“In Business” by Roland Millward

The title of this post may sound strange.

However there is an important sales principle behind this.

When you sell a product what are actually doing? Are you selling a product or what the product will do?
The saying “it’s the sizzle that sells the bacon” is very true.

Imagine the difference between a packet of wrapped bacon on the supermarket shelf when compared to walking past a cafe with its door open and the sounds and smell of frying bacon (vegetarians please imagine harder!) What is most appealing? In essence the product is the same but now your senses tell you what it is for and how good it is even before you taste it.

When you are selling a product or service work on the sizzle. What can this product or service do for your customer? Give them a taste let them see the sizzle. Create a ‘wow’ factor. Then when they do they will really want to buy from you.

One of the best sources of business has to be when you get referrals from your customers. Now often we wait until a customer recommends our service to someone and such recommendations are greatly appreciated. However that is leaving things to chance. Is there a way of increasing those recommendations?

The answer is ‘yes’.

You can ask your customers for referrals! How? Well simply put you could say, “so John which one of your work colleagues has been showing an interest in getting xxx..” You may well find that John has been talking about his future purchase and others too said they would like one. There is your referral.

For customers on your mailing list you could ask them to write down the names and address of 2 or 3 people that they feel would like to know about your product or service. You can then follow those people up with a letter saying that ‘John has said you would be interested in xxx and you are pleased to tell them that you can help’.

There are many ways you can get referrals so don’t delay and don’t leave it to chance. Build into your sales pitch and follow ups a referral system. Remember too that referrals are more likely to buy from you than people that respond to an advertisement.

Businesses spend huge amounts of money and time in getting new customers. Quite often a large majority of people that respond to the advertising do not always buy on their initial response. However it does not mean that those people will not buy but may not yet be ready or convinced to deal with you. It is estimated that it can take up to 7 contacts with a person before they become your customer.

It is essential therefore that you have a way of recording enquiries and keeping in touch with customers. For Internet enquiries you can use an automatic system such as Aweber to not only to respond to the enquiry but to send a series of broadcast messages.

In addition keep in touch with people by telephone, letter, email and newsletters. Do not fall into the trap of trying to sell to them each time. Build a relationship by giving them information freely. If you sell electronic gadgets for example you could send out a newsletter about new products about to be launched. However rather than trying to sell a product, simply give information and do not even give your price for it.

Occassionally send them a special offer or an invitation to a special event. These people are a potential goldmine if you look after them and once they have become customers are likely to have a long term relationship with your business.

Building lists of potential clients as well as listing existing ones is vital if you are going to be successful and in today’s economic climate your very survival could depend on it.

One of the obvious ways to increase your business income is to attract more customers. However what if each customer spends a little more money with you?

Upselling is all about getting customers to spend a little more. How can this be achieved?

One way is through selling them an upgraded product. Cars for example have various models in the car range. Some have a higher specification and as a result a higher price tag. Can you pursuade your customer to have the better model? Customers will, after having the better product, always be more pleased with it.

If the product you are selling is already at the top of the range or indeed perhaps there is no range choice, can you sell additional products to go with it. For example if you sell laptop computers why not try and sell a carry case, anti virus or additional software? You may even have special discounts on products that come into action when purchased with a main item.

Think about your business and see where you can upsell and increase your income and profits.