder. 

You will have also probably seen an autoresponder if you’ve purchased products off of a website. Take Amazon for example or Ebay. If you’ve purchased something from Amazon or made a bid on Ebay, the chances are high that you will have immediately received an email from the company confirming your purchase or your bid.  

And you may have seen autoresponders at work if you’ve subscribed to a newsletter from a website. In most cases now, you will have immediately receive an email from the company concerned welcoming you to the website with a copy of the newsletter. 

Now, trust me when I say that a human is not sitting there at all times of the day or night responding to messages that come in from a website or order confirmations – these emails are sent automatically from you by a computer programme that has been specifically written for this purpose. 

But, why should you care? What has this got to do with your business? 

Now (hopefully) you’ve got your head around what an autoresponder is, I want you just to think for a minute about the power of autoresponders and how they can help your business. 

Imagine that while you’re on holiday, a potential customer visits your website.

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Perhaps you’ve heard that sharing Features, Advantages and Benefits is a more effective approach than just feature dumping on our prospective customers. But do we effectively do that in our sales conversations?

Let me share a simple experience where a young shoe salesman did this well. We need shoes and since we are on our feet a lot, we select some that are comfortable, yet stylish to wear at work.

I was window shopping in Puerto Vallarta. Along the way a very stylish, yet simple pair of Italian, two-tone brown loafers caught my eye in a little shoe store off the cobblestone street. Thinking I was only looking, I stepped into the store to check them out. I picked them up and quickly put them down, as my initial reaction was, “Wow…that is not cheap!”

My young and very wise shoe expert approached and engaged me in conversation about my visit to the store, to Puerto Vallarta, and what I did for a living. I made the mistake of telling him I was a professional speaker who traveled sharing ideas on how others could be more successful in their lives, careers, sales, etc. (Guess he figured I could really afford them… smile.)

Picking up the shoes and holding them with reverent care, he said, “You know, when you wear these traditional Italian loafers, in these rich spring hues, you’re going to have a big smile on your face because ‘one of the great things’ about these shoes is they’re soft calfskin leather with a full leather lining. And as you wear them, they will mold to the shape of your feet, giving you a custom-made feel.” He continued, “It would be fun to walk around in custom-made shoes, don’t you think?”

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As a selling professional, I would expect you have created a simple system to record your sales activities and results. Hopefully you are recording and measuring these areas on a daily, weekly, monthly and quarterly basis.

• Sales to new customers
• Sales to repeat customers
• Sales presentations and closed sales (closing ratios)
• Sales to referrals vs. cold calling or walk in customers
• Other metrics of importance as discussed with your manager

Like many of you, I am not a fan of paperwork. I have learned it is necessary to help me succeed in achieving what I want in life, and so I invest my time to improve my ongoing results.

Recording your activity on a consistent basis gives you some solid metrics to evaluate and will often reveal areas that you can work on to enhance your selling abilities and results.

You can’t improve what you can’t identify.

I challenge you to invest time (5 mins a day; 30 minutes a week; an hour a month; or a day at the end of your year) evaluating your activities and your results.

I can guarantee you’ll be more in touch with the ‘reality’ and connections between your activities and results. In addition, you’ll be in a good position to make productive changes that will increase your closing ratios, earn more money, and build a better repeat and referral customers base.

Remember, what gets measured gets done. Make it a point to reward what you want to see. Treat yourself when you increase your results.

What do your activities and measurements reveal?
As you evaluate your measurements, ask yourself a few ‘honest’ questions:

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What kind of buyer are you?
If you are normally a ‘price’ buyer and your prospective customer raises objections to the price, you may be more open to accept their objection as real.

If you are the kind of person who tends to ‘think it over’ before you buy and your customer says, “I want to think it over;” you may tend to go along, as this objection makes senses or sounds rational. After all, that is the way ‘you’ buy.

The objection you will normally find the most challenging will be the one that is the most‘consistent’ with your own value system and past track record.

By accepting sales objections that make sense or resonate with you, because you can relate to them, you are essentially projecting your personal attitudes into the sales process. Hold on!

This is not your role as a selling professional. And, for the record, just because someone says the price is too high, does not always mean ‘they’ believe it. I’ve had folks say ‘that’ and go on to invest even more in the final results.

When you project your personal bias into the sales process you wrongly assume that everyone buys like you do and for the same reasons. And, conversely, that they don’t buy for the same reasons.

People make decisions to buy for their own reasons. Sometimes they even buy items they don’t need. And, as you probably know they don’t always tell you (the sales person) the truth.

This erroneous attitude and action will cost you customers and money.

Your role is to be a neutral in the sales process, there to help, to provide solid resources, to guide, and to nudge for a buying decision.

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Part three: The following ideas have proven effective for the Business enhancement success of ‘any’ business. Fill in the ‘__________’ with your field, and apply accordingly.

Sell an inexpensive ‘introductory’ product:
If you are in a position where you have a product line, make it easy for people to start dealing with you. Find something that they will enjoy using and get them on your client list. Perhaps you can also offer something for ‘free’ to get them hooked? Not necessarily a ‘loss-leader,’ perhaps something that is inexpensive and will demonstrate your ability to deliver when you say you will, as well as introduce them to what you have to offer.

Use business discussion and news groups:
Internet based groups are a source of business research and if you are careful a source of subtle self promotion and awareness. A word of caution here, don’t be overtly commercial as it will backfire on you big time!  Selectively use online social media as a way of building connections and credibility.

Personalize with your picture:
People like to deal with real people. Even if your business is internet based, they like to know that there is a real person behind the product or service they acquire from you. As speakers and trainers especially, we are in the personal services business. Make sure it is a current picture and that it shows you smiling.  Personalize your business – you’ll be glad you did!

Up-sell to all of your clients …add on, premium, extras, and related items:
This is one of the success secrets of generating additional business and increasing your bottom line. Design what you offer so you can provide a choice of at least three levels: good, better, best and then offer it to each client. Give them a choice with at least 3 alternatives.

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