If your business is struggling to make sales, you're probably asking your self or your sales team "What's wrong? Why aren't we making the sales we need to hit our objectives?"
The answer to this question may be varied, with such challenges as:
1. The economy sucks.
2. Our product is confusing to customers.
3. Our prices are too high.
4. They don't have the money.
and so on...
Are you buying the excuses? In most cases, the reasons why you've stopped selling have little to do with the excuses and everything to do with your PERSPECTIVE and FOCUS..jpg)
With the right perspective and focus, your salespeople don't have to be Pedott from the classic The Twilight Zone episode entitled, "What You Need", where Pedott is a salesperson who hands each character in the show exactly what they need to catch a bus, get a job, save their life, and so on.
For example, if you say "the economy sucks" you could stop putting out the same effort you did in an average or good economy, which would cause your business to stop selling even more than the lack of economy. If you run the numbers and the economy is truly affecting your business, then lower your expenses as low as possible to still make it with adjusted economy, and then continue as aggressive as ever because a down economy is an OPPORTUNITY for salespeople who are creative to capture larger market share from those who fail to respond and manage their business appropriately.
If your product is confusing, simplify it. Customers buy when it is SIMPLE and EASY. Again, this is a perspective issue. If you're educating the potential client and offering too many choices, narrow it down and offer them TWO or THREE CHOICES. But keep it SIMPLE.
If your prices are higher, that may be a problem, but more than likely it is a problem of the salesperson than the problem with your product. IBM routinely charges more for their products than their competition. How do they do it? By SELLING what their clients NEED MOST! For example, when a Chief Information Officer (CIO) of a large corporation is considering a new mainframe computer system, when comparing the choice of IBM versus competitor A, who offers the same mainframe (as far as speeds and feeds go) for less price, or competitor B who offers a better mainframe for slightly higher cost, or competitor C who offers a distributed computing approach across multiple computers for significantly less money, how is it that IBM wins?
The answer is that IBM sells what the CIO needs the most: PEACE OF MIND. You've heard the expression "They say nobody ever got fired for buying IBM." The reason for that saying is that the CEO has peace-of-mind that IBM will keep their business running if anything goes wrong. That's what matters most to the CEO, and that also is priority number one for most Chief Information Officers, too.
As CEO of a much smaller company, I can assure you that I'm quite unhappy when my business' server is down. If I cannot send or receive email, it is a nightmare. I can only imagine how the CEO of a larger corporation sees the dollar signs flashing by the thousands in his or her glasses when their system is down!
If you're selling a vacation package, what are you really selling that client's need? Most likely more time with their loved ones, better health, rejuvenation, seeing the world/exploring cultures, living the good life, and things like that, right? So, don't focus on the details of YOUR program, focus on the details of WHAT THEY NEED.
If you're selling banking services, what is it your clients need the most? Most likely, they want easy access, better rates, security that their money is safe, and so forth. I also like to have NO FEES. If I'm late, if I'm overdrawn, if I forgot to transfer that chunk of money from one bank to the other, whatever, I don't want to be penalized for it. I hate bank fees. If I were running a bank, I'd eliminate most of those fees! Maybe you charge more for a monthly account or whatever but find out what your client's need and sell them that solution.
In an interesting study on whether clients "have the money" or "don't have the money to buy" a company I worked with determined that clients "HAD THE MONEY TO BUY" over 80% of the time, but decided NOT to buy because of some other reason (the salesperson was either annoying, failed to listen, or failed to sell what they needed that interested them).
So, sell what your clients need most and see if your sales don't go up, starting right now.
Extra Bonus Video:
For fun, watch The Twilight Zone, 1st Season, Episode 12:
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ARRiiVE Business Solutions offers sales training, acting VP of Business Development services, sales plans, Diamond-Circle and Sales-Diamond Team Structure models, and other marketing and selling related services. Contact info (at) ARRiiVE (dot) come for more details.
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Aug 18, 2009
Sell What Your Clients Need Most
Jul 23, 2009
ARRiiVE Radio: Rabbits, Deer & Elephants
The ARRiiVE: Innovations In Business Show is BACK!
Episode 76 - ARRiiVE Show - Rabbits, Deer & Elephants!
Mark your calendar:
When: July 29, 2009 at 5PM EST / 2PM PST (length 30 - 60 minutes)
It's back! Join Scott, CEO of the ARRiiVE Business Solutions, on the ARRiiVE: Innovations In Business Show, as he describes a way to make selling more fun through the concept of Rabbits, Deer, and Elephants he created from his Concepts of Selling sales training program.
About Scott: Scott is an author, speaker, and professional business development expert who is often called a master of the sales process, cold calling, and building sales teams. His background includes "Summit Club" levels of success with IBM/Lexmark, Data General, EMC2, DecisionOne, Sunterra (now Diamond Resorts), Worldmark by Wyndham, Elements Inc., and more. Scott currently helps organizations write business plans, build strategy, develop sales process, and launch products and services through a variety of marketing services. He also is the creator of the business and team models called Diamond-Circle and Sales Diamond models of business success.
How to Participate: Call (724) 444-7444, enter show 37798 # 1 #
Visit http://www.talkshoe.com/tc/37798 to participate online.
Look forward to seeing (hearing) you on the show!
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Copyright © 1999-2009 by ARRiiVE Business Solutions. All Rights Reserved. SUBSCRIBE.
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Jan 28, 2009
Selling Tips: Don't bring a gun to pick cabbage
If you're in sales, you must think like a hunter.
Why?
Because hunters go get deals and close them. They're not afraid to pick up a phone. They're not scared to make a presentation. And they sure the heck aren't afraid of asking a closing question. It's like the movie Glen Gary Glen Ross, "Always Be Closing." There's some validity to that.
Now, if you want to build relationships and HOPE someone might buy from you SOME DAY (and can afford that amount of time to WAIT) then you're a FARMER. That's what farmers do: they plant vegetables. They seed them. They fertilize them. They watch out for floods, heat waves, and pests. Then they harvest their crop. They then go to market and get the price the market will bear in price for their crop.
Obviously, farming is a system, too, but it is different than strapping on a gun, wearing camouflage, blowing a whistle, raising a gun, and shooting your game, right?
My approach is to always start with each prospect in HUNTER mode. Why? Because it keeps me sharp and aggressive. Otherwise, I can turn weak and don't get my sales objectives as much as I want. But, when I stay in hunter mode, I kick ass. Can you relate?
There is a time to switch to FARMER mode; however. When someone says "Yes, I'm interested, but this isn't a good time," you can't keep pushing. Instead, offer them an opportunity to learn now by sending them something they can passively review and get back to you, and put a note in your software or day timer to follow up on the appropriate date they suggest. That's more of a FARMER mode than HUNTER mode. Now, if they call me back, I can go back into HUNT mode. Or, when I get back with them, I can regain my HUNTER form. But for that moment, you back off and be their friend. It's a form of permission marketing. You only want to be marketing/hunting when they're interested (or in season). It's the best way to grow your pipeline.
You don't bring a gun to pick cabbage because when you're selling you are hunting. Make sure you bring the right MENTALITY and you'll grow your selling success.
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Jan 22, 2009
Rabbits, Deer, and Elephants: Make Selling More Fun
I'm an elephant hunter.
Have you ever heard a manager describe a salesperson as an "elephant hunter?" I have. In fact, I've been called that before. I've also been called a "peak-and-valleys" salesperson (not true). But when you sell to elephants (large prospects) you will have deals less often and when you do they will be huge. Metaphorically speaking, hunting elephants is great because elephants provide a lot more food than smaller game. I've had two elephant-sized customers feed me my entire quota for the year for three years in a row!
Being an elephant hunter can be dangerous for salespeople.
But, be careful - when you hunt elephants, you might starve in between kills. Companies love, love, love you one day then a few months later they might be on the edge of firing you before your next big win. That's the life of an elephant hunter. So, to remind myself that I must always keep the pipe full of a variety of prospects, I created a system I call "rabbits, deer, and elephants" to target prospects.
My solution: the Rabbits, Deer, and Elephants system.
For example, at a current opportunity, I call a prospect with 10 - 50 locations a "rabbit", one with 51 - 200 a "deer" and "201 - 2000+" an elephant. Someone recently suggested adding a category "bear" in the 200 - 500 category, but I think they forgot WE'RE THE BEAR! Ha ha! Or at least, the lion. Anyway, I feel rabbits, deer, and elephants works quite well.
I added "rabbit" and "deer" to elephants to remind me that you need to sell small deals and middle-sized deals in order to eat (i.e. not get fired) between the big deals. Yes, your company will love you and send you to "club" when you bring in elephants, but the rabbits and deer will feed you in between those big deals and make sure you hit quota. Don't overlook rabbits and deer - all prospects are critical to your success. The customer reference you use from the rabbits will help close the deer, and the references from deer help close elephants. In other words, experience matters. Elephants, as we know, help close everything! But, it is good to know we can address each prospect's needs on their level.
I remember in the movie SWINGERS when Vince Vaughn describes hitting on a girl much like being a bear with claws and fangs, and the girl is like a little rabbit, all soft and cuddly. I had so much fun thinking of rabbits that it made selling to rabbits more fun for me, rather than thinking "this prospect is too small and a waste of my time," I now think "This prospect is important to close on quickly" because that is how a lion or a bear would approach a rabbit - as a small meal. But a meal is a meal, right? You don't always see bears eating deer. Sometimes they eat rabbits, or other small animals, to stay alive.
"That's a nice DEER."
In one of my companies, we will even talk about a prospect and say "Yeah, that's a nice deer." By categorizing prospects in such a way it does several things:
1. You think like a hunter, not like a farmer. Ever notice the salesperson who builds relationships with everyone but hardly ever closes anything? I'd call that salesperson a "farmer" more than a "hunter" salesperson, wouldn't you?
The smart manager pairs that farmer with a hunter to make both more productive. I like using rabbits, deer, and elephants as a reminder that I'm hunting, not farming. Otherwise, I'd have used strawberries, cabbage, and watermelons or something.
2. It helps keep track of the size of deal. For some reason, managers like to quantify deals in their reports. When you have them on your page with "two deers" they have fun adding up the money to know how much you're bringing in for the month. They'll also leave you alone when you throw the meat in their cage every so often as that's what feeds THEM, too.
3. It keeps selling fun. Let's face it, making sales calls is a bit of a grind. Not only that, but we face plenty of rejection in selling. We might bat 2 for 20 at some efforts (a 10% success ratio) and that means hearing the word "no" or the words "yes, but not now" far more often than we'd like. Yes, we'd love to hear "yes" all the time. But by keeping sales fun, we make selling a bit more of a game, and that keeps it exciting. Oddly, it also increases the likelihood of a "yes" because people like to buy from people who are enjoying their job and having fun. Don't you?
4. Using rabbits, deer, and elephants also helps categorize sales prospects so that you can vary your pitch. For example, at my current company, an elephant will buy for different reasons for a rabbit. So, use the animals to help determine marketing strategies, too.
Now, back to elephants. If you're going to hunt elephants, you'd better bring a big gun. Or a bunch of people. That's my approach to hunting elephants - gang-hunting! In the corporate world, they like to call that "team-selling" but whatever. When I hunt, I hunt with one or two other sleek, well-ripped lions who know how to get the kill, just like me. So, enlist key people in your company to help you sell the elephant and bring it in. Both deer and elephants may require a team effort (sometimes, even rabbits need to be "herded" towards the trap) so make sure you use your pride (team) to help you sell!
By the way, make sure the other people you hunt with also know how to hunt, or you might look silly when the elephant gets away. After all, you never see two or three lions hunting an elephant with the help of a gazelle, right? Life isn't exactly like the movie, Lion King, after all.
Try using a technique like "rabbits, deer, and elephants" in your own selling to help you sell more of your products and services. You'll have more fun selling, and find yourself thinking about prospects like a hunter, not a farmer. The way I see it: if you're going to hunt you might as well have fun doing it.
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Copyright © 1999-2009 by ARRiiVE Business Solutions. All Rights Reserved. SUBSCRIBE. Images from Wikipedia. Swingers video from YouTube is most likely copyright Miramax and not used with intention to violate that copyright, just to make a point here.
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Jan 21, 2009
Is Sales Getting Harder?
I just got off the phone with a former sales associate. He made a statement that, at first, I took at face value. However, this comment is eating at me: "Sales is getting harder all the time."
Is selling getting harder, truly?
Do you agree? Or do you disagree?
After pondering the idea, I've decided that selling is NOT getting harder. Selling in the new millennium is just different. For example, fifty years ago, people used the typewriter to write a sales letter. If they wanted to contact a prospect, they basically used one of several methods: in-person, over the phone, writing a letter, sending a wire, playing golf together, conventions, or over a meal.
Today, we have more tools: online social networks (LinkedIn, ecademy, Plaxo, Facebook, etc.), email, the telephone, voicemail, in-person, writing a letter, sending a FedEx, conventions, golf, or over a meal.
Our tools to contact and track prospects may have improved, but there are more people selling to our prospects every day. So, in my mind, the tools equalize with the quantity of people selling to the prospect: zero-sum-gain there.
In order to sell, we've always had to be intelligent. We've always had to listen to the prospect, ask smart questions about their business, do our homework and research on the prospect's company, and provide solid solutions. Price is always a variable issue that is relative, as well.
So, considering all things, I don't think selling is harder than ever before. It isn't easier, either (exception: people who can automate their entire sales process when they are selling an online product).
The selling profession is still challenging and a dynamic way to earn a living. I believe the opportunity always exists for the salesperson who is innovative, works hard enough, and targets prospects that maximize their time. I've always been great at following-up, and I'm tenacious. But when I add innovative techniques, and when I target prospects that produce big wins, I always win big. Can you relate?
If certain prospects aren't buying, switch to prospects who CAN buy right now. It's like moving your boat when fishing to find a better hole to fish in. Right?
My advice is to avoid the naysayers who say "we can't sell in this economy" and instead put your ears back and go do what you've always done best, only better. The odds are you'll have a banner year.
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Copyright © 1999-2009 by ARRiiVE Business Solutions. All Rights Reserved. SUBSCRIBE.
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Oct 22, 2008
Fear of Loss - Innovations In Business Show
"Fear of Loss: The Savvy Entrepreneur, Part IV" on ARRiiVE: Innovations In Business Show
When: October 22, 2008 at 2:00 PM PST / 5:00 PM EST
Topic: "Fear of Loss: One of the Two Most Important Sales Motivators"
Host: Scott Andrews, CEO of ARRiiVE Business Solutions
Call In: Call in at (724)444-7444 and enter 37798 # 1 # Text chat online: http://www.talkshoe.com/tc/37798 to text questions or listen online.
Listen to the show live here now:
Details:
Visit http://www.talkshoe.com/tc/37798 To hear Scott Andrews, CEO of ARRiiVE Business solutions, discuss ways to use "fear of loss" increase your sales and grow more business today at 2PM PST / 5PM EST.
Some of the top companies in business use fear to sell their products. Why? Because people buy when they are afraid of losing something. The Insurance industry is known for using fear. Automobile tire companies, computer companies, and more. How can you use fear of loss as a motivator for your product or service? Dian in to learn ways you can dramatically improve your sales results, starting right now!
Don't miss this fun and educational call with Scott.
Scott Andrews' BIO:
Scott Andrews is a business professional with over twenty years' experience in executive management and sales positions with IBM/Lexmark, EMC2, Instantis, DecisionOne, BusinessLand, JWP, Data General, Instantis, Sunterra, Wyndham, and ARRiiVE Business Solutions. Through developing a "summit club" and "million dollar achiever" record of success throughout his career, Scott built a series of programs which empower people to grow their success. Scott is currently focused on helping organizations through marketing strategy, sales training, and business leadership coaching. Through AspireNow.com, Scott's articles help people in over 100 countries. He also has appeared on numerous radio programs, including KEST 1450 AM SF, CA Seeing Beyond Personal Growth Talk Radio, and is host of the ARRiiVE: Innovations In Business internet talk radio show.
Scott's programs include "Concepts of Selling" "Cold To Gold" and "The Keys To Discovering Your Purpose" and many of the articles Scott writes are posted to http://www.arriive.blogspot.com or http://www.aspirenow.blogspot.com. To book Scott to speak on your show or at your event, contact (805) 459-6939.
It's simple and easy to join - call (724) 444 -7444 enter 37798#1# to dial in or visit http://www.talkshoe.com/tc/37798 OR http://www.ARRiiVE.com (see radio show link) to visit online and/or text chat questions to Scott.
Sep 22, 2008
Fear of Loss: The Savvy Entrepreneur Series
The two strongest motivators in selling are the FEAR of LOSS and HOPE for GAIN.
When you're making your sales pitch, how often do you utilize FEAR of LOSS to persuade people to buy your product or service?
While many people claim that "fear of loss" is a negative tactic, it nevertheless is proven effective by many of the most effective salespeople throughout history.
Military Generals use fear to intimidate their opponents. Politicians use fear to throw their opponents "under the bus" and win elections. Business leaders use fear to position their company as the "gorilla" and their competitors as "chimps". Salespeople use fear to undermine the strength of competitors and maximize their own product's benefits to a prospective customer.
I recall a saying in the high tech industry, where it was widely known in the early 1990's that IBM, the large technology service provider, utilized FUD (fear - uncertainty - doubt) tactics to create doubt and undermine credibility of their competition to such a high degree they could charge 30 - 200% more than competitors for essentially the same levels of service. They also won business that otherwise might have gone to a competitor.
Examples of ways you can use FEAR of LOSS to position yourself as the best choice include:
"How can you be sure your current provider will be there when you need them?"
"Who will answer the phone at 3:00 a.m. when the system goes down?"
"What training have they received on the products they recommend?"
Some ways you can demonstrate you meet the fear or concern include:
"You're on our mind: With our "alert-status" 24/7 service and 4 hour response, you can rest assured your system's care is in good hands. Not only that, but our "proactive care" program will make sure you have fewer needs for alerts or downtime in the first place."
"You come first: With our "executive alert" plan you will know you always have top priority with our company."
"Your needs - delivered professionally: our people are trained on the systems you use. As a result, we're able to deliver more knowledge, keep your systems running with the least amount of hassle. This will keep your team focused on your business, and both save and help you make more money doing what you do best."
These are examples of marketing statements within the high tech industry that would position one company above another.
Individual competitive situations can get even more nasty. I once saw my coworkers work hard to win a large mainframe support contract - or so they thought. The agreement was signed by the CIO (Chief Information Officer responsible for technology at the prospective company) earlier in the day. During the "celebration dinner", the CIO received a phone call. When he returned to the table, he bore a troubled look on his face. "Fellows, I'm not sure how to say this, but I've been overruled and we're going with IBM," he said. He then explained that IBM made it clear that they might not be so agreeable to offer the code for their new chip if they weren't responsible for supporting the mainframe service. They cast doubt on whether updates would happen in a timely manner and basically said the customer would be a fool to switch vendors. They delivered this message by calling their "friend" on the board of the prospective customer. That board-member then overruled the CIO. That's how high IBM's relationship went. And that is how powerful the fear-tactic ended up costing a multi-million deal for a sales team that they'd seemingly won just moments earlier. Months of hard work and countless hours went down the drain.
Fear of loss is a strong motivator. Fear, properly applied, will help you win more often. Make sure both your marketing and sales pitch utilize this tactic.
Up next: HOPE for GAIN.
How has fear worked for you or against you in business? Comment below to contribute your experiences.
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Copyright © 1999-2008 by ARRiiVE Business Solutions. All Rights Reserved. SUBSCRIBE.
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Aug 27, 2008
The Power of Referrals on Innovations In Business Show
"The Power of Referrals" on ARRiiVE: Innovations In Business Show
When: August 27, 2008 at 2:00 PM PST / 5:00 PM EST
Topic: "The Power of Referrals"
Host: Scott Andrews, CEO of ARRiiVE Business Solutions
Call In: Call in at (724)444-7444 and enter 37798 # 1 # Text chat online: http://www.talkshoe.com/tc/37798 to text questions or listen online.
Details:
Visit http://www.talkshoe.com/tc/37798 To hear Scott Andrews, CEO of ARRiiVE Business solutions, discuss ways to increase your referrals and grow more business today at 2PM PST / 5PM EST.
Are you seeking ways to grow your business? Word-of-mouth has always been the most powerful way to grow a business. If you're seeking ways to grow your referrals, this is a show you won't want to miss:
In this show you'll receive:
- Better understanding of the power of referrals...increase your selling power.
- A simple and easy methodology to increase referrals... save time and hassle.
- Advanced ideas to improve referrals... start growing more traffic immediately.
Show hosted by Scott Andrews, CEO of ARRiiVE Business Solutions (www.ARRiiVE.com)
It's simple and easy to join - call (724) 444 -7444 enter 37798#1# to dial in or visit http://www.talkshoe.com/tc/37798 OR http://www.ARRiiVE.com (see radio show link) to visit online and/or text chat questions to Scott.
Aug 8, 2008
Sales Training Services - Innovations In Sales Performance
Concepts of SellingSM 
Cold To GoldSM (Webinar, In-Person Mind Spark Sessions)ARRiiVE's ColdToGold teaches how to stop blowing cold calls and start blowing away your quota! Gain straight-talk insights on how to get appointments with C-Level contacts on a routine basis. http://www.coldtogold.com/
Sales Plan (Sales Plans, Strategy)May 29, 2008
The Power Of A Drop - Sales Tip
Sales Tip: When And How To Use A Drop
If you are directly selling a product or service, or even assisting with others selling, you may know about an expression called a "drop". A "drop" is when you offer a potential price, with full intention to drop to a lower price. The psychological reason for the drop is that a client will feel like they are getting a better deal when they pay less money for a service they really, really want.
So, I recommend utilizing a drop when you're selling most of the time.* The way to make sure you have a drop to offer, is to make sure you start your price bid above where you hope to end up. To do this, you must offer more than the client needs, with the intention to reduce the price by eliminating the extra product or service that isn't necessary at this time. That may sound like playing games, but it isn't. People like to negotiate. You're letting them negotiate with you.
I use two different systems to create a drop. One is where I've offered more of the product or service than they need to buy, say 12,000 units, instead of 10,000 or 7,000 units. When they see the price for 12,000 units, and it is too high, they'll ask for a lower price. I'll ask if it is the down payment or the monthly that is the issue. Now the drop becomes a selling tool, too. Because I now have insight into whether or not they'll buy at 10,000 or 7,000. In addition, I learn how I need to structure the final deal, because if it is a down-payment option, I may need to offer a deal with less money down or build a creative solution to help them get in the door.
Another method to drop is to offer additional services that they'd LIKE but don't NEED to buy. I use this type of drop with ARRiiVE frequently. If someone wants help with capturing Top 10 Google position, I'll offer that solution, along with a Blog consultation, and additional service for monthly consultation after the project. Many clients zero-out the blog consultation and some don't sign up for the monthly consultation until AFTER the completion of the Top 10 is successfully implemented. So, this drop is useful.
You can also combine drops. For example, I could combine the blog consult with adding more phrases, then zeroing out phrases and the blog consult to arrive at a more compact solution that fits the budget they're seeking.
Try using a drop in your selling. You'll capture an additional 30% more deals if you master using this closing technique successfully.
*A drop is not recommended when you are responding to an official RFP. In that case, go in with your best price up front and make sure you differentiate ahead of the RFP release to position your solution as best meeting the client's perceived and created needs.
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Copyright © 1999-2008 by ARRiiVE Business Solutions. All Rights Reserved. SUBSCRIBE.
May 15, 2008
Strike While The Fire Is Hot
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Copyright © 1999-2008 by ARRiiVE Business Solutions. All Rights Reserved. SUBSCRIBE.
Apr 30, 2008
Don't Quit When You Fail To Sell
Recently, I went through a sales slump. It happens to the best. This, just after a month when I sold 80% of everything I touched. So, with the ugly month after the great month, I'm still doing fine.
But, I have to share with you, when I was in the middle of that slump it seemed like nothing I could say worked. I lost all kinds of business that I could have won. Then again, many of the prospects I was meeting weren't going to buy, either.
Sometimes, sales is a matter of qualifying up front. Now, if your sales position doesn't allow you to pre-qualify your prospects, and you have to work certain accounts or prospects, then you simply have to take your lumps and stay positive through any down cycle. However, I do have a few ideas that might help you start selling again.
Here are a few tips I have for you to remain positive when you're not closing deals:
1. Keep on plugging. Don't stop showing up for work, don't show up late to appointments, and keep yourself on time and focused.
2. Remain positive. Use a touch-stone to put you in your "magic place" before you begin your sales calls. Pump your fist in the air. Make sure you eat properly, get a good night's sleep, and smile with your mouth AND eyes!
3. Tighten up your pitch. If you're missing on some deals you'd normally close, it is possible you've gotten off of your pitch. I find that usually when I miss deals I ought to have won, it is because I made the mistake of selling BEFORE thoroughly understanding my client's needs. If you make that mistake, you're showing them that you care more about YOU than THEM. And most clients want it the other way around. Show them you care, first. Confirm that you heard them right. THEN propose your solution. Use less time to sell, keep it tight, focused, and on track, and you'll get the next one.
The bottom line is: when you're failing, if you know you're a winner, keep the faith. You WILL turn it around. I know I did. And it is a GREAT feeling!
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Copyright © 1999-2008 by ARRiiVE Business Solutions. All Rights Reserved. SUBSCRIBE.
Apr 6, 2008
It's Simple And Easy
Have you ever read the copy of a marketing program?
You know, not just read it, as a consumer, but turn it around and read it as a marketer?
Your perspective shifts, quickly.
For example, a long time ago I learned two words that sell more of anything. These words apply to selling a house, selling a car, marketing a vacation program, selling an online e-learning course, or almost anything I can think of.
These two words WILL increase your sales conversation rate.
They won't take out the garbage or mow the lawn, but they will help you pay for getting the garbage picked up and the lawn mowed.
What are these two magic sales words?
"It's SIMPLE and EASY."
Examples of using SIMPLE and EASY:
"It's so simple, you'll be shocked at how easy it is to install."
"It's simple and easy to book your vacation."
"It's simple and easy to call into my radio show."
"You'll love how simple and easy it is to use our DVD player."
"The controls are amazingly simple and easy. Just follow these three steps..."
Can you see how it works?
Now, you can use simple and easy even if the program isn't that simple and easy. I don't recommend deceptive marketing, though, so if you feel like your program is complicated, look at it in the simplest form, then make it work that way. Therefore, when you say it is simple and easy to use it, you're telling the truth. It's called responsible marketing.
Try using simple and easy five times every time you are pitching something. "Notice how simple and easy this is to call our support line?" then a while later "Not only that, but it's really simple and easy to sign up for this great way to improve your service," and so on.
Simple and easy will help you sell more.
Try using these key selling words with your marketing and sales approaches.
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Copyright © 1999-2008 by ARRiiVE Business Solutions. All Rights Reserved. SUBSCRIBE.
Mar 12, 2008
Sales Lesson Learned From Radio
Today, I was listening to my local public radio show. While listening, I realized they were off their "regular" programming for a pledge drive. I listened to their requests for money, and realized that these guys are MASTERS of SALES COPY! I'm not kidding. I wouldn't be a bit surprised if their phones were ringing off the hook. Here's the sales lesson I think anyone paying attention could have learned from them:
Sales Lessons Learned From Radio:
Lesson #1: Ask for the business (but don't specify how much).
When you ask for a donation, don't ask for a specific amount. They weren't asking for $500 per person. They were offering suggestions of $50, 20, 5, 500 - whatever people were comfortable with. What they were going for was a NUMBER of DONATIONS. All they wanted was 1,600 donations. I suppose they already ran the math on average contribution, and knew they'd reach their goal if they had more donations than normal. So, rather than end the drive at, say, 1,500 donations, they'll end it at 1,600. Not a bad idea, huh? Ask for the business, just make sure you don't try to direct which plan people buy or how much money they give you. They know what their form or proposal said. They'll make the best choice given their situation if you've led them to buy properly.
Lesson #2: Two Magic Words: CALL NOW (or BUY NOW).
These guys knew how to sell. Rather than say "call us when you're ready", they said these TWO magic words: "CALL NOW." Ah. Nice. See, they knew that if you didn't call now, you may not ever. They were looking for the instant conversion. Why not go for the money? If you're going to go for the money, the best time is almost always to go for it NOW, while the buyer is in front of you!
Lesson #3: Three more magic words: SIMPLE AND EASY.
Then, rather than say, you'll be on hold for 3 minutes, then we're going to ask you for a bunch of information, no, instead, they said these TWO MAGIC WORDS: Call now. they said THREE MORE magic words: It's SIMPLE AND EASY. I just love that phrase. SIMPLE AND EASY is a phrase that simply sells. Nobody wants anything complicated. No matter what you're selling, you always ought to use this phrase: our service is simple and easy.
Lesson #4: Instruct HOW to BUY.
What follows SIMPLE and EASY? Ask for the order. For example: It's SIMPLE and EASY to PLEDGE. Just dial 1-888-555-5555 and make your pledge now. They could just as easily have said "Just click this form. Just put your name here..." etc. Demonstrate that it truly IS simple and easy to buy, and the prospect will likely do it.
Lesson #5: Use FEAR OF LOSS as a motivator.
They threatened the fear of loss. Instead of saying "we know you love this show so please support it", which would sound like a beggar, they said, "If you enjoy Democracy Now, you need to act now to keep this show on the air. Your pledge is what brings this show to you every weekday at this time." See, they threatened the end of the show if the listener didn't pledge. It's a fear tactic. How would you feel to lose your favorite show? Probably pretty bad, right? They probably knew this. Their copy writer also probably knew "fear of loss" is one of the biggest motivators.
Lesson #6: Use HOPE FOR GAIN as the other motivator.
Next, they offered a GIFT. I couldn't have written a better idea in there at this point, myself. Gifts usually represent a "HOPE FOR GAIN" to the prospect. For example, a sweepstakes, grand prize, special discount if they call now, etc.; these are all hope for gain tactics. Frankly, if you want to win customers, offer a gift. After all, you can't just go around threatening the fear of loss without giving a chance to win MORE back by doing what you suggest. Thus, offer the HOPE FOR GAIN in the form of a gift. People will almost always sign up for a gift. Here's how they positioned it: "If keeping Democracy Now on their air isn't enough for you, then pledge over certain thresholds and we'll include a gift as a way to thank you for doing the right thing with your pledge. At $50, we'll include a boxed set of CDs.. at $150, we'll include the wine package from ABC Winery (can't remember the winery name), and at $500, we'll include tickets to the Symphony, the wine package, and the CD's - all for simply supporting a show you want to listen to and pledging like you'd probably do anyway, and best continuing to enjoy Democracy Now."
Lesson #7: They EXPRESSED GRATITUDE.
They THANKED THE LISTENER. How many times do we forget to thank the buyer? Make sure you don't make that mistake. I tend to send thank you's to every person who buys a product or service from me. I just think it's good form. George H. W. Bush sent "thank you" notes all through his career. Sometimes, he sent as many as 500 "thank you" letters a month. Do you think it helped him succeed? Whether you agree with his politics or not, you can't fault his sales follow-up strategy of saying "thank you". My Dad still has a letter from his son on his refridgerator. Clearly, it worked for Dad, who bragged that he got a "letter from the President" later that week. Expressing an attitude of gratitude is likely to help our sales "lift-off" to higher success.
Lesson #8: Follow-up the VERBAL with WRITTEN and gain UPSELL opportunity.
While we're at it, you ought to say thank you often - when you're in front of the client, and after the fact, through email and the mail. If you're not grateful for their business, your competition might be. But say you're grateful through a written letter. Of the first three jobs offered to me after college, every single one of them said they hired me in part "because you were the best who followed up with me with your letters and phone calls." Yes, say "Thank You" and follow-up your sale. Do it often, too. So, follow-up the VERBAL thank you with a WRITTEN thank you which might also set-up a future referral or additional sell. The best time to sell someone something is when they just bought, so they could also offer me a letter in the mail thanking me for purchasing, and offering a bonus gift if I included three referrals of friends who might pledge, or something else like that.
So, that's the lesson learned from the radio station. It gave me a reminder of what to say in some copy I'm working on right now. In addition, it reminded me to send a "thank you" letter to one of my recent clients. If you're stuck selling, try paying attention next time you hear people asking for money or selling something. After all, you just might learn something new that you can use in your bag of sales tricks.
Happy selling.
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Copyright © 1999-2008 by Scott Andrews, CEO of ARRiiVE Business Solutions. All Rights Reserved.
Feb 1, 2008
What People May Do When They Feel Good
What happens when people get emotional? Well, all kinds of crazy stuff!
Check out this fun video for a whacky example of emotion at work:
Get emotional in the right way, and your success will grow, grow, grow (even better than babies everywhere)!
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Copyright © 2007-2008 by ARRiiVE Business Solutions. All Rights Reserved. Want More? SUBSCRIBE.
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Why Do You Buy?
I was in a meeting a while ago. As I recall, Amy, a very skilled sales manager asked the very intelligent question:
"Why do you buy?"
Someone asked, "What do you mean?"
Again, Amy asked, "I'll clarify. Instead of thinking about why OTHER people buy your stuff, why do YOU buy stuff other people sell?"
"Hmm. Good question," I thought.
A salesperson volunteered, "I like to buy things on sale. If something is on sale, I'm much more compelled to buy."
My gut told me that saving money wasn't the key reason. "Okay. That's one reason," Amy said as she smirked a bit, "But a sale is just a "saving money" thing. That can't be the only reason we buy, as there's a lot of stuff on sales racks we walk right by every day. So, what's the real reason people buy from you?"
I could tell by Amy's expression that my gut was right. I thought about it for a moment. Then, it struck me. I buy because I'm PASSIONATE about something. Period. If I don't love it, I don't buy it. So, I stuck my hand in the air:
"I buy because I'm PASSIONATE about something."
"EXACTLY," Amy, the group leader's eyes sparked up, "People buy because they're passionate, and they buy from you whenever YOU'RE passionate about what you're selling. So, get passionate about why they buy, the emotional benefits from what we offer, and help them passionately discover how they can benefit from that choice. I went out and wrote two deals that day with this thought in mind. Passion is more fun, too. If you sell from passion, and you sell to passion, guess what? You are changing people's lives for the better. And, that is a good reason to sell anything.
Tami, someone dear to me, recently upgraded to a new set of Cutco knives. This purchase was the result of a guy making a home sales call. She called me and told me: "I'm upgrading my knives today!"
"Really?" I replied. "What kind of knives?" I asked this, knowing how much she likes to cook (and she can cook well, I'll attest).
"Cutco!" Her passion clearly hung in the air when speaking of these knives... "I'm excited - I can add several knives that do things my current set doesn't, and round out my steak knives, too as a bonus," Tami explained. "Not only that, but I got them at a discount. It's going to make cooking even more fun!"
"How much did it cost to upgrade?" I asked. The thought of the Kirby salesman convincing my Mom to buy that clunky vacuum with 15 attachments when I was 8 years old flashed through my mind...
"Five hundred dollars," she replied sheepishly, "but don't tell anyone - I don't want them to know what I paid for these."
Is that passion, or what? You'll buy something really expensive because of the quality and the functionality, but moreso because you can enjoy something passionately because of the increased functionality. At least, Tami did. That's passion at work in the sales process. I can guarantee you that if I asked Tami again, a week after the delivery of the new knives, why she loves her new knives, she'll have reasons, but they'll all relate to her passion for cooking. The salesman did his job, and sold to the passion, then justified the purchase with logic of "on sale" and "bonus knives to complete the set."
Bingo! That's why you buy, too. I'd put money on it. People buy from emotion, and justify with logic. Trigger something they're passionate about, then throw a little logic behind it (statistics, a discount, a bonus, etc.) and Ka-CHING! You've got a sale. But you get the sale because you lead with EMOTIONAL BENEFITS. It works, truly, it really works.
So, rather than think of all the stuff that you often lead with, such as your company statistics, or how may years this and that, or features of your product, why don't you try to find the PAIN or the NEED in something your prospect PASSIONATELY DESIRES and see if that doesn't help you discover the TRUE reason why your prospects buy from you. How do they benefit, emotionally, from owning and using your product or solution? Dig for that, and sell to that. You can then justify it with logic as you go through your product and company demonstration, but if you can't find the emotional reasons they're buying you're missing sales opportunities. So, start with the passion.
Then, from now on, sell to that need. You'll probably see your sales numbers go through the roof, as mine does whenever I use this technique.
I just used it yesterday and today I'm working on two new sale opportunities. Passion sells better than anything else I know.
And, if you'd like to get more tips like this, but in a structured format, I can customize training for your group. I'm passionate about sharing ways to help you grow your business, because I love seeing people jacked-up about success.
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Copyright © 2007-2008 by ARRiiVE Business Solutions. All Rights Reserved. Want More? SUBSCRIBE.
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Jan 18, 2008
4 Ways To Close More Sales
Whenever someone is struggling in sales, managers often try to solve their problem by analyzing every situation and cramming more and more ways to deal with objections, close, problem-solution, needs analysis, prospecting, and on and on and on.
Is this what you do with your salespeople?
If you're a salesperson who is struggling to hit numbers, I'm sure the last thing you want is for your manager to over-analyze your selling process. Am I right?
Many salespeople will moan about the problems with customers, but not realize that the keys to closing more sales actually lie in one place: their own self. That's right, most sales are lost because of poor attitude or lack of belief than any other reason. What are the other reasons why sales are lost? Read on and I'll share more...
Now, if you'd like to learn how to quickly close more sales, without huge investments in time in training, prospecting, creating proposals, or meeting with clients, you might find it interesting to know that you CAN close anywhere from 10% - 500% more business than you are closing right now simply by changing a few steps in your selling process and adjusting your outlook.
4 Ways to Close More Sales:
1. Poor attitude - reversing bad attitudes creates an attitude of a winner.
2. Resolve the "It's Too Good To Be True" syndrome with little negatives.
3. The power of a story is critical to success. The best story is always from a customer who has experienced a similar situation or need where your solution solved their problem.
4. Understanding your prospect's emotional triggers for buying and getting their problem defined correctly.
1. Attitude. The first way to close more sales is to improve your attitude. If you BELIEVE everyone will buy from you, and I mean TRULY believe everyone will buy from you, you will act in a way that condones buying behavior. You will attract people buying from you because it is what you expect. You don't get wigged when they don't but they usually do buy because of your attitude.
Improving your attitude is the single best way to improve your sales. Tape record your conversation with a co-worker or manager. Ask them to question you about why you get deals and why you miss deals. Then listen to your voice, the words you use, and try to see how many times what you say is either (a) an excuse, or (b) a negative.
Here's the way you improve and counteract this problem:
For each excuse you make, write it on a sheet of paper. Do the same with every negative.
Now, for each negative or excuse, write the opposite or a way that is positive that enables you to deal with the situation or concern. Once you complete this process, you will likely realize that pretty much all excuses and negative thoughts are only self-defeating and do nothing to help you sell more. Therefore: eliminate those thoughts and replace them with the empowered belief system of a winner: someone who owns their process and owns their success!
2. Resolve the "It's Too Good To Be True" syndrome with little negatives.
Have you ever walked out of a sales presentation, auto lot, or salesperson who told you everything the product or solution could do, in intimate detail, with so much polish that you exclaimed "I think he's full of b.s.! It's just too good to be true"?
I have. And, guess what. So have many of your customers. If you leave your customers thinking your product is so great that no other product compares, they might tell you "no" simply because they don't believe anything could be that perfect.
So, rather than let this happen, sprinkle a few "little negatives" or "baby negatives" into your presentation. Baby negatives is a term I learned in the timeshare industry. They use baby negatives to demonstrate that their product can't meet ALL needs. For example, they might say "well, if you're trying to book Las Vegas for New Year's Eve on December 31st, good luck!" But, our owners are knowledgeable and know that they can book this time, or many other times, with proper planning. See, in this example, I told you a way that the product wouldn't work in a very small, narrow case that most likely will not kill the deal. Then, I gave it back to you and let you know you could do pretty much anything else. Now, if I'd just said "you can book any time you want" you'd have thought: "AH! Too good to be true." And, frankly, you'd be right.
So, use a baby negative. Look for ways to throw a slight negative into your presentation, proposal, or pitch, and see if your sales closing percentage doesn't go up.
3. The power of the story is the most powerful way to convince someone to buy anything. Think about the best salespeople you ever knew. Did they really have "the gift of gab" or did they just know how to tell a good story? My guess is the best salespeople are great storytellers. So, if you're struggling with sales or struggling to close a high percentage of sales, take the load off of your back and put it on the other people who've bought from you.
That's right: put the load of your success on your customers. Now, this can be taken two different ways. First, you might consider asking your customers for referrals, as a warm lead is always better than a cold lead, right? This is probably the most powerful way you can increase your cold-calling success, if you make outbound sales calls. Use the story of the referral, drop the name, share a solution and how you helped someone in a similar situation.
Second, you might consider the stories that customers have told you about how they used or benefited from your product or service solution.
It is especially this last method of the power of the story where you can almost remove yourself from the picture and still sell more. Try it: next time you're pitching your product or service, drop two or three names of people in similar situations. Tell the customers story, in as few words as needed to convey the full meaning of the solution, and then hook it back to the client or prospect's need. When you utilize this technique, I can guarantee you that your sales closing WILL go up.
4. Get the third level (emotional benefit) question/response and properly define the problem.
Digging deep enough to understand your prospect's emotional triggers will help you close a much higher percentage of sales. What does this mean, to most salespeople? Actually, nothing. Most salespeople do not understand what I mean when I say to dig deeper. So, I will elaborate.
Say, for example, that you are selling signs. The first set of questions you might ask a prospect is: "What type of sign do you need?" "How large?" "What color?" and so on.
Those types of questions will illicit simple, closed-end responses. That's fine, but the smart salesperson quickly moved into deeper probing questions, such as "why do you need a sign that big?" "What is important about those colors?" and so on.
Do you notice that this second set of questions is more open-ended, and allows both fact and feeling to be conveyed by the prospect? I would continue this line of questioning with something like:
"How come that is important to you?"
"Please tell me more... (about) Why does this matter?"
"Who else does this impact?"
You'll get a deeper-level answer related to the solution. Then you need to go 3rd level deep and go for their feeling about the solution they're asking from you. There are several ways to do this:
1. Ask it directly, starting with negative questions. "What problems are you having now?" "How does that FEEL?" "How does this matter to them?" "What do you think they'd tell me, in terms of how it makes them feel?" and so on.
2. Ask it directly, but have them tell you the positives they want: "If you had the ideal solution that could deliver the solution you're looking for, what would it be like?" "How would that feel to you?"
3. Ask them what emotional benefits they will derive from the solution they are describing to you.
Then, tailor your solution to match the needs they just gave you. When you're presenting the solution, make sure you mention this and tie it back to the deepest level emotional need and benefit they will receive.
When you take these additional steps in questioning and presenting you will find that your closing percentage will increase dramatically.
This is the first of two parts on this series. I'll write more tips on closing next week, so SUBSCRIBE to our feed at the ARRiiVE Blog to keep informed.
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ARRiiVE Business Solutions helps executives improve sales, launch products and services, and build dynamic, cross-functional collaborative teams. For more information, contact info (at)ARRiiVE (dot) com or call us at 1 (805) 459-6939.
Copyright © 2008 by Scott Andrews, CEO of ARRiiVE Business Solutions. All Rights Reserved.
Jan 7, 2008
Made Not Born Part I: Sales Masters
Made, Not Born is a series based upon top qualities, techniques, and abilities of the very best professionals in many industries.
PART I: Traits of Sales Masters. Part I of Made, Not Born is focusing on the traits of the super-successful salesperson. What sets the best apart from the rest? Learn more in this article!
I recently read a business headhunter's list of top qualities of an all-star salesperson:
Work Attitude
Integrity
Adaptability
Influence
Interpersonal Relationship
Social Interactions
Positive Self-Esteem
Confidence
Persistence
Organization Skills
Prioritization of Goals
I like each of these, and believe each of these traits will help a salesperson succeed. However, when I interview salespeople and probe my memory for the best salespeople of all-time, my list includes other traits and talents that you might otherwise not consider:
ARRiiVE's Top Sales Masters of All-Time List of Traits and Skills:
1. A master of selling process: able to create a system of selling that builds rapport with clients and prospects very quickly.
2. A master of knowing the buyer's hot-buttons: adept at thinking like a buyer. Researches buyer's industry until they are a master of current issues facing typical buyers in each vertical industry.
3. A master of asking the right questions: the best selling gurus ask intelligent questions about prospects needs. They will quickly move from early fact types of questions into questions that probe deeper into implications of cost, pain, emotional value, and implication.
4. A master at directing the buying process to successful solution. The most masterful salesperson focused on expanding the need, then asking if-then questions to lead to yes. Able to expand the need by probing deeper. This is the quality of the ability to LISTEN and then take that information and expand even deeper. They are able to ask questions throughout the selling process that gains commitment to the salesperson's products and services and that results in each RFP (request for proposal) being driven to favor the salesperson's company.
5. A master at relating the company solution from their company to the customer's perceived emotional needs and logical needs. The best salespeople sell to the emotion, and support their emotional argument by providing irrefutable facts backing up their claims.
6. A master of disguise. The best salespeople are not always obvious to the customer. Many of them have already figured out the client before the client even knows they're being sold to and as a result the salesperson's sales results are considerably higher.
7. A master of proposing the company's products and services, yet able to come across genuine and down-to-earth. The best salespeople are not arrogant. They usually are extremely approachable and very good at presenting the company in the best light. They are quick on their feet, and always able to take a negative and quickly spin it back to make the company look better.
8. A master of describing solutions in terms of benefits and other user's or customer's experiences. The best salespeople are talking about third party and first party references throughout their entire sales process. Nothing is more powerful than a reference from someone the client trusts. The best salespeople know this and use it to their advantage.
9. A master at getting a yes while staying within the buying curve. The best salespeople know their is a buying window. When the buyer goes past the time curve on that window, they may lose the sale. Each industry's window may be different, but the best salespeople stay inside the window and deliver the deal in the most efficient manner possible.
Want to learn more? Sign up for Cold To Gold: Advanced Prospecting Methods To Overcome Fear, Get In The Door, and Build Long-Lasting Successful Relationships - a modern selling program with slides, screen prints, telephone courses, audio downloads, e-book, and bonus downloads and links. The author of this program has a long history of building successful sales relationships and blowing away quotas. Learn more from a master you can trust at Cold To Gold.
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Copyright © 2008 by Scott Andrews, CEO of ARRiiVE Business Solutions. All rights reserved. Cold To Gold and ARRiiVE Business Solutions are trademarks of ARRiiVE Business Solutions.
ARRiiVE Business Solutions helps executives improve sales, launch products and services, and build dynamic, cross-functional collaborative teams. For more information, contact info (at)ARRiiVE (dot) com or call us at 1 (805) 459-6939.
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Dec 21, 2007
Sales Territory Plan
You would be shocked at the number of salespeople who I've met who do not write a territory plan unless their manager first asked them. Yet, how many salespeople would raise their hand in confirmation when asked, "are salespeople, in a sense, in business for themselves?"
I'm not sure what the problem is; whether laziness, lack of focus, or other reason for poor planning, but without a plan, you plan to fail.
My first boss out of college used to tell me "Plan your work, and work your plan." It was great advice. Our branch went from being a dog at $300K a month to over $1M within one year of implementing his management methods. And one of those methods recommended each salesperson having a plan for their territory.
It is a technique I recommend in Cold to Gold Mind Spark Sessions TM, too.
This article will outline the crucial elements of your territory plan. What you put in it is up to you. If you like, you are granted permission to copy this article and use it as an outline for your own personal territory plan. Otherwise, my firm, http://www.arriive.com/, is available to help you craft your own sales plan.
The elements of a successful territory plan are as follows:
1. Cover Page (make it look like you care, if you're going to show it to someone else)
2. Executive Summary (this is just good protocol)
What are the highlights of the plan? Write this last.
3. Mission
What is my mission? This should be no longer than a paragraph, and succinctly state my primary focus.
"Achieve Quota, be significant contributor in company, enable path to promotion to occur."
4. Objectives
What are my primary objectives? List 3 - 7 items I must accomplish to realize my mission. For example:
"Overachieve Quota each month. Sign 5 new accounts by May 1. Develop vertical market strategy by June
1."
a. Set SMART objectives: specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, time-activated.
b. Keys to Success - Identify key items over course of year which will enable attainment of objectives to occur most easily. For example:
"Identify key value proposition, articulate through email, phone, and in-person."
"Solid utilization of company resources, including upper management and technical team."
5. Territory Summary
Provide overview of territory targeting:
a. Current partnerships;
b. Current customers and reference accounts;
c. Geographical description of territory - where are accounts clustered;
d. Top accounts - listed by vertical market;
e. Current Competitive landscape, by product/service offering.
This is important. Many salespeople overlook their competition.
6. Sales Strategy
a. Define Customer Buying Criteria, by product/service/solution;
b. Define My Company's solutions, by product/service/solution;
c. Define Account list by geography, vertical market, solution category (service offering);
d. Define which solutions I want to target to which group of prospects/accounts.
7. Sales Approach
a. Script out how I want to approach each prospect, by solution;
b. Script out how I want to approach each prospect, by phone;
c. Script out how I want to approach each prospect, by email;
d. Script out questions for first meeting which must be asked in order to determine needs;
e. Structure how I want to spend my day/week/month -- this should take into consideration my own peak moments.
Example of a Definitive Action plan -- Immediate objectives
Action Plan Target Date Completed?
Write Business Plan January 1
Define Account List January 1
Define Top Prospects January 1
Send Intro Email January 10
Meet Top 10 January 20
Now I have a plan. You can too. Just use this format!
Last thing to remember: Work the plan!! Follow-up, change things that don't work, add new ideas to the plan each quarter. This is my personal format I use - hope it works for you. If not, try your own plan. The key is to know who you want to work with, what you're doing, when you want to do it by, how you want to go about it, where you want it to occur, and why this matters (who, what, where, when, why).
If you're seeking help growing your sales, ARRiiVE Business Solutions offers training on sales process and topics like "Cold to Gold: How to Overcome the Fear of Cold Calling to Build Lasting Relationships."
Learn more about the business challenges we're helping leaders resolve.
Sign up for your own Cold to Gold workshop here.
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Post by Scott Andrews, CEO of ARRiiVE Business Solutions.
ARRiiVE Business Solutions helps executives improve sales, launch products and services, and build dynamic, cross-functional collaborative teams. For more information, contact info (at)ARRiiVE (dot) com or call us at 1 (805) 459-6939.
Copyright © 2010 by ARRiiVE Business Solutions. All Rights Reserved. You may republish this article only if you publish in WHOLE with the COPYRIGHT and ALL ACTIVE LINKS intact.
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Dec 13, 2007
The #1 Best Sales Copy Of All Time
I've been studying sales copy in order to improve sales at my websites and through sales letters for clients in my sales training programs and sales consulting services.
Have you wondered what it takes to write good copy?
Well, as it turns out, there's a method to the madness. That's right: you don't have to sound like a salesperson to write good copy. In fact, I found the trick to write good copy is much like telling a good story:
Twenty years ago, two business majors graduated from college. They both went to the same school. They both were about the same height, and roughly the same intelligence. Wind the clock forward twenty years later and these two graduates are now working professionals, only one is a Manager at a company; the other, the company President. What's the difference?
We'd all like to know what sets these two people apart. After all, they're both men in their early forties, both are married with two kids, and both of them enjoy playing a round of golf on the weekend.
What's the difference?
Why did one professional rise to Manager, while the other ended up running the joint?
Well, that's where the copy comes into play. You may notice, this copy sets up a story... you're on a journey, you're interested in what could possibly have set these two people in different directions, even though they seemingly had the same aspirations, education, intelligence, and background. There is no reason to think one would end up any better off than the other; yet, that is exactly what happens.
It's the same with good copy: the site with good copy outsells the site with poor copy. I'm helping people write better copy and improve their scripts all the time. And, you'd be shocked how FEW have taken the time to master this important skill of writing powerful copy. I'm not sure it is because they are lazy procrastinators, get blocked, or because they fail to make the effort; more rather, I think it is because they simply don't know how to do it.
How Do I Do It?
Knowing this, I decided to set off on a search for good copy. I've been studying the top copy writers I can find. I even searched out the #1 best sales copy of all time, a letter inviting subscriptions to the Wall Street Journal. This search led me to all types of copy, some amazingly simple and brilliantly crafted, other copy quite funny, and some, well, let's just say it needed a round file. The search for the best copy of all time produced a wide array of information that could be broken down into three steps. In doing so, I determined the following three rules are critical to writing your own copy:
1. Find other copy in your industry, selling a product as similar or exactly the same as what you are selling.
2. Determine which stacks of copy (or sites) are successful (Google PR, Alexa, Subscriptions, Sales Volume, etc.) and which ones suck (again, same criteria).
3. Swipe your copy from those stacks of copy and rewrite with your own story, in your own words, as closely as you can without plagiarizing the original best copy.
There is an art to writing good copy, just as there is an art to writing good content on a website. If you're going to improve your business, it is probably beneficial for you to learn both skills. After all, the person who has the greatest mastery of his or her native tongue rises to the top of their profession, almost without fail. Writing good copy and good content is akin to mastering your tongue.
What sets the best apart from the rest?
If you are in sales or managing an organization, and wondering what sets the best apart from the rest, look no further than copy: in my history of selling and managing, I've found that 98% of success can be found from the person who held the linguistic golden keys to the verbal skills safe of language success: the person who can write great copy.
This is why a script is so important in prospecting, selling process, and closing deals. If you haven't scripted out successful salespeople, and followed them around to see what they're doing to write all that business, then you're either arrogant or a fool. Either way, you're blowing it!
You can do it, too!
Oh, and before I leave, I want to share that I'm including some of my top tips in writing good copy for prospecting in my newest program, "Cold To Gold: Modern Methods to Overcome Fear, Get In and Build Long-lasting Successful Business Relationships" I'm offering these tips, along with valuable techniques to (a) get more phone calls returned, (b) get more emails opened and clicked-through, and (c) get more appointments. These are based upon real selling situations I've faced throughout my career.
I'm probably crazy to share this mountain of information used to close deal after deal in my own past selling successes, but I figure why not help others succeed the way I did? How many successful salespeople stopped to tell you their secrets of how they got the critical appointments that won them millions in business? I've had a few who blessed me along the path of my own journey, and feel the need to pay it forward to help you, too. I'm also sharing how to get more sales in less time. Because, if you ask me, if you begin the right way, you're more likely to end the right way: with the customer shaking your hand, thrilled to be doing business with you. And, when that happens, it takes less time, fewer calls, and less sweat to succeed.
I know I can't guarantee the success that you might have, as you might only apply part of what I teach, or you might augment it with other things you've learned. But I can promise you that you will like what you've learned, you will find it both entertaining and informative, and you will find my sincere desire to continually add to the program subscription. My personal guarantee is if you don't find the information in the program sufficient to contribute to your success, simply cancel the subscription and I will refund to you 100% of the money you've paid me: no questions asked (although feedback IS appreciated).
So, before I change my mind and start offering this program for the $2,500 minimum I charge for in-person training, you might want to give it a visit and see how this program might benefit you. I'm grateful for your visit.
One last thing: I found the copy from that ad that beat the #1 ad of all time at this site:
http://www.maldecker.com/images/wsj_letter.pdf. Check it out and see if it doesn't compel you to want to act on their letter. If you feel you're not ready to write copy like this, yourself, well, there are always copywriters who can help you out. Thanks for stopping by and come back soon to learn more about ways to boost your success. I'll be writing more on the #1 best sales copy of all time in the future, along with providing more useful suggestions to help you master your success in your own journey.
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Post by Scott Andrews, CEO of ARRiiVE Business Solutions.
ARRiiVE Business Solutions helps executives improve sales, launch products and services, and build dynamic, cross-functional collaborative teams. For more information, contact info (at)ARRiiVE (dot) com or call us at 1 (805) 459-6939. Copyright © 2007 by ARRiiVE Business Solutions. All Rights Reserved. Part of this article is referring an article by Mal Decker, published in the Wall Street Journal. No infringement intended.
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