Category: Sales & Marketing

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Sales & Marketing

3 Ways to Overcome Marketing Overwhelm

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If you’re like many entrepreneurs, the thought of marketing makes you slightly sick to your stomach. And it’s more then a simple like or dislike of marketing, it’s the idea of trying to fit it into your to-do list. You already have a million things going on, how can you possibly fitmarketing in?

So, instead, you end up not doing anything…until you run out of work that is. Then you desperately race around, trying to cram as much marketing as possible into as short amount of time as possible to try and ramp up your business.

Business picks up, you stop marketing again.

As I’m sure you already know, this isn’t a great way to grow a business on any level. But what do you do? You’re already overwhelmed with everything you have to do in your business, not to mention everything you have to do in your life, so how can you possibly fit marketing into that?

Never fear, that’s what the below 3 tips are designed to do, get you out of marketing overwhelm and into marketing superstar.

1. Make marketing a priority.
Okay, don’t stop reading yet. This one might be tough to swallow but it has to be said. Marketing your business HAS to be a priority. If it’s not, then you will doom yourself to a “feast or famine” business model (where you oscillate between too many and too few clients, and because you’re in a constant roller coaster, you can never get enough traction to actually start growing your business).

But, I can hear you say, my priority needs to be on getting the work done. That’s what my clients are paying me for, and because they’re paying, then they have to be my top priority.

My response to that is well, not exactly. You’re right, you need to get the work done, and do a good job, or you’re going to run out of income pretty quickly. But, if you trade doing the client work over marketing, then you’re never going to get ahead.
(And, to be honest, it’s not fair to your clients either to have you constantly stressed about your business because you don’t know what’s in the pipeline. You owe it to yourself AND your clients to have a successful, thriving business.)

You need to have the mindset that marketing your business is JUST as important as doing the client work. Without the marketing, you WILL always struggle.

However, with that said, there’s no need to panic because…

2. You don’t have to do it all alone.
There’s no law that says just because marketing is a priority means you need to do everything yourself. You can (and should) build a team. In fact, I would go one step further and tell you your team can ALSO help you with client work or admin work or just about anything.

Now with marketing, as with anything, there will probably be tasks you need to do yourself. But there will be many tasks you can easily outsource. The trick is to figure out what tasks you really need to do (and make time to do them) then outsource the rest.

But, I can hear you saying, what if I don’t have the cash flow to outsource? See, that’s the beauty of outsourcing marketing. There’s a very clear ROI. So let’s say one new client is worth $500 a month. Do you think regular marketing will bring you at least one new client? Of course. So maybe you set aside $250 a month for a virtual assistant to help you with some marketing tasks, knowing one new client will more than pay for your VA and any more clients above and beyond will be gravy.

(If you need help with marketing strategy to know what to outsource, drop me an email. I create marketing strategies for my clients, as well as do the work for them.)

3. Start small.
This is what I did in my own business. You’ll notice I have a lot of marketing tasks going on right now — I have my newsletter, I blog, I podcast, I’m on social networking sites, I’m doing direct mail. I didn’t wake up one morning and say “I’m going to start everything today.”

No, I did things one at a time. I started with my newsletter, then I added blogging, then podcasting, then social networking, etc. After I mastered one task, I went on to add another. So my marketing wouldn’t seem so overwhelming to me.

But remember, the biggest thing is to actually DO something. Start taking some action in your marketing, and the rest of the pieces should start to fall into place.

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Sales & Marketing

Cold Calling – Get over the fear and improve your success

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Most sales people hate to cold call. It is frequently considered by many to be the single most stressful part of selling. So much so that many people have given up this noble and proud profession for non-selling positions. There are actually several reasons why sales reps consider cold calling one step below getting a root canal.
Fear of rejection is one of the biggest reasons reps dislike cold calling. After all, who wants to be told “no” all day long? However, there are other reasons that add to the disdain, including not wanting to bother anyone (the “telemarketing” syndrome), gatekeeper resistance, lack of confidence (in themselves, their product, their company, etc.), or they just don’t know how to do it. While these reason are understandable, they are all symptoms rather than causes.
In understanding that we don’t like to cold call, we also have to understand why we have call reluctance. For instance, we may not like rejection, but the reason we are rejected is that we are not approaching it the right way. Or, we get resistance from the gatekeeper or feel like we are bothering people because, again, we aren’t equipped with the skills to perform the duty properly so that we don’t get rejected or bother people.
It comes down to Will and Skill. We, as human beings prone to human nature, avoid things we are not good at, and thus lose the will. If we are good at something we will be more inclined to do it. Hence, when we improve our skills, our will improves proportionately. So, it’s important to understand why we have call reluctance – what are our challenges and why we are reluctant.
Why Cold Calling is Important
Before proceeding with recommendations on how to improve your cold calling, let’s review why cold calling is important. A customer’s buying and decision making process usually goes through several steps. First, they realize they have a problem and identify what the problem is. Second, they calculate the costs associated with the problem. Third, they evaluate alternatives. These first three steps comprise the “Planning Stage”. The next stage is the “Evaluation Stage”. In this stage they talk to vendors to consider alternatives. Once that’s done, they decide on a vendor and move on.
When the customer reaches the Evaluation Stage, to a certain extent they already decided on the approach they want to take. But what if that approach isn’t the right one for them? Or, what if their approach includes preconceived notions that would preclude you from being a contender for their business? When you call them, it’s already too late. You’ve had no inputs into their Planning Stage. As a result, you could be chasing their biases and forgone conclusions when, in fact, they are already leaning in another direction. This is what often happens when you get an RFP (Request For Proposal). The RFP is “wired” to another vendor or at least includes questions that reflect the customer’s biases to another solution. You end up wasting a lot of time responding with your proposal only to find they really knew whom they were choosing all along. If, on the other hand, you caught them in the Planning Stage and positioned yourself as a valued partner, then you could help them in identifying their problems AND alternative solutions.
Now what if you do catch someone in the Planning Stages, but they don’t know they are in that stage yet. In other words, they know they have a problem, but they haven’t consciously decided to do something about it. This is actually a perfect time for a cold call, assuming you handle it correctly. Here is how not to call someone in this situation. Sales Rep: “Hi, my name is Fred Johnson of Acme Software. My company helps businesses with their accounting problems. I was wondering if you had any accounting problems.” Prospect: “No! But thanks for calling. Bye.” Of course they’re going to say no, because they aren’t aware or sure they actually have problems, and hence they don’t have a need for you. Also, you haven’t shown them that you care about their problems. Instead, you simply came across as someone who only cares about selling them something.
If you approached this differently, you could get invited in to help them identify their core issues and explore alternatives. But you can’t come across on the initial cold call as if you are selling something. Instead, you need to position yourself as a trusted advisor by asking the right questions, listening to their answers, and proposing how you might be able to help with the exact pains they just described to you. A better dialogue might be, “Hi I’m Fred Johnson with Acme Software. We specialize in helping businesses improve their customer acquisition and retention. I was calling to see how important improving sales and customer retention are to your business. Do you have a moment for a few questions?”
Be a Boy Scout – Always Be Prepared
You help improve your cold calling by being prepared. We all get calls from sales people who clearly are unprepared and embarrass themselves by trying to “lower your phone bills” when they don’t even know how much you are currently paying for your phone bills. Or they try to sell you office equipment when you work in a shared-office environment and don’t purchase this sort of equipment.
Like most things I do, I have a process, and cold calling is no different. Your cold calling process includes the steps, reasons and outcomes for every call. To begin with, you should always have a clear purpose for the call – Why are you calling? Next, have a goal – What is your desired outcome? Is it to make a sale, schedule a meeting, or get introduced to the decision maker? You also have to remember that in order to get your prospect’s interest, you have to appeal to their needs, wants and desires. So remember WIIFM – What’s In It For Me? Of course, the “Me” in this case is your prospect. Make sure your discussions make it clear that everything you are asking has to do with helping their problem, not with you making a sale.
You also don’t want to preach. This is what those annoying telemarketers do. They “tell” you what it’s all about and try to lead you down their path, which is to buy something, instead of asking what ails you. The key to doing this effectively is to ask questions about the prospect, such as what is currently not working for them, how much it is costing them to continue in this mode of operation, what happens if nothing changes, etc. It helps to use a script as well. Now I’m not suggesting you read from a script. What I mean is write down bullets on the points and questions you want to ask and use that as a guideline so you don’t drift off and digress from your goal. A good script should help you organize your thoughts and keep you on track. It will also help you discuss benefits rather than features.
You should always “warm up” your cold calls by doing research in advance. It is very easy to learn all about a company via the Internet. Read about their company’s background and products. Read their press releases and annual reports. Then when you call, you can refer to something significant about their business which helps break the ice and shows you are interested in them. And, don’t give up. These days it takes 6 to seven calls, maybe more, to get through to someone. The average sales rep gives up after 2 to three calls, not even half-way there. Perseverance is the key.
It also helps to profile your prospects before calling. Know who buys your product, when they buy it, how they buy it, and more. What is their profile? Are they affluent males between the ages of 35 and 49? Are they businesses with less than 100 employees and located in one facility? Are they departments within businesses who can’t readily get the services they need from their corporate offices? Once you know this, you can rank your call list and call the “A” players first, those who match your profile the best. If you use technology to help keep track of this information, which you should, then organize your call list, schedule your follow-ups, and manage your day. You will find that you will be more efficient, effective and successful.
Develop a Call Quota
Finally, as part of your cold calling process, remember not to take “No” personally. They are rejecting your offer, company or product, but not you personally (unless, of course, you upset them, in which case you deserve to take it personally). Accept the fact that you have to kiss a lot of frogs to find your prince. You’re not going to succeed with every call. So don’t set yourself up for disappointment every time someone says they don’t want to meet with you. To help with this, give yourself a “Call Quota”. This is not a quota for how many calls you should make in a day. This involves knowing how many “No’s” it takes to get to a “Yes”.
Let’s say your revenue goal is $100,000. and the average client spends $5,000. To reach your goal, you’ll need 20 new clients. If your close ratio is 25%, you’ll need to call 80 new Prospects, because 25% of 80 is 20, the number of new clients you need. So, with this simple information, simply remember that 60 of those calls will be No. Your goal then is to find the 20 Yes’s and the 60 No’s shouldn’t bother you because you are expecting them.
Cold Calling doesn’t have to be the dreaded, avoid-at-any-cost chore that many sales reps make it out to be. With proper training and planning, it is actually fun and a very necessary step in beginning your sales process.
Good luck and good selling!

RussLombardoPhoto.jpgRuss Lombardo is President of PEAK Sales Consulting, LLC and an experienced CRM and Sales consultant, trainer, writer, speaker and radio show host. Russ works with businesses to help improve their customer acquisition and retention for increased revenue and success. Russ is author of the books, “CyberSelling”, “CRM For The Common Man” and “Smart Marketing”. He can be reached at 702-655-5652 and emailed at russ@peaksalesconsulting.com.

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Sales & Marketing

Internet Marketing Is Like Using a Stick to Knock Down Fruit

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The promise of technology has always been the magnification of human activity. Technology allows us to do more in less time and at lower cost.
Marketing is not sales but it leads to sales. The purpose of marketing is to get/keep customers interested in your product/service. It’s all about staying in front of the customer in a constant and positive way.
It’s a busy world and even those customers who need, want and know about your product/service may space you out without constant and positive contact.
This article is about how you can use the internet to generate interest in your product/service in less time and at lower cost.
Old Time Marketing
Before the internet and email there were mass mailings of brochures, newsletters, and other printed materials. Mailings were and are a lot of work, they’re expensive and there always seems to be a problem with the printer (commercial not mechanical), problems which drive up costs. And then 98% plus of mailings end up unread and in the trash, what a waste.
Sponsoring a bowling team or 5K run is another traditional way to market; if your customers bowl and run. Pens and coffee cups are a good way to stay in front of people. I once sent out some very nice coffee cups to clients and centers of influence only to have a man, who’s been a great source of business, call and say, “I love the coffee cup; but did you have to put your mug on the mug?”
New Time Marketing
Websites are great, sometimes. To be successful business websites must have two things; compelling content and traffic. Compelling content includes things like ease of navigation, good color, quick loading time and buttons that work. And something of interest/value to the user/visitor when and if they get where they want to go on the site. Traffic is critical. The best site with the most compelling content is worthless without traffic.
Listing/registering your web site and its key words with search engines is like running ads in the phone books; if and when someone searches for a key word that matches your key words they may find your site on a list of sites. It used to be that those sites with the most hits/visits were listed first, but no more. Top listing is for sale or rent, but that’s ok because “top listing” is just the tip of the iceberg anyway.
A Word on Search Engines
What would you find if you did a search for “search engines” and then did the same search on all the “search engines” that come up? “Larger fleas have smaller fleas upon their backs to bite ‘em and smaller fleas yet even smaller fleas and so on infinitum.”
The Iceberg Internet Marketing Model
Top listing and registering sites and key words are all good, but it’s only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to pulling traffic to your site. Where internet marketing comes into its own is in that area below the waterline, below search engine listings.
There are thousands of e-zines (electronic magazines), hard copy magazines/newspapers and broadcasters of all types, with an on line presence, that deal with every subject you can imagine. Determine what kind of pubs your customers read, listen to, watch and make up a group email list. Access as many search engines as you can and harvest names and e-mail addresses and then set up a group for your pub-list. E-mailing pubs is not spamming because they want input and content, they’re pubs. E-mail lists for pubs are also available for purchase or rent if you don’t want to harvest.
Alliances are arrangements with other websites whereby they provide a link to your website. First, determine what associations, business groups, newsgroups and non-competing companies with whom your customers have contact. Next, harvest, rent or buy names and e-mail addresses. Your first e-mail to your alliance list should be a short introduction and proposal offering to provide content for their site if in return they provide a link to your site. Always have a statement on all group e-mails giving the receiver an easy way off the list.
The last component of the Iceberg Internet Marketing Model is a list of those who have asked to be on your e-mail list. Make it easy, no long forms, for people to get on your list, and get off.
Once you have your lists, you’re ready to send out articles, press releases, information of interest. All with your website address given, or better still, linked.
In Summary
Ever since we figured out how to use a rock to crush bones or nuts, and how to use a stick to extend our reach, we’ve been on the ever changing road of technology. The way to make money with new technology is not to reinvent the wheel by coming up with something brand new; it’s by doing more in less time and at lower cost.

AbeWalkingBearSanchezPhoto.jpgAbe WalkingBear Sanchez is an International Speaker / Trainer / Consultant on the subject of cash flow / sales enhancement and business knowledge organization and use. Founder and President of www.armg-usa.com, WalkingBear has authored hundreds of business articles, has worked with numerous companies in a wide range of industries since 1982 and has spoken at many venues including the Shakespeare Globe Theater in London.

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Sales & Marketing

When Customer Retention Goes Bad

racquetball%20sales.jpgI love racquetball. I played racquetball for over 18 years, very aggressively and very competitively. It’s great exercise and a perfect way to let out your aggressions and stress. That’s why I was so upset when my health club decided to forgo customer retention and worry about their own singular requirement – Getting new customers! Yes, I’m actually going to teach a customer retention lesson by discussing my racquetball experience.
I’ve been a member of this club for about 15 years. I was part of a league that played two times per week for 2-hours each night. There were roughly thirty members on this league and we were all friends and competed in a sociable and pleasant environment. The average tenure of the members of this league was about 10 years of racquetball experience at this club. Not all league members showed up each night. But typically anywhere between twenty and twenty-four would show up at any one time, which means we would fill up most of the courts with continuous singles games (one-on-one).
Then one day they closed down two of the 12 courts so they could expand their workout room. They added state of the art weight lifting equipment and hoped their existing body building clients would tell their friends and increase business. We weren’t pleased, but at least we had 10 other courts to play on; enough to keep us all playing the full two hours without having to wait turns. Judging by the additional grunts and groans we heard coming from that new area, it seemed their plan worked. But I must admit that over time it seemed like the noise was ceasing and their increased business had waned. In the meantime, we loyal racquetball members continued to show up twice a week, every week, every year, paying our dues and buying supplies, soft drinks, and other miscellaneous purchases.
Then the owners decided to take over 2 more courts to build an aerobics gym with a climbing wall, dance area, and a few other amenities to attract new customers, at the expense of their existing racquetball members. Within a year, this new facility was as vacant as an atomic bomb testing ground. It was hardly ever used. And yes, we loyal racquetball members continued to spend our money at their club, which by the way, was the only club in town. Unfortunately, there were only 8 courts left and it started affecting our playing time since we now had to compete for court time and even started playing doubles (two-on-two) in order to get a chance to play at all.
A couple years after that they closed down another court to convert it into a Spinning room. Spinning is some sort of specialized stationary bike where you peddle your way to better health and fitness. Again, this was to bring in new health club members, at the expense of their existing loyal racquetball members, and again it flopped. Within 6 months the room remained dark and spun it’s way into oblivion. But we loyal racquetball members kept coming week after week, without fail, spending our money in the only club in town, which now had only seven courts. They obviously hadn’t re-converted any of these stolen courts so we could use them once again for racquetball. So they remained fallow.
As time went on, two more courts were closed due to damage. The owners said they didn’t have funds to repair them. So we were forced to play in the 5 remaining courts. Needless to say, we were very unhappy. We could only play doubles and we frequently had to take turns since there weren’t enough courts for us all to play at one time.
In year 15 of my playing at that club, we all arrived one night to the news that the owners were building a brand new health club less than a mile down the road and will be closing this older club once the new one opens. It would be three times the size with state-of-the-art equipment and facilities, including an Olympic-sized pool. Well this indeed sounded like good news, at last. What sounded even better was the offer for existing members to get free membership into this new club for the first year it was open. They’d transfer our membership and we’d get to use all the facilities for a year at no extra charge. Now, I must say that we ONLY played racquetball at the original club. None of us used any of the other facilities there. And this was unlikely to change, new club or not. So naturally, guess what our single question was to the owners when they told us all this good news? How many racquetball courts will the new club have? Answer – Zero!
We were devastated. Naturally, we complained but to no avail. Our only recourse was to join another club with racquetball courts. Unfortunately, that was all the way in the next town. My 8-minute ride twice per week turned into a 40-minute ride to a club that was older, dirtier, and more expensive. But at least we could continue playing our preferred sport. Ultimately, I moved out of state and it didn’t matter any more, except that I am now a little heavier and have strained breathing when I go up a flight of stairs.
So what’s the moral of this story? These business owners tried desperately for years to increase their business with fads and gimmicks to draw in new customers. However, they forgot their bread and butter customers – us loyal racquetball fans. We spent a lot of money at their club over the years and were a consistent revenue stream for them. Even when they continued to do things that harmed their relationship with us, we remained loyal. Of course that goes to show you that this sort of loyalty wasn’t good. It’s called “your the only show in town so I have to be loyal to you” loyalty. And perhaps that’s what they thought – that since they were the only show in town, they could afford to take us for granted. So they eventually lost 30 good customers, instantly.
Are you taking your customers for granted? Are you ignoring your loyal clients? Are you making changes to your business and it’s future direction without considering what affects it might have on your existing customers? You obviously need to acquire new customers. That’s understandable. But I hope you aren’t doing what too many other businesses do – acquire new customers while negatively affecting the retention of your existing ones. It costs up to seven to 10 times more to acquire a new customer than to sell to an existing one. With the increasing costs of marketing and selling, this shouldn’t be a surprise. So why don’t more businesses curtail some of these expensive acquisition practices and focus more on retention strategies? I don’t know. Maybe they need to get hit in the head with a racquetball a couple times to knock some sense into them. Or maybe they should give us a call so we can show them how to do this the right way.
Don’t forget your existing customers and they won’t forget you!
Good luck and good selling!

RussLombardoPhoto.jpgRuss Lombardo is President of PEAK Sales Consulting, LLC and an experienced CRM and Sales consultant, trainer, writer, speaker and radio show host. Russ works with businesses to help improve their customer acquisition and retention for increased revenue and success. Russ is author of the books, “CyberSelling”, “CRM For The Common Man” and “Smart Marketing”. He can be reached at 702-655-5652 and emailed at russ@peaksalesconsulting.com.

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Sales & Marketing

How A Pitch Can Grow Your Business

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When someone asks you about what you do, do you have a ready answer? Or do you stumble and stammer trying to explain your business?

I was recently at a writer’s conference where one of the main focuses was learning to create a successful book pitch. My instructor emphasized what a good pitch can do for a writer. She explained that when an editor asks an author about their writing project, they have one shot at sharing their pitch and getting the editor excited about their project. A great pitch makes a great first impression and can translate into a book contract. On the other hand, a pitch that is not well thought out can cost an author the chance of selling that project.

A good book pitch is a summary of the author’s idea, but more than that it’s a summary with a sizzle. At the conference, I learned that many authors spend hours crafting and memorizing their pitch. Then, when asked about their project, they are able to give a quick, concise synopsis that not only explains their idea, but makes the editor want to learn more.

I believe that the concept of creating a pitch can also apply to the home-based business world. As entrepreneurs, we can put together a summary of our business that will not only explain what we do, but grab the attention of whomever we’re speaking with.
A good business pitch summarizes the business concept in one to two short paragraphs, usually a total of 50 words or less. To begin, write out a list of the five most compelling aspects of your business. Try to think about your business as if you were on the outside looking in.

Whatwould interest you? What would make you want to learn more?

Try to answer these questions:

• Who is my target market?
• What are my top selling products/services?
• What about my company makes it stand out? If I were looking at starting a business, what would interest me about this company?
• Why did I choose this company?

Put your answers into sentences and you have the beginning of your business pitch. Try to keep your sentences short and use simple words. You want anyone who asks to be able to understand your answer, not get lost in your words. Take special care to describe what you like about your business. These same things will generally appeal to others as well.

While you want to keep your pitch simple, you also want it to give a picture of your business. Let’s say, for example, that you run health and wellness business. You wouldn’t want to use the statement, “I run a health and wellness business,” as a reply about what it is that you do. You want to add in a short description and catch the listener’s attention. For instance, you might say, “I operate my own business.

We offer products such as chemical-free shampoo and natural snack foods to help others lead healthy lives.”

When I began my website, I was often caught off-guard when someone asked me about it. I would fumble for words and struggle to express exactly what it is that I do all day. I usually walked away from conversations like this feeling frustrated, and I’m sure the person I was speaking with was more confused than they were originally.

After learning the art of pitching, I can now give a short and snappy reply. “I run a Christian-based website for work-at-home moms,” I’ll say. “I offer resources to help them in their search and am able to make an income by offering advertising.” This usually leads to more questions about my website, which is exactly what I hope for. It gives me an opportunity to talk further about my business to those who are interested.

The next time someone asks you about your home-based business, remember to share your pitch with them. Take the time to hone your pitch to be as short, yet descriptive as possible. Over time, you’ll find yourself refining your words and your answers will become well-crafted summaries that pique the interest of anyone who asks. Word of mouth is one of the easiest ways to build your business and your pitch is a great way to get others talking.