CAN YOUR BUSINESS AFFORD NOT TO?

I have just left a client who has been trying to establish a business which uses a whole range of marketing activities including a fairly significant Internet marketing effort. Whilst many of the other marketing activities were showing reasonable results and he was able to evaluate them using clearly defined criteria, his Internet marketing activities seemed to be producing little or no return.

He had spent not inconsiderable amounts of money on Marketing activities – although when we eventually started to look critically at the numbers, he was clearly trying to get away with doing the Internet side “on the cheap”. This was partly because of some scepticism around this new marketing tool and partly to preserve as much money as possible for what he saw as more conservative or conventional activities – although I would hardly rate Internet marketing as unconventional in this day and age.

Each time we had discussed the allocation of more resource to the Internet side, it was met with some resistance and the “I cannot afford to spend any more there” story. And yet the Marketing results were still not optimal – all other things being considered. At review meetings, everybody was still saying that we should be generating better results from the Internet activities and we had been able to establish that some of his competitors were having considerable success with their Internet marketing.

Eventually the crunch came – budgets had to be cut and something had to go. But in order to decide what he should cut from the budget, we did one final review. Brutal honesty was the order of the day.

We looked at each and every activity with a critical eye – then turned it over and did the same again.  We looked very closely at what he was doing, where he was doing it, how it was being done and who was doing what.

Slowly the realisation began to dawn - the resource he was using to drive his Internet marketing activities was far too lightweight for the job that needed to be done. But that was the only resource that he believed he could afford – how could he throw much stronger resources at something which he did not know was going to work?

It was the old story – he thought that he was doing the right things in that arena but in fact, he had employed a thimble and expected it to generate a waterfall. But how could he now justify upping his spend in this area at a time when he was supposed to be cutting back?

After much soul searching and revisits to every area of the marketing budget, he decided that it was more a matter of ”could he afford not to” than could he afford to!!  He needed to strengthen his Internet marketing area significantly – he went out and found himself a bright young Masters graduate in IT, put the appropriate resources behind the job and has never looked back. His Internet marketing activities are now producing spectacular results.

Frequently in business we are confronted with this dilemma. How often do we allow conventional wisdom to prevail? How often do we not question the paradigms which keep us comfortable? How many times do we doom something or someone to failure simply because we do not provide the commitment and resource needed to succeed?

How strongly do we defend positions because we are too scared to admit we may have been wrong?

Why do we lack the courage to change?

How often do we say “can’t afford to do that” when in truth the business cannot afford NOT to do it.!!!

 

 

Filling the Sales Funnel

Any small business owner knows all about the need to keep the sales funnel full, and the pain that comes if it dries up.

The “sales lead funnel” is the phrase used for the methodology employed to take a person from the initial cold call stage right through to the first (and hopefully repeat) orders being placed. We all know that not everyone you or your sales team speaks to will buy from you so if your funnel isn’t full, neither will your pipeline be!

The old saying goes that, on average, you have to make 10 calls to get 1 sale! However if you don’t have 10 irons in the fire none of them will get hot and the funnel will dry up.

There are a few things you need to think about in order to improve your sales success rate. Today we’re going to take a look at three basic selling tips that are critical in order to keep your funnel full:

First: Make sure you don’t lose any leads. Keep name, telephone numbers and email addresses in a system that you can quickly and easily access … and don’t ever throw a lead away, you never know when your sales will depend on being able to contact that person.

Second: Determine your sales pitch. You don’t have to be the pushy, hard-core salesman; you just have to understand the value of a lead. So much of your selling style depends on your industry, your needs and your personality. However, a process is required to take a person from initial contact through to a successful sale. Sit and think about how to handle objections, how to defer a no today to a maybe in six months time and how to mention something that connects with the contact. Only by having a system, trying it out, tweaking it and retrying it can your sales conversions improve. Remember to assign your leads with the future lifetime value they could have for you, only then will you treat them in a way that will connect and resonate with them.

Third: Convert your lead from being a suspect to a prospect and then through to being a loyal customer. There is only one way to do this, follow up relentlessly! You or your sales team need to be there when your prospect decides it’s time to buy. If you aren’t in regular contact you won’t be top of mind when the buying decision is ready to be made and they’ll have forgotten about you and go to whoever is convenient or whoever called on them the day before. Get to know your leads so that you understand them at a more personal level, then connect with them one on one and look for ways to give them something of perceived value for free. That way they’ll feel indebted to you and feel more receptive to your buying signals in future.

Selling and the sales process is one of those challenging areas in small businesses that are fraught with the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. At The Small Business Toolbox we know this and that’s why we’ve focused on getting our next programme, The Small Business Sales Toolbox, underway. Stay tuned it’ll be going live in time to set your sales strategy and sales targets for 2010!

Is it now time to reinvent?

Any discussion around the current business climate inevitably seems to end with agreement that “this is just a cycle and business should start to recover in the next ……..”  But is it?

The “when” trading conditions are expected to recover depends on how positive is the mindset of the person to whom you are speaking  and varies between the latter half of 2009 and the end of 2010. And so a lot of businesses are battling along and basing their future plans on an expected return to the “good economic times” we experienced before the Global Financial Crisis – or GFC.

But is that really what is going to happen? Are things going to get back to the halcyon early years of this decade? Can we realistically expect that this is just the bottom or somewhere near the bottom of the trough and we will soon be moving out of it and back into much better times? We are not so sure that is automatically the case.

Increasingly, knowledgeable commentators are suggesting that the world has changed – and changed forever! They are suggesting that there is now a new world economic order and to quote one group from the McKinsey Global Institute “the turmoil was not merely another turn in the business cycle but a restructuring of the global economic order …. the overall picture is of a restructured landscape. It does not seem there will be any going back to the pre-crisis world.”

Three other writers Heifetz, Grashow and Linsky in their article “Leadership in a (Permanent) Crisis” seem to agree.

“It would be profoundly reassuring to view the current economic crisis as simply another spell that we need to get through. Unfortunately, to-day’s mix of urgency, high stakes and uncertainty will continue as the norm even after the recession ends. The immediate crisis merely sets the stage for a sustained or even permanent crisis of serious and unfamiliar challenges.”

But are we fooling ourselves? Are we really sure that things will revert to how they were before the GFC? Or should we be looking at our businesses and assessing how we can best make them thrive in a changed set of circumstances?

The authors suggest that there are two phases – the emergency phase in which the job is to stabilise the situation and buy time and then the adaptive phase when we tackle the underlying causes of the crisis and build the capacity to thrive in the new reality.

So do you know where your business sits currently? Do you have a clear idea of how your industry is likely to play itself out in the future? Where is your business now - still in the emergency phase and buying time or needing to adapt to the new reality? To what extent are you confronted with a set of radically different circumstances? How do you need to re-invent your business to cater for and thrive in the new reality?

And is the past now no longer any sort of guide as to the future whatsoever? These are just some of the questions which we need to be asking ourselves.

As business owners and leaders, our job is to try to balance the need of the business to adapt and adopt new practices and processes to meet the new reality of the market – whilst simultaneously finding ways to help our people cope with the uncertainty and change. How do we re-invent the business to mirror the changed circumstances and yet still create some sort of environment which gives people the structure and stability that they need?

How do we re-invent our business? Particularly when we are so close to it – and often cannot see the wood for the trees. Without doubt, these are the answers which we are going to have to find and find quickly if we are to ensure that our businesses are placed on those future paths that will give them the greatest likelihood of success – in a world significantly different to the one we have got used to. And those businesses which can unravel their strategic thinking, which can understand how markets have changed and those which can then make and execute dynamic and effective marketing plans – will be the ones that thrive in the new reality!!

Sales Letters – Part Three

In this last in a series of blog posts about how to write sales letters that work we look and two more story-line angles that have been tried and tested over the years and have been found to elicit the right action from recipients, purchasing the product concerned!

Connect with the reader by highlighting a problem or fear they may have.

This is one of the most effective tools and connects on a basic psychological level, which can convert, if written correctly, at an astonishing rate.

For example: “You may feel safe from retirement worries now, but did you know that nearly all small business owners reach 60 without having a business that is saleable and without having made adequate provision for their retirement income? Now is the time to develop your Small Business Strategy to ensure that you can sell and receive a lump sum payment or develop a business model that will ensure your nest egg is in place and well tended when you want to start slowing down!”

This approach has been used by the advertising industry for years. It’s referred to as “pushing the ouch button” and you’d be surprised at how many situations you can use it in. It really works like a charm.

Finally, you can mention someone the reader knows.

This is a very effective method if you can personalize your communication and use someone that the recipient admires, respects and wants to emulate.

By way of example: “Did you know that your friend *Sue Brown* told us that you could really use some help in developing a more effective business model for your business? That’s why we’re inviting you to visit The Small Business Strategic Toolbox and find out how you can work smarter, rather than harder, in your small business. She loved the programme and knows it can help you too.”

If you introduce a referral programme at the same time this can be an extremely effective way to reach out and touch your potential new clients and reward your satisfied customers at the same time.
Approach your clients and ask them for the names of a few people who they believe may benefit from also using your products or services. Offer them an incentive if those people respond and you’ll develop your own sales force of committed and loyal followers very quickly and effectively. These types of referral programmes take some time to generate, but they’re well worth the effort!

In closing this Sales Letter mini-series:

Always remember that it is your primary objective in writing a sales letter to “hook” your reader as quickly as possible! We’re all receive tons of e-mails, brochures, flyers and phone calls every day from someone wanting to sell us something so you have a limited amount of time to grab their attention and get them reading on.

Ideally you want to keep your sales letters to within a maximum of two computer screens or two A4 pages and while there can be exceptions it is vital that you only write as much as you need to connect with the reader and share the benefits of buying your product/service and no more. People don’t buy waffle, they buy solutions to their problems so get to the point in a way that makes the reading a pleasant experience!

Sales Letters – Part Two

Following on from the last blog post on how to write effective sales letter, whether you’re going to send them through the post, or by email. Here are two more writing styles that you should find effective. After all they’ve been tried and tested by the top copy writers of all time.

Ask questions.

Use questions effectively at the start of a sales letter to connect with the ideal customer quickly.

For example: “As a small business owner have you ever stood in front of the mirror and wondered what the heck you are doing in your business? If we told you that you’re just like hundreds of other small business owners and that we have a product guaranteed to help you market your business more effectively, for less than you ever thought possible, would you be interested? And what if we told you this product would cost you less than R500? Visit The Small Business Marketing Toolbox today and find out how easy and effective marketing your small business could be!”

Psychology research tells us that when you ask questions the reader instinctively feels compelled to answer them. In this way you’re involving them in the issue at hand and connecting directly with them and their problems. Many effective sales letters ask a series of questions that are all likely to elicit a positive and strong “yes” from the recipient and in this way channel their actions towards your product.

Also, try offering something for FREE.

An example could be: “Would you like to receive a complimentary newsletter that contains tried and tested tips and advice on how to manage your small business more effectively? Visit The Small Business Toolbox today and subscribe to our e-zine. It’ll deliver sound small business management tools directly to your inbox!”

Why not think of something free that you could offer your customers right now? Perhaps also a free e-mail or printed newsletter? Maybe even a helpful article, report, brochure or booklet. If possible even a complimentary consultation with you or even a discount on their first visit to your business.

These two copy writing skills work very effectively. Take them and adapt them to your business and then use them effectively to increase trial and conversion.