I doubled my sales
every time I marketed my books
by adding two simple words
to my marketing copy
–Buy Now.
When I interviewed for jobs,
I could almost guarantee an offer
by simply saying
“I want this job.”
Asking for the sale
is powerful.
“You can present
all the features and benefits,
cover all the fancy options
and make your prospect salivate
at the chance to work with you,
but if you don’t ask for the sale,
you’re probably not going to land it.”
Ask for the sale.
I use social media strictly to sell.
Readers don’t think I do.
They think I’m chatting with them,
with no other purpose.
But when I ask what they’re reading,
I know someone will almost always post
that they’re reading one of my books.
When I talk about a movie,
it almost always connects
to one of my recent books.
When I post a joke,
it makes readers happy
and happy people buy books.
“Have you thought
about the fact that
just about every time
Steve Jobs appeared in public,
he was selling us something?
And yet few rolled their eyes
and said,
“oh, here comes
another sales pitch.””
It is okay to always be selling.
It isn’t as okay for people
to recognize your sales pitches.
What is one tactic
you can use
to improve your sales?
Daniel H. Pink,
author of
To Sell Is Human
shares
“Take the other person’s perspective.
You generally cannot force people
to do something.
Instead, you have to understand
their point of view
and their interests
and find common ground.”
I can sell my latest story
to almost anyone
if I know her well enough.
The story has over 50,000 words.
One of those words
will appeal to her.
Selling is easier
when you see the world
from your prospect’s perspective.
You cringed, didn’t you?
Because nothing good
ever followed
“With all due respect.”
“This is usually
followed by
something negative
or a point of disagreement.
Again, does this imply
you weren’t showing
the other person respect
in the previous part
of the conversation?”
Like
“To tell the truth”
or
“Honestly”,
“With all due respect”
should be banished from your vocabulary.
Everyone is super busy.
You only have so many words
to make an impact
on another person.
Make them count.
There’s some luck in every success
but there’s also hard work.
It doesn’t matter if the success
is in product development,
marketing
or sales.
“Every exceptional salesperson
I’ve ever met, listened to
or read about
has emphasized that
the only way to the top
is through hard work.
Joe Girard,
a former car salesperson
honored by the
Guinness Book of World Records
as the greatest salesperson
of all time,
sent out thousands of greeting cards
and handed out an average of
16,500 business cards per month
during his prime.
Exceptional salespeople
tend to start early,
leave late
and make more cold calls
than anyone else.”
Can you work harder?
The knee jerk reaction
to low sales
is to reduce pricing.
With so many people
and companies
willing to deep discount products
or offer them for free,
this is unlikely to result
in more sales.
Making prospects care more
is a better option.
“If people aren’t buying
your product,
it’s not because
the price is too high.
It’s because
we don’t believe you enough,
don’t love it enough,
don’t care enough.”
The problem with your sales
is unlikely to be your pricing.
Look at other aspects first.
I was friended on Facebook
by a professional photographer.
He clearly wanted to sell me
stock photos.
He private messaged me
with ‘Hi.’
I said ‘Hi’ back.
His next message?
“Where do you live?”
His business is online.
My business is online.
I have no idea
why he wanted to know
where I lived.
I’m certain he must have had
a reason for asking
but the question,
especially for writers
who deal with stalkers every d*mn day,
came across as creepy.
It was also useless small talk.
If he asked me
about my upcoming stories,
about characters
or settings
or themes I’m writing,
his pitch could have been tweaked
to supply exactly
what I’m looking for.
Small talk is good.
Creepy small talk is bad.
Useful small talk
benefits everyone.
Put some thought
into your topic.
Often it is not what you say
but how you say it
that makes a difference
(and this is why email can be difficult
because tone isn’t a factor)
Jeff Mowatt,
shares
in September/October
The Costco Connection
“People who have
thin or high voices,
mumble or add useless words
(e.g., “ya know,” “kinda”)
garner less respect
from customers
than those who are
more articulate.
Conversely,
people who lower their tone
and enunciate are perceived as
more reasonable and intelligent.”
If you’re saying the right things
and the customer
is still getting upset,
check your tone.
I have two major subgenres
(product lines)
for one of my writing pen names
(brands).
One subgenre is feast or famine
cash flow wise.
Sales are either tiny
or they’re in the millions.
There’s no in between.
The second subgenre is constant
cash flow wise.
Sales are almost guaranteed
but they’re merely okay.
Sales will never be
in the millions.
I use the constant subgenre
to cover expenses
while I’m waiting for
the feast or famine subgenre
to pay off.
A company’s first goal
is to survive until tomorrow.
That might mean
launching interim products
to pay for a riskier product
or taking consulting work
or some other tactic.
Do what you need to do
to survive
but remember why
you went into business
in the first place.
One of my buddies
is a bestselling writer.
She has a readership base
that pays her $4 million per book.
How does she do this?
She has a policy.
She answers EVERY email,
every direct message,
every text.
Readers know this.
They love her for it.
They buy everything she writes.
Tim Nguyen,
CEO of BeSmartee,
shares
“One thing I do is
simply answer every email
and take every call.
No one gets left behind.
Even if you’re a salesperson
emailing me for a deal,
I will get back to you.
I’ll listen and learn,
and when I reject [the deal],
I will let you know why
and keep the channels open.
It’s good business,
but also respectful.”
Answer every email,
especially from prospects/customers.