Bill Gluth's Creative Business Strategy Blog

What sales prospecting method is most effective for you?

I'm a new member of a Linked In group that discusses prospecting. It's headed up by Connie Kadansky, a thought leader in prospecting and exceptional sales performance.

Today the question was, "What prospecting method is most effective for you?"

In considering it, I always follow the idea that you have to turn strangers into friends and friends into raving fans to make sales and keep clients.

I keep that in mind when prospecting. I pick a niche. Create a value that enhances the lives of others. Develop a compelling offer and give people in the niche a call to see if they are looking for the value.

When they are, we make friends and they become a client. When they become a client I work hard to make them raving fans through superior results, service and care. Then I keep in touch and offer to help them further. Now the fan often continues to do business with me and also helps me make new friends. The cycle continues.

One other secret that keeps me motivated -- I keep track and have a quota of NO's to hear every week. It really helps to keep prospecting results high.

How about you? Leave a comment and  share your most effective sales prospecting method.

What Does it Take to Make Sales

It's no news that we are in the midst of an economic slowdown. Maybe even one of the worst in years.

The predominate thought in my mind is, "So what."

OK, I'm a rebel. But if you can show a prospect how your offering:

• Makes them money
• Saves them money
• Improves efficiency

... they will still purchase.

BUT it takes one thing more, that we didn't need to worry about in the past.

That one tiny thing that can mean the difference between sale and no sale can be summed up in one word.

Patience.

You have to nurture harder, prove results more frequently, add value to the conversation repeatedly, follow up consistently and on time.

Sales have not gone down as much as sales cycles have increased. Patience is the key.

The Three Secrets of Successful Small Business Marketing

In developing marketing and sales process programs for small businesses, I find there are three common mistakes most of my clients seem to make prior to working with me.

The first mistake stems from the idea that your marketing must talk about your business and what it does. It has to “Sell ‘em.”

The challenge is your clients and prospects don’t care about your business or what it does.

They only care about how your business can help them make money, improve productivity or decrease costs.

We also all realize that people like to buy but they don’t like to be sold. So marketing that is trying to ‘sell’ falls flat.

The only job of marketing is to attract interest. Your system of selling turns that attraction into money.

Marketing Success Secret # 1 is to only communicate ideas that your clients and prospects care about.

The next challenge is getting your marketing message heard.

Your clients and prospects are exposed to thousands of advertising and marketing messages every day. They have become experts at blocking marketing messages out.

What makes someone read one message and ignore 2,999 others?

They want to know more about the value of that one message because it speaks from the buyer’s point of view.

That means, don’t WOW me with your technical expertise and industry jargon.

Instead speak to your audience using THEIR words and ideas. Don’t try to change their mind. Show them you understand and care about their needs instead.

Marketing Success Secret # 2 is to speak (create copy, deliver your sales message) in the language your buyers and prospects use.

The final challenge is exposure.

I have a favorite greeting card I send to my clients and prospects once in a while. It talks about how many contacts it takes to make a sale. The card points out that 82% of all sales are made between the 7th and 12th contacts.

If you stop communicating after two or three touches, you’ll struggle to generate sales. Make your marketing touches frequent yet personal. Show that you understand your buyer and care about her results.

Be sure to mix the touches up. Think integrated or one marketing touch complimenting the next.

Email is fine if you’re delivering a regularly scheduled communication. But it’s not so great if you use it all the time.

Combine  phone calls, greeting cards, personal meetings, emails, invitations to special events, articles you’ve written, social media, create announcements of ideas you’re sharing, etc. They all combine to build trust and strengthen relationships.

Marketing Success Secret # 3 is mix up your marketing touches. Go integrated.

If you’ll talk about what clients care about, speak your buyer’s language and spread the word with integrated marketing touches, consistently, your sales opportunities will increase.

Then all you have to do is close the deal through whatever system of selling you’re using. 

A Sales Idea from Guerrilla Marketing Worth Noting

I receive Jay Conrad Levinson’s Guerrilla Marketing newsletter every week. It’s always filled with great advice and practical applications using Guerrilla Marketing tactics.

This week was especially notable.  The headline asked, “Are You Scaring Your Prospects?”

“Good question,” I thought.

The article went on to talk about consistent and effective follow up and educating and providing value. Nothing too scary yet.

Point # 3 was most interesting. It said, “#3: Share your personality. In your communication with your prospects AND customers, you need to be authentic. With so many choices, consumers want to deal with someone they feel they know and can trust. The more "real" you are with your prospects the more likely they are to buy from you.”

I loved it. Authentic action and communication made the list.

In writing, being yourself and writing like you talk is the answer.

The same holds true in sales. Be yourself. Communicate from your heart. Listen and find out what your prospect needs from your service or product.

The sales mantra in 2009 is; be real, be yourself and listen.

Subscribe to the Guerrilla Marketing Newsletter at http://www.gmarketing.com/

More Tools from Twitter

Over the past month that I've used Twitter, I've found a lot of tools to use with it. It's interesting that when something takes off a lot of ideas emerge to support it.

One such tool is called TweetDeck. It allows you to use Twitter from your desktop without actually going online.

Another tool, which I just found yesterday, is called TwitterGetter. It helps to build your Twitter following to reach more people who may be interested in the conversations and ideas you're sharing.

So far, Twitter has produced modest sales and blog visit results for me personally. I'll keep you posted on what kind of results I get from using some of these tools.

Overall with Twitter, I enjoy seeing what other people I follow are sharing and hope they enjoy my ideas as well.

It's visibility that is much more predictable than conventional advertising.

The challenge is, like advertising, frequency rules and it takes consistent, authentic human touch interaction with like minded people to work.

Learn Twitter to Increase Sales and Save $10

My friend Dave Barnhart, owner of Business Blogging Pros, is conducting a very worthwhile seminar that can be a tremendous help to small business owners.

His program is called Learning Twittter.

It will help any small business owner learn to use Twitter as a serious marketing tool that will generate better quality sales leads and deepen client relationships.

Dave points out that Twitter is the fastest and easiest way to:

• Promote and build awareness of your brand.
• Build name recognition and goodwill.
• Stay top-of-mind with your past, present, and future customers.
• Keep your finger on the pulse of your industry.
• Monitor your public image

Find out more about Learning Twitter at www.learningtwitter.com

Use promo code CWTS when you enroll and receive a $10 discount on your registration. Only $39 for readers of this blog.

Check it out and enroll today.

Twitter is just another way that creative business strategies can reduce marketing costs while increasing sales.

No = More Sales

 A friend of mine named Jim Packard told me about an idea going on in the market place that talks about Going for No when selling.

Richard Fenton and Andrea Waltz wrote a book on it and their ideas make perfect sense.

The concept is, the more you hear NO, the closer you are to making a sale.

I have used this idea in the field selling a range of services to small businesses and I have to report, that the Go for No book findings are true.

Once you get used to embracing every NO, seeing it in a positive light, sales go up.

Sales call reluctance plummets because you WANT to hear NO.

I’d recommend Going for No to anyone who is in small business that wants to increase sales.

In today’s world, who doesn’t!

Watch the Go for No Movie at http://tinyurl.com/c68td8

The # 1 Secret of Selling

Last week I was talking to coaches and consultants about a new book project program being offered by my company called Next Level Sales and Marketing.

I set up two meetings to conduct a selling experiment.

I qualified each coach on the telephone prior to setting a meeting. The coaches I met with both had book projects in the works and wanted to know how to get their book completed quickly and easily.

At the live meeting I used two different sales tactics.

At the first meeting I presented what we were doing, showed examples, asked qualifying questions and set a clear and focused next step for follow up. You know, the typical sales drill.

Coach # 1 was interested, liked what he heard, but had to check out competitors and compare us.

At the second meeting, I started by asking one simple question. “What kind of book are you looking to write and publish?”

That was all it took.

Coach # 2 told me all about her ideas for various books. As she explained her ‘vision’ to me, she became more and more excited. We uncovered a specific, excellent idea to pursue.

When she asked what we do, I briefly showed examples of a couple books we have done and explained our step-by-step process for writing and publishing a book in 90-days or less.

The rapport developed with Coach # 2 was significantly deeper. She trusted that this would be a very workable solution to get her book written and in the market quickly.

The meeting ended with a commitment to purchase, a request to review our contract and a follow up date to get the project rolling.

What was the difference?

Coach # 1; I told him what we did and how the program worked. I talked about what WE did. The result; he wanted to compare me with others.

Coach # 2; I listened. She spoke, saw the potential, got excited, really listened when I explained the simple processes we use and made a commitment to buy.

So the # 1 secret of selling is to ask questions and listen; don’t talk.

Engage, be a human being who cares about the prospects desires. Don’t explain how your offering works until your prospect is ready to listen.

How to Cut Marketing Costs While Increasing Sales

The economy has caused small business owners everywhere to rethink their expenditures. We all have to do more with less money.

The most important expenditure to consider is the money you spend on attracting qualified leads into your sales pipeline.

How can you reduce marketing costs and still drive qualified leads into your sales pipeline?

The answer is to use low cost, high impact, Human Touch Marketing methods.

Here are the 3-basic principles.

Principle one, speak your buyer’s language

When your marketing and sales messages are slanted toward buyer wants and interests, your message suddenly takes on a new life.

When you speak the buyer’s language you’re no longer talking AT buyers about your business, which is your interest. Instead, you are speaking directly TO your buyer’s wants and interests.

As a result they stop blocking and actually hear your message. This frequently leads to trusted interaction, which leads to more sales.

Resource: Creating Words That Sell.com was created to develop buyer-centric stories for your small business.

Principle two, educate to advertise

A couple of years ago, I coined the phrase “Edutise” to describe a process where articles, white papers, special reports, eBooks, blogging, and educational outreach were prime marketing tactics to use in expanding sales for any business.

Since that time, Edutising has taken on energy of its own. With blogging, Face Book, Twitter and other social networks, along with article and PR sites it’s never been easier to launch an Edutising campaign.

Resource: See how easy Edutising can be at Next Level Sales and Marketing.com

Principle three, use personal caring as your secret sales advantage.

Personal caring is the secret that builds relationships.

No matter who you are, when someone genuinely cares about you, your business and the outcome you received from a previous engagement, you will be open to do business with that company again.

When you use Human Touch Marketing to speak to buyers in a way that focuses on their desires, educate to advertise and use an attitude of personal caring to keep existing clients and hot prospects engaged, your marketing costs will go down while your sales go up.

Human Touch Marketing is merely a shift from cost based thinking to care based thinking.

Resource: With the economy as it is, I’m showing small business owners how to use Human Touch marketing to increase sales.

You can call me at 623-210-3203 to set up a Human Touch Marketing implementation meeting for your business.

One Trick to Save Tons of Time Everyday

I had a computer meltdown this week and had to go back to my old trusty Compaq computer.

I won't go into a rant here, but it did force me to manage my email differently. I was stuck with Web mail for each of my addresses instead of Outlook.

As I checked them, I noticed two interesting things:

1. I only checked each email address a few times a day.

2. I did not have previews enabled, so I deleted messages that were not personal, anticipated and relevant immediately.

As a result, I was in and out of email in record time.

My conclusions?

Use Webmail instead of Outlook and you won't get distracted by incoming email messages throughout the day.

Keep the preview feature closed and read emails that are of interest and delete those that are not right away.

After all, if the email is not immediately identifiable, why take the time to look at it.