Category: Sales

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.

Don’t Assume You’ll Be Paid Commissions

A loved one had two HUGE deals
out for signing.
He expected them back
on the same day.

First thing
in that day,
he was laid off
with cause.

What was the cause?

The company wouldn’t say.
But I suspect
it was landing
those large deals.

The company,
a FORCEful presence
in SALES,
has used the same tactic
in the past,
f*cking salespeople
out of six figure plus commissions.

To get those commissions,
the salespeople would have
to take the company to court
and rulings have been very favorable
to big business lately.

Don’t assume
you’ll ever be paid commission.

Negotiate for higher
base salaries.

And prepare to be fired
when you land a big dollar deal.

Moving Clients From Free To Paid

I was using the free version
of a social media
scheduling program.

I would have happily moved
from that free version
except…

The lowest paid level
was $99 US/month.

I schedule 3 posts a day.
I couldn’t justify
spending $1 US a post.

Or going from $0 a month
to $99 US a month.

That is too big a jump.

If you’re not seeing
the conversion
you want
from free trials
to paid versions,
it might be
because the jump in pricing
is too much
for your target audience.

Consider offering
another pricing tier.

Can You Sell This?

I pitched a story idea
to my agent.

An agent,
in the publishing industry,
is a salesperson

She sells stories
or ideas for stories
to publishers,
movie studios,
other interested parties.

And that is
the feedback
I truly want from her.

I don’t need to know
if the idea is ‘good.’
I have an editor
for that purpose.

I want to know
if she can sell my idea,
if there is an interest
or a market
for that type of story.

If the answer is…
maybe,
I then want to know
how I can turn
the maybe into a yes.

What do I have to change
in the pitch to do that?

If the answer is no,
I discard the idea
and I work on another one.

Great salespeople are the experts
on what sells or doesn’t sell.

Business builders need their advice.
And we should listen to it.

Dealing With Mansplainers

Dealing with mansplaining
is simply part of navigating
the world
for women,
especially for female business builders.

On social media,
I usually block the mansplainer
and move on.
My time is precious
and he’s not my target audience.

One of my buddies,
however,
has developed a hilarious way
of dealing with mansplainers.

She treats them
as she would treat a toddler.

Toddlers often tell adults
things
these same adults told them
days or hours or seconds previously.
That is how they learn
and retain
new ideas.

We usually listen to these toddlers
and we praise them
for having learned something new.

My friend responses
in a similar way
to mansplainers.

“That’s correct.
You’ve grasped the concept.”
Etc.

This confuses the mansplainer.
They don’t usually know
how to respond.

And it sends the signal
to the rest of the group
that my friend is the person
in the position of authority.

Learn how to deal
with mansplainers.

Don’t allow them
to derail
your presentations or your pitches.