Affiliate marketing is akin to a consignment shop. Your web site promotes merchandise and for this, every last sale brings in cash. There’s much less work, very low operating costs, it works whilst you rest, and it is easy to master.
At the beginning, you must make a decision as to which merchandise or niche area you would like to specialize in. To accomplish this, you need to find out solutions to problems a particular customer profile is suffering from, and then what solutions are available to help them. One of the most effective ways to find this is finding groups of highly drilled down longtail keywords or phrases; there are fewer internet searches for these in general, yet a higher percentage of these result in a sale.
These crucial keywords can be obtained by using Micro Niche Finder. The data generated from Micro Niche Finder or other programs and services gives you related terms in a comprehensive list format giving worthwhile information to obtain a high listing in the search engines and bring in an increasing number of hits.
Micro Niche Finder will also tell you how many searches each word or phrase gets, precisely how many other web sites are employing those keywords, even competitor information. Lastly, Micro Niche Finder information can help in finding associated domains, assist you in putting together your internet site, and also find the best goods for you to sell.
Putting together a internet site is next; however you’ll obviously have to do a bit more than that. It is essential to fine tune your site to better your performance on the search engines. Applications such as SEO Elite should make this easy. This application examines competing internet sites and can offer you advice on exactly what you must do to have good rankings in the search engine results.
With SEO Elite the information provided by the program advises you on links, which words to focus on, and even information on how to submit articles. Briefly, SEO Elite information is similar to the suggestions that a specialist in search engine optimization may offer.
Visit and visit our superb resource for Adwords Miracle reviews suggestions!
Once you find your niche, have your product promotion, and your site is completed, then you are ready to get your site up in the search results. You’ll collect regular payments and question why you did not consider this sooner!
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Online Marketing,
Sales Stuff | 5 August, 2009
Affiliate marketing is a lot like e-bay. Merchandise is pushed on your website in return, you’ll get a cut from every purchase. It isn’t as much work, fewer operating costs, it sells twenty-four hours a day, and it’s easy to master. To begin with, you must determine just what niche market most suits you. To do this, determine solutions to issues a specific market segment is experiencing, and then discover a solution. One of the better means to determine this is to search for unique narrow keywords; more often than not customers look for these less often, even so many more of these convert. To find these important keywords, you should use Micro Niche Finder. The info collected by this software or analogous applications or software packages results in associated words and phrases in an extensive list format allowing you to get an advantage when it comes to placing on an internet search engine. Micro Niche Finder data will also recount detailed information on the words and phrases, exactly how many other sites are using those keywords, and how good that competitor is. Last but not least, Micro Niche Finder information can help find desirable domains, help you in putting together your internet site, and draw attention to the best goods for you to sell. The next step is to build a web site; however you will plainly need to do more than simply that. It is crucial to optimize your site to better your ranking on the search engines. This is where SEO Elite information and other similar applications become useful. Your competitors’ sites are analyzed by SEO Elite information which then offers suggestions on improving search engine rankings.
With SEO Elite the information provided by the software advises you on links, which words to focus on, and even an extensive listing of sites to submit articles to refer to. Concisely, the results created are much like to the suggestions you would get if you consult an experienced SEO specialist.
Once you determine your niche, have your product ads, and your website is ready to go, then you are ready to get your site up in the search results. You will collect steady payments and wonder why you ever doubted that affiliate marketing could be a success for you!
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Sales Stuff | 3 June, 2008
Interesting title to this article don’t you think? Well, the reason behind it is powerful and life changing.
If you do any kind of selling this post could be the most important thing you read and act upon in 2006.
So, why are your customers lab rats?
I’ll tell you why you need to think of them in this way and how by doing so you can make your selling job easier and your profits go through the roof.
I was listening to an old interview with Speed Selling Expert John Paul Mendocha this morning and from that interview I was reminded of this utterly simple and clear headed concept.
Think of all the people in your universe (the entire pool of people you could possibly sell to) as lab rats. Some of them are black rats, white rats, beige rats, grey rats, spotted rats and so on.
To be truly successful in selling and marketing and to make your success faster and easier you need to know exactly which type of rats you are going to do research on. So let’s say the white rats have some propensity to buy from you more than any other color (maybe even just a little).
Once you know this you need to stop all your selling and marketing efforts to any rat that isn’t white. This makes your job not selling your services but finding the white rats. Which do you think is easier to do…sell or pick out white rats out of a group?
In real terms these concepts are targeting, picking a niche, qualifying and disqualifying in your business, marketing and sales efforts.
In 2006 I want you to limit the number of customers you can talk to. I want you to reduce the size of the pool you play in. I want you to not focus on a mass audience but on a very narrow one.
That’s right…I’m telling you to reduce the number of potential targets you can sell you goods and services to.
Sounds counter intuitive doesn’t it? It’s not!
With your focus on only the best prospects and a smaller number of them your marketing and selling can be much more effective. You will have more money and time to concentrate, penetrate and infiltrate that group and your results will be significantly greater then if you were to “spray and pray” your dollars, time and effort on a large pool of random people.
Let’s go back to our “lab rat” analogy.
Think of your business as a big lab study. First you have to decide what animal you are going to perform the study on. We were talking about rats before but let’s take a step back for a minute.
The choice of what animal out of all the animals available for study is called niche targeting and there are several options to choose from. They are:
Occupations: Lawyers, Doctors, Trash Collectors, Realtors
Geographic: People in a five mile radius, people in a certain subdivision, people in certain towns, zip codes, voting precincts, school districts, metropolitan areas or states.
Demographic: People that have certain characteristics in common. For example income, drive the same kind of car, gender, have kids, height, weight, ethnicity.
Psychographics: These are the things that people are passionate about - their likes and dislikes, their passions, their love hate relationships with things. These are tougher to reach but they are generally really motivated buyers.
Here are some examples:
Love rap music
Hate country music
Loved the eighties
Hate the Miami Dolphins
Love George Bush
Hate Hillary Clinton
Hate Mercedes Benz
Love chocolate
Hate John Mayer
You get the picture here.
Now, let’s say we choose Occupations and Realtors in Florida. That’s who we’re going to target. We just picked rats as the animal to do the study on. But we have all these rats to choose from - black, grey, beige, spotted and white.
Through experimenting we find that the white rats are the ones with the best temperament for the experiment (the easiest to sell to) so now it is our job to find all the white rats.
How do you do that?
You qualify and disqualify. Here are five questions you can ask to pick out the “white rats” and make your selling process easier.
1. Does this rat have the money to buy my product or service?
2. Does this rat believe and buy into my big benefit or Gravitational Proposition?
3. Does this rat have a sense of urgency to purchase?
4. Is this rat capable of making a buying decision?
5. Does my product or service fit into their overall plan?
If your rat meets these five criteria or a good number of them they are “WHITE”. So now that you know you are only talking to rats (realtors in Florida) we don’t try to sell we try to find the “White” ones - the ones that fit these five criteria.
Go find your white rats and make 2006 your best year ever!
Jimmy Vee and Travis Miller are the authors of “The Ten Tall Tales Of Traditional Advertising That Cost You Tons” and their newest release, “The Small Business Owner’s Guide To The Galaxy: Jim & Travis’s Super-Stellar, Out Of This World, Step-By-Step Guide To Generating Leads, Attracting Customers and Making Sales.” Get FREE small business marketing tips, shortcuts and secrets - RIGHT NOW - at The Small Business Marketing Resource Site!
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Sales Stuff | 8 May, 2008
In one sense or another, we are all sales people. We sell
products, we sell ideas, and we sell our skills and time. While
most of us understand the basic concepts required to make a
sale, people who carry the title “Sales Professional” have
additional responsibilities and ideas to master. Here are 5 tips
to help those people succeed.
1. Find some one to listen to you and to push you. This could
be a mentor, a coach, or a manager you respect. You need to set
BIG goals and get solid encouragement.
2. Ask yourself “How can I get clients to come to me?” Take
your personal development to the level where you are attracting
business instead of chasing it.
3. Listen to your customers. Fine-tune your listening skills to
allow your customers to do most of the talking. Practice waiting
3 - 5 seconds before you respond to a statement.
4. Focus on customer service. Be an expert on the product you
sell AND the problems your customers encounter. Position
yourself to be able to anticipate your clients needs and respond
accordingly.
5. Develop a strong professional network. Networking is about
more than just handing out business cards. Develop deeper
relationships with the people in your network. Find out what you
can do to support their business. You’ll soon find them doing
things to support your business.
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Sales Stuff | 22 April, 2008
We’ve all heard the term KISS at one time or another - “Keep It Simple, Stupid.”
However, the majority of salespeople violate this basic principle more often than
not.
Let me start with some examples of what I’m talking about. At one position I held, I
sat next to someone who could have been a top salesperson. He and I both
operated much the same in that rather than cold call, we ran our own personal
marketing programs to generate leads and simply took the calls that came in as a
result. The problem is what he did with the calls. When someone called me, ready
to buy, I immediately went into closing the deal and making arrangements to either
come out with the paperwork or to fax it over. He, on the other hand, went into a
full-length company story and a lot of other information that he absolutely should
not tell a qualified prospect unless they ask for it. The end result is that people who
called ready to sign up for one of our services lost interest and didn’t buy anything
at all.
Another example is what happens every time I try to make a business
purchase. Here I am, saying “Yes, I’m going to buy,” and the sales rep lauches into a
company story about how long they’ve been in business, who their big clients are,
and on and on. Lucky for these salespeople, the product usually sells itself and I
still buy. However, I’m willing to bet that a lot of people don’t. Nothing is more
frustrating than picking up the phone saying, “Hi, here I am ready to buy,” and
having some rep go into a story bragging about how great the company is and all
that they can do. That comes off as pure arrogance to a business owner. What’s
more, talking about your big enterprise clients alienates most small business
owners. They assume their needs will be placed second to those of the big dogs
and that they’ll be treated as just a number when calling for service.
I think most training is at the root of this massive problem. Every course I’ve taken
has gone through the steps of a sale. The problem is, what if all the steps don’t
take place? Consider “objection handling.” When I was working for that company I
mentioned earlier, many of my prospects had no objections because my marketing
pieces took care of them in advance. By assuming that each of these steps are
going to take place, a lot of salespeople will cause something to happen when it
really shouldn’t have to begin with. If a prospect doesn’t come up with any major
objections, don’t give them a reason to!
I’ve seen a lot of managers require their reps to fill out a “lead sheet” that
documents each step of the sale. This assumes that each of the steps will happen
when they may not. If you’re required to maintain these types of records, skip
anything that doesn’t happen naturally. Don’t induce a prospect to enter a selling
phase that may not only be unnecessary, but may cause you to lose the sale
entirely.
Use the KISS test when you’re selling. Always ask yourself if what you’re doing is
actually necessary. Believe me, you’ll save yourself a lot of wasted time and lost
sales by doing so. I did.
Frank Rumbauskas is the author of Cold Calling Is a Waste of Time: Sales Success in
the Information Age. He is the founder of FJR Advisors LLC, which publishes
training materials on generating business without cold calling. For more
information, please visit http://www.nevercoldcall.com
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Sales Stuff | 12 April, 2008
SIMPLE TECHNIQUE FOR ISOLATING OBJECTIONS
To isolate any objection quickly you can use this effective and
powerful sentence - “Aside from “that” is there anything else?”
Here’s how it works: You’re a water softener salesperson, I’m
your prospect. In the qualifying steps of the sales process you
have identified a few concerns that I’ve shared with you:
1. Cost
2. Financing
3. Company Credibility
Let’s review and address these individually.
You say: “Teri, you mentioned three areas of concern - cost,
financing, and company credibility. Aside from these 3 concerns,
is there anyting else?”
My response: “No.”
Your response: “Of these three, which is most important to you?”
My Response: “Financing.”
Your response: “When you say financing, could you be more
specific?”
My response: “I have recently emerged from bankruptcy and am
concerned about being approved.”
Your response: “Aside from bankruptcy, are there any other
financial issues?”
My response: “No.”
Your response: “OK, if financing is your primary concern and we
can work that out, would you move forward on completing the
application process today?”
My response: “No.”
Your response: “Is there a specific reason?”
My response: “Yes, I’m concerned about the total cost of the
unit.”
Your response: “When you say the total cost are you referring to
the total cost of the unit and interest - or are you referring
to the monthly investments?”
My response: “The monthly investments.”
Your response: “Let’s talk about what would be comfortable for
you on a monthly basis so that I’m in a better position to help
you move forward and not only receive the water softener but
begin the process of repairing your credit as well.”
My response: “OK.”
Your response: “The monthly payment will be determined by three
things: The down payment, if any, the term of the financing, and
the interest rate. Will you be putting any money down?
My response: “No.”
Your response: “What dollar amount between $100 and $200 per
month would you be comfortable with?”
My response: “$125.00 would be comfortable.”
Your response: “OK, if we’re in a position to finance you with
no money down and payments of $125.00 per month, would you move
forward with completing the application while we’re together
today.”
My response: “Yes.”
You’re probably wondering what happened to the company
credibility issue. It really wasn’t a concern at all, which was
readily identified when continuing to isolate the real objection
- MONEY.
Recap: The purpose of this simple, yet powerful sentence, is to
eliminate all objections prior to the “close.”
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Sales Stuff | 9 April, 2008
When we talk about marketing most us assume it is to sell a product or service to others in order to make a profit for ourselves. In this article we are going to look at what can profit you BEFORE you attempt at gaining the same from others.
These are known as MACRO-OBSERVATIONS; they happen so fast and for the most part go unnoticed. Apart from NLP and hypnosis I perform as a ‘psychic’ entertainer. No I do not claim psychic powers but I do claim to be able to ‘read’ a person based on many aspects of non-verbal communication.
What I want to share with you today is just one of the areas that go under the radar of most people. Practice the contents of this article and I promise you that your inner-speak will improve, your clients attitude towards you will be vastly improved and if your in business…increase your value to customers and make more profit for yourself.
This is NOT about energy it is about how you communicate your inner thoughts through the shape of SUBTLE body. Oh and before you say it’s about body language…NO not that …Let me explain what I mean…
Much of what is written about body language points towards the observation of others during your communication with them. Very few make a point of explaining YOU’RE subtle body movements that will and most often limits yourself.
Ever noticed that when you are being negative or your talking to someone who is being negative “exactly” where their center of gravity is? Where is yours? No I guess not why would you? Ever noticed where the center of gravity is when you’re feeling good, talking positive? Again I don’t think many people would notice or bother to observe in this fast-paced world.
My point is that next time you observe a person communicating, don’t pay all your attention on his or her “body-language” in the traditional sense. Take a closer look at where the body weight is on “key” points in their conversation.
Good points for a right handed person will normally bring the body weight over to the right. Bad points would be seen to be leaning to the left. The reverse is true of left handed people. If you doubt this take a closer look at yourself or others for a while, its subtle but here.
For those of you who are familiar with eye accessing cues think of this as Central Nervous System Accessing Cues (CNSAC). Believe it or not we all have a body “shape” that is driven by our “mood”. We all have CNSAC built-in that has evolved over our own personal lifetime…It gets better!
If you know what the “shape” of someone is while talking about a good thing, or bad, it matters not. Then you already know how to make changes to the CNSAC’s…How?
There are two main areas of improvement that can be unutilized by being aware of this in yourself and others. For reasons of space and time I will focus on the CNSAC’s that will have the greatest bearings on your success. To make changes in self or others here is what you need to do…
First notice what it is you or they do when being positive and negative (this is easier if they or you are standing). This also includes the “whole” body shape, where the arms go, if the head tilts to one side, hands open or closed, in fact every detail. You may think this all sounds a little too much to observe at once and I would agree. However there is a simple way around this.
Next time you’re talking and you spot a shift or movement at the peak of a positive or negative conversation simply say “Freeze!” That’s right, just like they do in police movies…FREEZE!
Now you have a “snapshot”, get them to take note (as well as you) of every detail. Then have them shake it out, turn around jump up and down. What ever it take to “re-boot” the CNSAC.
Now continue with the conversation, if the last “freeze” was in the middle of a negative recall then pick another negative just to verify that the first observations are generally accurate.
Now continue the conversation bringing in positive memories and reactions. For instance you may ask about a great holiday, good movie, first time they met their loved one, anything to get a positive response. Then at the peak of that recall freeze them again. Take note of the “differences”; take note of the body weight shift (there will be one). Confirm this again with other positive recalls.
Now all the above is a classic CNSAC calibration, just like any other type of evaluation you must first know what parameters your dealing with. Now you have two extremes of the same person and knowing this should allow you to make some wonderful changes.
HOW TO MAKE THOSE CHANGES
There is enough to write a book on all the details of the changes you can make but for the purposes of this short article I will stick to the basic principals. If you want a more detailed approach then email me at the site below.
In order to reverse the negative CNSAC you need to give the following instructions, if done correctly it WILL work.
1. Compound the positive at least three times, more if needed.
2. Get them to “shake” it out then proceed with the negative recall.
3. Instruct them (or yourself) that at the very moment the body starts to drift towards the familiar CNSAC FORCE it over to the positive then freeze.
4. Hold it for 5 seconds and allow the positive feelings to rise
5. Shake it out and repeat point three and four above for three more rounds.
6. Now ask them to try and recall the negative but (and this is important) agree that it is easy to “recall” the memory but what you want them to do is try and see if the “emotional” (feelings) of the event, habit or inner-speak is as troubling as it was.
You will notice that the above (point 6) contains italics this is because these words are important. They are “embedded” suggestions and are used here to infer a deliberate difficulty. The word “was” is used and emphasized to place the previous negative trait into the past…it is important to do this.
Now you may be wondering what this therapeutic approach has to do with the business of making a profit. If you find yourself feeling a lack of confidence on cold-calling or in fact any aspects of your working day then do all of the above on yourself…IT DOES WORK!
Secondly it can be transmitted to your workers or clients in the following manner…
THE “IN-HOUSE” SALES MEETING
It’s Monday morning, the staff are gathered and your about to give them a motivational talk in order to boost their efforts for the coming week (what do you mean you don’t!)…well start!
The sales team have had a heavy weekend and like all humans Monday’s are a ‘recovery’ period (like it or not). Apart from the areas you need to talk about such as sales figures, new clients, accolades for good sales from previous weeks and individuals that have shown exceptional forethought in the course of their duty try this little exercise…
I’m not sure if you remember the old game that requires the players to “freeze” so the person who is “it” does not see them move. There are many variations but this is going to be the essence of the following exercise. An important point to remember here is that you do not tell anyone what is coming next.
There are many reasons for doing what I am sharing with you here and many subtle psychological tools at work, I do not have the time to explain all the details as to ‘why’ here but if you read the bio below you can email me.
Have them all stand up! Now ask all of them to recall a negative feeling/experience that drains their ability or confidence to perform their individual tasks perfectly. Don’t ask them to verbalize it (most will not and why should you embarrass them anyway). Now get them to ‘act’ as if they were telling their best friend (note that subtle suggestion here). Miming their concerns to each other as they ‘inner-speak’.
Halfway through all of this ask them to “freeze” it is important you wait for the right moment (when their guard is down). Do not move a muscle is your instruction to all of them. Now ask the partner (yes they should be in two’s with you and a sales member up front demonstrating). To describe the others body shape and as this happens list all the common elements so everyone can see them on a white board.
You may want to use one of those wooden art-dolls that you can “shape” or several of them (one for each couple) to show the body shape.
You and they will all notice some interesting things that they had not before, some common to all, others very individual. Now the really fun part… Shake it all out…re-boot the CNSAC (as explained at the beginning of this article). Now repeat the same scenario only this time use a “great” and “positive memory, one they can personally relate to, and one that makes the individual feel GREAT!
Then get them all to FREEZE again each person now has a previous reference (the wooden doll) or notes you had the partner make. Now show or write down those differences. In many cases it is almost a “reflection” of the previous body shape!
Once everyone has done this YOU go around and make some subtle adjustments, maybe a slightly higher hand on a few, maybe a more pronounced tilt on someone’s head. As I mentioned above there are reasons for doing all of this but I don’t have the time to explain them here.
So now we have all your staff/sales team in the “reflective” position they started out with. Now ask them to repeat that internal conversation all over again. Your job here is to wait and observe.
If you notice the majority of your staff will have changed position, call out “freeze” again and point out to everyone the changes that have taken place. Now ask them all to go back to the positive reflective position and make some more slight adjustments to some individuals again. (This telegraphs to everyone that it is important, that’s the only clue you’re getting here about why you are making the detailed adjustments).
This time tell them to force themselves to keep that positive position while going through the inner negative conversation again. Now a sure sign of this beginning to work is laughter, yes laughter! Why? Ask me to demonstrate in your company and I’ll explain the psychological details to you.
Now that you have created a different body shape to the one they normally use when being negative you have also made some profound changes to their “mind”. Mind and body are linked in ways we are only just beginning to understand and this exercise helps demonstrate that very well.
Laughter is also a sign of nervous or negative energy being transformed or transferred in the mind and body. It is a “conversion” indicator of one into another.
You have also created a powerful set of anchors in terms of NLP that now overrides pervious negative experiences. There is much more at work here than you or I have time for. I hope that many of you will not write off this exercise as some sort of “new-age” hocus-pocus is far from that.
The attitudes of your staff will change for the better and if you present this correctly then you have successfully re-wired the front temporal lobes of your staff in record time! If you feel you or your company could do with this or similar approaches to motivation the details are below…end of sales pitch and hopefully for you this is the beginning of an astounding changes in your approach towards self and others in the sales and marketing world or wherever you happen to live and work day-to-day.
If you’re a sports person you may want to try this after you have perfected your psychical game. The fact is after you have “honed” your body to get into “shape” it is that negative “twitch” that is so subtle traveling under the conscious radar that makes many a good golfer slice the ball…what sport do you want to excel in?
Jason Rife has spent years as a sales manager, copywriter, NLP expert and hypnotist. Has consulted on TV documentaries in the UK and Mexico and runs http://www.artofnlp.com and http://www.nlplogy.com Subscribe to the newsletter and read many more NLP related articles for FREE. His best selling E Book “How to get a pay rise” appears on the above sites. An expert in “covert-hypnosis” you can be sure to get more for less from his original and exclusive work on the mirrored sites above.
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Sales Stuff | 5 April, 2008
Every one of us in the selling profession is constantly looking
for some way to better their salesmanship. We’re
always open to suggestions, probably more than other
professions, because our sales determine our income.
Although these tips seem simple, they are a combination of
values that, properly planned and properly applied, will give
you an advantage over your competition.
These are usually not taught to the new salesman and are often
over-looked by a veteran salesman. Many people do them
naturally, while others need to be reminded. Properly applied,
they’ll make you more successful. Without action, they’re just
words on paper…or your monitor.
If you want to stand out from the crowd, if you want to rise
above the noise, if you want to be thought of as extraordinary,
here are 10 simple tips that will take you to the top.
#1 - Do The Usual Things In An Unusual Way.
Any salesman can deliver a quote or sample. Make sure you do it
differently than your competition. If they mail it, you need to
have it delivered by a courier. When you lose an order, do it
with “style and a smile “. When I lose one, I ask for the next
one in advance.
My customers know by now I’m going to do this and sometimes have
one waiting for me. It might be smaller than the one I wanted,
but it’s sure better than nothing. And losing with class is one
sure way to grow your stock in their eyes.
You don’t have or want to be extreme or offensive, just
memorable, in a good way. The quality of being different is a
sought after trait of successful salesmen and will pay enormous
dividends.
#2 - Constantly Think About Ways To Help Your Customer.
A successful salesman never sells on intrinsic value alone. He
adds a personal touch that is unique to him. He makes his
product into a service, with his ideas being the extra feature
that only comes from him and his company. Find new avenues for
them to explore. Send them business. Talk them up at trade
shows. Show them ways to make more money and spend less.
#3 - Keep In Constant Contact With The Customer.
Constant contact is essence of salesmanship. If the only time
you contact your customer is when you ask for an order, you may
as well not contact them. You won’t be welcome there for long. I
call my customers with tips, leads, technical findings and
suggestions on a regular basis and do so without asking for or
referring to an order. Often, this leads to an order that I
never saw coming. Don’t be a pest, be a member of their team.
#4 - Have An Uncommon Spirit Of Service.
Willingness to go above and beyond was instilled into me in the
US Army. My years as a salesman have reinforced that ten-fold.
Going to another town, 120 miles away, at night, on my time, to
pick up a box of parts we left on a dock and delivering them to
a jobsite a 2AM won me more orders than I could have ever gotten
any other way. Whatever it is that you have to do, in your
industry, to make your services more valuable than your
competition, you need to do it.
#5 - Have Consideration For Coworkers.
You’re only as good as your team is. They’ll determine how far
you go. The customer will only listen and forgive you so many
times. Blaming it on your truck drivers, the shipping
department, billing or manufacturing will only buy you a few
buckets of forgiveness. After that, it’s all on you. Don’t make
the mistake of thinking you can treat them poorly and get away
with it. They have long memories and nothing is secret for long.
#6 - Treat Your Customers Employees With Respect.
Never treat your customer’s employees with less respect than you
do them. You never know when they’ll have the ear of the person
with purchasing power. Whether it’s a truck driver who comes to
your dock, the receptionist, the accounts payable department, it
doesn’t matter, they deserve your respect. I always imagine they
know my grandmother and that they’ll tell her if I’m not as nice
as I should be. In the past, I’ve gotten orders from having been
nice to a customer’s truck driver, who broke down in our parking
lot, as he pulled away from the dock. I let him use my cellphone
to call his boss and his wife. I went to my house and got him
some sandwiches and a drink and brought them back to him and
then waited there for the tow truck to come get him.
#7 - Never Be Satisfied With Your Accomplishments.
No salesman who’s looking toward the future is ever satisfied
with what he did today. He knows he’s one week of being a
slacker away from being so far behind that he’ll never get back
to the top. There are more people out there that you didn’t sell
today than there are those that you did. I don’t even like for
my boss to show me my sales numbers from month to month. I’m
afraid it will cause me to ease off. Set realistic, attainable
goals and if you reach them, reset them a tad higher and forget
you already exceeded them.
#8 - Have a Large Capacity For Friendship.
The ability to make friends - and keep them - is one of the
greatest assets a salesman can have. The majority of business
sales come from friendships. Invariably, he with the most
friends is the man with the most business. The greater your
capacity for making friends, the greater your capacity for
making money. The two are inseparable. If you think of your
customers as your friends, you’ll never try to deceive them or
treat them unfairly. Many who purchase will wait for their
favorite salesman to visit, even when they’re offered a better
deal from one of those who treat their customers coldly and say,
” Hey, it’s just business ”
#9 - You Need A Keen Understanding Of Human Nature.
If you set out to study human nature, you’ll never have to worry
about having learned it all. The field is ever changing, but
always stays the same. The more contacts you make, the more
you’ll learn. The more you learn, the more you earn. As you
begin to understand your customer’s inner workings, you’ll see
avenues for injecting your ideas and wooing him over to your way
of thinking. You cannot treat all your customers the same way.
If you do, you’ll only attain a miniscule portion of your
potential. Every person you meet has their own way, it’s up to
you to find their buttons, and it’s not up to them to change
their ways to help you.
#10 - You Must Be A Tireless Worker.
It goes without saying that most of the better than average
salesmen are hard workers. Nothing worthwhile is easily attained
and sales are no exception. Properly directed effort is more
valuable than education will ever be. Properly educated and
directed effort is the stuff that makes dreams come true. If you
will work smart and hard, in sales, the sky is the limit.
Action, effort, hard work ….whatever you call it, is what it
takes to succeed. Educated and directed effort will never, ever
let you down.
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