Posts Tagged ‘sales prospecting’

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A Sales Tool For Experts

Friday, July 22nd, 2011


One of the challenges all of us face who are experts (whether we’re financial advisors, consultants, coaches or anyone else who gets hired for their expertise) is that our prospects aren’t usually as knowledgeable about our particular topic as we are. (Which makes an enormous amount of common sense since, if they were, they probably wouldn’t be hiring us.)

Unfortunately, what this means is that it’s very easy for us to talk “over the heads” of our prospects. We don’t mean to, and most of our prospects will never let us know they really don’t understand what the heck we’re saying, but still, it’s a real issue.

I’ve had many discussions with potential candidates in which I’d hear acknowledging grunts as I rambled on about sequenced autoresponders and information product up-sell strategies, without ever realizing that I’d left the poor person in the dust several minutes ago. Obviously, if prospects don’t understand what we’re communicating, the odds of them hiring us are usually between the proverbial slim and none.

But there’s an additional danger that we need to be cognizant of once we recognize this challenge. We don’t want to overcompensate and start talking down to our prospects. Not surprisingly they’ll take that as condescension, which is even worse than talking over their heads.

Fortunately the solution is simple.

Make sure that you’re using a lot of examples that illustrate the point you’re trying to make. It’s one thing for to say “Then we set up a sequenced autoresponder system that will enable you to put your communication on autopilot.” That assumes the person I’m speaking with knows what a “sequenced autoresponder” is.

I’d do a better job of bringing the benefits to life if I provide an example or story.

Such as…”I was working with a client in your industry who, like you, realized they needed to do a better job of staying in touch with prospects. What we set up was a system that automatically sent out messages in a pre-programmed sequence.

For example, the day after they requested the free report, they’d get an email with the subject line ‘Did you get it?”. It would include another copy of the link to get the free report and show that we were really interested in making sure the prospect got the information. A couple of days later the person would get an email titled “I’d love some feedback on the report”. As one might guess, asking for feedback is a great way to start building a relationship.

As a result of setting up these automated messages, this client increased his overall conversion rate from 5% to over 25%. You can imagine the impact that had on his bottom line.”

By using examples (or stories), we increase the likelihood that our prospects will be able to visualize the benefits that we offer. As anyone who has been successful in selling services will attest, “visualization” is crucial for converting prospects into actual paying clients.

Food for thought

PS: If you haven’t already you really should read my book on creating great sales stories. You can order it HERE

PPS: If you’d like to personally work with me to develop your marketing campaign but my Platinum program is outside your budget, here’s what you might consider. INFO

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The Power of Sales Stories

Friday, July 15th, 2011


The power of using sales stories was brought home to me recently when Marian and I were house hunting.

We made the decision a couple of months ago not to move from Atlanta to Pinehurst NC. (It’s a delightful community but unfortunately just a bit too small for us.) With that decision under our belt we then realized that if we were going to be here for the long term, staying in a 4-story house just wasn’t going to work. (The joke we tell is that if you’re on the first floor and what you need is on the 4th, you either do without or go buy another one.)

We narrowed our search down to one community close by to where we currently live called Country Club of the South. Off we went to look at houses and I’ll admit that they started to blur together very quickly. I think our realtor sensed that we were going to have difficulty making a decision. So on the next house we visited (you can see a picture below) she decided to tell us a story.

It turns out that an Asian couple, who are staunch believers in Feng Shui, owned this house. For those not familiar with Feng Shui, it’s an ancient practice with many applications, one of which is determining the optimal location for your house. (Building a house on the earth dragon’s back is good, on the dragon’s head or heaven forbid, his eye, not so much.)

Now our realtor was very good, and had picked up clues that Marian might be particularly interested in Feng Shui.

Thus when we arrived at this house, completely overloaded from having seen too many houses, she decided to tell us a story.

And what a wonderful story it was.

How the owners consulted with a Feng Shui Master to decide which of 3 separate lots was the best one to build on. How the design of the house in a “H” created positive energy. How the arches were specifically designed to ward off negative spirits. And much more.

Guess which house stood out amid all the rest?

Guess which one we’re moving into the first week of August?

Intellectually, I think we all know that it’s the stories we tell that differentiate us from our competition. We understand that stories enable prospects to visualize in their minds the benefits we offer.

But…the reality is that most of us just don’t use stories as much as we should (or could).

So…What are the stories you should be telling?

Food for thought
Mark
PS: If you haven’t already you really should read my book on creating great sales stories. You can order it HERE

PPS: If you’d like to personally work with me to develop your marketing campaign with you but my Platinum program is outside your budget, here’s what you might consider. INFO

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How To Write A Great Sales Letter

Monday, June 6th, 2011


Here’s a sales letter template (you could also use it as an email) for attracting brand new clients.

Sales letters are an often overlooked lead generation tool but they are very powerful when selling to a niche market.

This has worked well for me and many of my clients. I think it will work well for you too.

Not surprisingly, sales letters are just one part of an overall marketing system. If you’d like me to work with you on implementing a client attraction system that works 24/7/365 the information here will be of interest.

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What A Disaster

Thursday, May 26th, 2011


My neighbor Stan is in the advice business. And like all of us, he’s continually focusing on building his client base.

Stan decided to do an email marketing blast to a very targeted (and expensive) email list of prospects. I think the list was a bit more than 5,000.

Guess how many people opened the email? (I’m not talking about reading it, or acting on it-which are the next steps)…simply how many people just opened the email?

Zip…Nada…Bupkiss…

Needless to say (but I’ll say it anyway) Stan was pretty upset.

Anyway, I like Stan (he keeps an eye out on the house when Marian and I are on vacation) so I told him I’d do some editing on his email.

So I made one change and guess what? The second time the blast went out, the open rate was 21%. (Which is really good considering that this was a cold list that didn’t know Stan from the proverbial hole in the ground.)

So what was this change?

To fully appreciate it, we need to remember that in email marketing (and the same holds true for sales letters) there is a sequence of steps that we need to motivate the reader to go through.

With email that first step is…GET IT OPENED.

And there’s one thing that will make or break your prospects decision to do that .

What You Put In The Subject Line.

The first step in email marketing lives and dies on that one thing. (Of course we can mess up the process after that, but if we don’t get it opened, everything else is a moot point.)

So what do we want to put in the subject line?

Focus on “Negative Curiosity”

One of my coaches, Frank Kern, relates that the highest open rate he ever had for an email was one in which the subject line was, “Bad News.”

In fact, you may have noticed that I used this strategy for the email that eventually led you to read this article. The subject line? “What a disaster.”

But, here’s an important point you’ll want to keep in mind.

Although “Negative Curiosity” will get prospects to initially respond to your message, it’s “hope” that will both bond them to you, and ultimately get them to become actually clients.

One strategy to make the transition from “Negative Curiosity” to “Hope” is to offer your readers great content. Practical ideas they can use. Answers to the most common questions that you get asked. Remember, you want your reader at the end of your message to really believe you’re the expert in your particular field. That’s how you build relationships and eventually more paying clients.

But…the first step in the process is to get people to pay attention to you. That’s why focusing on “Negative Curiosity” in the subject line is so powerful. (But you have to do it creatively, not ham-handedly.)

Good luck, and as always, if I can ever be of assistance please let me know.

Thanks
Mark
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Advanced Client Conversion Secret

Monday, May 23rd, 2011


Now that you’ve gotten a new prospect to opt-in, what’s next?

It’s important to remember that successful marketing is all about having a system. Each step in the process leads to the next one. Unfortunately, there is sometimes a tendency to forget the “end goal”, and as a result, we don’t get the amount of new business that we want and need.

Here’s a common example.

Once someone has become a subscriber by requesting your free report or other offer, many people think the next step is to just “stay in touch.”

They’re sort-of right.

Obviously, we want to stay in touch. But, staying in touch, just for the sake of staying in touch, doesn’t actually get us new business. Sure, there will be a few people on your list who will become clients just because you remained visible, but realistically you’ll never get the results you want if you take this passive approach.

So here’s what I suggest you do.

Think about what’s the ideal “next step” in your client attraction system. For many of us it would be either a face-to-face or telephone conversation-the classic “initial free consultation”. Thus, that’s what we want to be driving people to do.

But it’s not as simple as just saying, “Call me now for your free consultation.” We’ve got to sell the benefits of why they should do this. And the most effective way to do that, is by setting up a one-page micro-site that’s devoted to this next step in the system.

You can see an example here.

Here’s a quick tip…One way of making this an effective page is to list the questions that people typically ask (and that you’ll answer) during the consultation. This is similar to a FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) page on your website, without the answers.

The page has a sign up box that enables people to request their free consultation. That information goes automatically into your autoresponder system when they fill out the form. (The one I recommend is here).

Now, this next step is important…

Once someone signs up for the consultation, the autoresponder sends them a message thanking them and asking them to answer 3 or 4 questions. That will enable you to determine who’s serious, and who’s just signing up because it “seemed like a good idea at the moment.”

If you use a good Natural Sales Closing presentation, you should be able to convert 85% of those who you talk with, into paying clients.

Hope this helps. Talk with you soon
Mark
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How To Get More Referrals

Wednesday, May 11th, 2011


If I asked you, “Where do most of your best new clients come from?” I’d imagine you’d tell me, “Referrals”.

I’d also imagine you’d tell me that you’d like more of them. So let’s help you accomplish that goal.

The biggest obstacle most people face when trying to get referrals is that they don’t do a good job of explaining what they do. If people don’t understand the benefits that others get by working with you, their ability to remember and refer you is severely compromised.

The problem when explaining what you do, is that we revert to what I call “comfortable shorthand”.

“I’m a lawyer.”
“I’m a financial advisor.”
“I’m a marketing consultant.’

Now there’s nothing inherently wrong with these answers. However, these are the types of answers that go in one proverbial ear, and out the other. Additionally, they don’t tell your listener what the ultimate benefit is from what you do. (That’s crucial and I’ll share an example shortly.)

The temptation to use these “comfortable” descriptors is considerable for a couple of reasons. First, this is how most everyone else describes what they do. Especially in social situations, we want to follow the cadence and rhythms of those we’re with. If everyone is using the “comfortable shorthand” to describe what they do, there’s a bit of psychological pressure for you to do the same.

Second, so many of the more elaborate descriptions sound, well…rather cheesy. You’ve probably cringe internally when someone who’s obviously completed some sort of second rate elevator pitch program comes up to you and says, “I’m the go-to guy in making your money grow.”

Ugh

An excellent answer to the ubiquitous question of, “What do you do?” needs to be both memorable and consistent with the image and class you want to known for. Unfortunately, developing precisely the right answer takes a fair amount of work. Even though the end result looks oh-so-simple, the reality is that there’s a good amount of mental-heavy-lifting that’s gone on behind the scenes.

I can speak to this personally, since it took me a long time to develop an answer that I felt comfortable with, and enabled people to remember me (and ultimately refer me business). For years I’d simple respond, “I’m a marketing consultant.” Certainly accurate, but it’s going to be hard for someone to refer me business based on that answer.

Here’s what I eventually developed when I’m asked, “So Mark, what type of work do you do?”

“In a nutshell, if you own a business and need more new clients, I’m the guy who shows you how to get them.”

Short. Memorable. My listener immediately understands the key problem I solve and the key benefit I provide.

I firmly believe that because of the way I describe what I do, I get a lot of calls that start with, “So-&-So suggested I speak with you…”

If you’d like to spend an hour with me working on how to describe what you do in a way so that people “get it” and can refer you business, simply send an email to barb@gentlerainmarketing.com with your phone number and the words “Consultation” in the subject line. For the modest fee of $250, I’ll work with you to develop a memorable, catchy (but highly professional) way to describe what you do.

Talk soon
Mark
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Overwhelmed By Trying To Implement A Marketing System?

Friday, May 6th, 2011


I think what prevents people from implementing a successful marketing/client attraction system, is that they simply get overwhelmed.

Which is a shame. (Especially since a lack of new clients is the #1 reason why businesses go out of business.)

However, becoming overwhelmed is easy to understand, and it can happen to anyone (for years I struggled with this very issue).

However there is an easy solution, and I discuss it in more detail in this short 5-minute video that you can watch HERE

Suffice it to say, the most common reason we get overwhelmed is that we get distracted and go off on tangents, We start by focusing on one activity, read about something else that sounds kind of interesting, and the next thing we know…zoom…we’re off on all sorts of different paths.

Unfortunately, we only get a third of the way down each of the paths, so the end result…which is to get us more new clients…is never achieved.

So what’s the solution?

I believe that the answer is to fully map-out what the steps are before we start. I know that sounds simple, but relatively few people actually do it for one simple reason…they’re not sure what the steps are.

As I share in my short video, there are only 5 or 6 steps you need to be focusing on. But…(and this is important)…you need to do the steps in order.

That’s where a lot of us get in trouble.

For example, we start focusing on lead generation too early in the process. Simply generating leads that go to a website that’s bland, looks the same as your competitor’s, or doesn’t make a great offer, just results in prospective clients ignoring you.

Naturally, that’s a big waste of time, money and effort.

However, if we map out the client attraction process in the beginning…create a blueprint for implementation…then there’s absolutely no reason why you can’t have a highly effective client attraction marketing system up and running, inside of 45 days.

So if you’ve been frustrated with implementing your own marketing system, I think you’ll find this 5-minute video to be of interest, and you can watch it here.

Talk with you soon
Mark
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This Was A Helpful Exercise

Saturday, February 26th, 2011


One of the interesting things about marketing is that if you do it right, it will actually get you what you want.

And although that sounds like a “blinding grasp of the obvious”, there’s a point I want to make.

Although I’m not a particularly “new-agey” type of person, I do believe that the more you have a clear picture of precisely who you want to attract, the easier it is to attract them. (And, from purely a pragmatic perspective, having this clarity of vision also makes it a lot easier to write messages that they’ll actually read.)

I’m a part of a mastermind group, and a while back went through a very interesting exercise that I thought I’d share with you. It helped me focus on the types of clients I most wanted to attract. I’ll admit that I did this exercise reluctantly since I was pretty sure I already knew who I wanted as clients, but it turned out to be a eye opening experience.

It’s called Developing the Prospect Profile and all you need to do is fill in the blanks. (But WARNING-this does require some serious thought-that pesky mental heavy lifting I’m always referring to.)

Here goes…

John (or Jane) is my ideal prospect. He is ___years old. His three biggest frustrations are ____, ____ and ____. He is afraid of ____. Sometimes he even wakes up in the middle of the night worrying about____.

If he could snap his fingers and make three specific outcomes happen immediately, he would want the following three things to happen:

1.

2.

3.

The event which happens to get him interested in what I can do for him probably is____.

His biggest concern about hiring a solution provider to solve this problem is ____.

When he goes to the Internet to find a solution to this problem, he’ll usually enter keywords into Google such as ___, ___, and ___.

If he is going to do business with me, he needs to believe ___, ___, and ___.

If he is going to buy from me, he needs to be in one or more of the following emotional states (i.e. anger, fear, hope, desire of gain ect.) ___, ___, ___.

The myth he believes (which I will shatter) is ___.

The biggest reasons he would not buy from me would probably be ___, ___, and ___.

Right now he gets most of information about my topic from centers of influence such as ___, ___, and ___.

In trying to solve his problem, he’s not able to___.

The perfect way to help him overcome his biggest frustration would be to ______.

To help him achieve his specific outcome #1, I will offer him______.

To help him achieve his specific outcome #2, I will offer him______.

To help him achieve his specific outcome #3, I will offer him______.

***
Now I’ll admit that these are not necessarily the easiest questions to answer, and it will likely take some thought, reflection and even some research. But I am a big believer that when it comes to marketing, we get what we aim at, and this exercise was very helpful to me.

Hopefully it will be to you also.

Talk with you soon
Mark
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Capturing Attention & Building Trust

Thursday, February 10th, 2011


Not that it comes as any great surprise-but the goal of your website (whether it be a one page micro-site or your more extensive “corporate” website) is to capture the interest and curiosity of your visitor.

Naturally the question becomes, “What’s the best way to do that?”

There’s two things to keep in mind. What you say and How you say it.

Let’s talk about the second one today.

The good news is that we have a couple of different options. By that I mean we’re not limited to just text based websites. In all candor, if you really want to accelerate the relationship building process, and get a lot more people to opt in to your list, video is the way to go.

Which leads us to the next question-“What type of video should I create?”

The answer depends in large part upon what you’re promoting. Your company? A brand? Yourself?

If you’re in the advice-giving business, the emphasis is most likely to be on yourself. In that case, a short video of either you talking directly to the visitor, and asking them to take the next step in the process (i.e. request your free information), or the “interview” model in which you discuss an key issue the visitor is likely to be working on…either of these can be very effective.

Here’s an example of what I refer to as an interview format video. (Please be patient this may take a minute to load. If you get frustrated you can also watch it HERE)

Affluent Marketing Advice from Mark Satterfield on Vimeo.

In the consulting and professional advice business, it’s all about demonstrating competence and building trust. Competence is developed by the content in the Gentle Rain Drops that you send out after your prospect has opted-in to your list.

Video-since it’s an opportunity for people to actually see you, helps considerably in building trust.

Of course not everyone feels comfortable in front of the camera. In that case a corporate video that encompasses music, graphics and other visuals can be extremely effective. (In an ideal world you would do both.) Creating these corporate videos is a pet project of mine, but they tend to be more appropriate to the higher-end services providers since they’re somewhat expensive to produce, edit, score ect. (But that said, if you’re interested drop me a note and we can chat about it.)

Food for thought
Mark
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Some Thoughts For The Last Week Of 2010

Monday, December 27th, 2010


Naturally I don’t know what you have planned for your business for 2011. However, what I have found to be extremely helpful, is to take the last week of the year as an opportunity to map out what I want to accomplish over the next 12 months.

Developing your unique marketing message…designing the plan to attract consistent streams of new business…how to convert prospects into paying clients…all of these are not complicated, but they do require some good “Heavy Mental Lifting”.

For many years I found that I was victim of the “bright shiny object” syndrome. I’d get excited about one thing, and then something else would pop into my head, and the next thing you know…I’d be attempting to charge down 7 or 8 paths all at once.

Upon reflection, it shouldn’t have been a big surprise when after 8 months I’d look back and see that I really hadn’t accomplished much. I don’t know about you, but I’ve found my capacity for the year is 4 new projects.

This is why I use this time of year to determine what the top projects are for the next year, and then find one or two coaches who can help me stay on track, and make sure I implement my goals.

If 2011 is the year that you finally decide to implement your own marketing system, and end once and for all the “feast or famine” business cycles, my Gentle Rain Coaching program may be just what you need.

It starts with requesting a half hour free consultation with me. (You can do that by going HERE)

Once you fill out the form you’ll get an email from my assistant Quinn with a few questions that I’d like for you to answer. Most everyone finds that answering these questions starts them thinking about their business in new and interesting ways.

Send your answers back and either she or I will be in touch to schedule your session.

Regardless of whether you actually sign up for coaching or not, I think you’ll find the consultation to be very valuable, and I can virtually guarantee that you’ll put down the phone with some great new ideas and lots of food for thought.

Again you can begin the process by clicking this LINK

Thanks and I look forward to speaking with you soon.
Mark

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