Powerful Postcards Produce Profits
Direct marketing is not dead. The reason I know this is because I go to my mailbox every day and it's full of offers. If so many big companies use direct mail advertising campaigns repeatedly, I would guess they are getting very good returns on the investment. The key is to be noticed. Cheap postcards can to do this and can increase sales as well. A well designed direct mail postcard with a clever call to action can quickly give you a high ROI (return on investment) and isn't this what you want. In the difficult uncertain economic climate that we are facing, optimizing existing and opening new markets and customers quickly can mean the difference between great success or failure.
Responding to An RFP and Winning!
The Request for Proposal (RFP) is a document used by an organization (generally, a government agency) to implement a "strategic procurement" initiative. The document requests a proposal from multiple vendors to provide either a product or service to the organization, and sets the guidelines that suppliers or vendors must follow in responding. The proposals are then evaluated, and a contract negotiated accordingly. With an RFP, the purchaser attempts to leverage organizational purchasing power and the number of bidding vendors to obtain the lowest possible price for the best value: information which is then used to negotiate a contract with the chosen bidder.
Solving Business Problems
No matter what your line of work, one thing to always keep in mind is that you get paid consistent with you ability to solve problems. The more problems that you solve and the bigger that the problems that you solve are, the more that you will get paid. Think about that the next time that your boss or your customer brings you a problem to solve. If you're like most people, your inclination is probably to put up some resistance when confronted by a problem of some sort. Even if no one is accusing you directly of necessarily having caused the problem, our human nature is to become defensive and protective about our serenity.
Retention The Key To Massive Profits
Like any business you spend up to 10 times more money to get a customer than you do to get the customer back and make a second purchase, which is why with any business you want to have a very strong focus on retention of customers and working on your existing customers to keep buying from your business. As a business owner you would have invested a lot of money on front end marketing to build your database so now it is time to utilise your database to increase your sales and explode your profits. It is amazing how many people just keep focusing on trying to get customers who buy once and never again.
The 1 Way To Overcome Sales Resistance
The number one way to overcome sales resistance is to become known as an expert. If people don't know who you are, you're at a distinct disadvantage. Why? Because with so many scams and over-hyped products pervading the marketing universe, people may perceive you and what you're selling as a risky proposition, and most people instinctively tend to resist what they perceive to be risky. However, when you are well known in your particular niche and positioned as an expert, people will automatically look at you in a different light. That's why whenever Oprah recommends a book, sales of that book increase exponentially.
Increase Sales By Not Being Like Everyone Else
In business, people sound like just like everyone else from how they introduce their selves to how they sell their products. No where is this more true than in the buying and selling process. Price becomes the driving factor because sales professionals make it the driving factor. Buyers of products and services are conditioned to go to price unless you as the sales professional can make yourself and your products or services different. This difference can originate from your sales approach to your ability to innovate your products and services. For example, currently I am beta testing a new service entitled the Executive Management Team Service Walk.
Opportunities to Increase Sales Are Endless
In my keynotes How to Increase Sales with the Click of a Mouse and Top 10 Business Strategies to Grow Your Business in a Down Economy, I survey those in attendance by asking these two questions: How many of you who are not bankers are happy with your bank? How many of you are unhappy with your bank? The key response in the Northwest Indiana area has been consistent. 75% are not happy with their current bank Right now if you are a privately held local bank, you should be mopping up the aisle with new business. Just think about this statistic, if you are a banker, 3 out of every 4 people you talk to are not happy with their bank.
What is the Difference Between Sales and Marketing?
In traditional business, marketing is what brings your prospect to your door, gets them to call, send an email or in some cases actually buy. Sales is everything that happens after the prospect has contacted you. Traditional business is still with us though it has clearly been evolving very rapidly in recent years. Although the general definitions of sales and marketing still apply, business evolution has expanded and radically changed both concepts. And that evolution appears to be accelerating. The most obvious difference is the blurring of the lines between sales and marketing. Most low consideration sales involve an emotion, impulse or unmet need.
The Thanks for Your Time Crime
It happened again, but I'm not surprised. As the insurance salesman was wrapping up our meeting, he shook my hand and said, "Thanks for your time." I thought to myself, "What a crime." He was being polite, and I welcome that. He genuinely appreciated the time I devoted to our interaction. His thank-you was acknowledging the value of the time I had "spent" with him because we all know "time is money." Unfortunately he -- like many of us -- failed to notice the hidden meaning in that seemingly harmless phrase that subtly sabotages our sales. Killer Questions "Your time is valuable. Mine isn't.
Increase Sales Coaching Tip - Market Trends Are Veins of Hidden Wealth
During a keynote presentation to a local chamber, I surveyed the filled room by asking this question: How many of you are happy with your bank? Only 25% of those in the room raised their hands. And, 50% of those were from small, local private banks. Then, I asked how many of you are unhappy with your bank? The other 75% raised their hands. NOTE: I have repeated these two questions several times in my area of Northwest Indiana and the responses have been consistent. Three quarters of the audience consisting of business owners, sales professionals to C-Level executives are not happy with their financial institutions.