Students Of Success

Whether you create and sell your own products, buy reselling rights or rebrand other people’s products, adding value with bonuses is a well-used tactic in affiliate marketing. Why? Because a good bonus is valid, honest, and truly does add value to any offer. Perhaps most importantly, it makes the customer think that NOT to purchase would be a very unwise decision.

The challenge is that almost every marketer is using bonuses, so customers are wearying of the hype. What you need to do is offer them bonuses that do add genuine value to your product, and off them at the right place and time, and in the right way.

Some examples of good bonuses are:

*your product is an ebook about how to buy a used car, and your bonus is a report on how to check to see if a vehicle has sustained damage.

*your product is software designed to simplify obtaining reciprocal links, and your bonus is a report about how to create search engine optimized website title, description and keywords.

A bonus with genuine value:

*can be put to use immediately and is directly related to your product.

*provides motivation that is a match for the motivation to sign up for the newsletter or buy your product, and serves to add to that motivation, not detract from it.

*can allow you to put a price on a product that others give away for free.

The right placement of a bonus is:

*immediately before your prospect makes the last click to complete a sale. This will eliminate any last minute hesitation and will reinforce what you are asking for your product.

A bonus works well if you will only be selling your product for a limited time:

*If you can tell people that if they order by July 15th 2006 they will get a discount or free bonuses, there will be a sense of urgency compelling the customer to buy now rather than risking missing the bonus.

Here are examples of appropriate free bonuses:

1. Physical Product
If you are selling a physical product, it’s easy to slip in a free sample or free gift. Anything with your logo, url and/or contact info reminds your customer to return to your website. Pens, mousepads, coffee cups, and refrigerator magnets all get used frequently.

2. Special Report
Information in a condensed form that relates to what you’re offering and would be very helpful for the customer makes a great bonus. If your product is information explaining how to do something, your bonus can be a detailed description of some aspect of that. A great bonus to add to Opt In Master Course would be a report outlining how to get the most out of your favorite traffic exchanges or safelists; or, how to write a good email advertisement.

Titles that are exciting and include numbers, such as “10 Killer Steps to Writing Email Ads that Sell”, are proven to be highly successful. An easy way to write your report is to write it in Microsoft Word, format it so it looks professional (using white space, highlights, and bulleted lists, for example), and then use Adobe Acrobat to save it as a PDF file for easy downloading. Be sure to promote your business, website, and relevant affiliate programs in there too - remember it may get passed around. If you would like to make your report available for rebranding, then use pdf995 instead of Adobe Acrobat. Rebranding rights encourage other marketers to pass it around. You can offer your report for free, and sell rebranding rights.

3. Resource List
Compile a list of your personally recommended resources, websites, books, and vendors that will help your list grow their lists and run a successful business. You can set this up as a PDF file as well, or create a password-protected area of your website that your list can access.

4. Checklist
Are there any checklists that would be a good tie-in to what you offer? That help people do what you’re teaching them to do, better or easier? A checklist of a daily traffic exchange surfing schedule, or weekly website promotion activities, would help your list members run their businesses more efficiently. A common question I receive is, do you really use ALL the resources in OMC? Your answer to that could be your checklist of what you use.

5. Collection of Articles
My favorite way to advertise my site and add valuable content is to write articles and post them to article directories and on my website. Your list of article directories, or a collection of your best 10 articles, would make a valuable bonus ebook.

6. Workbook
Since OMC includes marketing principles, strategies and tactics, put together a separate guide to help your list members do assignments, stay on track, and document their progress. A workbook is something people recognize and appreciate because it infers step by step guidance, with measurable results. This would be a step up from a checklist.

7. A Coaching Session With You
A consultation is a great bonus to offer, for several reasons. First, it helps you get to know your list members and their questions will
help you decide on the direction your website should take. Second, it’s a great opportunity to add backend sales to your free products. For example, if they appreciated the coaching you provided, they may be interested in buying an ebook that expands on this info.

Digital or Physical?

If you’re offering printed material as a bonus, don’t go nuts spending a ton of money making it look great. “Good” is okay! A simple printed-on-demand report from Cafe Press fits any budget and is fine. First you sign up for a Basic Shop for free. On the ” My CafePress” page, click on the “products” link under Shop Management. Next, click on the “add products” button at the top of the page. This will direct you to the product list where you can select the products available for you to choose from. The book is the last product in the list. The system will then walk you through each step of creating your book.

What’s most important is the cover — even if you only produce a digital report or audio product, having a graphic of it will help
increase your response and make you look more professional.

Give Your Wallet a Bonus This Month

So get some bonuses together, make note of your sales so far, and then add some bonuses and watch how your sales rise.

Be forewarned: Cafe Press is addictive. You can create your own store, create your own products, and it’s ridiculously fun and easy. You may find yourself spending more time there than you planned. Besides playing around with Cafe Press, Kathryn Beach also is queen of her domain at Affiliate Marketing Tips and would love to share her queendom with you.

No sales force can truly be considered a “best practice” unless it meets the test of measurement. If the ‘practice’ works, you should be able to visualize, define, and measure the results. There is no easier way to prove the ‘measurement’ theory than with sales.

In the past 15 years, strategic management has focused more and more on measurement. Strategic management was revolutionized in the early 1990’s by Drs. Robert Kaplan (Harvard Business School) and David Norton when they created their measurement system, the ‘balanced scorecard’. Other approaches adhere to the same rule of accountability by recognizing some of the weaknesses and vagueness of earlier management approaches.

Measurement provides a clear prescription as to what companies in all areas, from sales to marketing should measure in order to reach their financial goal. You often hear the expression in sales, ‘what gets measured gets done’, but in recent years I have expanded this statement to, ‘what gets measured by the individual, creates accountability and therefore gets done’.

For instance, as a sales manager you may give your sales force a specific sales target, a measurement if you will. At the end of the month or quarter if the sales person did not reach that target, you may question them on it. Chances are you have heard every variable and excuse in the book; ‘Our product or service has no name brand recognition’, ‘Our product was too expensive’, ‘I cannot get anyone to meet with me’. Giving the sales force a ‘target’ or a measurement, still leaves a window of accountability. In fact, what gets measured still may not get done.

Measurement alone is not enough to create accountability. You also need a commitment or buy in from the sales person. Commitment is internally motivated while compliance is external. Compliance is following a rule, commitment is something you believe in. If you empower your sales force to create their own set of measurements, they are going to be more motivated to meet them. Often when measurements or targets are instituted and monitored by someone else, the responsibility can easily be diffused to other external forces.

There are various ways to create accountability and commitment in a sales force. For example, in the weekly sales meeting, you can ask your sales person to quantify each and every prospect and opportunity in his or her sales cycle. If they are given a target of X amount, ask them to determine the number of appointments they will need to reach that goal, take it a step further by asking them to determine the amount of calls needed each day and week to make the specified number of appointments. Once they have created their own set of measurements, ask them to rate each prospect. Which ones have a greater chance of closing? Why?

Accountability and ownership is the first step in establishing legitimate return measures. With systematic assessment and ongoing evaluation, an individual can become more and more committed to reaching his or her own personal goals.

Copyright 2005 Thomas Baskind

When Joe Gandolfo, a life insurance salesman was asked how he had sold over one billion dollars of life insurance in 1975, he said that all it takes is “understanding people.” Although Joe’s response makes selling seem simple, his formula for success is one that can be recommended to you without hesitation, because it will work well for you as it does for insurance agents or for any sales representative for that matter.

In the insurance industry, as you may be aware, members of that profession get excited about someone who sells in excess of one million dollars in life insurance each year. In fact, they have an elite group of sales representatives they call the million dollar round table where individuals are recognized for their outstanding sales performance. To put Joe’s accomplishment into better perspective, it would take an average million dollar round table producer one thousand years to equal Joe Gandolfo’s production figures for 1975 alone.

Joe’s performance is almost unbelievable from any perspective. However, from his sales productivity, we see he is one of an elite group of superstars who have discovered the secrets to sales success. Therefore, when Joe suggests that it is the ability of a sales representative to understand and work with people, rather than technical skills or product knowledge that produce sales, you really should pay attention to what he has to say. Joe’s sales philosophy is simple if you don’t learn and use the techniques that will help you to get to know and understand your prospects, you will never be able to effectively use your product knowledge or skills of persuasion to produce a steady flow of sales.

In out Sales Success Strategies self-directed learning series (http://www.TheSellingEdge.com/manual1.htm), we explore some vital techniques that will help you to set the stage for getting to know people better. The first and most important step in the sales process is to build rapport with the people you serve. This is a vital step because if you fail to build trust, your prospective customers will never reveal enough about themselves to give you the inside track to help them meet their needs through the purchase of your products and/or services.

VIRDEN J. THORNTON is the founder and President of The $elling Edge®, Inc. a firm specializing in sales, customer relations, and management training and development. Clients have included Sears Optical, Eastman Kodak, IBM, Deloitte & Touché, Bank One, Jefferson Pilot, and Wal-Mart to name a few. Virden is the author of Prospecting: The Key To Sales Success and the best selling Building & Closing the Sale, Fifty-Minute series books and Close That Sale, a video/audio tape series published by Crisp Publications, Inc. Menlo Park, California. He has also authored a Self-Directed Learning series of sales, coaching & team development, telemarketing, and personal productivity training guides.

Check out the listed books and manuals at http://www.TheSellingEdge.com/books1.htm Virden teaches for the Center For Professional Development, Texas Tech University at Lubbock, Texas and in the School Of Entrepreneurship, J. Willard And Alice S. Marriott School Of Management at Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah. You can contact Virden at: Virden@TheSellingEdge.com.

In this article, we are focusing on how to overcome objections from prospects and we will be sharing some great ideas on how you can make far more sales to really maximise the new business appointments you go on.

One reason many businesses don’t capitalise on all their opportunities, is when it comes to handling the objections and stalls from sales prospects. You probably know the ones, “let me think about it,” “our budget is spent,” “I need to get some other quotes in.” “get back to me in 3 weeks.” there are many more.

Part of the skill in dealing with objections and stalls is to get to know the prospect’s REAL reason for objecting or stalling, the real reason is usually fairly easy to get to with good listening and a little gentle questioning around the objection stated.

Key ways to get past objections to get the sale are as follows:

1, Before the meeting, consider what objections might be raised and try to include the answers in your presentation, so the prospect will have the answers, leaving less room for real objections

2, Qualify the prospect is the decision maker before the meeting, ask if you need to have other people involved in the decision to attend the meeting.

3, Listen carefully to the objection being raised, ask yourself, does this sound like it’s the real reason, do I need to ask further?

4, Check to see if it is the only objection, or are there other factors preventing a decision?

5, Be properly prepared, know your product, comparisons, prices, testimonials at the ready, so you can bring them out in an instant to get past most types of objection.

6, If a decision cannot be made now, ask: when?, then: Why then? If you know the answer to this, it may be something you can do something about.

7, When you have answered an objection, get the yes, i.e. “so if we can get this delivered three days earlier than we previously stated, will you….Sale!

Most objections are really a request for more information, a need to have a greater confidence in you or your organisation, skilled sales people welcome objections because they are often a buying signal in disguise. Once you have identified the real reason preventing a sale, and blown it away, you will normally go on to be successful.

Phil Ashforth has been involved in sales and marketing for over the last twenty years. Within that time he has held senior positions, assisting both large and small-scale enterprises with their sales and marketing strategy and implementation.

He holds a recognised marketing qualification (CIM) at post-graduate level and is a member of several marketing bodies and attends regular seminars for his commitment to continual professional development.

As a qualified and experienced business growth coach, Philip has been trained by and is part of the Peter Thomson International Plc (PTI) network. PTI is the uk’s largest business growth consultancy. He has also been trained by, and is a member of Europes leading coaching organisation, The Coaching Academy.

Philip uses his extensive business and personal experience to great effect, he offers a coaching style that is simple, intelligent and yet extremely insightful.

See http://www.synergycoaching.co.uk for more information.

Have you ever called someone to schedule an appointment and their immediate response was “I’m not interested”? It’s often a knee-jerk reaction that people have to salespeople, particularly telemarketers. You may have used it yourself when you got that pesky call that interrupted your dinner. But why are people using it with you when you call to schedule an appointment? And what can you do about it?

First and foremost, you have to understand that their reaction to you is nothing personal. The fact is that lots of salespeople have come before you and have done a poor job of selling. Maybe they used manipulative or high-pressure tactics. So now your prospect is more than a little suspect.

To get a different result from your call, you shouldn’t act like a typical salesperson. Your goal should be to engage the individual and get to the truth. You start the process by looking at what you say when the prospect answers the phone. Do you ask for help or do you just bulldoze your way through? Do you use a positioning statement that is clear, articulate and focused on what is important to the prospect? Are you putting pressure on the prospect or are you open to have a real dialogue.

If you have done everything right, you still may get an “I’m not interested” response, but your chances are much greater that you won’t. But if you do, your objective should still be to get to the truth. The only way to get to the truth is to ask the simple question, “Do you mind telling me why?”

If you ask in a nonconfrontational manner, you will often find that the “I’m not interested” is disguising another objection like, “I’m too busy”, “Money’s tight”, or “I figured you were just another pushy salesperson”. By engaging the prospect in an honest and open dialogue, you will discover the truth and increase your odds of moving forward and building a relationship.

Will Turner is the Founder and President of Dancing Elephants Achievement Group, a sales training and consulting company. Will has over 20 years of sales and sales management experience and is the author of over 150 sales-related articles and programs as well as the co-author of the book, Six Secrets of Sales Magnets. Will can be reached at Will@dancingelephants.net.

Don’t Get “Stuck on Stupid!”

Whatever your political bent, or your view of the American media, you’ve got to love the recent comments of Lieutenant General Russell Honore during the Katrina aftermath.

When interrogated by reporters about Katrina-related mistakes and miscues, during the immediate aftermath of Katrina and the pending arrival of Rita, the Lt. General fired back with one of the best “in your face” rebuttals in media history. “You guys are STUCK ON STUPID!”, he said, “…and I’m not going to answer those questions!” Then, as only great leaders can do, he shifted the attention to what could be done NOW… going forward. In one short phrase, he showed the insanity of a backward looking fixation in a time of crisis, and the importance of quickly learning from mistakes and moving on. If only we could instill that kind of thinking into our organizations and personal lives.

We, as a culture, waste a lot of time fixated on the past. This is a tricky topic, because in order to learn, we have to be able to look backwards. I don’t believe the Lt. General meant to suggest we not look backward. Rather, I believe, he intended to show us the art of WHEN and HOW we should look back.

Here are a few of my observations about backward-looking actions, and where that line exists between effective diagnosis and what the good General would call a “stuck-on-stupid” culture:

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1. When (and WHEN NOT TO) look backwards- the theme I believe was most central to the Lt. General’s comments was this: There is a time and a place for a backward looking assessment.

In a football game, assessments occur at various intervals- half-time, end of quarters, during time outs, in the huddle, and sometimes even right before the play during a “check off” at the line of scrimmage. But assessments and questions about fault or blame NEVER occur DURING the play. The few seconds it takes for the play to unfold is about execution only. How stupid it would appear if one of the sports reporters walked onto the field and began questioning the coaches and players in the middle of a particular play. In sports, we see that kind of on-the-field interference as unacceptable, but in other crisis situations (like Katrina), we don’t think twice about the appropriateness of it.

In business it’s even worse. We have management agendas, advisors and consultants, board politics, and a myriad of other factors all screaming their opinion about how the play should unfold. Let’s take a lesson from our sports brethren, and save those assessments for AFTER the play is run. There’s nothing wrong with good assessment. But let’s save them for a time when they’ll have real impact instead of being seen (appropriately) as a distraction.

One more quick analogy on when and how often we should look backwards. Think of the last time you drove a car. How much of the total time would you say you looked in the rear-view mirror. Most driving instructors will tell you that you should look up into the rear-view mirror about once every six seconds. That translates to about 15% …probably not too unreasonable a number to shoot for in the workplace.

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2. Are our comments focused on specific behaviors or root cause? A lot can be observed by the questions we ask during a review of a failed strategy or play.

There is a great story that is told about a man who walks down a street and falls into a deep hole. He does the same thing each morning, with each day producing little or no real insight. The first few days are spent asking “why me?” type questions. The next few days are spent getting out of the hole quicker and more efficiently. The next few days, he walks around the hole. It’s not until the last day that the man decides to take a different route altogether, eliminating his risk of falling into the hole entirely. For many days, we might say this man was “stuck on stupid”. But he finally learned to ask the right questions, and only then was he able to solve his problem.

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3. The “SO WHAT” Test- Early in my career, I had a boss that would frequently add the margin comment “So What?” to his review of various letters and reports written by his staff. It was his way of saying, “OK I hear you… and I get your point, but what is the implication, or conclusion I should draw ?”.

I’ve since applied this principle to much of what I do in business and life, and I believe this was one of the Lt. General’s key messages in his “stuck on stupid” rant. Assessments are great, as long as they lead to new learnings, AND a new way of doing business. Most of the time, if timed right, good assessments will lead to changed strategies or actions. But there are many cases (and you see them everyday) where the main purpose of an assessment is to assign blame or channel criticism. It’s those cases where the assessment is better left alone, at least temporarily. Again, you can always come back to it later after the play is run, or the game at hand is over.

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4. Setting a new bar (measure the future not the past)- One way to get “stuck on stupid” is to keep hammering away at a measure of metric that has failed you more than once. If that’s the case, its time to either change your approach to the problem, change the measure, or both.

On first blush, you might say that changing the measure seems to be taking our eye off the ball, or conforming the metric to fit your situation. But in years of studying performance, I’ve found that repeated failures typically mean that you’re not sending the right signals. That is, often you’re tracking something that is too distant from an individual or team’s accountability area.

Last week, I played in a “scramble” format golf tournament in which each player hits a shot, and the team selects the best of those shots from which to progress. Our team was composed of a long hitter (driver), approach man (for mid range shots), an “up and down” guy (for greenside shots), and a good putter. Each one of us excelled in a particular area. We’ve played these kind of tournaments many times before. But this time, we tried something different. We decided to assign goals for each category of performance, so that for example, the driver was responsible for # of fairways hit, the approach guy was responsible for greens hit in regulation, and so on. The impact on our collective performance was significant and noticeable (I wont tell you our net score but I will say it was a notable improvement), and far better than the occasions in which we focused only on the total score.

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5. Avoid the blame game / Reward (vs. punish) failures- this one is related to, but a bit different from #3 above, in that it deals with how you treat and reward accountable individuals.

In all of our organizations, we have those individuals who try new things, embrace change, and have a real bias toward action. Sometimes, improvisation is necessary, especially if the situation is very dynamic. And it’s in those cases where you need to reward quick decision making based on grounded assessments and learning.

There was an old adage years ago called “Go Ugly Early (and Often)”. Give me someone who learns and implements change quickly, versus someone who gets “stuck” in analysis of past performance. Looking back is good, but you’ve got to reward those who can also look forward and ACT. To me this is the essence of the Lt. General’s comments.

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Let’s face it, there’s something about the word STUPID that gets our attention. We saw it in Clinton’s campaign with the catch phrase “It’s the economy STUPID”. And while we scold our children for calling someone Stupid, none of us wants to be viewed that way. Why do you think we play the blame game so much? It’s all an attempt to not be viewed by our peers as the one who “dropped the ball”.

What we don’t always see, however, is that it is just as (if not more) stupid to “lock in” on failures and analysis of those failures without a corresponding focus on the timing of our assessments, the changes that need to result, and the speed with which we can then move on.

Let’s hand it to Mr. Honore for calling it as he saw it, and getting all of us motivated on what the future holds, rather than getting hung up on our past failures.

Author: Bob Champagne is Chairman and CEO of ePerformance Group International LLC, a privately held company specializing in performance management systems and solutions. Included in ePGI’s product portfolio are a wide variety of performance tracking, reporting, and benchmarking solutions delivered in an online and on-demand environment. ePGI’s services are utilized by over 50 leading edge companies across numerous industries and geographies, and are licensed by many high profile consultants committed to delivering world class PM solutions to their clients. Visit ePGI at http://www.epgintl.com/ or contact us directly at 973-343-2806.

When you’re putting your sales pieces together, you can learn a
lot from lawyers.

Whether it’s a defense attorney or the prosecution, the first
thing a lawyer does is read the jury members.

He does his best to get inside their heads to determine exactly
what will get them to decide in his favor. The best lawyers are
great people readers.

You must learn what people’s hot buttons are just as any good
attorney does. Also like a good lawyer, you must realize your
audience reacts on an emotional level.

When you’re presenting your case you must grab them by their
emotions.

He also appeals to all their senses. So should your sales
letters.

If you’re selling food, your letter should literally make them
water at the mouth.

If you’re selling opportunity offers, the reader should be made
to see all the goodies their new found money will bring.

So how do the legal beagles accomplish this?

They study every bit of the evidence. You should study your
product or service as just as diligently.

Once they’ve gathered all the facts, they’re ready to present
their case.

Your headline should be as well thought out as their opening
words. You should get your customers’ attention as compellingly
as they capture their jury’s.

Once they’ve got a jury’s attention they begin banging out the
evidence. In the same manner you should be banging out your
offers benefits.

Bam … Bam … Bam!

Once they’ve grabbed the jury by their emotions and pounded out
every point to make their case, they give their closing
statement and ask the jury for the verdict they’ve made the case
for.

The same applies to your sales letter.

Grab their emotions, pound out your benefits and build your
case. Then you’re ready to ask them to pull out their wallets
and place their order.

Start presenting your case and the sales will come.

Great! You have managed to secure a meeting with that big potential client you have wanted to meet. You set the time and have your presentation down just right. Finally the big day comes and everything goes well at your meeting. What now? Just sit back and wait for that potential client to call?

Someone that could have made lots of money once said, “The fortune is in the follow up.” So get out there and follow up!!!

The very first thing that you should do will be to send them a thank you letter. Go the extra step and make it more personal by sending the prospective client a greeting card with the thank you letter hand written inside. Here is a sample thank you letter you could send after meeting a prospective client.

************

John,

It was wonderful having the opportunity to meet you and get to know you a little better. I loved getting the chance to hear about your trip to Europe. As I said, it is a place I’d like to go in the near future. It sounds like I could really get some tips from you on where to go while I’m there.

John, I can see how much value you bring to your company and how much you would like to see it succeed. I’d like to thank you for the chance to show you and your company what we can do for you to help you in your goals.

If there are any additional questions I can answer for you, don’t hesitate to call.

I’m looking forward to the opportunity to work with you on this project.

Jane Doe

************

As you can see, a thank you letter after a meeting with a prospective client does not need to be fancy but it should be personal where appropriate. Make an effort to build that relationship past just business so that the prospective client can see you really care about their interests.

Sometimes however, a more formal relationship is required. Here is a sample thank you letter after meeting with a prospective client that may be a bit more formal.

************

Mr. Doe,

It was wonderful meeting you today and learning more about ACME, Inc. I would like to thank you for giving WIDGETS Corp the opportunity to earn your business. I can see that this project is important to your company and I want to assure you that WIDGETS Corp will do everything that we can to provide you with the best possible service.

If you have any remaining questions that we can answer, please feel free to contact me.

Jane Doe

************

Whether your communication is formal or informal, a thank you letter receives more response when sent in the form of a greeting card. It has more impact and is more memorable, both keys to a good presentation.

After sending the thank you letter, don’t forget to follow up in a few days to a week with a phone call. Often times, prospective clients get busy and need that nudge to get going on a project. If your competitor calls before you do, who is more likely to get the business?

Nicole Bandes has been self employed for over 7 years. She finds using greeting cards has boosted her business by building relationships. Learn more about how you can make loyal customers using greeting cards at http://www.clicktosendcards.com

Want to hear something that will really blow you away?

When I heard this tale I literally jumped in the air and
shouted, “YES!” because I had discovered the reason why so many
people are DOOMED to failure… before they even start!

Hopefully after you’ve heard this short story, it will have the
same impact on you. In the next 500 or so words, you’ll discover
why 95% of people fail in Internet Marketing and why YOU MUST
follow this simple principle to succeed. Ready?

Ok, so let’s begin….

Allow me to introduce you to Terry, a window sales man from
England. If I take you back about 20 years, you’d know Terry as
a complete newbie… a not-long-since teenager who was wet
behind the ears in just about everything that he attempted.

The kind of person who couldn’t sell false teeth to his own
Granny, let alone compete with the other sales men in the
industry. You know, the kind who could sell snow to Eskimos.

So to add a twist to the scenario, Terry’s boss decides to send
him out on a practical field trip on his first day. He throws
him right in at the deep end by asking him to visit an
interested prospect at the posh end of town… where the big
money is in Windows/Double-glazing sales. So off he goes..

He’s as nervous as hell. With his hands shaking and his knees
nobbling, he approaches the front door and thuds the door
knocker several times. An oldish woman approaches and after his
first shaking introduction, she invites him in.

He stays there for over 3 hours…. after dozens of cups of tea
and mounds of biscuits, the woman signs a contract and purchases
over £7000 worth of windows (that’s over $11,000!)

And Here’s The REAL Kicker….

The woman had already spoken with 6 other dynamite glazing
salesmen that week… and ALL of them offered a cheaper quote!
That’s right - Terry’s price was the MOST expensive. He was also
the most inexperienced sales man there ever was.

So what happened in the background, and moreover, how can you
replicate these powerful sales abilities to step up a notch on
your own profit ladder? Here comes the secret….

The woman said, “She liked the young lad more than the others”.

That’s ALL there been to it. She didn’t care about the extra
expense. Even the other slick salesmen couldn’t persuade her to
pay LESS than this young chap was asking for.

The truth is, this lad’s first impression shone brighter than
any of the sales talk the others subjected the old woman to.
First impressions count, and this young lad’s courtesy attitude,
politeness and likability are what closed the sale.

Not the sales hype. Not the low prices with the gigantic
over-hyped benefits. But the actual ‘personality’ and
‘impression’ that the kid gave was all that was required.

If you market your own products and services on the Internet,
consider what impression you’re giving to your prospects. If you
appeal to them, then you’ve already done half of the work. If
this means redesigning your website, then so be it.

If this means going out of your way to be polite, helpful and
give the best possible shopping experience, then so be it.

Is it really too much work to secure your own sales? I’ll leave
you to ponder on that thought.

Do you clam up on the telephone? An advertising rep called the other day to sell some ad space in a local news magazine. After I said, “Hello,” there was nothing but monotone dialog until I interrupted him a minute later. It sounded like he was reading a script… but he wasn’t (I asked).

When you make calls trying to sell your products or services to your prospects, don’t forget to be yourself. Here are five simple tips that will help.

1. Smile — it can be heard in your voice.

2. Stand up — it helps you breathe.
3. Look In The Mirror — it will help if you can see what your face is doing. You’ll convey your message better.
4. Listen — remember it’s about your prospect, not about you.
5. Be Personable — act like you’re talking to the person face-to-face. It makes the process easier.

Denise O’Berry helps small business owners take action to grow their business. To find out more, visit http://www.deniseoberry.com