Winston's e-Newsletter - 8 December 2009Ideas and Inspiration to Make You Say "Wow!"
How To Stand Out From The Crowd, Chapter 5
![]() How To Stand Out From The Crowd, Chapter 5Well already we've given you some great thoughts on how you position yourself as a market leader so let's build on them again this edition. A personal introduction brochure is most important. It can be used to introduce you as an individual like a salesperson or a professional in a practice, or you and your team as a company. Having something that you can send ahead to introduce yourself is an important determinant of marketing leadership. The Queen is a little old lady but everybody knows she's the Queen because of the outriders, trumpeters and emissaries she sends ahead. When these people arrive people know somebody important is coming. A personal introduction brochure is your emissary to build your stature and create expectation in the minds of your prospects. A good personal introduction brochure should talk about you and your business in terms of what you can do for the potential buyer. It should not be all about you on an egocentric self-serving basis but detail skills, talents and solutions you bring to solve clients' problems. It does not have to be lengthy. It merely has to provide an enticingly readable, highly interesting, benefit laden introduction to you and your business. Often a five or ten paragraph brochure or a well-designed one page flyer will do the job. When you are a marketing leader, you collect all of the questions you get asked repeatedly by potential buyers and put them into a Frequently Asked Questions leaflet along with the answers. Providing this information establishes you as the expert in the eyes of prospects who like to do business with experts. Every prospect you meet owns a great theatre… the theatre of their mind. You will always be very effective when you are playing in that theatre and delivering information. How do we capitalise on this? Simple. Instead of sending the written word to people which can get pretty boring you can use the spoken word because, if you are like most people, you can verbalize what you do in an interesting way. So, how do you get the spoken word to people? It's an easy task. Talk about what you do emphasising benefits and how your clients, customers or patients have benefited and record it on CD or MP3 to download from your web site. If it's interesting people will listen and enjoy it. Most importantly, they'll want to do business with you. Alternatively, you can easily use the camera on top of your computer and shoot a video and upload it to your web site or YouTube If you've compiled everything that we've mentioned so far you've got everything you need to put a personal introduction pack together. When you meet somebody and they want to go further you tell them you'll send them some information. That will be an easy task because your personal introduction pack contains your business card, personal introduction brochure, frequently asked questions leaflet, book of testimonials and audio or video material. It's a handsome compendium of information to send to anybody. How you send it is critical and, if you're dealing with a big prospect, it's worthwhile sending the pack by courier. Imagine - they meet you and just a few hours later there is a knock on the door and a courier bag arrives with your information. They have only one reaction - they'll say "Wow!" because now they know that they are dealing with a market leader. If you promptly deliver what you promise in a way that others do not, you establish yourself as a market leader!
![]() A couple of gift ideasSome friends of mine have produced great gift ideas that would be perfect for giving to those "hard to please" people. Carol Jones, who has been telling her story of building a huge business from nothing in rural Australia on my audio program has some great gifts at www.simplesolutionsfordifficultproblems.com She has sold over 100,000 of her ironing board covers, which every woman loves. Her story is at the web site too. Julie Meek has just released her book "Truth, Lies and Chocolate" which explores 99 Facts and Fairytales about food covering chocolate, red wine, coffee, omega-3, detoxing and diet soft drinks. I particularly like her revelation that chocolate and red wine can be a full-body treat! It's ideal athlete, a kid, a mum, an executive or just plain Joe Bloggs who want tips for getting the most from the food that they eat. My USA based technology and marketing expert Terry Brock recommends Never Fly Solo by Robert "Waldo" Waldman a decorated former combat F-16 fighter pilot and now a successful entrepreneur who provides short and pithy business tips for anyone in business whether veteran or just starting out. Scroll down the link I've given you and see Terry's very smart and unique way of endorsing the book. A family member or friend in business would love either of my audio programs "How to be a Legend" (which is all about getting your business known in your neighbourhood) or "Your Complete Marketing Toolbox" (which is chock-a-block full of marketing ideas).
![]() Getting the hard work of writing done for youMaybe one of your New Year resolutions will be to get your blog up and going or to get some stories published in the right media. Well, in the last newsletter we introduced you to Paul Hassing who'll solve your blog problems here. Now if you want to get some articles published about you or your business or a story in the media, a great writer I would recommend is Gary Alexander garyal@iprimus.com.au The investment for a 500 word article is just $650 and he'll lodge it with PRwire or five publications for an extra $100 (multiple or longer articles attract a lesser price per word, which is the way journalists charge). The bottom line is that, if you get the article or press release in the right place, it could be worth thousands to you. e-mail Gary for more info.
Bizarre Dining ExperienceModern Toilet is a Taipei restaurant. It accommodates 100 seats with each made from toilet bowls. The specialties at the restaurant accompany sink faucets and gender-coded 'WC' signs that appear on the three-story structure. The food is served in mini plastic toilet bowls. The toilet rolls that serve for wiping hand and mouth are hung above the tables, which resemble glass-topped jumbo bathtubs.
![]() Thoughts on generating referralsEvery one of us was told when we were a little kid that we should "take the nasty medicine because mummy will give you a sweet"... and we did. We were bribed to do what was required and it taught us to respond to reward. So that's what you need to do for two people... the referrer and the referee. Getting the level of the reward right is critical. If you offer too little it's an insult; if you offer too much it's a bribe. It's worth talking to some of your clients, customers or patients and asking them what they would consider to be the right reward. Naturally the value of the reward you offer depends on the value of the new prospect to a large extent but more importantly it's the thoughtfulness behind the reward that really scores. So we need to think about:
So, in summary, it just can't be a nice card or letter but a carefully thought through mechanism that'll work. One other thing needed to really make this work is to ensure that you and your team get into the habit of asking every one of your clients, customers or patients for referrals. It's as simple as saying to them, "Look I know you'll be pretty happy with what we do for you and, if so, we'd like to think that you'll recommend somebody you know who may be interested in (your products or services)" … and remind them every time. It's surprising how well that works! Now this won't produce a referral every time but it is amazing how often they will respond by saying, "I've been meaning to mention a friend of mine to you who..." You'll find team members are reluctant to do this at first but providing you do some regular practice (and by that I mean role playing) at team meetings and reward them in front of their peers when they achieve success you'll be amazed at the results that they begin to achieve. And, of course, generating referrals is a heck of a lot easier if you make your clients, customers or patients say "Wow!" That happens when you differentiate yourself from the mundaneness of your competitors so much that people who do business with you have something to talk about coz when they do, they will! You've got to endeavour to make doing business with you memorable! (Just to be on the safe side, you should check that rewarding for referrals does not breach any law in your state or country and isn't regarded as a secret commission.)
![]() Bendigo pig sparks gas emergencyKelly Ryan from the Herald Sun reported that a portly pig with flatulence triggered a minor emergency near Bendigo this week when smells wafting from the 120kg porker sparked fears of a potentially dangerous gas leak.
Another CommercialEvery edition of this e-zine I include a television or cyberspace commercial that's caught my eye. Once again, the duration of this TVC is an odd one. I reckon that it was made expressly for cyberspace in the hope that it would go viral. It focuses on the perceived inner lust of women to fight cellulite. Here it is for you to make up your mind about.
Business Growth Centre This newsletter is being sent to: email@isp.com
You are receiving this Newsletter because you asked to be subscribed, or attended a Seminar, or purchased a product. If you no longer wish to hear from us, unsubscribe here
If you received this newsletter through a friend and wish to subscribe yourself, go here.
|
||
HOME | SPEAKER | PRODUCTS | FREE STUFF | TELESEMINARS | LINKS | WINSTON'S BLOG | CONTACT US Business Growth Centre |
||