Walt Goshert

The “Sales is a Numbers Game” Lie

Walt Goshert — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 11:55:06 +0000

“Sales is a numbers game” is one big, fat, lazy, misunderstood lie.

You hear it said all the time to boost slumping spirits.

Your telemarketing to prospects isn’t delivering the leads or the appointments? Call more. “Sales is a numbers game.”

Prospects calling asking for more information? Keep mailing more. “Sales is a numbers game.” Something will pop.

No calls or leads from your website? Run more pay- per- click ads. Pay for search engine optimization, get more traffic because… “Sales is a numbers game.”

Driving all over town delivering in-home quotes and proposals at all hours of the night and then never getting folks to call you back? No problem… crank out more free quotes next month… because… “Sales is a numbers game.”

The truth is sales IS a numbers game.

But if you’re smart, if you do your homework…

YOU get to decide what those numbers are.

What would you rather do… work yourself to the bone chasing down 10 people a week to do free in-home “quotes”, or have three qualified Ideal prospects schedule a paid Consultation in your office during normal business hours?

Marketing- more specifically, direct response marketing that targets your market, makes an Irresistible Offer, includes a Call to Action, and is tested, monitored, and measured- is your sales and profit multiplier, and grunt work, frustration, and useless, wasteful advertising expenses divider.

Better numbers. Less grunt work. Much greater return.

Now that just makes sense, doesn’t it?

What are you doing to make your sales numbers work for you?

What sales and marketing bottlenecks are getting in your way from making your sales numbers work?

Flickr Photo Credit: Jan Tik

“The Best, Jerry, The BEST”

Walt Goshert — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 17:17:44 +0000

“I got the best pizza in town.”

“I do great, amazing work.”

“My client service is better than anyone else.”

“My clients always refer me… everybody knows about me.”

“Just look at all these charts and my proposal. It all makes logical sense… you’ll see.”

Yeah right… and Dr. Phil is the most competent, highly qualified psychologist in America. (But he is one hellva marketer!)

Perhaps you need to face this fact:

High quality typically is a marketing problem.

Your prospects have no clue about the quality or an appreciation of the value of your work. You’re the expert. To the uninformed prospect who is out there, bumbling around, poking around on websites, and slurping coffee and munching on donuts in front of their computers, the best and the worst look pretty much the same.

That is, of course… until they live with and experience the difference in quality. Before the work is done and all the “i’s” are dotted and ”t’s” are crossed, and you deliver all the paperwork in your fancy binder, and get all the signatures…the only thing they have to compare… all that they see— is the difference in price.

So there you are with better products, better services, a richer more rewarding experience, a superior value. Of course, you cost more. Usually lots more. And you’re competing with your better products and services against cheaper, inferior stuff that can make the same claims. Your prospect is dazed and confused. All they see is the price difference.

Here’s your challenge.

Here is your wake-up call:

When you have the better mousetrap, the superior solution, for your ideal prospect, it’s your moral obligation to market it as aggressively and effectively as possible.

Here’s the thing… and an up-front warning. I’m going to get right up in your face here:

Marketing is EVERYTHING!

If you have a product or service you love and believe in and know it delivers value…

But…
You don’t know how to market..

It’s a crime! It’s theft!

Here’s my point:

I believe you’re stealing from people’s lives, if you don’t how to reach them with your product. You have the solution for their problem, but if you don’t know how to market to them, you’re stealing from their lives.

Marketing is the most powerful way to change people’s lives.

Many people think that marketing only as to do with business. That’s true. Marketing is everything to your business.

But how about how you market you in your daily life?

How you market yourself affects how you interact with everything in your life… including yourself.

Read that again.

If you really “get” it, it could make you a fortune… or it could change your life.

It doesn’t matter what you do… make pizzas, cut hair, replace windows, fix furnaces, sell insurance, do tax returns, clean teeth …

Start thinking of your company as a MARKETING COMPANY.

Try it. Watch your view start to change.

What say you…

Does “Best” thinking get in the way of your marketing?

What are YOU doing to distinguish Your business as a Marketing Company?

Flickr Photo Credit: llahbocaj

he Fourth Rule in Attraction Marketing (ronmedlin.com)
Putting Marketing on “ROIDs” Part 2: Responsibility Marketing (blogs.hbr.org)
Provide Educational Info to Build Trust with Prospects (myventurepad.com)

7 Winning Local Business Traffic Tactics

Walt Goshert — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 16:03:08 +0000

Without traffic to your local website, your website is simply another expense rather than a sales-generating asset.

Just as there are ways to drive traffic- visits, phone calls, inquiries- to your local business in the offline world, there are endless tactics to increase traffic to your local website.

Now with “Inbound Marketing”, you can have customers coming to you via your website to do business with you rather than interrupting them with paid ads. It’s not that paid ads don’t work; (in fact, paid Online Ads DO work to jump start traffic to your local website) they simply don’t work as well. Inbound marketing positions you with respect and credibility.

The Online World of Inbound Marketing is relatively new, and constantly and rapidly changing. Every day a new twist or angle seems to emerge. However, just because it’s new, doesn’t mean you should dismiss the possibilities of how it can work for your local business.

7 Ways to Drive Traffic to Your Local Website:

1. SEO- Search Engine Optimization. Most websites realize at least 50% or more of their traffic coming from Search Engines. Google isn’t going away. Yet, SEO has changed from the early days… a mere 10 years ago. If anything, SEO has become more simple, yet more difficult to achieve top search rankings and results. It’s more simple because automated website tools take care of the techie website coding part. Yet, SEO is a tougher battle to achieve rankings because creating fresh, relevant, consistent keyword targeted content is more important than ever.

2. Social Media- Facebook and Twitter got lots of buzz last year. Both offer local businesses free tools to engage prospects and customers, build relationships, spread word-of-mouth, and bring “warmed-up” visitors to your website.

3. Pay per click(PPC)- Buying keyword placement in the search engines is a quick way to get found online and drive traffic to your local website immediately… for a price. If your website is up to snuff (able to convert visitors into sales) PPC is a proven way to get a traffic bump right away.

4. Local Search- Local SEO requires a bit of a different approach than regular SEO. Winning the Local SEO battle requires careful geographic and keyword targeting along with listing your business consistently in multiple business directory sites. Many of these business directory sites offer both free and enhanced paid listings to increase your local website exposure and your website traffic. As more Mobile Phone applications and use emerges, look for Local SEO is more important than ever.

5. Video Marketing- Video marketing is largely an untapped avenue for local businesses. With an inexpensive “instant” video camera, it’s simple and easy to record videos and upload them to YouTube and other video sharing sites. Many local businesses shy away from video thinking it’s too complex and that it requires professional quality. Not so. Make your videos real and authentic and you’ll be surprised how your prospects and customers will share them online.

6. Blogging- It’s never been easier to get a blog set up and going. With a blog, you’re in control of your updates and adding information to your website- you’re no longer held hostage to your web designer charging you for every little update. A local business blog is great for your SEO effort, and along with Social Media promotion, is the tool to position you as the “go-to” business in your community.

7. Online Word-of-Mouth- When you’re armed with online free social tools such as Twitter, Facebook Business Page, Google Local Business Listing, a presence in various local business directory sites, your blog, your YouTube video channel… you give your customers a powerful way to spread the word about your local business. Your customers now have a platform to give you real honest feedback and opinions… and spread this message to hundreds or even thousands of local prospects online.

As search engines add more relevance to input from Social Sites, such as how many online reviews your business has received, how many views,how long they view, and did they share your YouTube video, it’s wise to start a proactive campaign to build a postive, powerful online reputation.

So…
How many of these 7 ways are you effectively using to drive traffic to your local website?

Yes, creating a website and online presence that effectively drives traffic can be overwheling for many local business owners. No matter how you decide to drive traffic to your local website, keep in mind that you must first have a local website worth marketing. All the traffic in the world isn’t going to increase your sales one dollar if your website doesn’t encourage visitors to call you, email you, or visit you to do business.

Make getting your website up to speed your first priority… then unleash the traffic.

What do you say?
What questions do you have about “How-To” Drive Traffic to Your Local Website?

Flickr Photo Credit: realSMILEY

Different Tips to Increase Website Traffic (slideshare.net)
How Organic SEO Can Be Used To Catapult A Website Up In The Search Engine Rankings. (ronmedlin.com)
Free or Low-Cost Tools for Marketing Your Business Online (lazerpromotions.com)
Facts About Traffic Generation (mt-soft.com.ar)

Stop Calling ‘Em Customers. Your Response?

Walt Goshert — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 21:34:30 +0000

The difference between “Customer” vs. “Client” marketing thinking is huge.

Why? Read this.

You Still Calling “em “Customers”?

Here’s another huge “Why”…

Consumer expectations are changing.

If you’re not using social media tools to connect and build relationships with your prospects and clients…

It’s simple.

You will lose.

Is a social media strategy time consuming and overwhelming? (insights-group.com)
Brand driven Word-of-mouth marketing (slideshare.net)

Is Your Marketing Aggressive Enough?

Walt Goshert — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 17:50:22 +0000

Is your marketing “sharks with frickin’ laser beams attached to their heads” aggressive?

You’re invited to take Charlie Cook’s “Is Your Marketing Aggressive Enough?” quiz here today.

(Yes, the links are affiliate links… so if you buy something from Charlie, I will make a couple bucks. Even if you don’t buy anything from Charlie, do yourself a favor… at the very least, grab his Free E-Book: The New Profit Rules)

Cathy, a business writer, emailed me and said, “Boy, do I need to work on my Web site this year!” I gave her a couple of ways to improve her site and had her look at several websites that sell effectively on the Internet. Her response was a common one; she thought those sites were marketing aggressively and she worried about turning her prospects off with a “hard sell”.

Are you concerned about being too aggressive with your small business marketing?

No one in business wants to be seen as the stereotypical used car salesman, who tries to sell you a lemon by claiming the car was owned by a little old lady who never drove it. And are prospects really convinced by promises that are too good to be true? “Start your own business and make $200,000 in just two weeks!” Then there are the salespeople who drive everyone crazy with their annoying cold calls at dinner time…

You could try the “soft sell” approach; in your marketing materials, simply state your company’s name and include a list of the products or services you sell. This is a very common approach. But it doesn’t work. It’s true that if you’re too loud or annoying, you may scare your prospects away, but if you’re too subtle or you sound the same as the competition, no one will ever read your materials.

Let me clear up one misperception right away.

Aggressive marketing does not mean deceiving your prospects or deliberately pestering them. Don’t make claims that you can’t back up, and don’t annoy your prospects. You want them to become satisfied clients, after all.

When you think of aggressive small business marketing you may think of being aggressive as “showing a readiness or having a tendency to attack or do harm to others”. Instead, think of aggressive marketing as “characterized by or exhibiting determination, energy, and initiative”. (Definitions from Encarta)

When people read your marketing materials, your sales letters or your web site, you want to grab their attention, to impress them and to prompt them to contact you and buy from you. To get attention and do well, you need an aggressive marketing approach that demonstrates your determination, energy, and initiative.

Remember your school days. If you sat in the back of the class and never raised your hand, never asked a question or participated in discussions, it was tough to get top grades. No matter how smart you are or how good you are at what you do, if you don’t let your prospects know how you can help them and convince them of your credibility, you won’t get their business.

You want the people reading your sales letters or visiting your web site to contact you, get to know you, see you as the expert to rely on and buy from you. It’s reasonable to expect at least one out of ten web site visitors to contact you.

Some of my clients are getting one out of five site visitors to contact them. If you’re not getting that kind of response, chances are that you’re not being aggressive enough in your marketing.

How aggressive is your marketing?

Take the 10 item quiz below to find out.
Circle yes or no next to each question.

1. Have you written down your business goals for the next 12 months?
Yes – No

2. Is one of your goals to grow your list of qualified prospects by 5% each month?
Yes – No

3. Do you have a written marketing plan that guides your daily, weekly and monthly marketing activities?
Yes – No

4. Is the first and most prominent element in your marketing materials a one-sentence explanation of how you help your clients?
Yes – No

5. Do you feature client testimonials or case studies that provide proof of the results your products and services generate?
Yes – No

6. Is the first 50% or more of your marketing copy in your marketing materials focused on your prospects’ problems and concerns relative to your products and services?
Yes – No

7. In your sales letters and on your web site, do you use a free offer to prompt prospects to contact you?
Yes – No

8. Does your free offer prompt hundreds of people to contact you each week?
Yes – No

9. Do you follow up each prospect inquiry with an immediate response and at least 6 follow up contacts?
Yes – No

10. Do you continue to stay in touch with qualified prospects at least once a month, sharing an idea they can use and demonstrating the solutions you provide?
Yes – No

Your Marketing Aggressiveness Score and What It Means
Count the number of your “Yes” answers and see below.

1 to 3
You’re a marketing wallflower. You may be brilliant, and you may have great products and services, but your prospects have probably never heard of you and aren’t buying from you. Make a small business marketing plan and discover how to create a steady stream of prospects. Use this link to find out how >

3 to 6
You are on your way to becoming a successful marketer and to growing your business. You just need to discover how to generate more leads and more sales. Use this link to get the tools you need to succeed >

7 to 10
You’re an aggressive marketer. You’ve been in business for at least a couple of years and understand the core marketing techniques that provide results. Use this link to discover how to further increase your conversion rates and sell more to new and existing clients >

Whether you scored 1 or 10 on the quiz, there are steps you can take to improve your marketing and grow your business. You understand what your prospects want; use your marketing to motivate them to buy from you. Remember that aggressive marketing is about demonstrating your determination, energy, and initiative.

Marketing Tools You Can Use To Succeed

1. Small Business Marketing – Get The Works!
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Discover the proven formula for increasing online lead generation and sales by 200 to 1000% with your web site marketing. Use this link >

“I love your marketing books … my favorite being ‘Creating Web Sites that Sell‘. I used to see marketing as a puzzle; now all the pieces are falling into place.”
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4. Get Attention, Fast!
Discover the secret to getting a flood of attention and sales with your marketing messages >

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6. Get Personal Help From the Marketing Response Expert
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“Money well spent! Our business has skyrocketed since we first started working with Charlie on our web site marketing. With Charlie’s help we’ve increased web traffic, doubled lead flow and seen our sales increase.”
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“We called Charlie because no one was responding to our ads. We ran the ad Charlie wrote for us, and within three weeks, we added nine new clients and increased our income by $180,000.”
Jose Lopez, Rent4me

P.S.: Sharks with frickin’ laser beams attached to their heads… or ill-tempered sea bass?

One of my favorite Austin Powers clips…

What’s yours?