Break the mold, or at least put a significant crack in it!
I heard someone say, “Being different is better than being better.” I think there is a lot of truth in that and the more I thought about it, the more quotes on being different came to mind. First was the old tagline of Apple Computer: Think Different. Next, I remembered a famous lyric from the classic Sly and the Family Stone song, “Everyday People”: Different strokes for different folks. A little online research turned up a variation of my original quote: Being different is more important than being better. All of this emphasis on being different should be comforting to small business owners. While I don’t want to discourage you from innovating, you should take heart in the fact that even if you can’t make your product or service significantly better than what is offered by every other provider, you should be able to find a way to make it different. Then, due to Sly Stone’s reasoning (different strokes for different folks), with the right marketing you should be able to get your “different” offering in front of the “different folks” to which it will appeal. Here’s a very simple and practical example of this. For years, athletic apparel makers have made and marketed shirts imprinted with their logos. I’m sure you know that, but here’s the part you probably don’t know. For the longest time, they would put a big logo on the back side of their shirts and a small logo on the front. Dan Caldwell, founder of TapouT – a line of clothing originally associated with mixed martial arts competition – decided to start putting oversized TapoutT logos on the front of their shirts. He wanted to be different. He wanted to stand out from the crowd. The big logo, of course, also made it easier to spot his company’s clothes. MMA fans, as you can probably imagine, tend to be folks who appreciate a bit of “in-your-face” attitude and the big, bold TapouT logo emblazoned across the front of these shirts struck a nerve with this group and sales increased significantly. Some of us might have called in a team of professional designers to redesign our logo but the simple strategy of “just make the darn thing way bigger” won the day. There is one important lesson that goes along with the principle of being different that is illustrated with the above example: People must be able to see your difference. I’ve talked a lot about the importance of creating a noticeable difference; today I want to really put the emphasis on the “noticeable” part of that. Differences that go unnoticed – even if they improve your product or service – won’t move the needle on your sales or profitability. Here’s another quick example I’d like to share before you go your own way and start brainstorming your own noticeable difference: There were good MP3 players before Apple introduced the iPod. One element of the iPod design that assured its success was its white headphones. Those little white wires were the difference that let everyone know you owned an Apple iPod…and it was a difference that millions of people wanted to wear as a badge of style and...
read moreAre your sales suffering due to these common faults?
If I make a mistake even a big one – as I’m typing this article, I can simply select the text, delete it and then correct it. You don’t always have that ability in sales. If you make a mistake, you can easily lose a sale or perhaps even an account. Let’s look at two natural human qualities that can diminish your sales success unless you understand them and control them properly. They are: The inability to see the world from another person’s perspective, and The desire to be in power. I’ll go into more details in a minute, but let me take just a few more words to “set the table.” To a greater or lesser degree, we believe that other people think like us. We project our views and feelings on those around us and when contradictions arise, we get confused and that can lead to conflict. Further – and this is especially evident in professional sales – we like to control situations. I don’t know anyone who relishes the feeling of being out of control. As I’ll explain in a moment, in sales today being in control is harder than ever…if not downright impossible much of the time. Are you crazy? When we discover that people hold views entirely different than our own, sometimes our reaction can be as strong as thinking, “Is that person crazy?” For example, whether you’re a Clinton or Trump supporter, a third-party proponent, or just undecided at this point, you probably have a hard time understanding how anyone could be on “the opposite side of the fence” than yourself. My example, given today’s polarized political climate, is admittedly rather extreme, but our inability to empathize with others is always a problem, although sometimes not as huge as the chasm that separates political views today…fortunately! However, your success in sales directly correlates to your ability to see the world and problems from another person’s point of view. This means that you must develop the ability to set your preconceived notions aside when you are working with your prospects and clients. Science fiction stories sometimes feature shapeshifters. Beings who are able to quickly assume new forms. If you combined that superpower with the superpower of being able to understand and communicate the strengths of your products or services, you might be the perennial top salesperson. (Assuming the shape you shifted to matched that of your prospects!) When losing power is gaining power Your desire to wield power in a sales relationship is natural. But in the Internet Information Age, it’s almost impossible to achieve today, unless you have a monopoly…or an illegal price-fixing cabal that could get you thrown in jail. In sales, as in many other relationships, the free flow of information over the Internet has empowered buyers. This is flagrantly on display with “showrooming,” where consumers will examine merchandise in a local store while they are doing price comparisons online via a mobile device. And although it’s not as blatant in business-to-business sales, it’s still there. I’m making this point because it’s critical that sales professionals appreciate the fact that they can’t just power their way into sales. To meet the sales goals they desire to achieve, they need to recognize the power of the prospect and use that power...
read moreMaster visual trend spotting and break Google’s stranglehold on keywords
Are you on top of the best long-tailed keywords for promoting your small business? It’s an important topic we often cover here and it’s what we’re going to use as a starting point for a related discussion. Let’s quickly look at what you’re trying to accomplish when you compile a list of what should be the best-performing long-tailed keywords for you to use on your website in and your digital marketing efforts. You want to find the long-tail keywords that best match your products or services and match what people need. In other words, you want to find where those three areas overlap. That would be your digital marketing sweet spot. There are various ways to explore long-tail keywords. If you need to review those, follow the link in the opening paragraph of this article and you’ll get a rundown of the main sites and tools available to you. But these sites will deliver words, words, and more words. Don’t get me wrong, words are fine, however, we know that the Internet is becoming increasing visual, so let’s look at another strategy. Instead of using words to discover more words, let’s use words to discover images and see what we can learn from the images! The first screenshot below shows you initial search results on Pinterest for the hashtags #shirts #white #womens. The second is an Instagram search for #whiteshirtstyle. A similar search using white shirt hashtags on Facebook, by the way, delivered mostly black shirts (I’m not kidding)…so I’ve left if off here, but you might find a Facebook search useful for your products or services. Let’s revisit the graph for just a moment. See the circle labeled “Consumer demand”? Let’s tweak that just a little and call it “Consumer trends.” If you can find the place where the product or service you offer overlaps with a trend, and can then discover the best keywords to use, you are opening the door to a major sales opportunity. So here’s the strategy: Do hashtag searches on visual social media platforms that align to what you sell or what you could Examine your search results carefully, looking for how many people “like” different posts, how many times an item on Pinterest is repinned, etc. Take note of any other hashtags associated with those popular items. Use all of these hashtags to build the long-tail keywords you use on your website. Post images of your offerings on these visual social media platforms using what you judge to be the best long-tail keywords. If necessary and feasible, merchandise to take advantage of the trends you discover. Another way of thinking of this is that you are using sites like Instagram and Pinterest as a kind of visual version of “Google Trends.” Next, you’re taking the trend information you glean and translating the visuals back into words and also replicating the popular visuals in ways that promote your brand and small business. We know that a picture is worth a thousand words, so maybe using images like this could be worth a thousand additional...
read moreDo you know how estates will be taxed next year?
August is “Make a Will Month” and it seems like a good time to talk about your exit planning (excuse the wording) again. These topics are crucial for everyone, but they are especially important for small business owners. This year, I need to double-down on stressing this importance because we could be in for a major change in how estates are taxed if Hillary Clinton is elected. Clinton wants to roll back estate taxation to 2009 levels – a 45 percent tax rate after a $3.5 million exemption. In 2015, the exemption was $5.43 million with a top tax rate of 40 percent. The change would be significant and would certainly impact a lot of small business owners and their families. Because the value of businesses is not in liquid assets, paying a big estate tax bill can require selling the business. Further, with a big tax bill looming and the IRS knocking at the door, families can be forced into a “fire sale” and not be able to realize the full value of the business. Of course, businesses can be family owned, sole proprietorships, partnerships with outsiders, LLCs, and other types of legal entities, and that means that there are a variety of strategies you can use to reduce your tax liability and other costs, such as a living trust, stock redemption plans, buy-sell agreements and more. Finally, apart from the financial considerations, there is also the question of succession: Who will own and run your small business after you’re no longer involved? The best time to deal with succession is long before you want to leave your small business. For succession to be successful it must be planned for. If you leave it up to the last minute you won’t get maximum value out of your business. Or if you want your heirs to take it over, they may not have time to really “learn the ropes.” Remember, you only get one shot at exiting your business, so it’s worth any extra effort in your time and the cost of a good estate planner with experience in businesses to get it...
read morePersistence: The All-Star Sales Pro’s Secret Weapon
“You never fail until you stop trying.” Albert Einstein said that, and although Einstein’s main claim to fame is not in sales, I think that worldwide and on a daily basis, sales professionals need to review the truth of that inspiring quote more than anyone else. It’s possible to look at virtually every encounter in sales as either a success or a failure and that isn’t true in most other professions. But what this quote teaches us is that it’s wrong to see failure in that light. Failure only happens when you give up. In other words, failure is only a label you can give yourself for something that you do, or you don’t do. I will take that a little further and say that you can only pronounce an act of yours as a failure if it is one that by any reasonable measure you should have achieved. If I go out to the track at the local high school, find the 100-meter distance, run it and time myself, I’m not a failure if I’m unable to break the world record…or even the local record for people my age. I’m not a trained sprinter; I couldn’t be expected to break any records. If, however, I set a goal for myself to lower my time three months from now, and don’t bother to train in those three months, then when I can’t run any faster, I think it’s fair to say that I failed. Here’s the way this applies to sales: You aren’t responsible for the outcome; you’re responsible for the persistence. (Referring back to my 100-meter analogy, I’ll add that an element of that persistence is preparation.) It’s often said that you need to engage a prospect at least five times before you will make the sale. I think that is very true. I also heard one very good sales professional tell a group of young associates, “Don’t stop calling until your prospect tells you to stop calling.” Do you have the persistence to follow that advice? Let me continue by asking you one simple question: Have you ever ended up buying something after you’ve initially said no to the salesperson? I’m certain that this is something we all have experienced, so let me follow up with two more questions: Why did you first say no? How long was it between the time you refused to buy, until the time you ended up buying the item? There can be all kinds of answers to the first question: You weren’t in the mood, You didn’t have the money at the time, You didn’t need the item yet, You didn’t know you needed the item yet, etc. All of these reasons – and many more – have probably contributed to the times when you haven’t been able to close a sale. But notice something very important about each of those reasons: They are all subject to changing over time! Persistence. You must be persistent. You must hang in there until your prospect tells you to go away and never come back. If it takes at least five contacts to make a sale and you don’t have the spunk to make that fifth call, you will never be a great sales professional. Of course, you must be persistent in...
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