Knowing How to Make the Sale

A little while ago I was at a performance by three great singers. They were f-a-n-t-a-s-t-i-c and could sing everything from classic to pop, solo or together. The crowd loved them and gave them rapturous applause at every opportunity.

During the evening they occasionally mentioned their CD and said that they hoped we’d buy it.

And at the end of the show not one person bought their CD!

Why?

It’s because they were singers, not salespeople, so they didn’t know how to make the sale. They made 3 major mistakes:

1. They never showed us the product - they appeared embarrassed when they briefly mentioned the CD so they didn’t tell us what was on it and who would like it (selling the benefits) nor did each of them proudly hold up a copy to make it the hero.
2. They forgot to ask people to buy - after their exhausting evening maybe they had to relax backstage over a couple of drinks but they certainly weren’t out front saying “Don’t forget, buy your CD now.” If it’d been me I would have been there pressing the flesh telling everyone how much they needed this great CD.
3. They didn’t make it easy to buy - they still could have sold a stack of CD’s if there had been someone in a prominent place with a pile of them saying, “Buy your CD here.” Unfortunately there was nobody around to sell them to you no matter how much you might have wanted to buy.

When it comes to selling you see these mistakes being made all the time. So, as you relax over the summer, why not review how you go about selling and make sure that you always:

• Make your product or service the hero and sell its benefits.
• Make sure you ask people to buy.
• Make it easy to buy.

How to Win BIG Customers

One of the best books I’ve read recently is “Bag the Elephant: How to win and keep big customers” by a fella named Steve Kaplan who explains how to get into big companies and win lots of business. He made a bucket of money as a salesperson by focussing on big companies (“Elephants”) to win big deals.

I phoned Steve in Chicago to interview him for the December edition of my Business Marketing audio program and he shared the secrets of bagging those big elephants.

Briefly, Steve reckons the way to crack big deals is:

1. Know who does what in the company (particularly who makes the buying decision and who can kill deals)
2. Find out exactly what it takes to get on the supplier list.
3. Know how to speak the company language.
4. Understand their budget cycle and where your product or service fits.

At $49.95 plus postage and handling it’s a must if you’re in sales. To order the book (it’s a great read over the summer holidays and you’ll start the New Year kicking butt) just visit here.

If you are a subscriber to Business Marketing you’ll hear that interview in full and, if you want to get the whole story make sure you get the book.

Two little words with big impact!

If you are in love then you’d probably say that the best words you can ever hear are contained in the simple phrase “I love you!”

In business if you love your clients and you want them to love you the best words your clients can ever hear are “Thank you!”

And whilst you may be sceptical about the idea of loving your clients it’s just something you’ve got to do if you plan to be in business for the long haul. You need to make it part of the way you and the rest of the team do things at your place. You see, when you love your clients it means you demonstrate that you appreciate them and, when you do that, they’ll keep on coming back bringing their friends with them.

Now loving them doesn’t mean doing that physically. It just means that you ensure that clients feel appreciated, respected and valued. You show them this when you say

• “Thank you for calling” when they telephone for information or advice;
• “Thank you for choosing us” when they give you the job;
• “Thank you for letting us know” when they have a complaint;
• “Thank you for the referral” when they send in a friend;
• “Thank you for waiting” when you have to ask them to wait and so on.

There are two other groups that also deserve the same big, generous thanks. And those are your suppliers and the people you work with. Generally people in both of these categories are the first to cop it in the neck when they do something wrong but rarely do they receive a “thank you” when they do something right. So try telling a supplier “Thank you for getting that to us so promptly” or surprising a colleague with a “Thank you for doing a great job.”

You’ll be amazed how contagious the “thank you virus” can be and, when people catch it, they’ll love doing business with you!

Another Great Commercial

Of course Christmas is a time for kids but just occasionally you come across a kid who doesn’t deserve Christmas. That’s the essence of this commercial which very effectively advertises a difficult product to promote.

Nerds Interviewed

If you visit our homepage and play the Audio Program, you'll hear an interview with a nerd who has a great business. Interesting stuff.

Seasons Greetings!

We take this opportunity to wish all our readers best wishes and the compliments of the season. May this time be one of peace, joy and love and we trust that the New Year holds for you all that you could possibly wish yourself.