Category: Sales

Telling Groups Of People Not To Buy

A politician
recently told
socialists and communists
not to come
to his US State.

His definition
of socialist
is anyone who cares
about other people.

I care about other people.
So I’ll do as he says
and won’t visit his State.

But even if I didn’t
belong to one of the groups
he is warning away,
I still wouldn’t visit his State.

Because he clearly
doesn’t want or need
more tourists.

This is true
whenever we warn
any group away
from our products or services or territories.

Sales or visits or actions
decrease
across all other groups.

Because prospects
will assume
we have so much business
we can afford
to be choosy about customers.
And many of them won’t risk
not being chosen.

If you want sales,
don’t warn undesired groups of people
away from
buying or using
your products/services.

Instead, encourage the groups of people
you DO desire
to buy or use
your products/services.

Matching Sales To Service/Product Delivery

Subscription services
are EXTREMELY appealing
and can be VERY lucrative
for business builders.

Sign a customer up once.
Earn income from them
monthly
potentially forever.

But they work best
if there’s a product or service
delivered in the same time period.

Subscribers need to SEE
they’re getting value
with their payments.

They want to be able
to tell themselves,
for example,
“I paid $10 to this writer
this month
and I received
beautiful character art.”

If you want happy
subscribers,
ensure your product/service
deliveries
and your billings
occur in the
same short (!) time period.

Do You Have A Selling Face?

Many marketing experts
suggest using photos
of ourselves
when promoting our products.
They claim
prospective customers
like to see
who they are buying from
and
supporting.

These marketing experts
are usually good looking.

Client K specializes
in delivering the harsh truths
and a harsh truth
is
some of us
(myself included)
don’t have faces
that would sell products.

We might,
in reality,
have faces
that would STOP prospects
from buying our products.

And that’s okay
as long as we know this.

I’ve sold a LOT
of romance novels
and my face isn’t anywhere
on the internet.

Having our faces
associated with our businesses
isn’t necessary
for success.

Get an honest opinion
from someone you trust
about this.

Give that person
a choice between
your face
and
a logo/another photo
to represent your company.

If they choose
the logo/other photo,
separate your appearance
from your business.

Not all faces
sell products/services.

It is okay
to stay behind the scenes.

The Next Sale

The book formatting program
I use
requires a one time fee.

After that,
there are no additional charges
…forever.

I’ve used this program
for a decade
and have formatted
at least a hundred books
with it.

The one and done fee
is a BARGAIN
for me
but it is
a problem
for the book formatting company.

Because they have
thousands of customers
they will never
sell another product to.

You’ve sold a product/service
to a customer.

What will be your next sale
to that same customer?

If there isn’t a next sale,
you likely have a problem.

Flexibility As A Selling Point

Yesterday,
I talked about how
the world is challenged right now
and flexibility will be
key to success
going forward.

Flexibility will also
be a key selling point
for products/services
going forward.

It WILL influence
more and more buying decisions.

Flexibility could look like…

Offering cancellation insurance.

Making it easy for customers
to rebook services.

Allowing customers
to change delivery times.

Giving customers
a credit
when they cancel.

Allowing customers
to switch from pick up
to delivery.

Accommodating customers
with last minute bookings
or changes.

Flexibility WILL be
a selling point.

Can you factor flexibility
into your product or service?

We Have To, At Least, Cover Costs

A newer writer told me
she wasn’t going to worry
about sales.
She planned to give
all her books away.

That’s not a business.
It is a hobby.
And it isn’t sustainable.

Even free books
have a cost component
to producing them.

Unless she has funds
to sink into that hobby
forever,
she HAS to have sales
to, at least, cover those costs.

We need sales
or donations
or some other source
of income.
We have to,
at the very least,
cover our costs
in the long term.

Figure out
what YOUR sources of income
will be.

Publicly Shaming Your Customers

A writer posted
on social media
about something
awful
a reader (her customer)
said to her
about her book (product).

She named names.

I blocked this writer.
I don’t want
to ever talk to her
because she might
publicly shame me also.

I wouldn’t say the awful thing
but I might say something
SHE thought was awful
or incorrect
or stupid.

Don’t publicly shame
your customers.
Some of your other customers
WILL believe they’re next
and they’ll soon become
ex-customers.

Oh and this should be obvious
but don’t ever post
photos of your customers
without their permission.

If you plan to take
audience photos
at events,
WARN attendees.
Tell them
(in the marketing material)
BEFORE
they arrive.

Protect your customers.

The Luck Test

On St. Patrick’s Day,
I often think about luck.

This year, I’m thinking about
how some people
don’t believe in luck.

I often ‘test’ a prospective customer’s stance
on good fortune
by weaving
“Some people would say
we’re lucky”
into the conversation.

If they respond
by saying something like
“But it isn’t luck.
We worked hard for” X,
I know
the sales tactic
to take with them.

I stress
they DESERVE
the product/service
I want to sell them.

I also know
they will have higher expectations
for that product/service.
They feel they worked hard
to earn it.
They want the product/service
to do for them
what it had promised.

People who don’t believe
in luck
usually believe
they worked
for everything they received.

Acknowledge that
work
and position
your product/service
as a well-earned reward.

If All Your Salespeople Are The Same…

A large company
fired or laid off
all their salespeople
who didn’t sell their products
‘their way.’

What was ‘their way?’
You guessed it.
It was the stereotypical white male way.

And that is fine
IF the company is only selling
to white males.

But guess what?
This isn’t the 1800s.
There are female CEOS now.
There are CEOs
who aren’t white.

And they often don’t like
to be sold
to
using the stereotypical
white male techniques.

I personally hate
that style of selling.

If you want
a diverse customer/client base,
have a diverse sales team.

The Cost Of Lawsuits

Two days ago,
I posted
about how many companies
are trying their d@mnedest
not to pay commissions owed.

When I give people
this information,
they normally say
they’d sue the company.

Suing the company
takes time, money, energy.
It causes emotional stress
for the former employee.

The company,
in contrast,
has staff dedicated to this task.
Their entire job
is ensuring the company doesn’t pay you
a cent.

And the company
has a MUCH bigger budget
for this
than you do.

There’s not even
the risk of media shaming
for companies any more.
The media has been bought
and paid for.

Companies will ruin
your life
for funsies.

Lawsuits aren’t a trivial thing.
Go that route
only if you must.