All small and medium size business owners, at some point in time, are faced with the pressure to offer lower prices or greater discounts. This is especially true for those of you who sell, or want to sell at the higher end of your market. There are many schools of thought about dealing with this common sales objection, but the general consensus is to steer the prospect away from the conversation of price and toward a discussion of VALUE.
Today I am going to share with you the first step in dramatically improving the results of everything you ALREADY do well – marketing campaigns, sales processes, lead generation techniques, upsells, referrals, collections, inventory management and so on.
I am talking about adding 5%, 10% or even 20% improvements to things like increasing your sales conversion rates by 20% or shaving 10% off the time it takes to perform key tasks.
Perhaps the best part is that none of these incredible added streams of profit will cost you a dime to implement, and you will meet little or no resistance from your staff, and only praise from your customers.
When the government was offering its highly touted “cash for clunkers program,” I heard a commercial on the radio for an auto dealership that really brought home a major problem I see small business owners making every day. The car dealer was berating the governments program… saying that by the time the majority of people got qualified and completed the mountain of paperwork needed to complete the transaction, the money allocated for the program would be gone.
The dealer then went on to proclaim that any customer buying from them didn’t need to worry about this situation at their dealership. Instead, they would instantly discount all of their new cars by the same amount the government was offering, so come on in and buy from us today… no hassle, no problems, simple and easy.
Yeah right… if ONLY! Is there anyone remotely alive today that actually believes this garbage? Now granted, this dealer isn’t lying… they will indeed give you the same amount the government is promising… but the way they do it is to discount the car that amount from the “sticker price,” which we all know is already over-inflated by close to that exact same amount they’re offering.
Unfortunately, most people show up expecting this wonderful discount and then realize they are more or less being exposed to a “bait and switch” routine. Ahhh, the auto industry. Is it any wonder why most people would rather go to the dentist for a root canal than visit a dealer showroom?
Are You Making This Same Mistake?
It’s easy to write about certain topics like celebrities, technology or social media. Everybody wants to know about these topics. But what if your passion is botany, supply chain logistics or cognitive psychology? How can you make these topics compelling when your subject is… boring?
In the summer of 2006, an economics book was on the New York Time Bestseller list. The title was provocative and promised to be anything but a boring read. Since I’m not a big fan of economics (hated it ever since college), I skeptically handed over my $25 and took Freakonomics home with me.
From the very first page, I was treated to a wild ride through the most bizarre stories that I’d ever encountered. I learned about cheating schoolteachers, self-sacrificing sumo wrestlers… and why drug dealers still live with their moms.
Every story taught a boring economic principle in a way that made me want more. I realized that Freakonomics was an instruction manual for transforming boring content into sexy must-read masterpieces.
Which type of content attracts reader attention… bringing you more traffic and more eyeballs on the page? Which type of content converts… bringing you more customers and sales? And how do you roll out a strategy that maximizes the twin impact of attraction and conversion?
Easy answer… head to your local newsstand. The best attraction and conversion techniques are hidden between the pages of two very different magazines: Cosmopolitan and The New Yorker.
Cosmopolitan articles attract
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