The way you treat clients directly affects how successful your business will be.

We’ve said it before: Being nice can set you apart. I was recently reminded of this again thanks to one of our client’s blog posts. Tony Quintong of Securieon posted an article on his site about one rule to live by in business: Treat others as you would want to be treated. The whole idea is that no matter who you’re working with, the way you interact with them can play a big role in how successful you are in your business.

Here’s some of what Tony wrote:

Here’s the essence of this observation: It’s a Glengarry Glen Ross world of pushy real estate salesmanship. We live in a plethora of readily accessible information. There is no need for the capital required of the Procter & Gamble’s or Mattel toy companies of the world. Market research of what a client is likely to buy – and why – is a few keyboard taps away, yet how many sales people really do their homework? Here is a simple Sales 101 Training approach to catching a prospect’s attention:

• Do the homework on the person and their company
• Develop a solution statement based on their needs – not on your unfounded opinion
• Provide an insightful view on their industry/company challenges
• Follow up with a compelling point of interest to them

If you want the potential customer to be receptive, treat them as you would want to be treated. If you don’t agree or have not considered their point of view, its ok with me; however I would seriously consider another profession.

Have you taken the time to actually do the homework, listen to your customers and find a compelling point of interest to them? Not only can this help you make the sale, but it can help you develop a marketing strategy to actually reach your target audiences effectively!

Photo Credit: JodiWomack

Tweet

Writing to sell is different than other types of writing

Writing to sell is different from any other kind of writing. Rather than just presenting facts, your goal is to persuade and motivate.   Mary Cantando has compiled this terrific list of tips for how to go about writing when you want to close a sale.

Look at your latest marketing copy, website content or e-blast and see if you’re missing any of the following steps. If so, you could be losing sales.

1. Write to Sell. Remember, your primary goal is to sell your product/service. Don’t waste a lot of space promoting your company. Instead, talk about how your offerings can make your customer happy, comfortable, wealthy or secure.
2. Engage the Reader. From the headline through the click to order, write in a style that appeals to your buyers. If you can entertain them, even better.
3. Don’t Overstate the Facts. Limit the use of words like “amazing,” “one-of-a-kind,” and “fantastic”; and kill off those extra exclamation points!!
4. Capitalize on Testimonials. Buyers will almost always believe someone “just like me” before they will believe a sales pitch. If you’ve got great reviews, display them prominently.
5. Ask for the Order. Provide a brief, high-powered statement asking them to buy and then telling them how to do it.

What additional tips would you include in this list?

Photo Credit: Caitlinator

Tweet

A website needs to be created the same way. Ask yourself what kind of feel you are trying to create around your product or service. Does your website reflect that? Before you begin any sort of marketing campaign, you need to be sure your website is exactly the way you want it. Building awareness of your company will drive traffic to your site, but what will the visitors do when they get there? Will they actually invest in whatever it is you’re selling? Does your site offer all the information they’re looking for?

Three Girls recommends the following for every single website:

1. Information about what your product or service is and why consumers should care.
2. Email and phone contact information for any questions potential customers may have.
3. Clear links to navigate the site easily.

We also recommend crisp graphics and a clean feel to the site – it will build a more professional feel into your site, making it easier for consumers to trust your product or service. Small business owners and entrepreneurs can use all sorts of methods to drive traffic to your site, but without a solid website those efforts are wasted.

For a few examples of excellently-designed small business and non-profit sites, we recommend the following:

1. Eat My Dust Janitorial
2. Expanding Your Horizons
3. OhMiBod (WARNING: Adult Content)

Tweet

A little while ago, B.L. Ochman posted a list of Ten Things Social Media Can’t Do. Here are our five favorites:

Social media can’t:

Substitute for marketing strategy.
A Twitter campaign or a Facebook page that announces your weekly specials is not a marketing strategy.

Be viewed as a short-term project.
Social media is not a one-shot deal. It’s a long-term commitment to openness, experimentation and change that requires time to bear fruit.

Produce meaningful, measurable results quickly.
One of the complaints about social media is that it can’t be measured. But there are many things that can be measured, including engagement, sentiment and whether increased traffic leads to sales. Those results can’t be produced or measured in the short term. Like PR, social media marketing often produces its best results in the second and third year.

Guarantee sales or influence.
Unless your effort can pass the “who cares” test — and most simply can’t — your social media efforts will fall flat. And unless you know how to drive traffic to your contest, video, blog, event, etc., you’ll have little more than an expensive field of dreams.

Replace PR.
No matter how great your website, video contest, blog, Twitter strategy, etc., you still need publicity. Or you may end up with a tree falling in the forest and nobody hearing it.

Read the other five things social media can’t do at AdAge.com.

Tweet

I recently experienced a bit of a role reversal. For a volunteer project with my church, I offered to research prices of local print shops to find out what would be most cost-effective for the quality we were looking for. It’s one of the few times that I was asking about prices, services, etc. as opposed to telling potential clients about what Three Girls offers. Being on the opposite side of the sale was a great exercise for me – it reminded me that there are techniques you should use while closing the sale.

1. Work with their preferred method of contact. In my case, this was a volunteer project, so I couldn’t spend a lot of time on the phone during the day – I needed to be working. Fortunately, email communication allowed me to respond to people during breaks or after hours. There were a couple of companies that called and left a voicemail following my initial inquiry, and completely ignored me when I told them email was a better way to get a hold of me. Needless to say, their companies were crossed off the list.

2. Answer all their questions. As I was pricing and comparing several different companies in the area, I had a standard list of questions for each potential vendor. I sent each of them the same list so I could compare them accurately. I found it very frustrating that one of the people didn’t answer all of my questions. In fact, I needed to ask a couple of them several times before they were answered. It made me wonder if that’s what our working relationship would be like were we to choose them.

3. Follow up effectively. Following up is a necessary part of sales as potential customers have a lot going on. One of the printers sent me some samples of their work so I could see the level of quality we could expect from them. When she followed up, all she said was “Did you get the samples?” That’s a good question to ask, but it won’t get you all the information you’re looking for. I’m sure she wanted to know more than if I got the samples. She wanted to know what I thought of them, if I was impressed, and if I was still considering working with her company. You can ask all those questions when you follow up, just be nice about it without bombarding the recipient with questions. Here’s an example:

Hi Emily,

Just a quick note to follow up regarding the postcards I sent. What did you think? Personally, I love our pre-printed nature line. A lot of customers have found them useful in promoting their eco-friendly business. Do you know when you’ll make a decision about this year’s postcard needs? Please let me know if there is anything else I can send to help.

All the best,
Emily

Ultimately, the best you can do is tell the potential customer how you can help and answer their questions – the rest is up to them. Being attentive to what they say and ask will go a long way in making you stand out from the competition. What additional tips would you include in this list?

Tweet