The Truth About Selling Real Value…

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.

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Taking a “Success Inventory” To Discover Hidden Profits in Your Business

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.

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The Power of Packages

How To Turbo-Charge Conversion and Skyrocket Profits by Finding “Sweet” Spots in Your Product or Service Offerings.

We have been having enormous success with teaching clients how to use packages – that is a combination of products or services that create greater perceived value and allows you to reach different price points in the market place.

Here is one of the three ways we teach on how to use The Power of Packages to instantly increase profits without spending a dime.

Tony Robbins Gets it – To the Tune of $1.7M Per Event

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Is Your Compelling Offer Actually Alienating Your Prospects?

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?

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Entrepreneurial Virus

The “Productivity Enhancers” That May be Killing Your Business

Technology has provided us with some incredible ways to increase productivity. But is it possible to get too much of a good thing? Well, when it comes to our personal availability – anywhere, anytime, in an instant, the answer is absolutely yes.

Now don’t get me wrong, 24/7 access can be a great thing, but it needs to be controlled and balanced to avoid contracting a Entrepreneurial Productivity Killer Virus that will weaken your ability to maximize your business potential.

If you are like many of our clients, you may have tremendous difficulty staying focused and therefore struggle with getting important tasks completed – even ones that can have a measurable improvement on your profits, lifestyle and competitiveness of your business. You may also have a habit of putting off planning “until you have time”.

If that describes you, even a little, then I think you will get a ton of value out of what I am going the share with you here.

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Laser Marketing – How to Create Compelling Content

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.

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Know the Difference Between “Response Rate” and “Return on Investment”

Throughout the ProfitNow system, I continuously emphasize the fact that little changes can produce big results overall. To be sure you find these small changes, it’s important that you know and understand the difference between your prospects response rate and your actual return on investment.

In other words, when you spend money on marketing, how many prospects does that marketing generate, and how much money do you put into your pocket because of that marketing. After all, it doesn’t do you any good to generate a thousand prospects if none of them buy from you.

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Attracting Leads & Clients

Should Your Content Aim for Traffic or Conversion

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

Why does a Cosmo-type article attract more attention…

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The Marketing Maximization Formula

Knowing Your “Cost Of Customer Acquisition” Can Turbo-Charge Even the Tightest Marketing Budget.

What can businesses do to increase sales and improve profitability, without spending more money?

One of the questions I always ask clients is, “What is your cost per customer acquisition? And in about 95% of the cases I get a blank stare or silent voice, followed by “I don’t know.”

Now this triggers multiple tactical and strategic thoughts of how I can help them, but for this article I will cover the one that addresses, “Maximizing Your Current Spend.” That is, if you are spending say $5,000 a month in advertising (on and offline) are you spending it optimally?

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Differentiate Your Business With Your CCA

I have written about your Compelling Competitive Advantage™ (CCA) on more than one occasion. Basically, your CCA is what sets you apart from your competitors and makes you the Logical Choice for your customers.

One of the CCA categories we teach in our training is “Convenience”. Anytime you can make buying from you more convenient than from your competitors, you significantly increase the likelihood that individuals and businesses will buy from you.

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Conversion is King

How Sweating the “Small” Stuff Can Transform Your Business Without Spending a Dime.

With the economy showing signs of a potential recession, what can businesses do to increase sales and improve profitability?

Spending risky advertising and marketing dollars might work for you but there is a way better way. I call it “Conversion Driver Technology™”. Ok, not a great marketing idea. But that is because it really is an operations system…a way of optimizing your results, and your profits. (more…)

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Perception Versus Reality

A $1M+ Lesson

Do your customers really value you at the level they should? If not, you will fail to retain them as long as you should; fail to maximize the frequency of their purchases; fail to get them to buy more of your other products and services; and fail to get the referrals you deserve…and of course, miss out on tons of profit.

Several years ago, after investing several hundred thousand in our landscaping, we were on our third gardener and I was once again less than satisfied and wanted to replace this gardener. Said another way, I PERCEIVED that the gardener was not doing a great job and that I was paying for hours where little was getting done.

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Overcoming The “Embarrassment Factor” of Asking for Referrals

We all know that referrals represent the fastest and easiest way to add new clients, right? And, generally these clients come with little or no cost. But the sad reality is the vast majority of businesses lack a formal referral program, and worse, are not even asking for referrals at all, even when the client is a raving fan.

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