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The Perfect Sales Pitch

A financial advisor pitched me yesterday.

I’ve had a few financial advisors.
I know that they are never more interested in you
than when they’re trying to gain your business.
They try their best.
They give you more attention.
They pull out all the stops.

So when I received the full color
proposed sample portfolio
from this advisor
and saw my name spelled wrong
(it is Chin, not Chim),
I walked away with
no second thoughts.

I knew he would only get sloppier
once he landed me as a client.

In this competitive environment,
your pitch has to be perfect.
Double check your sales material.

And get your client’s name right.

Traditional Job Hunting

The company I’m assisting right now
is hiring.
They took out a classified ad
(as per HR policy)
and received thousands of resumes.

Not one was looked at.

Why?
Because the manager had already received resumes
from internal sources.
Since no one is going to recommend
a subpar candidate,
the first round of interviews
(the ‘are you a psycho?’ test)
was already done.

In this tight job market,
you’d have to be very, very lucky to find a job
through ‘traditional’ means.
Your best source is your contact list.

After that, try untraditional means.
Interview companies for blog posts
(and keep in contact with the person afterwards).
Apply for jobs that haven’t been posted.
Work on commission only.
Sell a service they don’t even know they need.

Price Increases During A Recession

All products are price sensitive.
(If you don’t think your product is,
try increasing that price by a million dollars
and see if you lose customers)

So before increasing pricing,
we weigh the margin gained
against the sales lost.
If the net amount is positive,
then it makes financial sense,
at least in the short term,
to increase pricing.

However,
be very, very careful
when increasing pricing during a recession.
Not only are customers more price sensitive
(meaning more sales will be lost)
but the price increase is also more visible.
The media and the consumer advocates
are looking out for ‘selfish’ companies.

If you can,
wait for a recovery
to increase prices.

Double Readership

There are two types of readers,
those that read deep
and those that skim.

Some copywriters will try to ‘trick’ the skimming reader
into reading ALL the words.
That’s difficult to do
and I doubt the reader will thank you for ‘the lesson.’

Yanik Silver gives a better suggestion.
Write your copy so readers can skim
and still learn the important pieces of information.

“So you want to make sure
they can get enough information
to make a buying decision
just by skimming through
the headline, subheads, and words
that are set off by bolding, italics, etc.

If they can do that, you’ve done your job.”

Read your copy twice.
First deeply
and then again reading just the highlighted words.
Does it send the same message?

Putting The Benefit In The Name

According to July 2008’s PM Network,
sales of Quaker’s oatmeal bars
jumped 38%
the year following
their name change from
Breakfast Squares
to
Oatmeal To Go.

Why?

Because consumers responded better
to a name mirroring the convenience
of the product.

When you can,
take the guesswork out of
what your product does.
Put the benefit in the name.

Impossible To Please

Most executives are demanding
but there aren’t many
who are impossible to please.

Why?

Because if you are impossible to please,
people stop trying to please you.
If you are always unhappy with results,
then it doesn’t matter what results you are given.

Dr. Robert F. Hurley and James Ryman
found that the number one reason
managers don’t reach the executive level
is because of perfectionist tendencies.
These managers are challenging to work for
and find it impossible to delegate.

Of course,
you should strive for perfection
but don’t expect it from others
and ensure that you reward less.

Montgomery Gentry Friends

Montgomery Gentry has signed autographs
for friends
(they consider their followers friends, not fans)
until 4:30 in the morning.
They stayed until every last autograph was signed.
Over one hundred thousand.

Why?

Troy Gentry explains
“We’re going to take care of people
who take care of us.”

Do you work THAT hard
for your customers?

If you don’t, why not?

The Information Void

There was restructuring in the company
I’m now working with.
It didn’t touch my department.

The manager knew it wouldn’t
but didn’t communicate this
because, well, why should she?
Nothing was changing.

So without reassurance and
a story to believe in,
coworkers made up their own.
It was dark. It was dismal.
It had the entire department being shut down.

The talented, in demand people left
(even in a recession, there are jobs for those people).
The manager has less than half her staff
and those are the folks waiting for a package.

Good news, bad news, no news,
have a talk with your staff
(or they’ll have that talk without you).

Marketing Is About People

A new author asked me
“Will being on Twitter
help me sell books?”

No, simply being there won’t sell books.
But being there and sharing the right message
to the right audience
WILL.

A recent Guerrilla Marketing tip
from Jay Conrad Levinson’s team reminds us
“Dynamic as it is,
technology is not the key to marketing success.
Marketing is about people, not things.”

Marketing is about people.
Technology is only a tool to reach out
and connect with those people.
It is a vessel for your message.
The message still has to add value to your prospect.

Skipping The Red Carpet

Academy Award organizers are asking
stars to skip the red carpet
and use a secret entrance
hoping this will boost show viewers.

This won’t happen.

Why?
Because no intelligent star would agree to it.

Stars are compensated more
for walking the red carpet
than they are for taking part in the show.
Designers give them free dresses,
jewellers lend them jewels,
and advertisers listen for their names to be mentioned.

The stars are there FOR the red carpet,
not for the ceremony.

There are other ways to increase viewership.
Don’t ask someone to work against their own interests.