6 Things you Don’t Learn Getting an MBA

Getting an MBA will open a lot of doors but here are 6 things you DON’T learn from an MBA.

  1. People want to be led.
    But they want to be led by someone they trust.
    Trust = Competence plus Character.
    In everything you do and say, show that you know what you are doing and talking about and that you place Integrity and your reputation above money. They want someone to educate them on the features of what you are offering but more importantly, how it will benefit them. Always remember WIIFM – Every time you make a presentation, the client is silently asking…What’s In It For Me?

2. Tell people what action to take.
Every selling transaction, whether it’s a direct personal contact, a sales call, letter, email, text, video/vlog, commercial, or print ad, you need to lead them into taking an action.
It might be simply leading them to take the next step – “Pick Up The Phone and Call me Now at ……..”
Marketing is nothing more than selling and selling is all about persuading someone to take an action that will benefit them.

3. Test Everything and Test Small.
A Little Bit At A Time All The Time Has The Greatest Chance of Success.
It’s the Principle of the Tortoise and the Hare.
Test different headlines, body copy, offers, etc.
Then track results. Very quickly you’ll find out what offers produce more sales, profits or customers.

4. Advertising/marketing is nothing more than Salesmanship.
EVERY marketing/selling communication should make a compelling case for the product or service you are selling.
I constantly fought the thinking of most marketers who are traditionally “creative-minded” and get caught up in “cutsey”.
I want and teach “where the rubber-meets-the-road” marketing.
Function over form.
Every business owner has a story to tell. Something that makes you and/or your product UNIQUE. Tell the world. Tell it often.
Would you train your sales people to stop their sales presentation in mid stride or tell them NOT to ask for the sale or to take an action?
Would you tell your sales force to be flippant or “cute” in their sales presentation?
Would you tell them to only give a partial presentation?
Of course you wouldn’t!
Once you understand the Principle difference between “cutsey” advertising and rubber-meets-the-road selling and Principle Centered Marketing, you will have an immediate advantage over your marketplace and competitors.

5. An Educated Customer is the Best Customer.
If you haven’t by now understood the message, it is the more your prospects and clients know about you and your product, the more comfortable and trusting they become.
An Educated Customer Is The Best Customer.
Every business owner has a story to tell.
Something that makes you and/or your product UNIQUE.
Tell the world. Tell it often.
The research you went thru before even representing this product.
Present facts, proof, give a frame of Reference. Tell the good as well as some of the detriments.
I would much rather lose the sale during the presentation and gain a reputation of Integrity, than lose it after the sale because the client received disappointing results.
Under Promise and Over Deliver is the best Rule to follow.
In a follow-up message, I’ll tell the story about Schlitz Brewing company from back in the 1920’s that clearly demonstrates this Principle.

6. Always Make It easy for Your Customers to Say YES.
Every time you make a selling statement on a feature, give the client a frame of reference they can wrap their minds around.
Like this: “Have you ever searched for something on Amazon and the next time you went to your Facebook page, you saw an ad for that very same product? That’s Retargeting.”

Human nature is to say NO when we don’t completely understand something or we don’t have a complete Frame of Reference as to how it works, how it will benefit us.
Make it easy for the client to understand.
A very powerful way of doing this as well is to ALWAYS offer a Risk Free Guarantee.

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8 Things Every Website needs to Include

There are 8 things every website needs to have in order to be effective at generating leads and sales.

1. Video – more and more important, although in my experience a lot of business owners just won’t do it. But if you can get over your nervousness, and get on camera saying who you are, what you do, and why you do it – that’s personal & powerful.

Example: As a car dealer, I would use my smart phone to take a short video at delivery showing my client walking around his or her new vehicle and driving away and then sharing that video via email with my client and posting it as a testimonial on my website.

You could use the same method in any other brick & mortar business.
The possibilities are endless.

2. Phone Number – Make sure your phone number is at the upper right side of every website page – It should also be obvious & prominent on your mobile site version too. Principle of Marketing: Always Make It Easy for your Customers to do Business With You.

3. Call To Action – You have about 3 seconds to convey who you are, what you do, and why the site visitor should care. If the home page is full of text about how great you are instead of what problems you solve, site visitors aren’t going to stick around.

4. Opt-in form – or some way to capture information so that you can market to them again. Offer something of value to your client as a way to capture their information.
Just saying “Sign Up for our updates” or “get our newsletter” will not cut it. Give people a compelling REASON to give you their information.

This underscores the importance of knowing your Lifetime Value of your customers or clients.

Once you know their value, it is a lot easier for you to calculate how much you are willing to invest or reward them with an “ethical bribe”.

5. Mobile Compatibility – It’s critically important that your website works properly with mobile devices (like iPads and Smart phones) Not just a tiny rendering of your entire site, but basic info like phone number, address, maybe a menu – depends on the business. Right now over 60% of local searches are done on a mobile phone and that’s only going to increase

6. Testimonials and Proof – If people love your service and you’re the best in your industry, say so! I believe the best way is to collect video testimonials of your customers saying that in person.

7. An effective “About” page – Typically your “About” page is the second-most visited page on your website. People want to know who they’re dealing with. Don’t hide behind vague reassurances or terminology, especially if you’re local. Videos of you and your staff are highly effective.

8. Social Media Connection – Now, more than ever, it is very important to have a connection between your website and social media.
Have you ever searched for something on Amazon and the next time you went to your Facebook page, you saw an ad for that very same product? That’s re-targeting.

Think about this: You spent thousands of dollars to create a website with the sole purpose of generating leads and ultimately sales. Don’t waste that investment by treating it like a digital yellow page ad.
That is just a waste of you money, time and effort.

The only goal of marketing for a brick & mortar business is to drive traffic either to your place of business or to your website and then you have to convert that traffic to sales.

With this simple tool of Facebook re-targeting, you make sure that everyone that visits your website, continues to be exposed to your message, product or services.

It requires a minimum of 5 “touches” before people begin to “hear” you message, and several more exposures (touches) before their action is initiated.

These simple 8 website principles are your key to having an effective web site that generate additional sales.

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5 Great Rules Every Selling Communication Must Follow

Every communication you have in life is simply all about selling and relationships.

So, when you are writing a sales letter, email or any sort of sales communication there are 5 Great Rules of Selling you need to follow.

1. The Right Audience: Before you take your first step, KNOW who your audience is.

Before communicating – spend time thinking, researching and asking questions of your audience. What do they want? What problems do they need a solution to?

You really want to do your clients or prospects a favor? Ask them questions that help them self-discover the problem they may not even realize they have.

Learn to Ask Smart questions

The most effective time we spend with clients is when we conduct our Question Discovery process guaranteed to give you answers to out-think, out-perform and out-earn your competition.

Seven Things Questions Do:

a. Give you answers you’ve never heard before

b. Stimulate your thinking

c. Give you powerful information

d. Put you in control

e. Get others to open up

f. Teach you how to listen with the intent to understand, rather than      simply to respond.

g. Persuades thru self-discovery. The Principle of Inside Out

2. Grab their ATTENTION:
The headline or title is the ad for your ad.

It Sells the message in the body of your letter.

It tells your audience whether this is something worth reading or listening to.

The headline tells the right people what you are selling and why they should want to learn more.

As succinctly and clearly as possible, your headline has to grab the audience’s attention.

3. The Body of the communication is where you educate and arouse your audiences INTEREST regarding the benefits of what you have to offer.

Your audience is always asking: What’s In It For Me? WIIFM
What will the product or service do for me?

Give them a frame-of-reference to make it easy for the reader to grasp what you are selling.

Example, if I want to explain what Facebook re-targeting is I would give the following frame-of-reference:
“Have you ever searched for something on Amazon and the next time you went to your Facebook page, you saw an ad for that very same product? That’s re-targeting.”

You can also “paint word pictures” of them using and benefiting from your product or service.

Be authentic & sincere. They will be interested in you and what you have to offer only when they know you are interested in them.
Put yourself in their shoes and talk about them, their situation, desires, pains, etc.
They don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.

Write like YOU speak.
Authenticity and sincerity build trust and credibility. Tell the complete story about what makes you and your product or service unique.
Avoid platitudes and exaggerations like the plague.
You don’t have to just tell the good, tell some bad as well.

Every product or service will not be the right fit for everyone. Admit it right up front. Stating what you can’t do builds trust and alleviates unpleasant problems down the road.

I’d rather lose the sale right up front and build a reputation of integrity than lose a customer and my reputation after the sale due to disappointment.

4. Provide Proof
Testimonials are a great source of proof, but always use specifics instead of generalizations.

Testimonials NEED to be authentic, truthful, and from specific and verifiable sources. A video testimonial from one of your current clients is the strongest kind. Putting a human face behind your product or service gives you credible authority.

Specifics – Does it take several weeks to see results or 19 days?
Explain how – Clearly and carefully explain how your product or service does what it does.
There are dozens of ways to provide proof once we sit down and Ask the Right Questions.

Caveat: Get in the habit of under promise – over deliver; no one will ever ask you to prove an understatement
5. ALWAYS have a Call to Action and/or ask for the close.
Amplify the appeal for the call to action with some sort of Risk Free Guarantee and clarify exactly what the guarantee looks like.
Again, give them a frame-of-reference they can clearly picture in their head.

Every client or prospect wants their needs and desires met and a solution to their problem.
They buy solutions or benefits. They want to be led by someone they trust.

Trust = Competence + Character

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Sell Anything, Anywhere, Anytime

If I’d of had this technology, information and paradigm 10 years ago, I’d
be sending this from my own private island somewhere in the South Pacific. :)

Watch this video I made on the “spur-of-the-moment” and with just a little
imagination on your part, I’m sure you’ll be able to see what I see and relate
to you in this video I shot while walking my dog in the country.

I could have put another quarter million dollars in my pocket with this technique of being able to sell anything, anywhere, anytime.

I don’t care what kind of business you have, I can show you how to increase traffic
and increase your income with this simple tool and way of thinking.

 

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