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Moving a Business Relationship from Free to Fee: Turning Strangers to Friends with Power of Freebies
In the last issue I shared with you a technique for getting permission to follow up with people who have seen you speak on stage. This was just one example of a tactic for filling your pipeline. In these next two issues we'll look at one of our favourite and most powerful tactics for attracting new leads and turning complete strangers into customers as efficiently and enjoyably as possible. So buckle up and hang tight as we take another trip down the Lean Marketing Pipeline... Whenever we attempt to attract new business, we're paying for the privilege. You're paying to educate, inform, attract and persuade. Right up to the point where they pay for the product or service you provide, you are parting with money and time in return for nothing but their attention. So, if you are already giving all this time, energy and money away for f'ree then it's not going to hurt to give something away that they actually value, want and need. In fact doing this sets up a nice chain of events and really helps to move people through your relationship pipeline. Believe it or not, people don't like being sold to. We like to believe that we make decisions based on rational thought. That we chose a particular course of action because we were shrewd and well-informed. We like to feel in control and expect to be treated respectfully. Being sold on a freebie? Well that's another thing entirely. If we're offered a f'reebie and it looks interesting enough then we'll take it. There's nothing wrong with being guided to something of value - we just don't usually like the hard sell. So a f'reebie can be seen as a little sweetener for getting strangers into your pipeline or as a bonus incentive for people deciding to buy what you sell. We'll look at a few categories for the freebie, how you might use them in your pipeline and the pros and cons but first, let's just consider why a f'reebie is probably your most powerful persuasion tool. 5 Reasons Why The F'REEBIE Is Good: 1. You're Paying Anyway... You're usually paying to get people to do something that they'll initially resist. Give something for f'ree and they'll usually gladly give you useful information and permission to contact them in the future. 2. Everyone Loves a Bargain... People who found the f'ree information useful will probably tell their contacts how to get hold of the same information. This applies equally to potential customers, the press, resource guides and websites. You can get a lot of unpaid sales-people on your side with very little effort. 3. Humans Are Generally Reciprocal... You scratch my back and I'll scratch yours is the mantra for many animals but especially humans. Many of us even have an aversion to being 'indebted' and may go out of our way to ensure our 'debts' are repaid. Potential customers might just be tempted to give their business to you over a competitor, because they 'owe you one'. Once they've made the decision all you have to do is deliver what you promised. 4. Feel Good Marketing... By deciding to give away information to others without expectation of reward you'll feel good. For those people who've always thought marketing was a form of manipulation then approaching the process from a place where you give first can make the whole process far more pleasant. 5. You Look Like A Hero... If you provide something truly useful and don't even expect payment then people will think you are a trustworthy character. If you provide big value without asking for a penny in return you could look like a hero. People look to, trust and admire heroes. It's good for business to have your customers looking to you, trusting you and admiring your work don't you agree? In the next issue I'll give you ideas for creating powerful freebies of your own. But as a really easy start to get you into the spirit of things why not just share something of ours for free with your contacts today? I've found that pointing someone you've recently met to some useful information is a great way to start a new relationship off on the right foot. You could... * Tell them to join you on the Lean Marketing Champions eZine by sharing this link... www.leanmarketing.co.uk/free-news.php * Point them to a selection of f'ree eBooks by sharing this link... www.leanmarketingpress.com/books-free.html * Let them know about a fantastic publishing package that gives authors 50% royalties by sharing this link... www.leanmarketingpress.com Givers Really Do Gain - Try it today and see for yourself! 'Dangerous' Debbie Jenkins (c) Copyright 2005 www.BookShaker.com SUMMER CAN BE SLOW FOR BUSINESS
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Careers and Employment Change in Sales Organizations Starts with Me Question: What do the following have in common? The Effective Executive What does it mean to be an "effective executive"? Well very simply it means achieving the goals you set out to achieve in an efficient, creative and effortless manner. Some of the benefits that ensue from this self efficacy are: feelings of self confidence, self esteem, self worth, a sense of personal empowerment, feeling invigorated and passionate about everything you choose to do, a sense of resilience, more energy, personal emotional and physical health and for some a great sense of purpose. Sales Plan? Whats a Sales Plan? In the past, if you said the word "plan" to me, I would bolt and run. I'm the "creative type," a former ballet dancer and choreographer-I'm terrible with details. When I was dancing professionally, all the details were taken care of; all I had to do was show up and dance. Even when I was choreographing, as long as I met my deadline for when the dance needed to be complete, I could go with the moment, go with the impulse and see where the dance led. The Boss from Hell: Quick to Criticize, Slow to Praise So you have a boss who dumps all over you the moment things go wrong, but never seems to notice when things go right. Ouch. Offer Package Deals To Increase Profits And Sales An effective way to increase your profits and sales is to bundle many products or services together into one package. This gives people more reasons to buy your products and services. People also have come to believe package deals are a better value. You want all the products or services to be closely related. For example: if you are selling a computer you could add in software, hardware, computer furniture, etc. Finding A Sales Force That Pays For Itself The elements involved in building a sales force, especially one that pays for itself and also adds value to any business, are many and varied. The whole purpose and direction of a sales manager needs to be directed to creating a sales force that causes the employing company to expand through increasing sales. The Surest Way to Boost Sales If you have a small business and you are looking to boost your sales and make the public aware of your business, how do you going about doing this? There is one sure way that I know to boost sales and create awareness. It may not be sexy, but it WORKS! How to Organize a Seminar or an Event Seminars and events have always been implemented as a holistic experience to participants. Thus, organizing an event requires extensive planning and preparation with most work implemented at least a few months before the actual event. Most of the time, seminars seem to run like clockwork with all events flowing smoothly according to schedule. In reality however, much groundwork has been worked on with the purpose of developing the right atmosphere in addition to a beneficial experience to partipants. Hire A Six, To Consistently Produce Sales Success For many years as a sales manager, I would only hire the stereotypical sales representative. You know the type-on a human relations continuum or scale of zero to ten, with the ten representing a candidate who is totally gregarious and outgoing and the zero, someone who is introverted with few people skills, I'd always recruit the ten. As an advisor to businesses and professional service firms on how to build an effective sales team, I would also council my clients to hire "tens." Big mistake! 4 Marketing Myths Threaten Your Sales These 4 marketing myths can cause you to lose sales if you base your marketing decisions on them. But the related marketing tips I included with each myth will boost your sales if you act on them instead. Business Career, Executive Coaching Article - Perfection vs. Excellence "(Howard) Hughes never learned how to convert his knowledge to practical application. Instead he sought a perfection that assured failure." - From Empire: The Life, Legend and Madness of Howard Hughes by Donald L. Bartlett & James B. Steel Free to Succeed: Effective Sales Leadership Using A Coach Approach About 2 years ago, I participated in a training program I'll never forget. The leader divided us into two teams. Each team's task was to fire a whack of darts into each number on a dartboard. The leader of Team A was given instructions that his team had to hit the numbers in a certain sequence. He then related the sequence, number by number, to his team. Is Sales Process & CRM Stopping Sales? Standard metrics and KPI's (Key Performance Indicators) are created usually between The Sales Director, The Financial Director and The Managing Director. These KPI's tell the sales teams what they should be doing. For example, 'Your pipeline should be at least three times of your annual sales target'; 'Your conversion ratio of opportunities to closed orders should be 60%', and so on. Nothing like a bit of statistical analysis from the bean counters to motivate the sales team is there? Remember that old saying?'You can prove anything with statistics'. Here, we see it applied for real, albeit on an unconscious level. How To Use A Powerful Leadership Tool To Step Up Sales Results Good sales people can close, but few "step up" for even more sales from that close. Yet stepping up should be one of the easiest accomplishments in sales - that is if you know how to build the staircase. Commodity Sales Prospecting - How to Stand Out From Your Competitors I have received a number of requests for advice from salespeople and sales managers that sell "commodity" products and services. When I refer to commodities, I don't just mean pork bellies or frozen concentrated orange juice. A commodity is any product or service where the target prospect is likely to be thinking: How to Increase The Sales Of Promotional Products I have searched for a new way to increase the sales of my promotional products. A good way is to start an affiliate-program with a commision for every customer who buy an product and who came to your page from a webpage of one of your affiliate-partners. How Do I Manage Workplace Conflict? Workplace Conflict Sex, Drugs, & Rock-n-Roll at Trade Shows Here's the Scenario... Make Time, Not Excuses There are four primary activities that successful salespeople engage in on an ongoing basis. These are Prospecting (45% of time), Presenting (20%), Product Knowledge/Malleability (20%), and Professional and Personal Development (15%) Sales Tactics to Beat Your Competition This month I want to share a success from a friend and customer of mine. You'll find in this story two important sales tactics for beating your competition.
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