Effective landing page copy is written from the buyers’ perspective, not yours. Be sure to tell them how your product or service solves the challenge that brought them to you. Many successful organizations have
The 5 Biggest And Surprising Mistakes That Kill Success At Shows And Events
The potential sales and earning from shows and events are huge and many companies spend a serious amount on shows. Some are extremely successful and some are disappointing. This article takes a look at the four biggest errors we have observed that reduce or can kill your success at shows and event.
Error #1 Using Non Sales Staff
As shows approach, many sales staff members suddenly remember appointments and presentations that have to be made during the show. This leaves that show understaffed. Many times a company is forced to use non-professional sales staff to man the show and that can lead to failure. If you must use non-professional sales staff, show training becomes even more critical to success. Never man a show with untrained staff.
Error #2 No Specific Goals
Before you book a show, you should decide the goal to be achieved from your investment. Are you there for “exposure”? Are you there to set appointments with new clients or customers? If so how many should each staff member achieve? Are you there to sell? If so, what and how much? Setting and monitoring goals makes a very big difference in results achieved at all types of shows and events.
Error #3 No Specific Activity Quotas
Each staff member should have a set activity quota for the show. Not having one turns the show into a lazy day for socializing. Pressure to perform keeps staff working and digging. For example, if your goal is to set appointments for future follow up, you might set a goal of one appointment every 10 minutes or 6 per hour. Having a quota for activities like sales or new clients or actual appointments tells your staff what you expect. Best of all, these goals are measurable in numbers. You won’t need to rely on feelings like “It’s going well, Boss”.
Error #4 No Show Training
Shows are different that regular sales situations. Each area of show selling is not what your team is used to in non-show situations. They need to qualify faster, They need to present better, they need special show reasons to act and more. Training your staff on specific tactics and scripts for the show is critical. Without this training only natural born show salespeople will succeed.
Error #5 No Management Supervision
If you have assigned special activity quotas and scripts, managers need to work the show if you are serious about success. If managers cannot work the entire show, they should stop by unannounced to see what is happening and to measure results at random times. When they arrive, they should ask each member of the staff if they can see the results…client names and contact information, appointments set and sales orders. If these actual results meet or exceed the designated quota, the manager should praise the staff member. If they do not, the, manager should go over the scripts and goals and assist the salesperson in understanding and being able to achieve the goals. If this is done regularly throughout the show, each staff member will be a success and so will the overall show.
Take an inventory of these errors and see which ones you may be committing. We know from experience with hundreds of clients that a few changes in theses areas will make a huge difference to your show results without costing you any additional investment.
For more information on how you can sell more and earn more at trade shows and community events, visit www.salesandmanagementsolutions.com/lp_pro_shows.htm This 90 minute DVD is on sale for only $49.95 plus shipping and is fully guaranteed for 30days. Order at the site or call us at 716-504-0314.
Would You Ever Pay $150.00 For A Bird Feeder?
This article is intended to put the fear of low prices and low priced competitors in perspective so you can sell more and discount less. It is designed to share with you the fact that your customers don’t buy prices, they buy value and they buy solutions. When we focus on price, we lose control, we lose sales and we lose money. If you usually discount or lose sales over price, we have good news for you.
Take as an example, a bird feeder. This is a simple device that holds seeds for birds. The inexpensive brands start at about $9.00. There are hundreds on line and at big-box, low-price stores like Walmart. If you sold bird feeders, would you assume that most customers would have to get it at the low Walmart price to buy? That is exactly the assumption many of us make in our sales. If there is a supplier at a low price, we assume our customers know and will want to buy from them and that the lowest price is the benchmark that all other prices are measured by.
Back to the bird feeder. I bought a bird feeder that cost $150.00. Now before you offer me your swamp land in Florida, let me explain why I did and why I am very happy with my purchase. You see, I like birds but I don’t like squirrels. Squirrels don’t sing, they eat a lot and they are basically rats with fluffy tails. I tried a lot to get rid of them but nothing was effective. Like your customers, I was searching for a solution to a problem.
One day I saw a bird feeder with a motorized perch. When a squirrel touches the perch, a motor starts and whips the squirrel off the feeder. It’s entertaining and safe, but best of all, it got rid of my pesky squirrels. Now, this feeder cost $150.00…that’s 15 times what usual feeders cost. Worse yet, I already had a perfectly good feeder that I would have to throw away. It took me about 5 seconds to make up my mind and make the purchase.
This example shows that you, me and your customers buy solutions not price. If the problem is bad enough and the solutions is good enough, price is not an issue. We all need to concentrate on finding the problems our customers want to solve and presenting a great solution.
There are a lot of skills in doing this. The words we use are important, timing is essential and so is finding out exactly what our customers want solved. We discuss all the skills you need to be able to sell solutions and stop worrying about price in our DVD The Price Doesn’t Mater which is available at www.pricedoesntmatter.com or by calling 716-504-0314.
The Price Doesn’t Matter - Do Mercedes Salespeople Stay Up All Night Worrying About Low Kia Prices?
Although many salespeople feel their competitors or suppliers cause any price problems they experience, our company has found that there are many other factors from our own beliefs, to the words we use to timing and more that actually cause our price challenges.
In this article, I wanted to raise an important question. Do Mercedes salespeople stay up all night worrying that people will discover they can buy a Kia for about 20% of the cost of a Mercedes? I mean those Kia people are selling for 80% less! Man if that gets out, no one will buy a Mercedes right?
I am sure you will agree that statement is wrong. Mercedes salespeople are well aware of the value they provide that is far different from Kia, Ford or used vehicles that cost far less. I think you will find these salespeople are very confident and that they sleep like babies..
If you had a competitor that sold for 80% less than you would you be as confident?
You should be, because studies show that no matter what customers tell you, only 14% buy due to price alone and not value. You don’t buy for price and neither do your customers. Take your home as an example. Do you live in the absolute cheapest home you could buy or rent in your town, despite condition, neighborhood safety, size, schools etc? I doubt it.
Do you have on the cheapest shoes you could have purchased at the lowest cost thrift shop in your county even if they are not your size or don’t match? Again, probably not. You do not buy exclusively for price, but for value and so do your customers.
You are probably wondering why price objections come up so much if price doesn’t matter. The answer is that consumers know it is the easiest one to use. Our training for our clients covers many objections and many ways to deal with them but price is definitely a consumer favorite. It is the objection many salespeople actually agree with (deep down inside) and the one salespeople give up with the easiest.
Let’s look at one way we may cause our own problems with price…the words we use.
Have you ever said something like “the list price is”. As soon as we say that, we are telling the customer in code that we don’t really expect that price. If we say the “list price is”, it implies that there is another (lower) price. Try not using that phrase and you will see an immediate difference in how much price objection you face.
Another foot shooting phrase might be “we just got a new price list and of course, everything is going up with the price of oil.” The problem with this phrase is that it is depressing. It makes the customer feel that the price you are going to quote is high. No one wants to pay a high price. Now, imagine if you said, “I have very good news. Everything we talked about today is only $XXXXX.XX.” It’s not a big difference but I hope you agree that the feeling imparted is much better. It’s more optimistic. It’s a price there is more of a chance the client will want to latch onto.
Timing is important too. As we say in other articles and videos, Never Tell Them The Price Until They Fall In Love With The Product. Telling the price too early is very bad. Timing is extremely important and so is the control it takes to reveal the price on your schedule.
This article is designed just to make you realize that having competitors with low prices is not affecting you any more than it affects those Mercedes salespeople. There are lots of techniques that will make a difference and they are certainly worth spending the time and effort to master.
Few objections come up as regularly as price objections. How much training have you had from experts on how to turn those objections into sales? We hope you agree it will be worth the effort.
For more information, on our DVD The Price Doesn’t Matter, visit www.pricedoesntmatter.com or call 716-504-0314.
Secret Sales Tool We All Possess – The Power Of Curiosity
All salespeople have a powerful tool they can use to get more sales. It is simply the amazing power of curiosity. You know more than your customer and they want your knowledge or they wouldn’t be talking to you! Let’s take a look at a few ways you can use this power in sales situations.
Getting Customers To Call You Back
Weak salespeople leave messages that leave nothing to the imagination and spark no curiosity. Messages like, “Hello, this is Kyle. I am calling to introduce myself as your new account manager. Give me a call at 555-1212.” Yikes! Who would feel compelled to return that call? How high would it be on your priority list.
Using the power of curiosity, the new account manager could leave a message that peaks interests more. “Hello Fred. I am calling to apologize. This is Kyle. I am your new account manager and I just discovered that you have not been informed about a service we have been offering our clients that I believe will save you about $1,200.00 a month on what you currently spend with us. I apologize for this oversight and we will make it up to you. Call me as soon as you can at 555-1212 so I can get you these savings. This is so important, I will meet with you any time of day that suits you. In fact, I will drop by your office on Thursday at 11:00 if I do not hear from you to be sure to give you this information and start your savings.
I hope you can see that the curiosity generated by this example will increase the odds of a call back. Curiosity can move your call up the priority pile.
Explaining The Price
Another use of the power of curiosity is in dealing with price. In most sales situations, the customer wants a brochure and a price. The salesperson wants a sale. Who is getting what they want in most of your sales situations? Curiosity can help.
Weak salespeople blurt out the price. Some even write it on a card or a brochure and give it to the prospect, creating a “license to shop”. Stronger salespeople have reasons why they need to customize the price for the client. They use this leverage to find out how many units the customer wants per month, when they want it installed, terms and many other factors that get the conversation going and gets the customer revealing what they want and need. Never reveal the price too early. Great salespeople use the order form as worksheet to estimate custom process and then simply get it signed at the end. In doing this, they are using the power of curiosity about price to open up the customer.
In some industries it is customary to give a quote. Estimates are important but they should be worked into a closing situation and never “left” or stapled to a card or brochure. Remember that if the customer has a brochure and a price, they don’t need you any more. No wonder they will not call you back or set up a second meeting. If you want a sale or a second meeting, you need to keep the customer curious so they want more.
These are just a couple of ways to use the tremendous leverage of the power of curiosity. I hope you use curiosity to increase your sales and profits.
Remember not to give too much information. We are not there to educate, we are there to sell. Many salespeople who do great presentations but sell little have simply revealed to much. Use the power of curiosity to keep the most important information to yourself until you can trade the customer what they want for what you want.
For more information, or to get Carl’s free evaluation copy v-book, If You Can Make Love, You Can Make Sales visit www.salesandmanagementsolutions.com
Selling More Door To Door - Tips On Door To Door Sales
Door to door sales require special daily preparation to be successful. Door to door sales allows less time for a good impression. Door to door sales require ways to dull the pain of rejection. This article discusses several ways to do these important steps in door to door success.
The First Door Is The Car Door
The hardest thing about door to door sales is getting started. They say the first door is the car door and what it means is that it’s tough to get out and start knocking. You need to convince yourself every day that you are helping people by telling them about your product or service. You need to sell yourself until you feel sorry for anyone who does not have your products or services. This is critical to give you the courage to Read the rest of this entry »
Tips For Successful Landing Pages
Beginners in web marketing often direct their Pay per click ads to their home site. This is a serious error. Prople who click should be sent to a separate landing page that utilizes the words they used to find your ad. For example, one of my most success ads uses the key words “learn to sell” and the landing page opens with the headline “learn to sell”. This allows the visitor to quickly realized they came to the right site. Don’t make visitors find the button or topic on your main web site. They won’t do it.
“Officer, I’d Like To Report A Missing Sales Department”
We were doing a small seminar last week when we noticed that only one company in the room actually had a sales department. The rest thought they did and probably would say they did but when we analyzed the situation, they realized they actually had misplaced their sales department a few years ago and hadn’t noticed.
This led us to the realization that sales departments can be inadvertently misplaced and closed. This is extremely detrimental to the business because a business without a sales department is just a ghost of what it could be.
Has your Sales department disappeared or been misplaced? Here are a few ways to find out.
Percentage Of Time Analysis
One of the companies at the seminar was composed of the owner and 4 salespeople. Sounds like a large sales force. However, a time analysis revealed that all but one spent 10% of their time (about 4 hours per week) on sales. The rest of their time, they did service and sales of other products, paperwork, service calls etc.. Counting heads is not as accurate as counting hours. We suggest you take an accurate count of the Read the rest of this entry »
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