Recently when I was talking to a business owner and we started discussing how his sales team is performing. When I had a look at his team, I noticed simple mistakes that often creeps up on you (or your sales guy) without knowing about it.

The issue is that often this leads to leaving lots of money and business on the table and we don’t know about it. Not to say that I never made this kind of mistake but it’s often easier to take a look at other business than your own from very objective point of view.

Today in this 6 part article series, I am going to talk about…

How to remove these profit leaks from your sales system?

One of the major blunder or profit leak is “Not understanding what your customer wants”.

I’ve seen this sales leak in mostly service providers. The more services you provide, chances are higher of your making this mistake.

If you are not taking care of this, then you’ll find that you are trying to shove your product or service down the customer throats.

It’s like you have a hammer and you are using it to fix everything.

When you create packages that you are going to provide, you’ll make this mistake. Why am I so sure?

Simply, because when you have a product or service package you want to sell and you’ll try to fit your package or service to every prospect you meet. As you get more experienced and to handle this issue, you subconsciously create more packages and more services.

What’s the end result of doing that?

You end up try to do too much and spread thin yourself in many areas. Then you start hiring more people and give them training and it all starts cutting down on your profit. Then you produce more packages and the cycle goes on and on.

Yikes, scary thought. Isn’t it?

How can you avoid doing this simple mistake and end the Cycle of No profit and leakage?

First step is to don’t decide initially what product suits your clients. Don’t day dream about this at all.

Second step is to build a questionnaire for your client. This questionnaire should have as many question as need to help you and your prospective client make the right decision.

Take notice of your customer’s concern, fears, thoughts and most immediate need.

And then you provide them the solution (again, don’t try to hammer it and give your package).

For example, Just couple of days ago, I had a talk with a Webmaster and Internet marketer. He need and wants were something that I could provide, but I would waste lot of time doing the set up and necessary stuff (it was related to SEO).

Within 10 minutes I realized this and confirmed it with him. Then I told him, I can give this service to him but I won’t be completely honest with it, so he should trying going for XYZ company (that I recommended).

Now in this above scenario, I could have spend another 20-30 minutes discussing and find some way to sell it to him but in long term that would have been a bad idea for me. I have to talk to my SEO team and give them additional training and provide set up just for one guy.

His needs were different and I wasn’t ready for it.

In less than 10 minutes I made this decision. Remember I don’t want to follow the endless cycle of spreading myself thin and then losing control of it.

So, you have to spend some time understanding what your client wants and then decide what is the right option. Hammering everything you see is not the right approach for it.

In my last article, we discussed small factors that influences customer subconsciously. In this article, we’ll discuss factors that makes customer to buy something.

Are you marketing to prospects heart or to the mind?

When a customer comes to your website (webpage) to buy or research about a product, then she’s in a phase which will eventually leads to her buying it.

It completely depends on you to make the sale as easy as possible. For example, if you are selling a Widget A and there are 100 different websites selling Widget A then how are you going to influence her state?

Words create images and images creates emotion.

Tom Hopkins, top sales trainer uses this quote often in his seminars. Words create images and these images leads to emotion and these emotions leads to buying your product.

What words you use in your webpage is going to create the influence factor in your product description.

In Copywriting world, we have this quote.

Benefits appeal to emotions
Features appeal to logic
Logic justifies emotion and
Emotion justifies sales.

What does this tell you?

So the word you use have to include Benefits and Features.

You have to appeal to your customers login and emotion.

What you should do with your description?

Your goal to provide as much information about your product as possible. Most people who like to buy do their research and then decide what to buy. When you are writing description of your product, present a complete picture about your product.

Present all the benefits, features, guarantees and everything down to small detail. Remind them that they are making the right decision to buy with you.

Yes, Images Create Emotions too…

(Yummy, that picture creates salivating emotions by Pink Sherbet Photography)

Like the image, if you love food, you’ll love this image. Image of your product, or result will also help you.

That’s why most websites uses photos to show their product.

Again your goal is to make a sale. If you can include a mouth watering image for your product, you can increase the chances of the sales.

Remember – A single Picture can create effect of thousand words.

What You should do with your pictures?

If it’s possible, you should add demo in Picture or Movies. These days, adding a movie has become very simple and easy. You can do it in few minutes and present a complete new viewpoint to your customer with your movie presentation.

“I loved it, You should love it too…”

If you have testimonials for your product, then you should add them too. Customer often believes that their problem or issue is unique. They don’t want to be your guinea pig to test out your product. They want assurance that they are making the right choice.

There’s nothing like testimonials that can achieve that. If you are providing testimonials then they better should be from real people. Do not fabricate them.

Testimonials add credibility, assurance and customer feel safe.

Did you notice testimonials on Amazon.com website? Most of these testimonials are pretty much un-edited. The bring confidence in buyer about the product and the website.

Words, images, Videos, testimonials and guarantees are the simple factors that will help you sell more products.

Oh… I just realized, I didn’t even discussed price as major factor… Why? because it is not an important factor (I’ll tell you some other time why price doesn’t matter).

About The Author

Varun Pratap is Business Growth Specialist and SEO expert in India. His blog http://www.varunpratap.com provides tips, ideas and his thoughts on marketing your business, life and much more.

You have to understand what Triggers people to buy?

Just couple of weeks ago, I was working on my PC and noticed the performance issues. I didn’t care much about it as I was concentrating on my work. In the evening, when I switched on my computer, It gave me “boot failure error”. My heart literally sank, as my most of the work was in the hard disk.

Quickly I boot up another PC and used this hard drive to connect with it… It took me few tries to get it connected and only then I was able to take the back up of all the important data.

When I sat down and started thinking I noticed few things that would have clued me in to its issue.

1. Slow performance

2. Buzzing sound

The moment I realized I rushed out to buy a new hard drive. Why Because I didn’t want to lose my data.

What does this story tells you?

I gives you a clue to the trigger I want to talk about.

I bought a new hard drive because I didn’t want to lose my data.

Why is that important?

Because The data I wanted to save was the work I was doing for my client. I didn’t want to delay the deadline for the work and have to spend all my time to work from scratch.

Was is worth buying a new hard drive?

Yes, at least I was tension free and could focus on my most important task.

There are 2 things in this story.

1. Afraid to lose.

2. Tension in my mind.

When you have a problem, you immediately want to look for solution. That’s the trigger you have to use to get people to buy.

Remember, “Customer buy for their own reasons not for yours”.

When you put problem in the front and remind your customer how they’ll lose out, it makes them agitated. It increases stress and they want to get rid of it in any way possible.

So when you are working on the copy of your website. Think

Are you using customers major problem to get their attention?

Remember the old age formula – Problem – Agitate –Solution.

Notice I didn’t notice the issue about my hard drive until I saw the error. The moment you see a problem, you first response is to find a solution. And that’s how you get people to buy.

Technically you should think and plan for next 12 months.

Think about…

1. What are your goals?
2. What are the key factors that stands against your goals?
3. What are the key factors that’ll help your goals?
4. What is your projected result in next 12 months (In terms of customers, profit, income etc)?
5. What is your core message?
6. What kind of products you are going to sell?
7. How are you going to promote your stuff?
8. What marketing techniques you are going to use?
9. What is your client profile and demographics?
10. What kind of existing products and companies you are competing?
11. How you can utilize a chink in armor of other companies marketing strategy?
12. What kind of media you’ll utilize in generating footfalls?
13. Are you going to use web site as one of the revenue generation tool?
14. How you’ll get traffic to your web site?

This is just a small list of questions that you should be asking yourself and trying to find answers for.

You should at least study for “Core Message”, “Client Profile and Demographics”, “Analyzing your Competition” and “Your major marketing strategy”. All of this will help you create your “USP – Unique Selling Proposition”. USP can play a major part in your business success.

You should remember this is work in progress. As you start working and growing your business, chances are you’ll change the main profile and strategies. These are not written in stone, so don’t worry about them. This is just a good start up profile you should at least study.

The bounce rate gives you an idea how much time they spend on the webpage and how deep they checked your website. The bounce rate here is way too high and they never clicked away the moment they landed on the wesites. Bad thoughts that.

What makes people stick to your website?

Before I answer this, let me ask you a question. What is more important – A unique visitor or Repeat visitor.

In normal set of conditions, website owners would like nothing more than unique set of visitors.

But in this scenario, I’d prefer ‘repeat visitors’.

Why Repeat visitors make you go ga-ga?

Repeat visitors means, they have already been on your site. Now, they came back for more. The more communication channels you create between you and your reader, the better your chances to sell them. The best thing about them is that you don’t have to spend any money/time as much for any unique visitors.

They liked your website, or your message or your content or god knows what, but they liked it. They are back for more. Wouldn’t you like to take this chance to cement a long term relationship with them?

In this long term relationship you’ll be able to sell them more and more. Can you think of elements that can help you create this long term relationships?

How these elements can get you repeat visitors?

Everything comes back to your content and how you present them. Your content will take shape in many forms from just text to Audio/video or email content. You have to build your content in a way which brings back your readers many many times.

To do this, you have to focus on “most wanted response”.

The term most wanted response was coined by Ken Evoy, a marketing genius in his own right. Every page in your website should have “Most Wanter Response (MWR)”. 

In MWR, all you have to focus on “What your reader should do when he comes to your webpage”. Notice I said, webpage, not website. Why? Because they can only surf website page by page.

At every page you have to decide what response you want them to make?

Do you want them to subscribe to your list?

Do you want them to follow a certain link?

Do you want them to buy something?

Or Do you want them to take another action?

So exactly what this will do?

First thing it focuses their attention to something you want them to do (or going to do anyway).

Second thing it kicks off any goofs, who are there just for a joy ride.

Third thing, it starts to filter different type of visitors.

Do you think all of this work will be pain in the neck? Of course it’ll. It’s your business, if you don’t do it, then who will?

Remember when readers are there, get them to act.

If you need any marketing help/advice, then click here.

One of the fastest way to attract more audience is by using simple advertorial format of advertising in space ads (newspaper, classifieds etc). In marketing lingo, we call these leads generators a 2 step method.

The goal of the lead generator is to generate as many leads as possible. The 2 step are -
1. Write ad that gets people to contact you (or call your office).
2. Get them to book an appointment.

1. Write better ads to Attract more audience.

Now this might be one of biggest hick-ups you might face. If you don’t know how to write, then you need some help fast. But here are few tips that’ll help you write better.

1. Use basic design without showing off any graphic skills. An ad needs to attract attention of the visitor.
2. Write a better headline. When in confusion, write directly to your customer “Attention : Interior designers –” will surely attract interior designers.
3. Do not try to sell your services/product in the ad. Your goal is to get your prospective clients to call you and book an appointment.
4. Better Ad-Prospect Match – Make sure you are targeting an intended audience. If you are an interior designer, it’s foolish to promote your ad in sports section/magazine.

Remember this is lead generator. You only have to get them to call you. That’s your goal for writing an ad. Do not stray from your goal.

2. Book an appointment.

When you start recieving calls, its not time to start selling your service or product. You are far better if you sell an appointment. Now that might sound a little odd, but the truth is, there’s no connection between you and prospect. The chances of them buying on phone is very low.

The moment you talk to them face to face in an appointment, you can increase the chances of turning query into sales. Never lead the phone call with sale in mind. Think appointment.

So the 2 step method is as follows

Get leads -> Book an appointment -> sell your products or service face to face.

Have you ever heard of cucumber soda? John has it, even if you haven’t heard of it. 

I don’t mean in technical terms. You can hire anyone to get a website in a week or less. No I meant in terms of Marketing, Producing, it’s like giving a birth to website.

1. What’s Your Goal?  – When I am starting out, I ask myself a very simple question. What’s my goal? Now of course, your goal can be, saving the world, making money, just plain old vanilla putting your business offline.

But in this phase, you have to find out how you are going to achieve your end goal.

For example, this website http://www.varunpratap.com/ went through many phases (from a personal website to fitness blog to again a personal website to professional website to phew… tooo many). I ended up scraping all of these earlier versions just because I wasn’t satisfied.

I am a creative person and I need an outlet where I can speak, shout, rant or just be darn creative.

Currently my slogan “Desire. Commit. Succeed” is something I want others to experience. And to me, there’s nothing better using a blog to share your experience. With my experience in many diverse fields, I know I’ll end up talking about tons of different things on this blog.

So you have to decide what’s your ultimate goal? And how you are going to achieve it?

2. How are you going to create a connection? – Websites do not exists in solitude. In fact nothing exists in solitude. So when you are going to make a website, you have to find a way to create a connection with people who are going to visit your website.

There’s no other way. You cannot avoid this. No matter who you are. No matter what business you are in. No matter what your race is or where you live.

Your website cannot live without visitors and there has to be a way to connect with them.

2 Easiest way to connect with them are

1. Blog Like this one.
2. Newsletter
3. Forum (I am adding this one but it takes lots of efforts to maintain a forum).

You also have to understand about the media (Audio and Video). Because they ultimately create a connection. You have to check whether you can use it or not.

3. Potential to monetize or not – Third thing I think about potential to monetize a website. It’s very simple, If you are already making an effort to build and maintain a website, then why not monetize it?

There are many ways to monetize. The easiest to implement are :-

1. Sell advertisement space.
2. You can create a list and sell advertisement.
3. Create a product/s and sell it.
4. Promote affiliate products.
5. Sell your services.

Now this is how I start even before I order a website design to be done. I worry about my prospects. I prepare about how I am going to connect. I prepare about how to market. I prepare about how to sell.

Like I said, any one can put a website online. These days even toddlers and their pets have one. But all of this underestimates the real though that goes behind putting a website together.

It’s not that complicated. In fact it’s easiest the moment you decide “What’s my Ultimate goal with this website?”.

This is first of my 3 part formula “Decide. Commit. Succeed”. The moment you decide and decide to commit, things changes. Everything will work in your favor depending on your will. And Succeeding is just next step.

Notice, there’s no where I talked about SEO (search engine optimization) or any other new internet technologies. Because we don’t have to worry about them.

First build a website in mind, then on paper and only then come online.

Best Regards,

Varun Pratap
Desire. Commit. Succeed.

First lesson :- Strike and Grab the Opportunity fast whenever it presents

This is the first and most important lesson that you’ll learn while doing Internet Marketing.

It all comes down to speed of implementation. If you are slow, time will move on and chances of your profiting from the opportunity has left you by.

If you compare internet time line to offline line real world time line, then time is moving at least 4 times faster on internet (that’s due to advancement in Internet technologies). The cause and effect can be seen almost immediately of internet technology and time.

People who sit on the side line and wait and check are often late and broke.

That’s why I said speed of implementation is important.

Second Lesson : Ideas are dime a dozen, Action is rarer.

Too many people have way too many ideas… but people who take action are rarer. And thats true in harshest of terms for people on internet. With the access to ever changing technologies, people can exchange ideas in a blink. But People who take action on those ideas are rare and those who do, often succeeds.

Again complimented with first lesson of speed of implementation, this will help you tremendously.

Third lesson : Sell whenever the damn you can

Someone told me, “Every attempt at communication is an attempt of persuasion. Either you are persuading someone or being persuaded by someone”. When I am writing as “Sell whenever the damn you can”, it sounds like a sleazy salesman or slick opportunist.

But that’s not my intent at all.

In internet, the method of communication changes a LOT and if you have a business, you have to learn, adapt and implement different communication methods. If you are selling online you have to utilize every opportunity to communicate efficiently otherwise you’ll not sell at all.

Fourth Lesson : Learn to communicate with written word.

Now as you can guess, learning to write is going to be one of the most important way to communicate online. If you can’t write, you can’t communicate. Oh yes there are videos, audios too but let me say it again, written communication is a HUGE part of Online communities. You just cannot ignore it.

Fifth Lesson : It only takes one silly mistake to get crushed in the time

Doing business ethically is important. With internet and the ease of communication methods, you can be easily crushed. If you are a good businessman, then people won’t be able to slander you even with internet. Why ? because your evangelists(customers) will help you fight against them.

You are nothing but a speck of dirt in the time line and trust me, it’s going to be important to do your business ethically and grow and succeed.

There are many other things I can write here but I think the long laundry list is unnecessary. 5 lessons will suffice for now.

Varun Pratap

Desire. Commit. Succeed.

Business Owners tend to get burned by greedy sharks when it comes to getting their business online. One of the simplest way they get burned is by SEO (Search engine optimization) Experts. Typical SEO techniques might not work for offline business, Infact I dare say, often they don’t need those services at all.

And often these services are quite pricey even at their lowest packages (at around $5000).

Just couple of days I got a call from one of my reader asking about XYZ SEO company’s package. So I checked out their package and I almost spilled my evening tea on my PC’s screen.

SEO services are expensive and they are the kind of the expense sometimes you can live without. Their price ranges from $5000 – $50,000+. If you are wondering if it’s right decision to buy a package like that, then step back and again rationalize.

The worst part is most business owners can’t differentiate between good service or bad service when it comes to SEO. Heck this field is so complicated it even makes most online marketers sweat. And it’s purposely set that way to wring more money out of you.

When it comes to harnessing the true power for an offline business.

You are better off if you focus more towards creating and building relationships with your customer base.

You are better off spending more time utilizing Audio and Video to help create more trust in your visitors.

You are better off spending more time creating product demos which can help you sell more products.

Think of your website as platform which will help you sell more in real world. Do not worry about Typical SEO or things like that.

Think how can your website help your current marketing efforts in your business?

Think how can your website help you relate with your customers?

These questions will help you understand what kind of marketing approach you should use on your website. Without a sound marketing approach all the SEO, all the bells and whistles, all the graphics on your website is just waste of space.

Think about your marketing first, then about your website.