Posts Tagged ‘sales prospecting’

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There’s Really Only 2 Strategies For Getting New Clients

Friday, October 29th, 2010


When you boil it all down, there’s really only 2 strategies for getting more new clients.

Perhaps you’re familiar with them.

In marketing circles they’re known as “Push” and “Pull”.

“Push” (as the name would imply) involves pushing yourself onto prospects in the hopes that you can convince them, before they hang up or walk away, that you have a service they desperately need. The classic example of the push strategy is cold calling.

Does it work?

Sure. But it’s got a lot downside to it.

It’s labor intensive…not a whole lot of fun…you get lots (and lots) of rejections.

But, the upside is that it doesn’t cost much of anything to implement, doesn’t take a lot of time or thought, so for people who tend to confuse activity with productive, and have a lot of time on their hands, it’s something to do.

And, who knows, maybe it will lead to something.

However, for most anyone who offers high value services, the “Push” marketing strategy leaves a lot to be desired. Which leads to the second option; “Pull” marketing.

In a nutshell, Pull Marketing is all about attracting clients to you by offering prospects something interesting for free, which enables you to stay in touch-building trust & credibility-and eventually turning prospects into paying clients.

Pretty straightforward. Nothing complicated about it.

It’s hard to argue against a strategy that basically says, “Give prospects something interesting for free and then stay in touch with them.”

The process has been around a long time and has been used successfully in virtually every area of business.

OK, but if it’s so simply…why doesn’t everyone just do it?

Why isn’t everyone who does try it…successful?

After all, it doesn’t sound all that complicated.

And it’s not.

But here’s the dirty little secret.

When this “Pull Marketing” strategy doesn’t work, it’s got nothing to do with the strategy.

It’s got everything to do with the message you’re communicating.

The reality is that most people’s marketing messages are…

*Just like their competitors…and/or
*All about them and not about their prospects….and/or
* Incredibly boring.

I’m a passionate believer that every business…every sales professional…has a unique sales story that only they can tell.

Figuring out that story is what I call the “mental heavy lifting” of marketing.

Unfortunately, most people don’t give a lot of thought to their unique sales stories. They use whatever first pops in their head, or copy what their competitors are doing.

Which means their marketing message gets ignored.

The fact of the matter is that lots of people use the Pull Marketing strategy I described, but few are successful. And I’d guess that 99% of those who aren’t successful, say to themselves, “The process doesn’t work.”

But they’re wrong.

The process works-it’s the messaging that’s off.

Which leads to the next question…

*What are your unique sales stories?

*The ones only you can tell?

*The ones that get prospects interested in learning more about who you are and the value you bring to your clients?

If you haven’t developed those yet, I hope you’ll consider joining me on December 9th, here in Atlanta for my Unique Sales Stories workshop. I’m going to be personally working with a small group of you to develop your stories and show you how to incorporate them into a marketing system that will bring you consistent streams of brand new business.

Information is HERE

Thanks and I’ll talk with you soon,
Mark

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What Type Of Website Do You Really Need?

Tuesday, October 19th, 2010


Back when I started Gentle Rain in ’92, websites really weren’t used extensively. And boy, were they expensive. If memory serves, I think I paid $3,000 for a simple 3-page site way-back-then.

Today of course, websites are simple, inexpensive and can quickly be put up (or taken down). So let’s talk today about some options and what might be best for you.

First…I believe that you should reorient your thinking.

Instead of website (singular) think websites (plural).

The key to selling and marketing services is to get lots of prospective clients to opt-in and become subscribers to your newsletter, since your clients are going to come from your subscribers.

So how do we get lots of subscribers?

One of the tricks to successfully marketing your services is to get your prospective client to see a reflection of themselves in your marketing materials. This is what’s often referred to as the “message to market match”. The closer it is, the more people pay attention to you.

That’s why having a lot of micro-sites (in addition to your main “corporate” website) is an option you should consider.

This is what’s called the “hub & spokes” system. In this you have one main site that serves as your corporate site. If you currently have a website, it probably falls into this category.

The one disadvantage of corporate sites is that they are usually not designed to motivate visitors to opt-in to your list. Thus, you don’t want to spend a lot of money driving traffic to them, since most of it will simply bounce off.

In our types of businesses it’s all about building relationships. In order to do that I need to be communicating with you on a consistent basis.

That’s a bit difficult to do if you don’t provide me with your contact information when you visit.

To capture that crucial information we need micro-sites. These are highly specific one page websites that might target specific audiences. For example I micro-target those who market to the affluent at this site

You can also use micro-sites to target one very specific service that you offer. For example, I attract people who want to learn how to write a great sales letter at this site …I target those who want to learn branding techniques here …or those who want to market their services to hard-to-reach senior level decision makers at this site.

All told, I have 60-some micro sites that feed people into my overall subscription base.

As I said, the reason that is important is that your clients are going to come from those who have opted-in and become subscribers. These are the people with whom you have developed a relationship.

The big mistake I see most advisors, consultants and other services providers make is that they don’t do a good job of building relationships with enough prospects. Remember, this is largely about message and math. Your marketing message has to be compelling but the numbers have to work as well.

Most people I coach just aren’t building relationships with enough prospects.

They’re not leveraging the power that micro-sites could provide but instead are hoping that their corporate site will pull double duty and generate the leads they need.

Which it doesn’t.

My model from the beginning has been to get people to opt-in to receive something interesting for free. Then I try very hard to build trust and credibility by offering helpful advice through newsletters such as these.

I didn’t make up this approach. I learned it from others, and to be honest, a lot of trial and error went into it before I finally figured it out.

But at the end of the proverbial day, it’s worked real well for me, and for my clients, and I think this approach would work well for you too.

I’m a firm believer that the easiest way to get lots of subscribers is through micro-sites that target specific groups of prospects or focus on specific services you offer.

Blatant Plug: Want us to completely create a client attraction micro-site for you? Information is HERE

Thanks
Mark

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Building A Bond With Your Prospects & Clients

Tuesday, September 28th, 2010


It’s all about building relationships.

Intellectually, I know that you understand that.

But if that’s the case…why does most everyone insist on SELLING people at the very first opportunity?

Maybe it’s that old Glenn Gary/Glenn Ross bit about ABC (Always Be Closing). Great theater, but lousy sales advice.

I’m not saying that it can’t be done-I just know that if I try to use hyper-aggressive salesmanship I’ll wind up looking like a complete idiot. (And believe me I did get seduced a couple of times and tried selling using someone else’s “voice” and it was damn embarrassing.)

Here’s my belief…Getting people with whom you don’t have a relationship to buy from you is VERY HARD.

Selling to people who don’t know you requires an awful lot of work. A lot of “convincing” people to do business with you.

Personally, I don’t like having to try to convince anyone to work with me.

So I don’t.

The interesting thing is that by the time that they talk with me, they’ve already sold themselves on working with me. I don’t have to “convince” them.

Which is a good thing since I’m not a particularly good salesperson.

But I am a good marketer.

You can be too. Here’s a secret…

If you never want to have to “sell” anybody again, you need to develop a little bit of patience.

I’ll tell you what I mean.

Think 3-Steps rather than One.

Right now, odds are that you’re thinking one step. “Find a person who needs what I offer and sell it to them.”

My suggestion is that you replace that with,

1) Find a person who needs what you offer and make them curious to learn a little bit more about you.

2) Communicate with that person so you start to build a bond with them.

3) Then, and only then, can you sell them on the benefits that they’ll get from working with you.

I know, you’ve heard that before, but the reality is that hardly anyone does it.

Which is somewhat ironic.

The reason people don’t do it is because they think it will drag out the sales cycle.

The reality is that not having a multi step process actuality makes your sales cycle much longer. You tend to sell too hard/too early. (Even though you know you shouldn’t.)

So, start off with creating interest and desire in what you offer. The easiest way is to offer a really interesting free report.

In my world that was my Gentle Rain Free Report that teaches a process for getting lots of new clients with no cold calling or hard selling.

That was my first report and it’s still the workhorse. Every day 30 people on average come to my site and opt-in to get it. Over time I’ve added additional free offers, the most recent being my book Unique Sales Stories.

But, what I never do, (and this is the reason why none of us have to ever get into the “selling” business unless we want to) is to attempt to sell people who are not on my subscriber list.

And the reason is simple.

I don’t have a relationship with them.

And since I don’t, I’d have to ‘convince” them to do business with me.

Which sounds very unpleasant.

I suppose at this point, since I do have a relationship with you, I should try to sell you something. Unfortunately I don’t really have anything new at the moment.

I am thinking about conducting a live event in Atlanta in mid-November. It would be a one day live workshop on creating your unique sales stories and then how to publicize them. If I did it, I’d keep the group small so we could actually get a lot of work done and get feedback on our sales stories. I’d want to make sure everyone walks away with great sales stories they can use immediately one-on-one, or in sales letters, or on their websites. I don’t think I’d charge a lot-maybe around $250 a person.

Might be fun.

Anyway it’s something I’m playing around with. If you think you’d like to attend, shoot me an email and let me know. If there’s enough interest I may go ahead.

But, the real important point that I want to leave you with is that although we intellectually understand it’s all about building relationships, you’ve got to have a process in place that enables you to build a bond with your prospects and clients. The good news is that if you take it step by step, it’s not that hard to accomplish.

The biggest obstacle is getting started.

But isn’t that always the case?

Food for thought. Talk with you soon.
Mark
Related Links
Gentle Rain Coaching

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Which Website Is Better?

Tuesday, September 21st, 2010


Let’s talk today about websites and how we can turn yours into one that actually attracts new business.

If you’ve been a reader of mine for any length of time, you know that I advocate that most businesses need two different types of websites. The first is what I refer to as your “corporate” site. It’s the place that people go to after they’ve met you to learn more about who you are and the services you offer. Chances are that if you have a site, that’s the type you’ve got.

However, what you don’t want to do with your corporate site is to spend a lot of money driving traffic to it. And the reason why you don’t want to do that is because the overwhelming majority of the traffic will simply bounce off.

Although we all wish that this was different, the reality is that most visitors will not come back to your site once they leave. Even if they would like to come back, the internet is such a fast medium that we lose track of where we’ve been. (Just the other day I visited a really great site about “cold readings” and for the life of me can’t seem to find it again.)

The answer to getting actual new clients from your web presence is to create micro-sites. These are one-page sites that target a very specific niche market and offer them something of interest for free as an inducement for them to tell us who they are.

You can see an example of what I’m referring to HERE

Nothing earth shattering here. You’ve heard this before (even though you may still not actually be doing this.)

Which brings me to the story about Bill who’s a financial advisor. In all honesty…from purely a marketing standpoint…you couldn’t pick a worse business to be in. Most every financial advisor I’ve met gets into the business because they have a real and deep interest in the markets and investments, and they truly do want to help others.

However, there are enormous handcuffs and challenges these ladies and gentlemen face. (And even if you’re not a financial advisor, bear with me because Bill’s lesson is applicable to us all).

Financial advisors can’t do a lot of the really innovative and interesting marketing that the rest of us do because of legal and compliance reasons. And if that wasn’t bad enough, virtually every single solitary financial advisors will say that they are “targeting” high net worth individuals between the ages of 45-65.

And there are a lot (I mean a cargo ship full) of investment advisors.

All those people, chasing after exactly the same prospect with limits on how they market.

And then they make it harder on themselves…

…they all say the same thing.

Here’s what I mean. Let me quote from Bill’s website,

“Our mission is simple. To help our clients achieve their financial goals and dreams. We accomplish this through a comprehensive review of our clients’ investment objectives, combined with a conservative, long-term approach to investing and superior service. It is this commitment to excellence which has made our firm one of the premier financial services providers in the state…”

This all seems so nice…so obvious…so…safe.

But the problem is that you could slap any advisor’s name on the top of the page and the text would probably fit.

Which is expedient if you’re in the “set-up-websites-for-advisors-really-fast business” but it doesn’t make visitors curious to learn more about you.

And creating curiosity and interest is the key if you want to start developing a relationship.

So let’s compare what Bill has to another site. It’s also in the financial advising business. But this page says something different. Specifically:

“We now face the gravest financial dangers — and the greatest profit opportunities — in two generations. But before I tell you about what the future could bring, let me tell you how my family and I have come to this place and time.

Over a half century ago, my father founded our Sound Dollar Committee, a nonprofit organization with a clear mission — to promote a balanced budget, avoid the erosion of America’s credit, and defend the U.S. dollar.”

Which page do you think generates the greater interest?

Which page motivates visitors to want to learn more?

Not as any great surprise…it’s the second one.

Why?

A couple of reasons.

First is the tone. It’s personal. Welcoming. Immediately you know that there’s a real live person writing the words. There’s no pseudo corporate-speak.

Secondly, there’s a story. About the family. About the Sound Dollar Committee. It’s engaging. It draws you in and makes you want to learn more.

One tells a story-One doesn’t.

As I wrote last time, there’s a huge disconnect when it comes to marketing and sales stories.

Although we believe in the power of stories as a selling tool, in reality, we don’t use them as much (or as effectively) as we could (and should).

So take a look at your website. (Go ahead, do it right now-I’ll wait right here).

Are you telling a story?

Are you engaging on a personal level with your visitors?

If not…maybe it’s time to make some changes.

Food for thought
Mark

Related links:
If you read only one business book this year, this is one you should get:

Planning on some sales training for the rest of the year? Pass this link along to the key decision maker:

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If You Would Like For Me To Personally Work With You

Friday, September 10th, 2010


Obviously, I don’t know what business goals you’ve set for yourself.

As you might guess I believe the type of marketing system you need largely depends upon the type of vision you have for your company. Modest goals (and I’m not passing judgment) translate into modest marketing (or perhaps none at all). I know a number of business owners who although they complain about the feast or famine business cycles, have a business model that enables them to ride out the lean times. With extremely low overhead and limited expenses, they can survive and even turn a small profit with revenues under $100,000.

But certainly that’s not all of us. Others (and I would put myself into this category) desire for greater levels of success. Our vision is to influence a large audience, provide new thinking around our expertise and achieve a level of financial independence in which having the money to spend on the things your family wants is no longer an issue.

And to achieve that vision, one not only needs a plan, but one also needs to be able to implement the plan.

Which leads me to a question I am frequently asked, “Mark, if I wanted to work with you personally, what are the options?”

Basically there are three options. Let me review them very briefly here. If any of them sound interesting, send me an email (mark@gentlerainmarketing.com) and we’ll send you some more information.

The first is my Platinum Level Consulting program. This is the program in which I partner with you to grow your business. Thus, I’m writing and designing website landing pages, free reports, stay in touch messages, sales letters, advertisements…everything you need to take your business to the highest level.

This is my premium service and I’ll be the first to admit, it’s only right for a small handful of my subscribers. The way it works is that I earn a commission on the revenues we achieve together and realistically I expect to make a minimum of $50,000 per project. So if you don’t aspire to grow your business by $500K+, this isn’t for you. And, in the sprit of candor, although my compensation is based on the results we achieve together, the Platinum Program does require a $15,000 retainer-payable in 5 payments of $3000.

However, if you’re looking for substantial growth, have money to invest in marketing and are looking for a partner to help you achieve your goals…then perhaps this may be worth considering. Email if you want the PDF that tells you more. (Put something like “Platinum Info Please” in the subject line so I make sure to send you the right information.

Second is my coaching program. This is where I advise and mentor you on how to put your marketing system in place. The big problem with marketing, the reason so many attempts fail, is because people do things in the wrong order. For example, they get all excited about generating traffic to a website that visitors just bounce off from. Dumb, dumb, dumb. My goal with coaching is to have your first marketing campaign up and running, getting your more business inside of 60 days. Although you can have a single session of coaching with me ($250) the best deal is 3 sessions a month for 3 months @$495 per month. There’s more information HERE or if you’re serious and want to have a half hour conversation with me to discuss precisely how it works, send an email (or call). The info to reach me is at the bottom of this post.

Finally, there are my a la carte copywriting services. Need a landing page written that makes prospects curious to learn more about what you do? Want a sales letter that will attract new prospects like the world’s most powerful magnet? Need a success story that offers social proof that you’re the real deal? If you need any of those…you need to hire me. Again if you’re serious, send an email and I’ll send you my portfolio and fee schedule.

Look, I know that there are lots (and lots) of marketing consultants out there. Choosing the right one for you isn’t easy. But, all false modesty aside, you should know that I’ve helped clients grow their businesses by $2 million+, I’ve mentored start-ups to quickly grow to the $200,000+ level and everything in between. No matter the size stage you want to play on, I can show you how to get there.

For those of you who are new to Gentle Rain and may not know that much about me…before I started Gentle Rain in 1992 I was a senior person at two of the best marketing companies in the world (Pepsi & Kraft Foods). I started my career as an advertising copywriter, I’ve written 7 books, won all sorts of awards, made my clients lots of money. But what I treasure most is what people like turnaround specialist Van Lanier says, “We tripled our inquiries from qualified prospects and doubled our contact-to-close ratio using Mark’s system.”

At the end of the proverbial day, it’s all about getting you more business and making you more money. That’s what I do best.

Let me know if I can help you do precisely just that.

And again, thanks for being a subscriber to Gentle Rain Marketing.

Talk soon,
Mark
mark@gentlerainmarketing.com
770-643-8566

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Getting Known By Those Who Matter. The Brand Of You.

Tuesday, August 24th, 2010


I’m fascinated by branding. Perhaps it’s because I worked for two large consumer goods companies, Pepsi & Kraft Foods, where brands are what they live and die for.

But, branding in the world of consumer goods is very different than what you or I should do to build the brand of “You”.

A good to place to start, if we’re going to create a branding strategy, is to define what we mean by “branding”.

Here’s how Entrepreneur.com defines it: “Your brand is your promise to your customer. It tells them what they can expect from your products and services, and it differentiates your offering from that of your competitors. Your brand is derived from who you are, who you want to be and who people perceive you to be.”

That last sentence is particularly important and underscores one of the primary reasons why so many branding strategies just don’t gain much momentum.

People focus on the wrong stuff.

Here’s what I mean.

If the goal of the branding strategy is to become very well known by those who can hire you or refer you business, then the name of your company, your logo, website banner, the colors you choose for your marketing materials, becomes secondary.

What? The name of my company is “Secondary”? Bear with me-I’m not saying it doesn’t have value, I’m merely suggesting that you need to focus your efforts elsewhere.

Quite frankly, you just don’t have the marketing muscle and the financial resources to imprint a new name, or a logo onto the consciousness of your market. The last company to do that was Accenture, and estimates are that they spent over $200 million to do so. (Plus they had you-know-who as their celebrity endorser.)

So does that mean that attempting to brand yourself and your company (and I’m using the separate terms “yourself” and “your company” deliberately) is a fool’s errand? Not at all.

Rather, what I’m suggesting is that you approach branding from a different perspective. Remember the last sentence of the definition: “Your brand is derived from who you are, who you want to be and who people perceive you to be.”

A branding strategy has two distinct components. The story about the company and the story about the person behind the company. It’s the stories that get remembered, not the logo, not the name, not the font…the stories.

It’s a two-pronged strategy.

First are the stories about your company. These would include the stories about the problems you solve. Your case studies. Your successes. IMPORTANT… Remember that these need to be actual stories. Not three paragraphs which give a bare bones problem/result summary. Nobody’s going to remember those. And that’s what branding is all about-getting remembered by those who matter.

Flesh them out. Tell them in an interesting way. Make the reader or listener want to know what happened. If you engage me, not only will I remember you, but I’m also likely to tell your story to others.

Ted Irwin is a financial planner in St. Louis. He told me that his referrals went from 3 a month, to over a dozen. For him, that’s a huge jump. What did he do differently?

First, I’ll tell you what wasn’t responsible.

It wasn’t any new system, software, social media or marketing method. Ted gets almost all his business from speaking.

The change was that Ted shifted from telling audiences what he did, to sharing stories about his clients. Their hopes. Fears. Frustrations. How he helped. That got him remembered. That got his name passed along. That’s what quintupled his referrals rate.

That’s branding.

But it’s only the first part.

Back once again to the definition, “Your brand is derived from who you are, who you want to be and who people perceive you to be”.

The second area (and personally I think that this is the most important) is creating a brand around you. How you got into the business, how you experienced the pain your clients face, what you’re like as a person.

Judy McDonald is a HR consultant outside of Los Angeles. She’s been in business for 12 years and had by her own admission a practice that was, “OK, but not great.”

Her best year was 2009.

2009? Wasn’t that the year all the financial implosion occurred? When the unemployment rate went through the roof? When companies cut back on spending on anything deemed non-essential?

That was her best year?

It turns out that Judy made a shift in her marketing and branding strategy. She says, “I remember one thing you told me that you can’t out-McKinsey, McKinsey. If you’re not a big firm there’s no point in trying to be perceived as something you’re not. So I decided to take the opposite approach. I embraced my ‘smallness’ which meant that I started telling the Judy McDonald story.”

“Turns out that it resonated with people. HR executives at some very large companies liked my eclectic background as a former troubled teen, social worker and eventual leadership coach. It’s a unique story, that only I can tell, and it breaks through the clutter of all the ‘me-too’ solution providers that I compete against.”

“You wouldn’t think that a multi-billion dollar aerospace company would select me and my programs when they had the pick of all the large mega-firms in my space. But they did. And when I asked them why, they simply responded, ‘At the end of the day, we hire a person not a company.’”

Branding doesn’t need to be complex nor does it have to be expensive. If we remember that ultimately it’s all about being remembered by those who matter, then the strategy shifts from logos, fonts and image; to stories.

Well told stories about both your company and yourself.

That’s what gets you known. That’s what builds your brand.

Food for thought.
Mark

Related Links
Coaching on Developing your Stories

The Best Self-Study Marketing Program in the Universe (seriously)

Want me to write your website landing page or a sales letter for you?

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The Most Watched Business Speech Of All Time

Monday, August 9th, 2010


Last night I re-watched what I (and many others) consider to be one of the best speeches given by a business executive in the past 10 years.

Can you guess whom I’m referring to?

Ironically, it was a commencement speech given by one of the world’s foremost business visionaries-who never actually graduated from college.

It started this way.

“Thank you. I’m honored to be with you today for your commencement from one of the finest universities in the world. Truth be told, I never graduated from college and this is the closest I’ve ever gotten to a college graduation.

Today I want to tell you three stories from my life. That’s it. No big deal. Just three stories. The first story is about connecting the dots…”

It’s been viewed over 2.4 million times and is the only commencement speech to actually go viral. But most importantly it’s a model that all of us can learn from who aspire to gain greater attention for our marketing messages, motivate others or simply differentiate ourselves from the over-increasing hordes of competition.

You may have guessed that the speech I’m referring to is one given by Steve Jobs at Stanford University’s commencement exercises.

What made this speech so powerful? A large part of it is what Job’s said in the very beginning, “Today I want to tell you three stories from my life. That’s it. No big deal. Just three stories.”

A friend of mine who was there later told me that you could visibly see the audience’s level of attention increase as Jobs spoke those words.

Intellectually most of us know that if we want to get attention or persuade and motivate others, using stories is by far the most effective tool we have.

But do we really do it?

Unfortunately the answer is usually, “No”

A quick case in point.

I was in a meeting last week with a top senior sales executive for one of the largest financial services companies in the world. I was there to talk about my sales training program Unique Sales Stories: How To Get More Referrals, Differentiate Yourself From the Competition & Close More Sales Through Storytelling.

I could tell that Mr. Williams (he asked that I not use his real name although he did hire me to conduct the program for reasons that will be apparent in a moment), agreed wholeheartedly about the “concept” of using stories to more effectively develop relationships and close sales.

I could also tell that he thought his sales team:
1) Already knew how to tell stories, and…
2) Were doing a good job of it.

I could tell this because…well, he told me so.

Anyway, playing a hunch, I asked Mr. Williams if he would spare 2 more minutes and walk with me out on the sales floor. Humoring me, he agreed.

We walked past the desks of over 2 dozen financial advisors, all on the phone, all pitching their services. We’d stop periodically and eavesdrop.

Guess what we heard-or more specifically what we didn’t hear?

Not a single story.

Lots of facts. Lots of features. Lots of…noise. But not a single story that would enable prospects and clients to visualize the benefits these advisors were offering.

I’m sure you get my point.

There’s a world of difference between intellectually knowing something and actually doing it. Even more importantly…as I suggested to Mr. Williams, there is a huge difference between knowing what you should be doing and actually how to do it.

Which is why Mr. Williams is now a client.

But let me go back to Steve Jobs’ speech for a moment. After I watched the speech again I got curious. I’m a big fan (in fact I’m likely to be the only person you’ll ever meet who actually has never used a PC), but I was curious about something.

Does Steve Jobs wing it when he gives a speech? I mean the guy is one gifted speech giver. It wouldn’t surprise me in the least if he did.

But apparently he doesn’t. Not by a long shot.

I had the opportunity to do some work with Apple about 15 years ago and have stayed in contact with the person who hired me. (Not a big surprise-I am the Gentle Rain guy after all.) Anyway, he had a lot of interaction with the CEO so I posed the question of whether Mr. Jobs did much preparation prior to giving a speech. He replied:

“You wouldn’t believe how much preparation goes into making these speeches look completely unrehearsed and natural. The content is excruciatingly and painstakingly reviewed to make sure the ‘points’ come across. Absolutely nothing is left to chance. The preparation and the practice is the stuff behind the scenes, that very few are aware of, that makes the end result so powerful.”

So here’s something to think about…

Stories are powerful.

Stories get you remembered.

They help you develop more brand new relationships and convert prospects into paying clients.

But knowing and agreeing with those statements is worlds apart from actually developing those unique sales stories that only you can tell.

Perhaps that is something I can help you with. Whether it is training your sales team on how to develop and deliver sales stories…to coaching you one on one…to writing a great sales story for your website…please let me know how I can assist you.

Thanks and I look forward to speaking with you soon.
Mark
mark@gentlerainmarketing.com
770-643-8566

Relevant links:
Learn more about my sales training
Let me coach you one-on-one
Need a great sales story written for you?
Steve Jobs YouTube video:
Transcript of the speech:

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A Quick Tip For Creating Great Sales Stories

Thursday, August 5th, 2010


What makes a sales or marketing story interesting and motivates a prospective client to pay attention? How do we develop and communicate a message so that gets attention? The most effective sales stories are the ones that enable the listener or reader to picture a desired outcome. In other words, you need to paint a picture with your words.

Far too often sales stories are little more than a restating of the obvious. While this may be the safe path to travel, it’s not a particularly interesting one, which is why it is so important to have an opinion about your particular area of expertise.

Although that sounds perfectly fine in theory, what exactly does developing a different opinion mean? How do we do that? One of the easiest methods is to develop a system or process for implementing your particular type of solution. Thus, the opinion becomes that your process is what works. When people mess up the implementation phase, it’s usually because they fail to follow the process, or do things out of order.

Another alternative is to develop a contrarian point of view. What is the prevailing belief among people in your field? Why might that opinion be incorrect? It’s true that people are attracted to those who have a strong opinion and will tend to give them a greater look. It’s the people who get stuck in the middle of the bell-shaped curve who are ignored..

Unfortunately far too many fledgling storytellers think that they can just get away with making it up as they go along. After all, we’ve told stories to each other since we were children. Are we not taking something that is pretty simple and trying to make it complicated?

The reality is that there is a huge difference between communicating a story to your friends and telling a sales story that is designed to get you more referrals, differentiate you from the competition or help you close more sales.

To develop that type of sales story you need to start at the end. First you must determine what the point is that you want to make? What do you want your listener or reader to do once they have heard the story? That is the only way that you’ll construct a story that truly advances the sales process.

The true purpose of a great sales story is not to just entertain. It’s to accelerate the selling cycle or create an initial level of curiosity about who you are and what you do. While simply speaking off the cuff may work in social situations, a more calculated approach is what is needed in the highly competitive sales arena.

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How To Use Trojan Horse Marketing To Attract New Clients.

Thursday, July 15th, 2010


An interesting short article in SalesForceExp magazine about “What Business Are You Really In?” It reminded me about the power of Trojan Horse Marketing.

For example, on the surface one might think that your local cinema is in the movie business. But they’re not.

The movie is just the “Trojan Horse” for their real business, which is selling popcorn and refreshments. As the article points out, “Cinemas are fast food businesses that happen to offer entertainment.”

So why is this worth thinking about?

Because most services business use a straight ahead-direct-battering-ram approach when attempting to get new business.

And there’s a much more effective way that achieves far better results. Let me explain…

You’d put it more elegantly, but the general gist of most marketing messages tends to be…

Hi…If you suffer from (problem) I have a solution for you. As the leading (financial planner/executive recruiter/technology consultant/Fill-In-Your-Expertise-Here) we have extensive experience working with…(well you know the rest.)

Now there’s nothing inherently bad about that. However the problem is that everyone (or at least all your competition) is taking pretty much that same approach. That’s one of the reasons why it’s so difficult to stand out.

Alternatively, the Trojan Horse strategy approaches the target market at an angle. It may not be immediate obvious what in fact the ultimate objective is.

You see this many times with infomercials. You know, the ones that sell a $8 doo-hickey like some sort of goofy lure that fisherman can use to catch “the really big one that got away”. You’ve probably said to yourself, “How in the world after spending all this money on advertising can they make any money selling something so inexpensive?”

And the answer is…”The can’t.” (And they aren’t.)

In most cases what they are really doing is building a list of buyers of fishing equipment and then selling that list to lots of manufacturers and marketers who sell rods, reels and other fishing equipment.

There’s a lot of money in fishing.

Now they could have used the straight ahead approach, “Give me your contact information and we’ll have a lot of fishing manufacturers send you stuff you might like to buy.” They’d get the really hard core fish fanatics that way. But that’s just a teensy tiny segment of the market.

But they used a Trojan Horse, and now have a list of people who have actually bought fishing stuff.

That’s worth big bucks to others who want to sell fishing stuff, since it’s a proven list of buyers (as opposed to just those who are interested in fishing).

So how does the Trojan Horse approach work with services firms?

Here’s an example.

I’m about to launch a new sales training initiative. It’s my one day sales training program, Unique Sales Stories: How To Get More Referrals, Differentiate Yourself From The Competition & Close More Sales Through The Power Of Stories.

Now I could just create a nice PowerPoint presentation, brochure, website, direct mail campaign ect and market this to sales executives and training directors.

Might work.

But the sales training field is very competitive. Lots of programs vying for attention.

And there are a lot of heavy hitters, companies with far bigger budgets than mine who are mailing their brochures to the same people I want to hire me.

So I need a Trojan Horse.

And I’ve got one.

It’s a book. Not a eBook but a real paperbound book, published by a real publishing house -it’s even got some pictures in it. Pretty cool if I say so myself.

I wrote this book over a 6-week period of time this spring and early summer.

Was my goal to have a best seller?
Was my goal to sell a lot of books?
Was my goal to get “famous”?

Nope.

My goal is to sell a lot of sales training programs. And my book is my Trojan Horse.

Instead of doing what all my competition is doing…sending sales training brochures, having their sales reps cold call training directors and sales executives pitching their sales training programs…guess what I’m going to do?

I’m sending some very targeted direct mail and implementing other very-focused marketing to one niche market that I think has a burning need for this program. (After I hit that one market I’ve got 9 others that are on the list.)

But I’m not going to be talking about sales training in my sales letters, emails and ads.

Nope.

What I’m going to be doing is offering this very targeted and very specific audience a FREE copy of my book.

Guess how many of my competitors are doing this?
What’s their approach?

The straight-ahead-direct-battering-ram approach.

I’ve done this before, the last time I was in the training business. (For reasons I won’t bore you with I’ve been in and out of the training biz periodically for the last 12 years.) The last time I was marketing a program on how to gain access to top decision makers.

Similar model.

Wrote a book. You may have heard of it, Power Prospecting: How To Gain Access To Key Decision Makers (http://www.gentlerainselling.com)

Direct mail to partners at large consulting firms offering the book. Had a small sales team follow up with those who “raised their hands”. (Gave them a great incentive: 50% of the fee for the first training program a company bought and 20% ongoing for all subsequent sessions. With initial commissions of $2250 and then $900 for each subsequent program, my sales team made some serious money…BTW I’m offering the same sales incentive program again so let me know if you want in on it.)

The seminar went head-to-head with at least 7 other programs focusing on the same issue-all of who had been around for at least 5 years.

Using the Trojan Horse strategy we sold $1 million of training in the first 18 months.

All because my team and I were able to get attention by offering something that was “one-off” from the standard straight ahead-direct-battering-ram approach.

And I’m going to do it again.

But the really important point is…so could you.

It doesn’t have to be a book or a movie theater. What it does have to be is something creative that gets people to initially raise their hands. I’ve helped my coaching clients strategize on these and we’ve created some outstanding programs in over 17 different niche markets.

But here’s why most everyone won’t do it.

It requires a lot of thinking.

And planning.

There are a lot of moving parts.

It’s not quick…

But projects that have a potential $1 million payoff seldom are.

So what might be your Trojan Horse?

Summer is good for lots of things. One of which is planning how you’re going to grow your business in the fall.

I’m launching my Unique Sales Stories Sales training program. (And maybe helping some of you with your business launches.)

What will you be doing?

Food for thought.
Mark

Related links
http://www.gentleraincoaching.com
http://www.gentlerainblueprint.com
http://www.gentleraincopywritng.com

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This is what you need to do-every single day.

Thursday, May 27th, 2010


What you need to do every single day.

This was probably some of the best advice I ever got. Sadly, I can’t remember who gave it to me-but that doesn’t minimize how helpful it was (and continues to be).

This advice is what has gotten me through lean times…

It’s what’s gotten me unstuck when I sit in front of my computer wondering “Okay, what should I do now?”

It’s arguably, what’s enabled me to work with great clients and have a lifestyle that meets my particular wants & needs.

Here it is…

Every day (without exception) do something to promote your business.

Kind of a “duh” wouldn’t you say?

But there’s a bit more to it. And this is the important part.

What you do every day doesn’t have to be huge. It doesn’t have to be massive. It doesn’t have to reach thousands of people.

It could be something as simple as writing a letter to a prospect. (Perhaps I’m old school but with so much email, a letter that arrives in the mail does so without the competition it used to have. It means something.)

It could be something as simple as calling a former colleague and re-establishing a relationship.

It could be something as simple as tearing an article out of a newspaper or magazine, sticking it in an envelop with a two-line handwritten note and sending it to a prospect or client.

Or something else.

But here’s what it’s not.

It’s not thinking about any of the above.

It’s not planning to do any of the above when you have more time.

It’s not researching something…

It is doing something.

Just one simple thing…every day.

A wise man once said that we grossly overestimate what we can accomplish in a month, and grossly underestimate what we can accomplish in a year.

One year…365 days…each of which you do at least one thing to promote your business…stay in touch…introduce yourself to someone new.

You’ll be amazed at the relationships you build.

This is my “one simple thing” for today. (Yesterday I called two people I’ve lost touch with. The day before I mailed one letter.)

What’s your “one simple thing” for today?

Go do it…Now.

I’ll talk with you soon,

Mark

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