Paint Them a Picture
Be sure to turn up the volume so you can hear this important message:
Be sure to turn up the volume so you can hear this important message:
I was thinking about you this morning…when I woke in Ireland…
…yes – STILL IN IRELAND!
If you’ve been watching the news, you realize that air travel through Europe has come to a screeching halt and hundreds of thousands of folks (including some of my coaching clients, my Mastermind group and Mr. Barefoot and I) have been grounded – indefinitely! [Read more →]
Communication can mean different things to different people. Some people think of the telephone, cell phones, and email as a way to communicate. To marketers communication means something completely different. While those are important and they are ways they communicate with their customers, but there are other tools to use when they want to communicate.
Technology has proven to be the way of life. Even schools are using cell phones and email as a way to communicate with parents regarding their children. As a business owner, you need to find the best ways and the ways that are used the most so you can meet the needs of your customers.
Social media posts, newsletters, blog posts, forum posts, buttons, text ads, and articles are just a few of the many ways you can communicate with your customers. When you use these tools to market your business you will reach people that you would have never been able to reach before.
Social media posts can help you build relationships and business contacts if you use this tool correctly. Follow the leaders in your industry and then people that are apart of your target market.
Newsletters, blog posts, forum posts, and articles need to contain valuable information, but you also need to include a way for your customers or potential customers to contact you. This can be a website link, a phone number, or an email address.
Button ads are a little tricky because you are limited on what you can say. If you use a rotating button, you can have more information than you can have if you have one that doesn’t rotate.
Text ads are good, but you are restricted to a certain number of words. You will need to use your words wisely and make sure your customers will know what you want them to do. Most times you will be limited to five to seven words.
And of course my favorite Videos – a perfect way to connect with your audience and have them see you as a ‘real’ person.
There are a lot of tools out there for you to use. They are at your fingertips and they are valuable to your business.
As a business owner, you need a communication plan that is effective and will make you successful. You need to use your tools wisely and make the best of them so you can be successful.
Communication is something that is necessary, but folks still seem to have difficulties with. In order to perfect your method of communication or rather EMPOWER it, you must begin learning by learning about yourself.
These tips are some that will help empower you when it comes to communication of any form. Sure public or private speaking can be intimidating, but only if you allow it to be. Be confident in your knowledge and it will show in your poise and words and people will listen and enjoy.
By Bernadette Doyle
One of the main principles of the Client Magnets approach is that it’s easier to close a sale when a prospect has sought YOU out, rather than when you approach them. One of the reasons for this is that when a prospect approaches you, the business relationship starts out on a more equal footing. Contrast the situation where a prospect approaches YOU with the built in resistance and or skepticism you encounter when the first contact is made via a cold call or unsolicited mailing.
When people feel that they’ve discovered YOU, you don’t encounter the resistance that can occur when YOU approach them. Defenses are down, the buyer feels more in control of the communication. Instead of YOU saying, ‘Here’s how I think I can help you’ and then having to prove your claim with lots of convincing and persuading, the prospect is saying, ‘I think YOU’RE the person who can help me. Tell me how this works.’ They are much more motivated to listen to your answers!
So usually in these articles I share ideas on what you can do to make the telephone ring, but once they’ve called you, how you handle that all important first phone call can make the difference between you landing a client – or losing them forever.
When I was selling training to corporations, I found that the first phone conversation played a critical part in the overall sales process. Handled correctly, the prospect was ‘pre-sold’ even before our first meeting, the progression from initial enquiry to signed contract was smooth and in some cases the phone conversation went so well that the caller made the decision to buy without us having to meet.
So the first phone conversation is a crucial moment in the overall sales process and sadly many opportunities are lost forever by mishandling this critical stage.
It’s not your job to ‘convert’ every caller. The purpose of this first phone conversation is to find out more about each other, and if appropriate, progress to the next step. But that doesn’t mean that every phone conversation will or should result in a sale.
For a multitude of reasons, you may not be a good match for each other. I’ve witnessed many sellers put themselves – and their prospects – under unnecessary pressure because they were ‘going for the order’ before it had been established whether that was the appropriate next step.
Shift your goal for the call to ‘let’s find out more about whether we’re right for each other’ instead of ‘must get the sale at any cost’. You’ll be more relaxed, and when the prospect doesn’t feel pressured, they are more likely to lower their defenses and tell you what they really want and need.
Result? When appropriate the sales will flow naturally, without you having to push. And, if it’s not appropriate to progress to the next stage right now, you have left the door open for future business and/or referrals.
(Don’t Miss Part 2 of the Series Coming Soon!)
(c) Bernadette Doyle, 2008
About The Author:
Bernadette Doyle publishes her weekly Client Magnets newsletter for trainers, speakers, coaches, consultants, complementary therapists and solo professionals.
By Felicia J. Slattery
When I began my communication coaching and consulting for small home-based business owners, the first thing I did was ask my target audience what they wanted right now. The number one overwhelming response: persuasive communication. A full 83% of all those who responded said they wanted to know more about the sales process and communicating effectively to get people to buy their products and services.
That’s because smart business people know persuasion isn’t scary or somehow manipulative. Persuasion is simply the act of motivating someone to do something. In this case, to buy or try our products and services. Of course persuasion is a process and you need to build up to the moment of the purchase decision. Here are the building blocks you need for your clients to reach the point of “Yes!”
Building Block #1: Build Credibility
In order for people to even want to consider building a relationship with you, you have to be credible from the moment they first see you or anything about your business. That means you must maintain a level of professionalism in everything you do. You never know how or where people will come across you or information about you, so make sure it all leads to one cohesive, common, believable message about who you are.
In a free e-course available on my website called Credibility and Cash Flow, I talk about how credibility is the important first step. If people don’t see you as credible they will never consider buying anything from you. According to authors Adler and Rodman in the book, Understanding Human Communication, you need to develop three C’s of credibility. They are: competence, character and charisma and you can learn more about how to develop each in depth during my free e-course.
Building Block #2: Build Relationships
Once you are credible to people, now you will be ready to begin building a relationship with them. How do you build relationships that last? Simple. Be authentic to who you really are. Most folks can see through an act or insincerity a mile away. Also, treat others with respect. When you respect others for who they are as well as their ideas and viewpoints, you don’t always have to agree but you can still maintain a relationship. Keep in touch in a friendly way. Care. Be more interested than interesting. Listen. Pay attention. Help when you can, even when it has nothing to do with you or your business.
Building Block #3: Build a Compelling Offer
Now that you are credible, and you have a relationship with someone, you can now add the final building block: creating a compelling offer that you know your prospects want. How do you know they want it? If you have built a relationship with them, they will tell you in subtle and not-so-subtle ways, too! When you build your offer keep in mind the 4 P’s of marketing: product, price, place and promotion. Further, give people a reason to buy now. When we are given a choice of now or later, unless there is a reason to act now, its human nature to put things off for later. Examples of reasons to act now would be offering a limited time discount, having a limited quantity, or imposing some deadline on the offer.
Felicia J. Slattery, M.A., M.Ad.Ed., is a Communication Consultant, Speaker and Coach with more than a decade of experience teaching people effective and powerful communication skills in order to achieve their happiest and most successful lives. Felicia offers a free e-course for small business owners called Increase Business by Communicating Your Credibility.
