Sell to those who already love you! Why waste your time trying to sell a Ford to a Chevy driver. Why spend your time trying to convince a Democrat that you are right if you are Republican. If all the current Ford drivers went out and bought a new Ford or all the Republicans would just go vote, Ford would be super successful and one party would have it made in a coming election. Simply reach out and touch those that already love you. Constantly be reaching out and touching those who already love you and what you do. Regularly search through your database and figure out who needs a call, an email or a greeting card. And do it often.
I recently read an article that quoted a study that said for every month that goes by, a customer becomes 10% less loyal. That means if you haven’t touched your customer in some way for 4 months, they are only 60% loyal. (Easily stolen by a competitor.) I can’t find the article now as I would love to research the topic more, but the stats aren’t what is important. Common sense says it is true.
As the old saying says, “stick with who brung you to the dance.” Just make sure you tell them how important they are to you and DO IT OFTEN in every way you can. Not bad marriage advice as well. 100 Tips in 100 days.
Remember as a kid, you had to learn information and you used flash cards to get the information into your brain. You hoped the information would stay there until the final exam. In his book, Little Voice Mastery, Blair Singer talks about using flash cards as a way to overcome objections that you hear from your prospects. I’ve used this tecnique in the past with great success.
My daughter who was studying for a college exam used this system to learn all the bones of the head. She had my granddaughter who was in Kindergarten help her with the flash cards. One day my granddaughter annouced to her kindergarden teacher that she knew all the bones in the head and proceeded to tell her all the complicated names of the bones. It’s a powerful learning tool. Needless to say she shocked the teacher.
List every objection that your sales staff or you receive from prospects on the flash cards and then work with someone on how to answer those objections. Practice makes perfect! As you practice, you’ll notice the hesitancy goes away and handling those objections will be no big deal. 100 Tips in 100 Days
There is no such thing as “I don’t have time!” unless you are dead or on your death bed. This is an excuse. The proper statement should be, “This is not a priority in my life.” If your family was kidnapped and you had to do a task to free them, would you have enough time to do it like in a recent movie I watched? You CAN find time for anything.
We are all given time to do practically everything. We choose which things are priorities and dedicate time to those tasks. Next time you catch yourself saying, I don’t have time, stop and think. This must not be an important priority.
Today at the grocery store, the cashier asked, “Did you find everything OK?” My response was that I had several problems finding everything. All she said was “Oh” and continued checking me out. She never brought up the topic again and was probably sorry she ever asked the question. She was simply repeating a matra that she probably learned in her training rather than a sincere interest in me as her customer.
She could have easily offered an apology followed by a solution for the next time I visit the store. The old sales technique of Feel, Felt Found could have been used. “I’m really sorry you had a problem. I know how you feel. I felt the same way before I came to work here. What I found was the more I visited the store, the easier it became to blah, blah, blah.”
What you say isn’t near as imortant as the fact that you are listening and communicating with a customer.
What do you think?
I just finished a book by Larry Winget, (a Facebook friend) called “Shut Up, Stop Whining, And Get A Life.” In the book Larry describes the three main reasons that people are not successful. 1. 
They are stupid 2. They are lazy or 3. They just don’t give a damn.
Think about that for a minute and see if you fall into one or more of those categories. Larry is an in-your-face speaker and writer who is called the Pitbull of Personal Development (his registered trademark.) I loved this book! It really makes you think and get moving.
This audio message talks about systems that can help you insure your success! Listen to this six minute SuperCharge.
“Decide that you want it more than you are afraid of it.” Bill Cosby
The question that I am most asked is, “How do you overcome the fear of speaking to a group?” In the early days, I did experience everything from shaky legs to cotton mouth, but today I don’t feel any jitters, even if I’m speaking in front of several hundred people. I have completely conquered that fear and in fact, when I’m waiting to be introduced, I can’t wait to get on the stage.
I learned a valuable lesson from an unknown speaker in my past. She said she always put a post-it note on the lectern that said: “Remember, it’s not about you!” I truly believe fear comes from focusing on yourself and not on your audience. Become excited about what great wisdom you have to give your audience and not focused on how your hair looks or will I remember everything. Be excited about carrying on a conversation with your audience.
I once gave a speech to 200 women with my zipper wide open. No lectern to hide behind to correct the situation either. Once you have had an experience like that, nothing should be fearful!
There could probably be a book written about all the strange things that have happened during my speeches. Experience helps alleviate fear.
Place your focus in the right place and watch the fear disappear.
Question – Should I have a niche or target market?
Answer – Only if you want to succeed!
If you can find a niche, determine their most important problem (point of pain), become an expert at helping them solve that problem, and then creatively let them know about that expertise, you WILL be successful and they’ll be calling you instead of the other way around. 100 Tips in 100 Days.
I recently had a network marketer tell me that their company’s slogan is “The Fortune’s in the Follow-Up.” How true this is for anyone involved in sales or marketing. There are so many contact manager programs with a tickler reminder to make the call or send the card or note. I’ve read statistics that most leads obtained from shows and referrals go un-contacted due to poor follow-up. If you are poor at follow-up, get a coach or a mentor who can help you be the exception. 100 Business Growth Tips in 100 Days
Have you ever noticed that the word “great” can have two meanings? When you ask someone how their business is doing, they will answer you “great” meaning –
1. Business is really good. Products are selling and the money is rolling in. I hope that’s the case for you. Or they say, “great” which means that -
2. Business really sucks. I’m not selling much product, I can’t continue like this and my employees are out of control. Many business owners have read in a business book that if you say “great” long enough, it will really come true.
As a business Coach and Consultant, my follow-up question whenever I hear the second “great” and interpret it as meaning “poor” I ask, would you like some help fixing the problems? As brilliant as we all think we are, everyone needs help at some point in their business. Have you ever got your car stuck in the mud or snow and tried to get it out yourself. It can be practically impossible until someone comes along and gives you that extra push.
The word “Coach” also has several meanings like “Brainstorming, tough questions, experience, knowledge, accountability, caring, systems for success and in some cases, a shoulder to cry on.”
If your “great” means the latter, maybe it’s time to look for help. If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got!