Marketing has traditionally been broken down to a formulation known as"the 5P's" - the five variables that constitute an organization's marketing strategy. If those are done regularly, well, and for a long period of time, these 5 variables become part of their brand.
Marketing has traditionally been broken down to a formulation known as"the 5P's" - the five variables that constitute an organization's marketing strategy. If those are done regularly, well, and for a long period of time, these 5 variables become part of their brand.
Thus far, so great. But the problem is that nobody can seem to agree on exactly which 5 P's are significant, so the list typically includes: people, merchandise, place, process, cost, promotion, paradigm, perspective, persuasion, enthusiasm, placement, packaging, and functionality.
Wow. Sounds complicated, huh? I'm going to attempt to simplify successful marketing to move in specials near me - five concrete activities - which you can implement immediately. Your challenge: try one or more of these NOW.
Transfer 1: Move Up
Want to try something different? The next time you're talking with a prospect, once the question of price comes up, DOUBLE your usual price and see what happens.
Am I mad?
Maybe, maybe not. Firms that compete on cost drop. Period.
In fact, the very first thing they'll copy is your price. It takes no creativity, no creativity, no invention, no industry leadership, without a vision to lower the price of something. Plus it hurts all parties involved. Lower prices always mean lower profits. Studies have shown that a 1 percent drop in price results in a 8 percent drop in gain.
What occurs when you double your usual cost?
Several things. Prospects perceive:
* An increased level of prestige in owning/using your product/service
* An increased amount of confidence in you - and all your other offerings (the halo effect)
* An increased level of assurance that your product/service actually works
A marketing consultant that I respect once gave me a very precious bit of advice. She said,"Be expensive or... be free." Being one of the most expensive suppliers of an agency is remarkable - people discuss their $200,000 Italian sports car or $21,000 platinum-plated cell phone. Nobody talks about their $19,000 GM sedan.
I have seen some companies double their prices, with fantastic success, and a few independent consultants double [and triple] their fees. In each situation, they got more customers, not fewer. Details on how to do this in Move 3. And perhaps this means you are going to get rid of a few unprofitable clients along the way. In the event you do not lose some unprofitable clients, you won't have space to function the more rewarding ones when they come together. It's professional suicide to continue focusing on working out a industry sector"that can manage" to pay your aged (low) costs. Price will not find customers. VALUE finds customers. And those clients that value your work needs to - and will - pay according to that value.
Free is also a powerful price point. That is another facet to moving upward - you proceed up when you devote VALUE first. For free. Got a great idea for a potential? Great! SEND IT TO THEM. Even better, got a company lead for them? Can you encounter an guide, a profile, or a piece of research that directly affects your own business? Clip it and mail it to the top person with a brief note. This prospect's door is open.
Move 2: Move In
Moving in ways moving closer to the customer. Live in their world, think about their issues, and believe about their clients and prospects. Research. Preparation. Homework. Industry, regional, company, and company news is now at each salesperson's fingertips on the Internet. If you are not intelligently researching your prospect's problems, challenges, and anxieties, how can you possibly come in having a credible solution?
A much better idea is to hit the road. Visit businesses, speak with your contacts from the fields you serve, get some firsthand information about what is happening in their own world - exactly what are their challenges, perspectives, barriers, priorities; exactly what are their fantasies, their own"only-ifs," and their biggest ambitions?
Is that a lot of work? You bet. Do the majority of salespeople set in this type of effort? No way. Which is exactly why YOU should. That brings us Move 3.
Transfer 3: Transfer Ahead
This means putting in the work - yes, the actual, tough work - that makes the distinction between being a peddler and being a spouse.
Want to move ahead? Start by avoiding doing things your prospects dislike.
Here are the top 10 items salespeople do this buyers dislike based on a Purchasing magazine poll. See if you (or your sales staff ) might be guilty of any of the following professional no-no's:
- Failure to keep promises
- Lack of creativity
- Failure to make and maintain appointments
- Lack of awareness of their client's performance ("What do you guys do here?")
- Taking the consumer for granted
- Deficiency of follow-through
- Lack of product knowledge
- Overaggressiveness and failure to hear
... and the Number 1 dislike: Lack of preparation.
You might also proceed by charging more (recall Move 1?) And DEMONSTRATING that the worth of your merchandise ceremony with hard numbers.
In his insightful book, How to Become a Rainmaker, author Jeffrey Fox calls this procedure dollarizing. Dollarizing is one of the most powerful sales techniques because as soon as you reveal (with actual numbers that your potential will provide you with) the return on investment - the way THIS much spent will create THIS much savings, or earnings, or sales, or new customers, or hours, etc. - you essentially shift the dialogue from selling everything you are selling to SELLING MONEY.
The Money Machine moves one step farther since you can use it gratify against:
* competing products/services
* the possibility doing nothing
* the possibility doing this themselves
* additional things the prospect is already comfortable spending money on
Unexpectedly, your product/service becomes an actual"investment": meaning, it is possible to show people the math behind"this much IN" to"this considerably OUT." There is nothing a lot simpler than selling money in a discount!
Here is another way to proceed: stop the ridiculous game of"closing the sale." Final is not a technique; closing isn't a trick; closure isn't about magic phrases and looks and power matches. Closing should be a natural extension of your conversation, and both most effective questions you should ask your prospect as you near the end of your value-based discussion are:
1. Does what we've talked about so much make sense?
2. What would you like me to perform next?
Response to Question 2:"Let us proceed" or"Let's do the paperwork." Or if your prospect answers this with"Get Out" or"Drop Dead," you've got a pretty good idea that the sale is not prepared to close. Seriously, carefully listening to the reply to this question will allow you to address any hidden concerns, hesitations, or issues - right then and there before the prospect would otherwise blurt an abrupt"No!" Remember, you're not there to sell - you are there to HELP THE PROSPECT BUY. If you need to tattoo that on your forehead, be my guest.
Transfer 4: Move Aside
Here is another thing that most sales and marketing individuals have a hard time with: you can not be all things to all people. Move Apart is all about finding your market, and claiming that your expertise in a narrow area of specialty.
The people you speak with is going to have very different reaction to those two mental pictures of your product/service:
*"I believe we could make this match."
*"This is exactly what we've been on the lookout for."
Allow me to give you an example. Now, I really don't know about you, but when I need a secretary, I am looking for someone who does catering 24/7. I really don't want to worry about"didn't wash their hands following the carpet removal job and prior to serving my guests?" Actually, if I am searching for a caterer for a wedding, then I could even be drawn to"Wedding Bells Catering" much more so than"Sam's Catering" or"Good Eats Catering."
Here's another example. You name it, they get it done. And business is generally OK. (But let's face it, if they were going like gangbusters, they likely wouldn't have sought out my aid!) Some of these had a hard time differentiating themselves from the competition and others found it hard to develop a strong client base and referral system. We have had some fantastic success creating their current organization, but when we delve into the options of"Moving Aside" and breaking out a real niche, or creating something which is their flagship specialty, most of my customers get cold feet.
1 business (not my client - too bad for me!) That has done this with amazing outcomes is MaxEffect. They made a tough call. They moved apart. They can clearly do a vast array of things with their graphic design and advertising abilities, but they do ONE THING: they operate exclusively on yellow pages advertisements. That is it. If you want a killer yellow pages advertising with bold graphics, custom or stock photography, clean layout, and a solid, persuasive message, these are your go-to people. They've designed hundreds and hundreds of yellow pages ads and they have assembled a fanatical client base, and they get a steady flow of referrals - and of course the steady and growing flow of client work.
Transfer 5: Move Alone
Right now, you're missing a sea of grey. Me-too rules daily. Everywhere you look, there's increasingly more and more and MORE of the Exact Same OLD THING offered by the SAME OLD PEOPLE in the Exact Same OLD WAY. Boring. And deadly.
The problem is that people do not buy gray. If you and your company and your offerings blend in the background, you might as well close up shop right now. Let me put it a different way: most of businesses go bankrupt. It's just a matter of time. Want proof? Out of the 100 biggest companies of 50 decades back, 17 survive today. And not one of these 17 are the market leaders they was.
Why? Shift happens.
Here's a good example of a business that hasn't been doing a lousy job - but they are not the standouts they was.
On a recent call to American Express, an executive was straightening a billing issue. At the close of the telephone, the operator asked her,"Perhaps you have exceeded your expectations for this particular call?" And the exec flatly answered,"No." She had a billing problem, and the rep fixed it. That is the anticipation.
But if the rep had offered the executive a $50 American Express gift check to be used at any one of American Express' online retail partners, THAT could have surpassed expectations? That story is worth repeating to 10-20 individuals. Can you envision the executive telling anyone,"Hey, I called AmEx to repair my billing mistake. Guess what? They did it!" That is not moving independently.
Here's a Fantastic test to Find out if your marketing and sales approaches are from the category of"moving alone" - they are if you are doing something that:
* is"not done" in your industry
* customers will create a comment about (remarkable!)
* goes against conventional wisdom (I call this"uncommon sense")
* others (including your competitors ) believe is"mad"
* many others (including your competitors ) will be AFRAID to copy
Get silly. Get crazy. Get a mindset. Get noticed.
Author Seth Godin maybe put this most succinctly when he stated,"Safe is insecure. And insecure is secure."
- Proceed = Get more precious
- Proceed In = Get closer
- Move Apart = Get technical
Taken together, these will also assist you to make the Ultimate Move Get great.
And remember the immortal words of Jerry Garcia:
"You don't want to be considered the very best of their best. You want to be regarded as the only ones who do exactly what you do."
David Newman is a professional speaker and marketing expert who works with CEOs and business owners who want to stop throwing money into a marketing black hole and generate MORE leads, BETTER prospects, and BIGGER sales... NOW over!
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