Increase Your Sales Results

In my last blog, I mentioned I believe the new best practices for the online product marketing industry will find their way into the more traditional phone and face to face selling approaches. I received a number of email responses asking how I saw this working .... thought I would use this opportunity to communicate some of my thoughts.

As you target your prospects and start to think about what you will say in that 1st e-mail you draft when reaching out to them, consider planning out your own sales campaign. I won't take the time in this blog to discuss exactly what you should be saying as you communicate throughout the process of trying to get a sale. The sales psychology and "hooks" to address in communications is for another blog .... I will focus on what the sales campaign process might look like.

As a part of the process, I recommend you use video. Today's technology makes this very easy with virtually no cost to do so. Trust me ... this can be easily done....it can also be something you can use over and over in your selling process. 

Knowing how hard it is to reach someone by phone or in person in the early stages of the selling process, video provides you the fastest path to creating trust and rapport in your communications.

If the objective of a sales campaign is to sell an information product, I would create a sales campaign a certain way. In this blog, I am assuming you have a product or service that you are currently selling over the phone or in person and will continue to do so.

Consider an approach where you understand your buyer needs. If you want to clarify that for yourself, answer the following questions about your buyer.

1. What are the things you have learned that your prospects/customers should know and don't?
2. What are the things that frustrate your prospects/customers?
3. What terrifies your prospects/customers the most about what they do?
4. Most of your prospects/customers have no idea how to do ...... 
5. What are the questions your prospects/customers seem to always have?
6. What are the questions your prospects/customers should be asking and they are not yet asking?
7. What do your prospects/customers need to double the results they need to produce in their role?
8. How can you add more value for your prospects/customers?

As you think through your responses above, consider what topics would add value for your prospects/customers. These topics will begin to create your path to identifying what information you can provide your prospect that will help them with a challenge or obstacle they are facing. Now you package this information into a 3 part video series that you integrate into your sales campaign.  

1. Send email #1 with video #1 to your prospect ...
2. 2 or 3 days later, send email #2 with video #2 to your prospect ...
3. 2 or 3 days later, send email #3 with video #3 to your prospect ...
4. 2 or 3 days later, reach out with your 1st call.

Very important to remember .... don't try to sell your prospect anything in your 1st 3 emails & 3 videos. All you are doing is helping them with a challenge or obstacle they face regardless of whether or not they buy anything from you. You don't begin to sell until you make your connection by phone.

When you reach out for that 1st call, you will have already provided them real value in what you taught them in the video series .... as a sales professional told me over lunch today, "it sorta takes consultative selling to a whole new level."

Through the use of video, they have gotten to know you a little ... you have started to build some real rapport assuming your video was created with truly high value content to them ... addressing a real need they have.

You will tell them if the information you provided through the videos was of real value, you can help them even more through your products and services they can buy from you.   

There are effective ways to script your emails and video content that are important details for another time. Consider the sales campaign process at this point in time. There are no obstacles to implementing this approach. Today's technology platforms and video capture methods are easy to setup and can be managed right at your desk.

If you are a sales person responsible for your own sales results or playing a role in sales management & responsible for growing sales through your sales force, TAKE ACTION TODAY. 

You will find this online sales campaign approach will produce better results .... it will also create a buzz that will differentiate you in your market.

Good luck .... let me know if I can help!

Follow @PatAlacqua

Growing Sales - New Approach for Creating Trust & Rapport with Prospects & Customers

Are you finding it harder to connect with your target prospects and customers?

Is technology making it easier in some ways to connect, but harder in others when it comes to trying to build trust and rapport?

Do you find yourself trying to get to the sale faster these days ..... before you have built the right foundation of connection between you and the buyer .... when you reach someone are you concerned because you don't know how often email and voice mail and text messages will stand in your way the next time you reach out?

Online sales communication strategies and systems are ready to effectively integrate with the more traditional phone and face to face sales methods to more effectively build trust and rapport with targets.

I have been spending a great deal of time over the last 6 months learning the best practices for building a business around Thought Leaders and Experts. People who have a high degree of skill in or knowledge of a certain topic. Someone who takes a specific topic/focus for what they have learned ... have become an expert in ... package it in a way that a target audience will find it useful and of high value .... and willing to "pay for it."

It has been an interesting journey from positioning to developing integrated suite of information products to the latest online sales campaigns and the technology infrastructure required to deliver messages and products. As is always the case with technology, things have changed so fast in the last couple of years, what is available now to support this kind of business online is so simple to set up and the costs are nominal to get started. I wish these alternatives existed 4 years ago when I was working on my own online "pilot" in partnership with an NBA Team. I would have spent less time and money on technology development & management and more time focusing on proving the concept and strategy.

As I have been taking my own years of business building experience and adding the "Expert" niche best practices to it, I have gotten into many conversations with people. Exploring opportunities with those who fit the Thought Leader/Expert role and how I can help them build a business around their area of expertise.

All this has also gotten me considering how the new best practices for online product marketing and sales will ultimately be more effectively integrated with the more traditional phone or face to face selling methods. When looking at the online marketing industry through the "rearview mirror," the perception is not always a good one ...... it is all about sell .. sell .. sell...do and say whatever you have to say to sell something to someone online.

Looking through the "windshield," There is a big shift taking place. Rather than sell .. sell .. sell....it is about "giving to receive." Online sales campaign best practices are more about building trust and rapport with a target audience without even discussing the product sale until multiple interactions with the target customer has delivered real value at no cost ..... regardless of whether or not they buy anything. This approach is building relationships online through trust and rapport that typically was not happening in how the online strategies were once implemented.

Now that the online sales strategy & implementation capabilities have come so far with new cost effective solution alternatives that are easy to get started and manage, I believe more and more businesses should be creating integrated suites of information products for their target audiences. Some of these businesses may choose to provide these new products bundled with their core offerings ..... some will see these new products as an opportunity for new high margin revenue streams. Whichever way these companies decide to go, I envision the approach to selling in these companies will be changing and will be using these online approaches to support the more traditional methods of building trust and rapport in the sale process to manage customer relationships and close more sales.

Are you trying to better differentiate who you are in your market?

Are you competing in a mature market & finding it harder and harder to differentiate other than price reductions that keep squeezing your margins?

Get started today and create a real tangible way to differentiate. Create high value informational products or programs that complement your core offerings. These products can truly address needs and pain points your prospects and customers are searching to address.  Start today building this into your product strategy and integrate online sales campaigns with your current phone and face to face approaches to close more sales.

Let me know how I can help!!!


 
Follow @PatAlacqua

Position Yourself as a Thought Leader ... an Expert

Think about all the things you have learned on your career journey .... the things you have mastered ...

Consider positioning yourself as a thought leader in a "select" topic area .... someone with knowledge, advice and "how to" information that helps/adds value for a target audience ....

Take a specific topic/area of focus for what you have learned .... package it in a way that a target audience will find it useful and of high value ..... and willing to pay for it .....

Provide high value to others by "creating" information that can improve results ..... focus on creating products around your area of expertise .....

6 Steps to Building a Business ..... around your area of expertise ....

1. Choose a topic/area to focus on ..... decide what you will teach & choose a target audience to teach it to
2. Discover your audience's problems ...... identify their pain points and needs
3. Position your expertise ... create your story
4. Create something to sell .... create a product suite .... make it easy to experience & learn what you know and can share .... create a "buyer's path" that continues to add value and keeps them buying from you
5. Create an online infrastructure for marketing, sales, fulfillment & customer service .... this is not hard or costly ... there are low cost & easy to implement online systems available today .... systems that are managed and maintained online by others.
6. Create sales campaigns .... step-by-step communications to actively sell your products online and through promotional partners.

Get started today leveraging your career journey of learning .... create and sell products & services around your area of expertise.

Follow @PatAlacqua

Discovering Your New Product Concept

I find myself thinking all the time what might a new idea or concept be that I could launch & build a business around. I am also asked the same by others ... "How can I identify an idea or concept to build a business around." Many of us are looking for that next opportunity we can launch!

My recommended approach is to consider the target audience you would like to serve. Gather information from those target customers. The information you learn from them will often create the path to identifying a new product or service they may be willing to pay for if you were to create it.

Here are some questions to ask and sentences to finish for use when gathering insights from your target audience. The insights you get from the people you talk with will leave you clues on what kind of products, programs and/or services you might consider creating.

Here goes ....

1. My target customers feel they are falling short in this area ....
2. Most of my target customers would pick a fight to protect the belief that ....
3. Most of my target customers have no idea how to .....
4. Most of my target customers have the goal to .....
5. Most of my target customers deeply value ....
6. Most of my target customers are terrified that ......
7. Most of my target customers are frustrated with these things .....
8. Most of my target customers are held back by these things ....
9. What are your target customers trying to accomplish this year? (learn this ......, master this ....., achieve this ....., have this ...., to be this ....., to feel this ...., to experience this lifestyle ...., avoid this forever ......
10. What do your target customers need to double the results they are responsible for in their business?
11. What strategies have your target customers tried to improve their desired outcomes? What has worked? What has not worked?
12. What do your target customers search (google) for ..... topics and key words?
13. What do your target customers hate to do?
14. What do your target customers love to do?
15. What do your target customers pay good money for?
16. What are the 10 questions (FAQs) your target customers seem to always have?
17. What are the 10 questions your target customers should be asking and they are not yet asking?
18. How can you add more value for your target customers and make their lives more interesting?

After gathering all the above information from your target customers, ask yourself what products, programs or services you could create that would be perceived as high value by your target customers. Would they be willing to pay for them?

Take action now to learn these customer insights and you will be 1 step closer to identifying that new product idea or concept you can get excited about! 

Let me know any comments or questions you have in the comment section below. I will respond just as soon as I can!

Follow @PatAlacqua

Plan for 2013 - 4 Questions to Ask Yourself

As you consider your plans for 2013, ask yourself these 4 questions.

1. What frustrates you the most about your business?
2. What are you trying to accomplish this year?
3. What do you think you'd need to double your business this year?
4. What strategies have you tried to improve your business that worked and didn't work?

Share your thoughts with your Advisor or Business Coach for discussion on how she/he can help you.

I would love to hear some of your comments in the comment section below this blog. I will personally take the time to respond.

 

Follow @PatAlacqua

Product Path to The Future - Do You Have Clarity?

Is your company's growth rate at or below your industry's growth rate?

Is your annual growth rate greater then your industry's growth rate?

How much time do you spend focusing on your products and services?

Are your product/service initiatives focused on increasing your productivity?

Are your product/service initiatives focused on maintaining your current revenue levels or getting you incremental revenue growth?

Are your product/service initiatives focused on outcomes that will grow market share and reach annual growth rates exceeding your industry's growth rate?

Most companies will find 90% of their product/service initiatives are focused on streamlining and improving their margins or maintaining revenue and at best attaining incremental revenue gains. This is especially true as industry and product life cycles reach the maturing stage of development.

The key is to fight the urge to do what everyone else is doing and shift some focus and $$ to product/service initiatives that will help build your market share. When this is done successfully, your rate of growth will exceed that of your industry's growth rate.

Consider where your competitors are focused. How does that compare to where you are focused? Ask yourself the following product/service questions about your competitors and your own company.

1. Is the focus on adding additional features to existing products?
2. Is the focus on finding new ways to bundle/package and price our current products?
3. Are there creative approaches to bundling products/services that are outside our types of products that would motivate prospects to buy our products/services if they were bundled together?
4. Are products/services being offered to address needs of specific customer segments?

As industry and company products/services mature, you will find there is a strong focus on adding additional features to existing products or finding new ways to bundle and price current products/services. 

Shift some of your focus to strategies and initiatives that will find products/services outside your product category that your prospects and customers have a high need for and bundle them with your products. 

Also spend time identifying specific customer segments for your products/services. Get clarity on their unmet needs and how you can offer personalized solutions that specifically meet the segment's needs.

Continually finding ways to differentiate your company's products/services is critical at all times. Even more so when your industry and company products/services have reached the mature phase of the product/service life cycle.

Ensure you have the right product/service strategy systems in place. Your products & services ARE your company. Product planning and development is something that needs to be done on a consistent ongoing basis. Without this, your strategy will default to reacting to your competitors. Get clarity on your product path to the future. Put your competitors in the position of reacting to what you are doing.

 
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Managed Content Marketing - Get New Customers

Do you want to establish your company's reputation as an expert and thought leader in your field?

Do you want to attract new customers to build your business?

Do you want to increase the awareness of your company & create a dominant presence in your communities?

Are you considering the most effective approach for driving more people to your web site?


All businesses are facing the challenge of finding ways to promote their services with far less funds. The time has never been better for your marketing efforts to embrace managed content marketing.

By promoting your own Branded Digital Magazine communication vehicle that offers relevant, trusted information and advice to your customers and prospects, you can build a readership to which you can communicate messages directly and in a time sensitive manner.

Are you asking yourself how you create and distribute something like this inlight of all the other marketing tasks that have to be completed on a regular basis?

Outsource it all to someone who can create the content, publish your branded magazine and have it ready for distribution as often as you want to send it ...... at a price point that makes sense. If you don't have someone you already work with, we can do all this for you.

Three (3) basic questions to ask to get started.

1. What type of information is important to share with your customers and prospects?
2. How often do you want to share this info? (monthly, quarterly, annually, seasonally)
3. From whom should the information come from?  Are there types of messengers who have more credibility than others when delivering select types of information?

If you want to explore the use of your own Digital Magazine as a high impact outreach communication tool, please contact me at palacqua@bluemagnetpartners.com. We can get you started right away.

Follow @PatAlacqua