10 Ways To Get Your Message In Front Of Your Customers

Here is a checklist of 10 ways to get your message in front of your customers. 

1) Get New Business From Existing Customers. Ask existing clients for more biz before you try warming up a stone cold lead.  Ask the happy clients for referrals to people they know that you don’t – and be sure to keep track of who referred whom.

2) Pitch a Stranger. It’s like bad advertising when you blow hot air when pitching to a new prospect.  In face-to-face mediating you’ve got to know what to say, and say it with conviction.

3) Give It To Me Straight.  No one has time for the “warm-up”. Prepare well honed phrases and practice them in front of a mirror.  People like it when you can get to the point rapidly and intelligently.  If it’s by email, make sure they don’t have to scroll down to read it all.

4) Talk About Your Failures.  Seriously! It builds credibility.  Everyone can’t be perfect all the time, and when you can tell a prospect why you lost a client and what you’ve learned it’s a welcome change.  They appreciate not getting the usual hot air & razzle-dazzle.Then...tell them about a success.

5) Offer a “Loss-Leader”.  People are less and less apt to buy impulsively from a person if they don’t have a good feeling about them.  Offering a loss-leader allows the relationship to mature over time.  This is very important in B2B clients. (Loss-leader is the practice of offering a product or service at a considerable discount and loss of profit to attract future business.)

6) Get Sold Yourself.  Pick the most successful competitors in your area and let them sell you.  Play customer and be aware of how you feel during each step, and see why their approach works so well.  Auto-makers buy each others cars and break them down to nuts and bolts.  You can do the same thing in your space.

7) Start an E-mail Newsletter.  This is much like #5.  Give them useful information week in and week out, or month in and month out.  Make them happy to see your name in the “from” field.  If they only hear from you when you want something, they’ll turn you off when they hear from you.

8) Develop How-To video tips. If you don’t have a You Tube channel...create one. You Tube is the second largest search engine behind Google.

9) Offer Testimonials.  Satisfied clients or customers can say things about you that you can never believable say about yourself.  Use the person’s full name if possible when doing this.  “KM from Buffalo” isn’t nearly as strong as “Kenneth Moore from Buffalo”.

10) Ask Questions.  I can’t emphasize enough how important and how underused this tip is in business.  Simply allowing people to verbalize their needs makes them happy and tells them you listen.  It also allows you to hone in on the points to make when it’s your turn to talk.

It’s strange, but we become so busy doing business that we have a tendency to overlook what’s in front of our noses.  Most of the tips listed, would come about if we ever had the time to visit with our customers while doing business.

Change your Mindset and Change your Results,

Rich

6 Questions a Presentation Must Answer

Your success will reflect your ability to speak to a group of people and motivate them to action. The one skill that all sales professionals, executives, small business owners, experts and entrepreneurs must have is the ability to effectively present their message. 

They must be able present their message to their prospects, customers, employees, associations, boards, meetings are just a few of the places where you will present. 

In any presentation, there are basic pieces of information that an audience should receive from their presenter.  You are the problem solver presenting a solution that will benefit your audience.  The presentation should answer who, what, when, where, why and how regarding your topic.  In giving that information, your presentation will have clarity and will be on track to give the detail necessary to your audience.

1) Who is your target audience?  

What would they like to know about regarding your presentation?  Do they have any preconceived notions about your material?  What are their concerns?  Are you addressing the "who" you targeted in your research?  When you address the "who" of your message, you are better able to relate with your audience.  They will feel like you are speaking directly to them.  They will give you their attention because they feel like their needs are being addressed.

2) What is the message you want to communicate?  

What are the issues?  What are the solutions?  The "what" in your message is the backbone of your presentation.  It is your purpose of your message and the reason you are speaking.  It is also the reason why people come to hear you.

3) When is the recommended time to take action? 

Is there a sense of urgency in your presentation?  Stressing the "when" aspect of your message is especially important when you want your audience to take action immediately following the presentation - i.e. - sign up for a class, sell promotional materials, implement what was learned)

4) Where is the problem located?  

Where can your audience find the help they need?  "Where" signifies direction.  This leads your audience somewhere in your presentation.  Where would you like to take them?  Common "where" statements include "across America today", "in college campuses nationwide", "in the construction industry", and "in families in California".

5) Why should they take action?  

What are the motivating factors in prompting your audience to take action?  The main focus here is inspiration and motivation to take action.  Not only do you want them to listen to you, but you want your audience to take action on what you've said.  You want to somehow improve their lives and honing your message on the "why" is a critical necessity.

6) How can they respond to your message?  

How can they take action based on what they've heard?  This is the learning and teaching portion of your message.  This can be the "how-to" section telling them how they can easily improve their lives.  This section often incorporates steps to follow.  

There are still many more questions that your presentation should answer.  As you piece all of these bits of information together, you'll be giving your audience the detailed answers they are looking for.  You also present yourself as the credible source of information you want to present yourself to be!

Change your Mindset and Change your Results,

Rich

The Problem Is NOT the Problem

How many times have you caught yourself saying that there could be no other solution to a problem or that the problem leads to a dead end? How many times have you felt frustrated knowing that the problem is one you cannot solve. 

No leads...No options... No solutions.  

The pressure of having to solve such a problem can be overwhelming.But with some creative problem-solving techniques you may be able to look at your problem in a different light. And that light might just be the end of the tunnel that leads to possible solutions.

First, in creative problem-solving, you must change your mindset to the fact that there may be more than just one solution to the problem. And, you must be open to the fact that there may be solutions to problems you thought were unsolvable.

Now, with this mindset, we can be more creative in solving our problems. Here are the ways to look at the problem to uncover possible solutions.

The problem is not the problem

It could be the reason we cannot solve our problems is that we have not really taken a hard look at what the problem is. 

I was asked to work with a client on a problem they were having. I asked “What problem were they having?” and he said “Teamwork.”  

Teamwork is the answer not the problem.

I find this happens every time. We do not answer the question of what is the problem, instead we give the result we want. So, what do you do? 

I could have stopped there and begin to develop a proposal to for a teamwork workshop...but I didn’t. 

What did I do? I asked this key question “What problem will teamwork solve?” 

He told me “Increase productivity” and I asked the same question “What problem will increased productivity solve?” 

After a few minutes of asking my question with his responses...I discovered the real problem. 

A new Vice President had been hired and he was not cooperating with my client. He was not getting the product to his team in time for them to do their job to meet the production standards. My client said that each time he had a meeting with the new vice president he left frustrated. He was not getting any cooperation in solving the problem.

The real problem was teamwork all right but it was between two people...not his team. I could have easily developed a proposal to solve the wrong problem. 

Here is what you can do to look at your problem

Ask yourself or you team “What problem will  (insert your answer) solve? Continue to do this until you get to the core issue....the real problem.

This will give you an understanding the problem and having a concrete understanding of its workings is integral solving the problem. If you know how it works, what the problem is, then you have a better foundation towards solving the problem.

Next, make a simple statement of what problem is. Now, ask this question “Because we have this problem (insert your problem) what other problems is this causing? And for who?

Identify the participating entities and what their relationships with one another are. Take note of the things you stand to gain any stand to lose from the current problem. Now you have a simple statement of what the entire problem is.

Take note of all the constraints and assumptions you have for the problem

Sometimes it is these assumptions that obstruct our view of possible solutions. You have to identify which assumptions are valid, in which assumptions need to be addressed.

Solve the problem by parts 

Solve it going from general view towards the more detailed parts of the problem. This is called the top-down approach. Write down the question, and then come up with a one-sentence solution to that from them. The solution should be a general statement of what will solve the problem. From here you can develop the solution further, and increase its complexity little by little.

Be creative

It helps to have critical thinking as you solve a problem, you must also keep a creative, analytical voice at the back of your head. 

When someone comes up with a prospective solution, tried to think how you could make that solution work. Be creative. Then, be critical to see if this solution can work.

Two heads are better than one

 Always be open to new ideas. You can only benefit from listening to all the ideas each person has. This is especially true when the person you're talking to has had experience solving problems similar to yours.

You don't have to be a gung-ho, solo hero to solve the problem. If you can organize collective thought on the subject, it would be much better.

Be patient

As long as you persevere, there is always a chance that a solution will present itself. Remember that no one was able to create an invention the first time around.

So, next time you see a problem you think you cannot solve, think again. 

The solution might just be staring you right in the face. All it takes is just a little creative thinking, some planning, and a whole lot of work.

Change your Mindset and Change your Results,

Rich

What Makes Zappo's Different?

No matter what kind of business you have we can learn from Zappo's success. Boomers more than the younger generation understand customer satisfaction and the commitment it takes. We understand it is about people interfacing with people...not people interfacing with devices.

Click HERE to read this article is a great reminder of what we can do to add exceptional service to our business. Why? Because we care.
Be the Difference,
Richard

FREE webinar Rethinking the Sales Funnel: The New Rules of Selling

Rethinking the Sales Funnel: The New Rules of Selling
If you want to increase your sales and customers then it means doing something different. The rules of selling have changed. I want to invite you to a FREE webinar that I will be on Tuesday Jan 7th. Please follow the link to register and find out what the new rules are and how you can take advantage of them in your business. I will give you a free copy of my book for attending.

In this webinar sponsored by SocialAgenda Media, host Olga Kostrova, COO of SocialAgenda Media along with guest Richard Grehalva, sales trainer, author of 2 books, “Unleashing the Power of Consulting Selling” and “The Boomerpreneur Revolution” and speaker represented by SocialAgenda Media, share some observations on:

- why many B2B demand generation programs underperform?
- how you can increase the quality of your sales leads;
- how you can improve your sales funnel;
- and how to improve lead conversion in 2014, and connect lead acquisition efforts to the actual sale.

Join us, so you can immediately apply tips learned from this presentation to revise your current approaches to demand generation and optimize your programs for higher ROI.

http://webinarmax.com/event/register.php?w=0000002204