Sales – Page 2 – Velocity Media

8 September 2015

Why you need to ask questions in your sales and marketing

Questions are powerful in sales and marketing. When you use them right they uncover needs, challenge thought processes, demonstrate your uniqueness and increase conversions.

If you aren’t convinced already, here are four reasons why you need to ask your potential customers more questions in your sales and marketing.

1. Questions engage

Questions draw readers into your words and make them involved. When a question is asked (a closed question in this case) we naturally answer it, we can’t help but agree, disagree or form an opinion.

When this happens, your potential customers are more likely to read on. Your potential customer will want to see if you share the same opinion, have an interesting point, or can provide the solution to the issue, problem or ‘what if’ scenario raised in the question.

2. Questions challenge beliefs

A well-posed question can help you challenge your potential customers beliefs, disrupt their thought process and help them uncover needs they don’t know they have so your message or point of view can pierce through.

These piercing questions are particularly important when people have “heard it all before…” or when you are launching a new product, service or concept and need to educate people on why they need your business.

3. Questions break down perceptions

A lot of times potential customers bring perceptions to your business and industry. They make assumptions about what you do and how you do it based on their level of understanding and experience with competitors.

While this can work in your favour (the education is done for you), it can also work against you and fuel their objections if they have had negative past experiences.

When you pose a question based on your point of difference or a failing in your industry (think “Tired of [insert point]?” “Sick of [insert point]?” or “Isn’t it time you [insert point]?”), it can change your potential customers perceptions of you, demonstrate your understanding of them and separate you from competitors.

4. Questions can make sales

Leading questions, where you ask your potential customer a series of questions you know they will say yes to, have been proven to increase sales conversions.

When you can get potential customers in the habit of saying “yes” when you ask them to act or buy they are more prone to say “yes” again.

What questions could you ask to engage and convert your customers?

Amanda

10 August 2015

Why you need customers to want you

One of our greatest strengths as entrepreneurs can also be one of our greatest marketing stumbling blocks – our vision.

Our ability to disrupt industries and think up products and services that fill needs our target market doesn’t even know they have yet can make for some incredible businesses and profits.

But for the very big picture disrupters and entrepreneurs with new and unique ideas, it can also lead to a lot of education to convince customers to buy from you.

While you may have the next brilliant idea that people need, if your customer doesn’t want your product it won’t matter how good it is. Still not convinced? Here are three reasons why you need your customer to want you.

1. Want translates to need

I’m sure you’ve experienced it, where you have wanted something so badly you have convinced yourself you need it? It’s the main reason I have so many shoes and notebooks.

While a customer may need your product or service, and even see the purpose or benefit in doing business with you, it doesn’t mean they will want to. Want brings motivation. It is why great ideas that have met customer needs have still fallen flat – customers don’t want them or know why they should want them and fail to act.

2. Want creates urgency

Think about the last time you wanted something. If it was a larger purchase, it might have consumed your thoughts for a while, and if it was a smaller purchase, chances are you bought it immediately.

When the want is strong enough, it doesn’t ease until it’s met. While a need can build interest, a want creates the urgency to act.

3. Want persuades

When a customer wants your product or service they will often push past objections, justify concerns and persuade other decision makers to come on board. Want increases desire, creates excitement and builds anticipation.

Building a customer’s want for your product or service will make them the best sales person, and if happy with your product or service, they’ll become the best advocate for your business.

Do your customers need and want you? How can you create more want for your products and services?

Amanda

30 June 2015

The top three selling emotions – and how to use them

As we are discovering “why?” is one of the most powerful questions we can ask. Not only in terms of problem solving, but also for motivating and influencing our customers and prospects.

When we can convince our prospects as to why they should buy from us, and take them on an emotional journey to get there, we are in a far greater position to make the sale.

But what emotions should you appeal to and where do you start? In my experience here are the top three selling emotions and how to use them.

1. Discontentment

To move quickly, people need to experience discontentment with their current situation. As much as we want to move towards pleasure, we are far more motivated to move away from pain. Just think about it if we were all motivated by pleasure, we’d all have what we want, or be well on the way to getting what we want.

The purpose of using discontentment is to create a need or desire in the mind of your prospect. Discomfort can come from many different emotions including frustration, envy, resentment, regret, guilt and even fear to name a few. You might find yourself appealing to current emotions or the possibility of them experiencing them in the future by taking prospects to the ‘worst case scenario’ (think life insurance for instance).

When you can demonstrate their pain and frustration or potential or pain and frustration, you start to make your prospect discontent. If you can make them uncomfortable and then show them a way to be more comfortable than they have ever been, you have increased your chances of making the sale.

A word of warning: When you are appealing to emotions, particularly strong, negative emotions tread carefully and sensitively. You need to make sure the feeling is about one specific area that you can move your prospect out of quickly to not leave those feelings associated with your brand.

2. Hope

Hope is a powerful emotion. It can motivate us to act completely out of our comfort zone and do some crazy things for the potential of a reward.

Once your prospect is discontent, give them hope that there is a way out. If discontent is your ‘worst case scenario’ then hope is your ‘what if…’ scenario.

A word of warning: Hope is where expectations are made. While you do need to build up your ‘what if…’ scenario, don’t build it up to a point where they could experience disappointment if they buy from you.

3. Excitement

Now your prospect has hope it’s time to build excitement. Excitement motivates us to move forward, and it also ensures that whatever we are excited about stays at the forefront of our mind.

To get your prospect excited though, they also need to see the value, incentive (“what’s in it for me?”) and urgency. You need to demonstrate to your prospect that they need and most importantly want to act now.

A word of warning: When someone is really excited they want to act immediately – and you want them to act immediately because the feeling can be fleeting. To cater for this make it easy for them to act by being clear on the next step. The fastest way to squash excitement is to make the process too hard or long.

Are you appealing to the right emotions in your marketing?

Amanda

19 May 2015

Five ways to overcome blank page paralysis

There can be something quite intimidating about a blank page. The pressure to fill it with words can be overwhelming. Even the most experienced writers can, at some point, feel as though their ideas have dried up, and they don’t know where to start. But it can be overcome.

Whether you need to write a presentation or proposal, a book or a blog, an advertisement or an anecdote, a newsletter or news release, here are five ways to help you overcome blank page paralysis.

1. Work backwards

When you are stuck, it can help to look at the end goal. What do you want to happen as a result of this? What is the next action step? What do you want customers, readers, journalists, staff members or other stakeholders to take away from it or do as a result of it?

Once you know the end goal, it is easier to determine what you need to write to achieve it, giving you a place to start.

2. Be inspired by the work of others

Need to give a presentation? Watch some TED Talks and other great speeches in history. Have a blog to write? Read other blogs and publishing websites. Need to develop an advertisement? Look over the most successful advertisements developed over the years.

Sometimes we need a touch of inspiration to get us on our way. To see an example of how it is done right or to see it achieving results for us to know it is possible and make a start.

Inspiration should not be confused with plagiarism though. You don’t want to copy what you have read, listened to or watched. Instead, look at the subtle details that appealed to you like their tone of voice, presentation of facts, how they formulated their argument, captured attention or used imagery.

3. Reconnect with your creativity

Sometimes sitting behind a computer can stifle our creativity. We can get too caught in the humdrum of routine and are too easily distracted by the noises of new emails and social media updates coming through.

Think back over the times when you have been the most creative. Chances are it wasn’t in front of your computer screen; it was with a pen and paper, over a whiteboard, away from your desk or talking with others. Also, take into consideration the time of day it was. Identify any patterns and do what you can to recreate these moments of creativity.

4. Write your way

You don’t need to write from start to finish. If you are more inspired to start at the end or halfway through then follow your inspiration. Pressure will only fuel procrastination and overwhelm.

Make notes under different sections or headings and come back to them when you feel you have more clarity. There is no right or wrong way to fill a page. You need to find the process that most suits you.

5. Delegate it

If you are experiencing severe writers block and can’t find a way around it personally, then delegate it. Give yourself something to work with by asking a staff member, ghostwriter or copywriter to do the first draft for you.

It might just take someone else’s interpretation of your business, product, service or topic to help you gain more clarity around your positioning and what you do and don’t want to say.

5 May 2015

How to expedite trust in sales

In business, trust and profit are intertwined. In order to make more sales or convert new leads, it starts by building trust. The more trust a potential customer has the more likely they are to purchase with you and the more a customer trusts you, the higher their spend will be.

But how do you start to build trust with a contact you don’t know and perhaps have never met?

Be friendly and relatable

When it comes to building trust, nothing can surpass being friendly and genuine. While people want to work with experts, they also want to work with people they feel they can relate to and who don’t appear to be too far above them.

Whether you are in front of a potential customer or they are simply a name on your database, always be friendly, pleasant and upbeat in your communication.

Engage and validate

Take an interest in your potential customers and what is important to them. It can be as simple as seeing how they are doing, asking for their input or feedback or seeking their opinion on an issue.

Encourage conversation and listen to what they are saying. Where possible, try to implement or reiterate what you have heard so your customers can feel important and validated.

Make and deliver on a promise

When you have not formed trust with a potential customer, it is important to create an opportunity for you to make a promise and deliver to start building their trust in you.

Can you introduce them to a key contact? Can you provide answers to pressing questions, or insights, guidance or tips on a key issue or topic you know they will be interested in?

The promise could be one-on-one to them personally or to a larger audience through a free webinar, event, e-book or cheat sheet for example.

The first promise or claim you make should have no risk to them. So it is not a purchase you are seeking; it is a freebie or favour that will help you build their trust initially. Once you have gained their trust on something small, it is easier to ask for their trust on something bigger like making a purchase with you. In fact, if you play your cards right and give them something the value or need, the sale will often happen naturally.

21 April 2015

Four places to find leads quickly and easily

Every now and again you can have a slow sales week in business. While it can provide the opportunity to catch up on all the tasks you’ve been “meaning to do”, it can put additional stress and pressure on you when it is for an extended period.

So what do you do when your slow week turns into a slow month? Here are four places to find leads quickly and easily.

1. Your current customers

Your existing customers are the easiest place to generate new leads and business. From asking for referrals and introductions to finding ways to upsell, cross-sell and resell your customers to get them spending more sooner, your customers will always be able to provide new leads once they have seen the value in working with you.

How to get the best results:

Talk to them! Find out more about them or their business and where they ultimately want to be. Identify ways you can help them get there through the products and services you provide. Go to the customers who are already impressed with your products and services and ask them if they know anyone else who could benefit in the same way they have.

2. Your database and past customers

After your current customers, your database and past customers are your next point of call. Already familiar and interested in your products or services they are the second easiest to convert.

How to get the best results:

Identify the objections or reasons people haven’t bought yet or again and find ways to get around them. Offer an incentive. While your database is interested and has possibly bought before, they will often need an extra push to get them over the line.

3. Cross or joint promotions

Joining forces with, and getting the endorsement of, other like-minded businesses that have influence in your industry or over your target market can be a quick and easy way to tap into a new database of leads. As it is beneficial to the business you are co-marketing with it is often an easy sell too.

How to get the best results:

Make sure the business you partner with has the same target market as you and that you know, like and trust them. You will, after all, be recommending them to your customers. Again, make sure you offer incentive so new leads a reason to act or at the very least get in touch with you.

4. Networking

Networking, whether at traditional events, online through social media or making the most out of everyday opportunities, can be a low-cost way to attract new leads and referral partners.

How to get the best results:

You only have limited time when networking so it is important to know and clearly articulate what you do, who you do it for, why you do it and what makes you different. When you do, you can easily qualify networking opportunities and identify the most valuable contacts so you can spend more time building rapport with them.

How do you find leads quickly?

Amanda

7 April 2015

How to find customers you want to work with

Our customers are the lifeblood of our businesses, the very reason we can open our doors each day and do what we love. While many are brilliant to work with, some have the ability to drain the time, energy, ideas and life out of us.

While every customer gives us the opportunity to learn and improve, I’m sure we’d all rather work with customers that challenge us for all the right reasons. So how do you find the customers you want to work with and not just have to work with? Here are four tips to help.

1. Know who you want to work with

The first step in finding the customers you want to work with is to know who they are. If you can’t clearly identify who you are looking for, how are you meant to find them? Take a look at their defining characteristics. Do they come from a particular industry or location? Do they have a specific income, turnover or budget? Do they share a particular problem, want or need? Do they have a certain mindset?

The clearer you can be on your ideal customers characteristics, the easier it will be to find where they are, what they read, watch and listen to and who influences them.

2. Build a business they want to do business with

Now that you have a clear idea of the customer you are targeting, determine what kind of brand they want to do business with. What personality and image would attract them? What benefits or solutions do they want from your products and services? What sales and marketing messages have worked to attract these customers in the past? What information must they know to buy from you? What testimonials from past ideal customers can you use to attract them?

Once you have the answers, proactively build a business that they will want to do business with.

3. Communicate your vision and ‘why’

As Simon Sinek so wisely said, “People don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it”. Communicate your vision and why to your customers. Make your business bigger than the products and services you provide.

Step away from the thousands of businesses who do what you do and give your business a bigger purpose, passion, cause or meaning. Then communicate it authentically to your customers.

4. Remember like attracts like

Like attracts like, so in order for you to attract your ideal customers look at who you need to become as a person and as a business owner. How do you need to talk, act and present? Who do you need to be associating with? What referral partners and strategic alliances do you need to form that will also attract your ideal customers? What circles do you need to be mixing in?

The people you want to work with are within your reach; you may just need to stretch yourself to get to them.

Amanda

24 March 2015

Five reasons to call your customers regularly

The way to succeed in business is to be constantly in touch with your market. The moment you lose touch with them or start making business more about you than your customers is the time you risk becoming irrelevant.

While business can get busy, and email can seem like a quicker option, nothing beats picking up the phone and engaging in conversation. Don’t think you have the time? Here are five reasons you should be making the time to call your customers regularly.

1. Uncover needs and trends

Businesses and people change over time. What they once valued or needed may no longer be valued or needed. The only way to prevent yourself from losing customers to competitors or becoming irrelevant in your industry is to be in contact with your customers and find out what is happening in their lives and businesses.

The more you genuinely care and want to help, the more they will open up to you about their struggles, worries, frustrations and challenges. This gives you valuable insight into the minds and needs of your customers and helps you find or create the right solution for them. It can also help you identify trends, and market opportunities as similar struggles and needs appear through your discussions.

2. Upsell products and services

As you uncover needs you will also uncover opportunities to upsell (increase the amount they spend), cross-sell (get them buying more) and resell (keep them coming back).

A customer won’t always think of you as their needs change and may not even be aware of the other products and services you provide. Talking to them over the phone gives you the opportunity to educate them on all of the different solutions you can provide.

3. Gain testimonials and case studies

Another key benefit of staying in touch with your customers is that you get to know the results they are achieving with your products and services. Customer testimonials and case studies are incredibly valuable in your sales process because they prove how you can help. This proof reduces the risk felt by potential customers and gives you powerful marketing messages to use.

As you are talking to your customers, casually ask them how your product or service has helped them. More often than not your customers will be flattered you value their opinion and be happy to give you a testimonial.

4. Identify improvements

Some business owners fear their customers’ feedback, so much so that it prevents them from following up after purchases. But the feedback your customers share with you, whether it is positive or negative, is the key to building a better business.

Your customers, who have experienced your products and services firsthand, will provide priceless insight into the quality, affordability, customer service and benefits you offer compared to what else is available in your industry. And if you choose to listen, help you create greater products and services that are more competitive and relevant to your market.

5. Build relationships

Never underestimate the power of a trusting business relationship. You have already invested time, money and energy into getting your customers; why not do everything in your power to keep them as well?

People want to be valued for who they are and not just how much they spend with you. A quick phone call to see how they are going is a great way to build a relationship with your customers and inspire loyalty and trust.

These days so many businesses have an agenda when they contact their customers. However, you leave an indelible mark when you call just to see how they are going.

Amanda

17 February 2015

Is the price right?

Nothing can cause confusion and doubt in a business like pricing your products and services. While you don’t want to charge less than you are worth, you also don’t want to price yourself out of the market, so how do you know if your price is right?

Whether you are starting out or starting over, here are five factors to consider when pricing your products and services.

1. Costs

First and foremost you need to be financially informed. Before you set your pricing work out the costs involved with running your business. These include your fixed costs (the expenses that will come in every month regardless of sales) and your direct costs (the expenses you incur by producing and delivering your products and services).

2. Customers

Know what your customers want from your products and services. Are they driven by the cheapest price or by the value they receive? What part does price play in their purchase decision?

Also look at what you are selling, are your current customers buying high-end or low-end products and services? This information will help you determine if your price is right, what level of service or inclusions you should be offering and lastly if you are targeting the right market. It may be that you need to change your market to make your business more profitable.

3. Positioning

Once you understand your customer, you need to look at your positioning. Where do you want to be in the marketplace? Do you want to be the most expensive, luxurious, high-end brand in your industry, the cheapest, beat it by 10% brand or somewhere in the middle? Once you have decided, you will start to get an idea of your ideal pricing.

4. Competitors

This is one of the key times you can give yourself permission to do a little competitor snooping. What are they charging for different products and services? What inclusions and level of service are they offering for those prices? What customers are they attracting with their pricing? And how are they positioned in the marketplace? The answers to these questions will give you an industry benchmark for your pricing.

5. Profit

One of the most important questions business owners neglect to ask themselves is “How much profit do I want to make?” They tend to look at what others charge and then pull a figure out of the air to be competitive without giving consideration to how much profit the want and need.

While you may be in business for the passion and to add value to the lives of others, you also need to add value to your own. So give careful consideration to what your time is worth.

How do you determine your pricing?

Amanda

9 February 2015

The three keys to emotional selling

Emotions are powerful motivators. They influence every purchase decision we make. Every day we buy based on feelings of love, fear, greed, guilt, anger, frustration, happiness, hope, and curiosity and then justify our purchases logically.

While we can try to avoid using them, the truth is if you want to persuade people to buy your products and services you need to appeal to their emotions. Your potential customers are not as interested in the features of your product or service as much as what it will do for them, give them, save them, make them feel or help them become.

So to help you get greater results from your marketing, advertising and sales meetings, here are the three keys to emotional selling.

1. Understand key emotional drivers

There are a number of key emotional drivers that motivate each of us. But the catch is they don’t affect us all, in the same way. Your job is to work out the drivers that will appeal to your customers the most. Here are just a few:

▪ To love and be loved
▪ To feel secure and have stability
▪ To feel important and receive praise
▪ To have pride in who we are and what we do
▪ To feel like we are making a difference

2. Know your audience

In order to appeal to your potential customer’s key emotional drivers you need to have an intimate knowledge of your target audience. You get this by looking at your past and current customers, what they needed, what they bought and why they bought it. You also get it by putting yourself in your potential customers shoes.

▪ What are their greatest needs and wants?
▪ What are their most pressing frustrations?
▪ What is their deepest fear?
▪ What keeps them up at night?

Once you begin to understand your potential customer and what they want and need from your industry and business, you can then identify which emotions you need to appeal to in order to push their buy buttons.

3. Tell the story

As you begin to talk or write to your potential customer, paint the picture of their current situation particularly the pain and frustration, they are experiencing. Once you’ve made them uncomfortable, give them hope, explaining what it could be like once they have your product or service.

By doing this, you are allowing them to have an emotional experience with your product or service before they even try it.

So the next time you are in a sales meeting or preparing your marketing material, remember words tell but emotion sells.

Amanda

123 4 5