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Hey
Warriors,
I was recently approached at an event I
was speaking
at and asked,
"How can I generate some quick cash? Is there
an honest
way of
doing that?"
When I explained this
method-everybody started writing, so I thought
I would share
it
with my fellow warriors.
I named this: "A
Stupidly Simple Cash Cow"
or how to generate emergency money NOW!
Start this
today and
I'm sure it will carry you through the holiday crunch.
This
is
very easy to do and can generate at least $1,000-$1,500
within
the
next few days!
First, you need to find some local
business
owners who need
what
you're about to offer them here. No, you won't be pounding
the
pavement or cold calling anyone....they will be calling YOU.
You
can use a couple of methods to find these clients.
1.
You can
simply go to the phone book and look up businesses in
your
local
area. Write down any business that you want. You will
use that
list to check the internet in a minute or two, so keep it
handy.
Some listings will include the business url.
2. OR
you get an
in depth "drill down" listing from GoLeads
which will
give you tons of information on all businesses in ANY
geographic
area. Cost is about $15 for unlimited access. :-)
(No, I'm not
an
affiliate but it works.)
Once you have your list,
about 25-30
is all you need to start. Look
them up on the internet to see
if
they have a website. For this
particular deal you want
them to have a website. (If they don't
have a site yet, that's
a
different model.)
Once you have a few of the
websites, visit
them.
Here's what you're looking for: Any business
site that
does not
have a
capture mechanism installed on their FRONT page.
In
other words, they need to have an auto-responder opt in form
on
their front page. If they don't....you're in for some quick
cash.
When you have about 25-30 "prospects" send
them this letter:
**************************************************
*
Mr./Ms. ___________
My name is
______________ and I am a
local e-commerce
business consultant.
I
know your time is
valuable, as is mine so I'll get right to the
point. If I
could
show you an unused asset that you ALREADY
have that could make
you
thousands of dollars, would you be
willing to speak with me
for 15
minutes?
This free consultation can save you as much
as 50% of
your
entire monthly advertising budget AND bring you brand
new
customers at the same time! The best part is that you
already
have it, so the cost to implement this marketing
weapon
is
minimal.
Please call me at (your number)
at your
earliest convenience to
schedule a free "no strings"
consultation. I promise you, it will be
worth your time.
Yours
in business,
Your name
Contact
info
**************************************************
***
That's it! Believe me when I say that your phone
will ring
off the
hook. DO NOT mass mail that letter! You really only
need
to mail
25-30 per week and you'll be busy.
Now
that you
have the clients calling
you,
the next step is to set a
consultation appointment and meet
them.
The unused asset they
have is of course their website which
has no
list building
capabilities.
The "money is
in the list"
applies to ALL
businesses, not just
online marketers. By building a proper
list
they can cut their
advertising dollars at least in half. Just
send
a customer blast
about an upcoming sale instead of paying
$4,000
for a full page
ad.
You follow me here?
All
you
have to do is set up an auto-responder opt in form on their existing
site! That's it.
I have coaching students who are
making
$250-$500 a deal with
just this method. It's very easy to
generate
4, 5 or even 6 deals
per week this way. Heck, it only takes
about
20-30 minutes to put
the form on their site and that's if
you're
slow!
(Outsource it to fellow warriors if you have too.)
I
usually visit their site, right click and select "view source"
and
save it in notepad. Then I open the notepad in an html
editor
and
install the form.
*NOTE* I can use
their AR service or
mine. You'll just have to
work the minor details out with
them.
Don't turn it into a can
of worms-KISS
I
use Trellian
pagebuilder, which is free and allows me to preview
the
finished
site. Once I'm done I save it as, "theirsitename.html"
send
it to their programmer and they can swap it. Otherwise, you
have
get all the login info, etc. from the owner.
(I charge $50 if
I
have to load it.)
In either case this usually leads
to a
question from the owner,
"who is going to write the emails"
which is another monetization
chapter for later....
Just
so
you know, almost half of all the sites I look at fall into
the
category of no capture system. It may be more or less
where
you
live, but it's a rampant problem....everywhere. Why?
Because
they simply don't understand e-commerce.
By
the
way, GoLeads will also give you the name of the business
owner,
number of employees, etc. Do your first one the hard way
if
you
have to, but it's worth the $15 to be able to put their name
on
the letter.
Response rates will triple
if you use their name and this little trick:
Stamp
"CONFIDENTIAL" in red
block letters on the front of the
envelope. This will make
them
put your letter in the "open later"
pile instead of
straight into the trash.
It's a simple but
effective strategy
especially if you use their name.
You can get a confidential
stamp
at Staples for $5.
I've used the same one for years.
Keep
this in mind. People sort their mail while
standing over the
trash
can.
You do it, so you know it's true. You have to have
something
that
stands out and says, "This might be important, I'll
look at
it later."
*NOTE*
Change their cash
register and
credit card terminal receipt to
read, "For
Preferred Customer Discounts Sign Up At:
(their
website)
There is a toll free
number on the side of
every register
and terminal for support. Just call them and
they
will walk you
through changing it. It only takes about 10
minutes.
This strategy is awesome because it does two
major jobs when it
comes to marketing.
1.
It captures all
their current
customers because everybody
reads their receipt, and everybody
wants to be a preferred
customer to get discounts. It also
captures all
walk in traffic
that
actually BUY something. Which leads us to:
2.
A list
of nothing but BUYERS of their product. No tirekickers or
browsers,
buyers only! You may need to clarify to them exactly
why
that's so
powerful.
Now you've made a client for life and
there are tons
of other
methods to help them, and generate a great living for
you
as
well.
I've just shared a tested, proven
method to
generate some
serious emergency money FAST! Just copy and
paste
the direct
mail letter and get
to work.
You
can do this.
I told you it was stupidly simple, and it works
because it
really is
helping them, and that's what it's all about.
Make
it a great marketing day,
David
Preston
Techniques to Attract Offline Customers to Online Business
Stamp
"CONFIDENTIAL" in red block letters on
the front of the
envelope. This will make them put your letter
in the "open later"
pile instead of straight into the trash.
Change their cash register and credit card terminal
receipt to
read, "For
Preferred Customer Discounts Sign Up At: (their
website)
There is a toll free number on the side of every
register
and terminal for support. Just call them and they
will walk you
through changing it. It only takes about 10
minutes.
This strategy is awesome because it does two major jobs when it
comes
to marketing.
1. It captures all their current customers because
everybody
reads their receipt, and everybody wants to be a
preferred
customer to get discounts. It also captures all walk
in traffic that
actually
BUY something. Which leads us to:
2. A list of
nothing but BUYERS of their product. No tirekickers or
browsers,
buyers only! You may need to clarify to them exactly
why
that's so powerful.
This is something I do with restaurants mostly but
It could work with any business. What
I do is tell the restaurant owner I will get him printed out
"membership enrollment" cards. Nothing you can't get printed in bulk
for a very low price at a professional print store.
This
is a plain little card asking for the name, e-mail address and in some
cases the phone number of the customer and is presented with the
customers bill. It shortly explains that X restaurant has a membership
offer that will send them discounts, invitations to special nights etc.
and its free.
I also do coupons for restaurant sites. This past
Mother's Day brought in a lot of business. Of course, holidays are
always good. I try to think "seasonal". What's coming up. What can I
suggest to my customers that will bring in more business for them as
well as myself.
There's a lot of
things "in-store" that the business owner can be doing to generate
traffic to the site. Handing out flyers with each order, changing the
receipt printout, putting the web address on all of their other
materials (signs, cups, napkins, vehicles, etc...). A lot of the
smaller businesses are not doing all of these things, you've got to let
them know about it.
Let's look at a restaurant for
example. They have the customers that visit once per week, those that
visit twice per week, etc..
How,
you say?
My many years of off-line marketing has
proven this
to be a great deal clincher:
Offer to provide 250 "free" "business cards" (vistaprint.com) included in your marketing pitch to the business owner. These will be given to the business owner. They'll be used for insertion into, or (preferably) stapled to the bags that the products go into from the brick and mortar businesses.
The cards are customizable to say "Check out our site at yoursite.com and sign-up to get a free XXXX" or "get free discount coupons emailed to you" or whatever the hook is.
This can also just be a letter sized flyer that has the same details printed all over it. You can pretty it up with a graphics tool to add more value to the flyer (and raise your price). Plus, letter sized pieces of paper don't get as easily overlooked as a business card.
Total cost to you = shipping (+-$10) of the VistaPrint cards. Cost to the B&M business owner = whatever you want to charge for the "service".
Every decent size town I know of has some sort of Chamber of Commerce. If they are anything like they are around here they usually have some sort of meet and greet once a month. Here they call it business after hours. All the members meet once a month and have drinks and appetizers and socialize.
One of his strategy's is a 3 step mailing program.
It's terrific and works very well. I've used it with several products
I've sold over the years very successfully.
If you
only send out a letter/postcard 1 time you are only going to get a
small percentage of people who are interested actually contact you.
I
can't go into the strategy completely here but this example should be
enough to get you started.
Offer something of
value, like a free consultation like the letter that David gave you.
But put a time limit DEADLINE on it. For example 6 weeks.
-Mail
your first letter in the series and refer to the deadline
-Two
weeks later send a follow up letter/post card reminding them of the 1st
letter they received and reminding them of the offer and the deadline.
Make a stamp and stamp it 2nd notice.
-Two weeks
after send them the first letter again with a cover letter saying this
is the final notice. You can make it even stronger by stamping it with
"final notice".
There are many variations of this
you can use and you don't need to stop at three mailings and in time if
you add phone calls to the mix it will increase the response even more.
But if you only do just the 3 mailings the results should be far
superior to just one mailing.
I shared this with a
friend several years ago who was selling a high priced course (nothing
to do with IM or moneymaking.) He was selling 3-4 maybe 5 courses a
month. That wasn't bad since the courses sold for $2000 per course.
However after we switched over to the 3 letter series with a special
offer and deadline, his sales jumped to 20+ courses per month and has
gone on to produce millions of dollars in sales.
Comprehension, that is. While it's often best to
use a sans serif font for online viewing (like the one you see here --
Verdana), a serif font like Georgia, Times New Roman, etc. works best
for printed material. I sent out a small test mailing using Verdana and
was underimpressed with the results.
The next batch
will be in Georgia, which prints out even better than Times New Roman,
to my eye.
He is looking for traffic.
Here
is what I would suggest:
1) Google Maps, coupons,
videos, and pics: is he in Google maps? Google has greatly expanded
their offerings for local businesses. Local businesses can now upload
pics of their products and store, as well as add video. Google will
help you create a printable coupon that will have the google logo on it
- for tracking. Yahoo is also trying to compete with google - make sure
they have a listing in yahoo as well.
2) Research
the local online directories in your area. My area has at least 4
different local directory websites that businesses need to be on.
3)
The advertising section of the local phone directory - for an extra
$100 per year, customers here can get their website listed online.
4)
Mailings - postcards to existing customers offering an upgrade to their
system, or a mailing to car enthusiasts in their area.
5)
Related industries - car dealerships in the area (new and used) might
be interested in cross linking.
Since you don't
have a proven track record of results, it might be a good idea to work
on a contingency basis - that is you don't get paid unless you produce
results. The results might be an increase of so many new visitors to
the website.
Don't worry, it was only one person.
They aren't all like that.
I have
been a seller for a few years, and I KNOW this.
- So here
are some tips and critique from me:
1. It's
all about control. - This is hard,
but essential. YOU must take control.
For example
the handshake. If he doesn't want to shake your hand, make him.
It's
almost IMPOSSIBLE not to, if someone reaches out their hand to you.
-
If they take some time to do this, it leaves you with all control. They
"lost"
the first "battle" to you, and shook your hand.
Other
things like this, can for example be to ask them to sit down.
"Why
don't we sit down here a bit while we talk?" and then you grab a chair.
-
They will respond, and sit down, which is again better, since it helps
both of you relax.
In other words, Be authorative.
2. Ask
questions that builds up to a purchase.
In this
example: "Have you seen results with your marketing efforts online?"
Yes.
- Great! Then you know these things work!
No. - Then I'll show
you how to get results. ( And explain the benefits of having a list)
Always
have a plan on what to answer when you ask questions like that. - Then
it will come
naturally after a while.
3. NEVER
ask them to email you. - YOU will
contact them.
And again about the questions... Don't
say " When shall I contact you?"
Instead: "Is Wednesday or
Thursday best for you?"
Most will choose, but in
case they don't.
Ask the same, but next week. "I'm really
busy this week" - "Okay, then let's say Monday in
2 weeks.
Okay?"
4. In your case, imagine
how the owner thinks.
Words
like "Facebook" and "Pop-up" is considered bad to them.
Explain
it so they understand - And don't trigger bad emotions.
5.
"What's in it for me?"
Explain
every benefit they will get from you in great detail.
- Make
sure they understand every single one of them, and focus on the good
words.
Example: (highlighted words are the ones you
say with extra passion etc.)
Him: So what will this
do for me?
You: You might not have
thought about this, but A LOT of visitors who
leaves your
website will never come back. - Your advertising
dollars are thrown out of the window.
But with this you can
actually CONTACT
YOUR PROSPECTS AT ANY TIME!
- This
will give you a better return on your advertising investments, as well
as you are more
likely to get sales from the customers you
have already.
And there are many other ways to take
advantage of a mailing list...
For example, you have the
possibility to get almost instant feedback, as well as market research.
- All for free!
I
will of course help you with this (nod)
6. Listen.
Even
if you have the greatest sales pitch in history, make sure you listen
to the client, and
his/her needs. - This will help you to
build up the purchase even more.
Here's a tip. I've found that by checking my yellow pages for larger ads, local papers for daily ads and our local monthly free magazine for advertisers I can target companies that are investing a lot of money that in many cases isn't really working for them and it's costing them serious big bucks. Just need to show them how to re-direct their budget (to you) at (usually much) less rate with higher return.
Ok
Warriors More Gold !!!
On
the back of your plastic business card (plastic is optional but very
professional-- especially at networking events), put this on the back
of your card:
"Ask
me how you can get a lifetime of free advertising”
When
the offline business owner calls you for your free advertising (when
they see the back of your card) say this:
"Sure...the
way
you can get a lifetime of free adverting is by referring me customers
that you think can benefit from my strategic marketing
services.
When you refer me a client, I will put
your company
name, link and banner/graphic on my website. If you refer more then
one customer, I will put your company name and logo on my books,
reports, and emails that I send out. Simply put, the more you refer
me clients, the more advertising I will give you."
This
strategy does the following:
1)
Position your company in an esteemed light. This subtly puts GREAT
VALUE to your company
2) Promotes good will- they
refer you a
client...you give them free advertising
3) ITS
GETS BUSINESS OWNERS TO CALL YOU --WITHOUT DIRECT MAIL MARKETING- my
personal favorite benefit
4)
They can put GRAPHICS on your website when they refer you a client.
The reason this can be powerful is because most small business owners
DO NOT HAVE ADVERTISING BANNERS. Tell them they can do this....and
if they don't have banners and graphics.....for a fee...you can help
them --- yet just another way the client can stand out and separate
themselves from their competition
4)
It builds more hooks into your relationship with your client....THE
MORE HOOKS....the harder it is to leave....another great hook is
offering them hosting through your reseller account. A web auto
responder service...is just another hook.
On another
note:
I wanted to add a real value point to the
reasoning behind contacting your clients.
The main
point is obviously to cut advertising costs.
The
secondary point is to increase sales through direct advertising
delivered into the possession of the customer, a option not offered by
any other advertising media.
The third however,
could possibly tip the scales into your favor every single time if
delivered, regardless of if it is delivered correctly.
The
third main point your client would want to develop a list is to sell
advertising space to other businesses. They can turn their newsletters
into income generators.
Any business has partner
businesses they can sell advertising space to.
When
you represent the three points together, how could a client say no?
| Alrite one
question, say you are a newbie and just starting out in the offline
business, What could you say if a business owner asks for REFERENCES
even though you just started out and you haven't even done a deal yet? |
Two options:
# 1: Tell
them you've been working mainly on your own sites and projects and
you're just getting started helping other businesses.
#
2: Do a deal with a couple of the first business owners you talk to
just to get the experience and referrals...then you'll have references.
Ultimately
what you're really talking about is a trust/credibility issue and real
trust is built simply by talking talking to a business owner,
listening, finding out what they want and offering a customized
solution based on that.
You'll find that process
eliminates most problems
| Originally Posted by faceit Here are my questions: |
# 1: As Kyle says you can take as long as you like
and set up whatever deal you like for the time frame it takes you to
complete a project.
In many cases you'll be able to
do the work inside 2-7 days quite easily but sometimes it can be wise
(if it takes you a day or two to do the work) to take a little longer
before you tell the client that it's done.
You want
to make it seem like you were working long hard hours to get it done!
Don't
want to make it seem too easy.
# 2:
Usually you ask for your second half of payment on completion of the
project.
So if you're putting up an autoresponder
and 8 follow up emails you get the second half of your initial fee when
the optin form and follow up emails are up and running.
It
is important that you outline what's expected of you and how and when
you expect to be paid in your agreement with your client (I usually use
an email for this).
I have no experience with jewelry businesses but I
think they will be perfect for building a list.
"is
there a special birthday this month? We are having a huge diamond sale
this month" Maybe add a picture of 1 carat ear rings etc.
I
would think even doing some basic SEO would do good for
a jeweler. Also every time they get a new design in stock they can let
the list members be the first to know. Jewelers are also in the repair
business,
- Polish your rocks, metals, gold etc.
-
Cross-promote with other related businesses, watches, clothing, gold
and silver coins etc
- Also you have ethnic purchases and
special occassions to promote.
Christenings for example
Indians
love gold and all the others. Sorry, I've been out of that loop for a
while,
but you get the idea.
- Clearances and
specials, half-yearly, end-of-year.
- Valuations
-
Insuring the goods (cross-promote idea)
For a computer parts wholesaler they may offer customer opt-ins a one time 15% off their next order to make them want to sign up. And then on going emails could be things like new stock, parts and product reviews and how to best use them, bargains for older stock, monthly specials. Those are just some ideas off the top of my head. Hope that helps.
For each
of those industries, you could offer free reports to get people to
subscribe to their list.
EG:
1) law office - 10
tips to avoid a lawsuit in your business, how to avoid foreclosure,
things to consider before starting a potentially expensive lawsuit.
2)
chiropractor - simple techniques to keep your feet in tip top shape,
3)
physiotherapist - 7 questions to ask your physiotherapist before
starting treatment.
These are just off the top of my
head. Other angles could be to message the list with relevant news
stories and how those stories affect that particular line of work and
the potential client. Or maybe focus on a different area of the
industry such as law, maybe in the form of a case study.
Each
report doesn't have to be reams of info, it could be just a page or two
with a link to the client's site, or asking the list to pop in for a
free appraisal, consultation or the like, no strings attached.
I'm
sure more ideas like these will come to mind when you have a
brainstorming session.
The thing to remember is to be getting
those industry clients to add value and show their list that they are
the experts in the field. Always looking to inform and educate is
probably the motive. They could send case studies. Also, their opinion
of how a news story could realtes to their industry. EG a famous
footballer damages his foot, the chiropractor could send out an email
about the how the ordinary joe could suffer the same fate and how the
chiropractor could help.
If they have spare capacity in
their diaries they could offer free time-sensitive offers of free
consults etc.
A lot of the time, as I mentioned earlier, if
your client is always looking to inform and educate, they won't go far
wrong. It's a cheesy phrase but 'share of mind' is what they're after,
coupled with offers to get the list through the door, or at least take
an active interest in your client's offering.
What to say to customers
I also teach my
students how to monetize the business owners
list FOR them and
split it 50/50. ;-)
The last owner I hit with that
said, "What do I have to pay you
to do that for me?" AND I
replied, just say yes, and I'll do the rest.
As far as aweber it's very simple. IF they want to
open one I show
them how--if they have a problem with that
kind of stuff, guess what?
"Don't fret it Mr/Ms
_______ I'll take care of it for you if you want me to."
For instance, I might say, "well MR/Mrs
Businessperson,
What if after we set up your
customer capture system,
we could give it a month or so, and
then we could also
offer those customers some benefit for
referring friends
through an online form?"
After the pleasantries when you meet the new client
just
ask them this:
"What would you rather have, a
website like you now
have, or a customer management system
that allows
you to advertise to your growing customer list
for free?"
Believe me when I tell you the answer is
90% "I would
rather have a list." This places you in their
mind as the
obvious expert.
If, like me,
you happen to be a webmaster, you can
completely sell them
with the next response, which is:
"I can give you
both"
If the website they have is not making them
profit,
which in most cases it is not, you just earned
yourself
a check.
That's easy here are some options;
1) Say
Ok
2) Ask him if they are true email marketers do they know
how to create
emails that drive action and can write winning
subject lines for good open rates, because I do that (meaning you) If
you really want to get them in a tizzy about their designer can you
find that customers page for the correct keywords city its in and type
of business, is it optimized, titled tagged correctly, can their
customers find the site? Most likely not so why would you want them to
write your emails? If they are on the off chance searchable just tell
them you are a marketing consultant and it's what you specialize in.
They are "designers". Sure they can do it! But who would they rather
have them the designer or you the marketer?
Drive home the
points and just a few of the ideas you have for them but tell them
there is so much more you can offer them with marketing ideas?
I always try to start new students that way with
this twist:
After you speak to the owner you know
ask them who owns the
shop beside them, across from them?
Then
walk in each with this statement--"I was next door speaking
with
_________ and he said that you may be interested in this as well."
Get
the name and info from the owner you know, some background etc.
I've
done this many times and even had one owner tell me, "You
don't
want to approach that guy, he's an idiot. But if you talk to
_____________
over there he would see the benefit fast."
Not cold
calling but "warm calling." ;-)
If you don't believe me, try this:
Log
onto google local today and write down 10 numbers for local businesses
with a website and call them! Introduce yourself as a small business
marketing specialist and a business owner like them. Just say its a
really quick call and ask them if they generate much business through
there website? Once you get an answer ask them if they keep in touch or
follow up on existing customers?
Watch 9/10 say NO,
or sometimes!
Then ask "I will give you another
example "mr business owner". If I was to visit your website today to
look at your hypnotherapy services as I need help in quitting smoking,
but, I am not ready to buy into your company right now, I am just
browsing. Then, what are you doing to make sure you do not lose me to a
competitor further down the line?"
They will fall
silent! Guaranteed!
"Now, if you were to offer maybe
a short report to download on your website titled "5 ways hypnotherapy
can help you quit your 10 a day habit" And all I need to do is give you
my name and email to get that important info, then I will be more than
happy to do that as its extra info that I have been looking into!"
"Bear
in mind "Mr Business Owner" this is automated and we/I handle
everything. But this is the best part"
"You then
"Mr Business Owner" have as many opportunities to sell and market to me
as you want, Now whether it be in a weeks time or 6 months time, when I
decide to use hypnotherapy to cure my habit, which company am I most
likely to use?"
Obviously, It isn’t as
easy as that but email
|
I have a question that I don't think has
been raised or covered so far. |
Just tell them:
1. It's
something you can't do justice to or explain properly over the phone.
2.
You need to have a more in depth discussion about their business and
their goals to be certain this strategy will actually help them
increase their sales and profits.
I would simply
say, "Lets arrange for a free consultation so I can understand your
business and specific concerns so that I can create a customized
solution for your consideration"
If he wants to do
it over the phone tell him you have visual materials based on research
you have done on his business you want to show him (perhaps a google
site: query comparing his site to competitors)
"Look I know you are bombarded everyday with sales calls and salesman walking through your doors trying to sell you want THEY want YOU to have. That is not the case with me. What I'm offering here is a simple solution for you that will increase your sales. The best part about it is it's completely hands off for you. I take care of everything for you. I have Tuesday and Thursday available open. What works best for you?"
Also if you're not able to book and appointment on
the phone here's one line you should remember "It's really difficult to
explain this on the phone. Perhaps I can send you an email then you can
ask me to clarify things that way."
In other words
get the email address for follow up.
The real secret is...DON'T OFFER THEM ANYTHING.
Don't
go in with any expectations of what they need or what service you will
try to sell them.
Instead pick THEIR brains.
Find
out what the business owner wants out of his business, where his
profits are coming from, what kind of marketing he's done online and
offline, what's worked and what hasn't worked.
These
kinds of intelligent questions will establish you as a genuine expert
(and you don't have to really say a thing).
Then
when you get some really good ideas about what they can do based on
your own internet marketing knowledge...share those ideas.
And
keep sharing them till you hit on one the business owner gets excited
about.
That's the one to run with.
The
letter gets you in the door but there's no need to be rigid about what
service you end up providing.
Find out what they
want and give them a customized solution they're excited about.
Then if I accept them for a consultation I don't
give them
tips or strategies away.
What
to do instead?
Focus the conversation on them and
their business, their
current frustrations and specifically
what they want to
achieve in the coming months/years.
Only
after establishing this do you then come in with the
coup de
grace of matching your
services to their
needs.
Incidentally, in
my consultations, the client speaks for
around 75% of the time
- at least. This helps me to
listen out for their needs.
You
simply let them know WHAT you can do for them,
not HOW you're
going to do it.
(They'll have to pay to see you do
that important part!)
i had some pretty remarkable results with offline
marketing last year (i'm selling design services).. let me share
(excuse my engrish):
i used windowed envelopes, font
size 9, georgia (headings bolded).
basically my
letter consists of 3 paragraphs:
1) introduction
"my
name is xxxxxx and i am the xxxxxx of mycompany.com, a local webdesign
company. blahblah"
2) what it's all about
"your
website is the virtual store sign of your company and an outmoded
implementation (that is of no real use for you and your customers) only
burns your money.. blahblah"
3) the pitch
"if
you're interested in a free analysis of your existing site, please head
over to (my website here) and enter your personal code: CDEFGH in our
contact-form. you'll get our free report via email in a matter of hours.
i
also offer them to call me or to meet me in person, but most of 'em
just visit my site and grab the free info-package.
out
of 100 letters i usually get about 12 clients (about 40% visit my site
for the free report).
I tell people "I make websites that make money, as
opposed to most websites that don't" or "I work with local business and
make their websites make money"
To help explain
what i do I use something like the following:
"An
architect or builder can design & build the most amazing,
wonderful, aesthetically pleasing looking building with all the flash
fancy bits & pieces. That's his job & he does it well.
He
has no idea how to actually get customers in the door, or what to do
when they get there, or how to make them stay, or remember them when
they try to leave.
You have the shop owner - he
knows his products inside out, but marketing isn't his area either. He
needs help getting customers etc etc.
Then you have
the person who knows how to discover what the SHOPPER wants (not
necessarily what the shop owner THINK he wants), what he's looking for,
what he likes & what he doesn't like, how to keep him in the
shop longer, where he goes in the shop & how to get his contact
details to create an on-going relationship, making sure he doesn't go
somewhere else, until he's comfortable making his purchase.
That's
where I come in"
I don’t always use this -
I just make things up as I go along, but I have used this when I need
to & I've seen a couple of people go "Ahhhh"
You could also experiment with "grabbers"
in your mailing.
Sending a tshirt with the business
owner's name on it and something like "What Is Jim Jones Missing On His
Website? Call internet marketing consultant xxx xxx on xxxxxxx and find
out or go to xxx.com"
Customization like this will
give you a dramatic response rate (but it does cost more).
You know for example.
"Dear
Mr Biz owner, I suppose that you know that you are leaking about $50K
per year in lost revenues?"
"I am!!!"
"Sure"
ChecK this out, as you pull out the article that talks about how small
businesses are losing $50k per year for not implementing internet
marketing to the limits.
Getting people to call you is always a
challenge.
You might consider a free report that
you can offer if they visit your website. Something like "3 Easy Things
You Can Do In Less Than 1 Hour To Get Tons More Customers To Your
Website" or, "The Simple Most Overlooked Website Change That Can Bring
You Tons Of New Customers".
That takes the pressure
off them & then put them on your autoresponder list!
Ok, so here's an idea I had when reading Jan Roos
post about getting top google ranking with a simple ezine article to
show the business owner what you can do.
Why not
implement this before contacting the business owners? We all know how
amazingly simple it is to get top google rankings for a search when a
city is put in front of it. So before I contact these restaurants, I
figure I can just make a blog and get it top ranked on google for
Corvallis restaurants.
Now in the letter I send
out I can tell them to do a quick google search for corvallis
restaurants and show them that my page comes up first. Then you tell
them "and this is what I did with a simple blog that I put up for
"FREE" How much did you pay for your site to be made? Just think of
what I could do with it. Or something to that effect.
Or
I could even print out a screenshot of that google search and put it in
the letter itself and then circle it and say this could be your
business. If I wanted I could get the title in google to say "Corvallis
restaurant owners: Want your site here?" Or something to that effect
that directly talks to them.
I could also get it
top ranked for other keywords that would catch their eye. Like best
corvallis restaurant, favorite corvallis restaurant, where to eat in
corvallis etc. This would be pretty easy to do and I think it would
really help seal the deal. Then once this blog is secured at these
keywords, I can send out a letter to all the restaurants in my local
area.
Here's an excerpt
from my template letter to new contacts:
"If you
were to go to a computer with an Internet connection and search Google
for [], you might find
that there's already a powerful Web presence at the top of the search
engine results for your [] in this locale. I control this Web
presence..."
Even better, with a
“seasoned” blog, you can make a blog post and have
it indexed, ranked and shoot to the top in under 10 minutes! I've
actually done this in real time. This goes beyond making you look like
a freaking' genius. Now you look like a deadly secret weapon!
There were a few
already mentioned in this thread.
1) Ask them about
their business
2) How long have they been in business
3)How
did they get started in the business
4)How long have they been
in business
5)Why did they choose it
6) What kind of
results are they getting from their advertising
7) What would
they like to see improve specifically
8) What do they offer
that is most profitable
9)My personal favorite is what's their
USP? I love that one. Most go huh and when you tell them what it is the
think you are a marketing god. If they happen to have one which most
don’t and you tell them they already do they feel so darn
good about themselves.
But if they don't it's a revelation to
them when you explain it. Then use that on their website email etc
10)
What part of their business would they like to promote more.
11)
Where are they lacking is sales.
Ok I could go on
and I'm sure lots of people in here will help you
with a
million other ideas but there's a start for you
The numbers come
from the "Direct Marketers Association" and actually dipped down a
little bit this year from 5000% last year. Here are a few of the
sources I have used for my ebook:
ROI for Email
Marketing Dips (but still dominates) : The Messaging Times
Email marketing
'most effective format to get people online' - Marketing News -
BusinessStrata
Opt-In Email
– The world’s (second) most cost effective
advertising medium - The E Team - Your independent provider of websites
and eMarketing solutions
I
think the strongest selling point to this strategy is the cold, hard
facts... numbers and dollars will make the point. Some people will be
swayed by the "bandwagon" or "coolness" aspects of IM, but others will
be very wary.
These numbers "prove" that this is a
great strategy to follow, and one to keep them going for some time. http://4500percent.com/ebook-download
Here is
some Autoresponder service text to use to create a flyer:
---------------------------------
"The
Most Important Profit Opportunity Almost Every Business Overlooks
& How To Use It To Create A Flood Of New Sales!"
Everyone
in business knows you have to advertise to keep customers coming in and
business rolling.
But these days, advertising
dollars are harder than ever to come by. Mass mailings or newspaper
circulars are fine, but they are EXPENSIVE, UN-TARGETED and WASTEFUL.
Ever
wish you could focus your marketing on the people who are most likely
to buy from you - your CURRENT CUSTOMERS? They are one of the most
important assets you have!
What if ..... You had a
marketing program that allowed you to communicate & market
directly to your customers ... every month or every week ... with no
effort on your part - for less that $XX.XX a day?
That's
what our "LOCAL EMAIL CLUB" marketing program can do for you!
Today,
almost all of your customers have email service at home. Sending
PERMISSION email (that your customers have asked for) is an incredibly
fast, efficient and effective way to put your marketing message in
front of your customers.
YOU simply set our simple
"lead box" on your counter where your customers will see it. The sign
on it says:
JOIN OUR FREE "EMAIL CLUB"
You'll
receive FREE coupons and discounts
you can use on future
visits!
Just fill in the form and deposit in this box.
Thank
you!
We do the rest of the work! We'll create an
email database and compile your customers' information into a TARGETED
EMAIL LIST for you to mail to ... monthly or weekly if you want! We'll
manage the list on your behalf and send out your discounts or special
offers anytime your business needs a "boost".
Your
customers will sign up eagerly for this service - because EVERYBODY
loves to save money! They'll eagerly anticipate hearing from you. (In
fact, restaurants that have tried local email marketing have reported
more customers, visits and over an 11% redemption of discounts and
coupons!)
Your business will benefit from the
personal, one-on-one communication with your customers! Email is a
great, inexpensive way to show them how much you appreciate their
business ... and a great way to market directly to your best audience!
Isn't
it about time to put one of your most valuable assets ... your current
customer list ... to work for you? Now you can do so effortlessly, with
our "LOCAL EMAIL CLUB".
Here's a list of business types that may
be good prospects for 'Local Email Marketing'. You may not have thought
of some of these. This is an idea starter. Do your research.
Your
prospects are unlimited!
> Service:
restaurants
banquet
halls
child/day care
electrolysis
skin
care/cosmetics
health food/diet centers
hair stylist
tanning
salons
heath clubs
alarm companies
stop
smoking clinics
adult education schools
baldness/toupee
salons
house sitters
moving companies
housecleaning
services
taxi/car rental
travel agencies
landscape
maintenance
wedding services
pet boarding
dry
cleaners
> Retail:
pharmacy/drug
store
pet store
ladies dress shop
men’s
clothing/tailor
children’s clothes
baby
furniture
florist
formal wear
hobby/crafts
nursery/bedding
plants
lingerie/swimwear
music/piano/lessons
cameras/photo
supplies
furniture
jewelers
patio furniture
shoe
store
unfinished furniture
liquor store
antique
shop
picture framing
carpet
books
greeting
cards
building materials
department store
sporting
goods
gift shop
TV/stereo
tobacco
candy
produce
>
Household:
drapery/blinds
lighting
pest
control
maid services
carpet cleaning
vacuums
plumbers
electricians
air
conditioning/heating
house painters
windows
doors
landscape
contractor
decks/patio
swimming pools
kitchen
cabinets
insulation
roofing
appliance
sale/service
chimney sweeps
home renovations
fencing
pool
supply
>Automotive:
car dealers
– new/used
tires
towing service
muffler
shop
brake shop
transmission shop
gas station
auto
upholstery
auto parts
quick lube
car wash
>Professional:
banks/credit
union
income tax/accountants
insurance
real
estate
attorneys
doctors/clinic
chiropractor
dentist
veterinarian
opticians/glasses/contacts
hypnotists
veterinary
clinic
> Product/Service:
employment
services
computer/software
office supplies
equipment
rental
courier services
answering service
office
furniture
printing
cellular phones
secretarial
service
golf courses/pro shops
ski schools
miniature
golf
tennis clubs
motor homes/RVs
dating
service
local festivals
bowling alleys
video
shops
riding stables
flying clubs
movie
theaters
fishing tackle
motor raceway
trophy/awards
athletic
events arenas
skating rinks
"Tell me John....how did you get started in this business?"
The first meeting has several parts.
1.Greeting
and introductions
2.Appropriate sociability – take a
drink if offered. It's rude to refuse hospitality.
3.Fact
find – delve into his needs. Ask questions...let him talk.
Find out the problems.
4.Presentation of solution in a benefit
focused way. Check that he understands along the way.
5.Identify
the last remaining objection and then address objections
6.Agreement
to proceed and close deal
7.Referrals...if you don’t
ask you don’t get.
8.Manage expectations....under
promise and over deliver.
1.
Greeting and introductions
When
you first meet them, a polite hello, nice to meet you. The correct
response to “how do you do” is “how do
you do”. People who say “how do you do”
will measure you on your response. Smiling, shake hand firmly (nothing
worse than a wet fish handshake). Present business card and take
theirs. Thank them for taking the time to see you. "I promise I
won’t keep you too long today.... (huge!)". On the phone when
making the appointment, tell him that if it takes more than 15 minutes,
it will be because he sees value in what you’re offering. If
he doesnt like it, you'll be outta there quick smart. Don't sell the
concept on the phone...sell the meeting.
Take
a seat beside him if you can....like an adviser. Try to avoid sitting
across a desk from him...its combative. Ask him if it's Ok to pull your
chair round to the side of the desk so that you can show him some stuff.
If
he folds his arms and shuts his body language, hand him a piece of
paper to read...get his body open again. Do something to shake him up.
2.Appropriate
sociability
Talk
for a few minutes about something other than business....traffic,
weather, anything. Put him at ease and get a feel for him. If
you’re stuck....”how did you get started in this
business” is a never fail question to thaw ever the frostiest
prospect.
3.Fact
find
Get
to know his business....ALWAYS make notes...you look fly by night if
you don’t. It's best to have a structured form that you fill
in while chatting, ask about customers, average value of customers and
orders, cost of customer acquisition, current marketing, budgets,
competition, repeat customers, goals, current marketing or web agencies
(know them to beat them). Get him to define his problems.
Don’t tell him what they are....ask this
question....” So are you saying that it's a problem not being
able to communicate clearly with your customers?”. Get him to
agree....yes....yes.....yes.....lots of little Yes’s add up
to a big yes at the end. You are there to solve those problems that he
defines for you. If you define his problems, they’re yours,
not his. If he defines them, they’re his problems and he
wants you to solve them.
4.Presentation
of solutions
Tell
him what your solution will do for him. Use Need – feature
– function – benefit. (see a few posts up for this)
At the first meeting, keep it simple, get in the door, and leave with
something...even if it's only a trail of trust. NEVER lie. If you
can’t help, tell him so and ask for referrals.
Don’t talk about everything in one go...building a new site,
doing PPC campaigns, mailing lists etc. Remember, you’re not
out to get apples, but apple trees. One thing at a time....you can
build it gradually over time...don't slaughter the cow...milk it. First
meeting, do SOME business, no matter how small. Add HUGE value
here...shoot your best and fastest producing arrows first to build
trust and credibility.
5.Handle
his objections.
He
isn’t saying no, he’s asking for more clarification
of how this applies to him. Be ready with the answers. Write down every
possible objection to what you are offering and have 5 reasons why it
isn’t an issue. Every single one. Add more as you go. The
only objection that should stop you is ...”we are going out
of business tomorrow”.
Men
usually have 2 reasons for doing something, the real reason and the one
that sounds good. When objections come out, you MUST run through this
drill. This is where sales are made and lost. You must get to the
bottom of his objections....the last one...this is key.
HIM:
I can’t do it because of X.
YOU:
Ok John, in addition to X, is there any other reason?
HIM:
Yes, I’m not too happy about Y either.
YOU:
Ok, in addition to X and Y, is there any other reason?
HIM:
Well, Z is an issue as well.
YOU:
OK, so there’s reason X, Y and Z....are there any other
reasons?
HIM:
No, that’s it....that’s all there is.
YOU:
So if I answered X, Y and Z to your satisfaction, there is no other
reason we couldn’t go ahead and get started today with
something?
HIM:
No there isn’t, but I don’t see how we can with X,
Y and Z.
YOU:
That’s OK, let’s imagine if I can satisfy you on X,
Y and Z, we could go ahead today...yes?
HIM:
Yes.
This
is critical....Z is the real reason. The entire purpose of this
exercise is to flush out his last remaining objection. People
don’t like to lie, so they hold the real reason back and lie
by omission. The last objection is the real one. Answer it first and
the others often don’t matter, but be prepared with an answer
just in case, but don’t open up cans of worms on yourself
either. Go straight for the signature after you answer Z and he
confirms that he’s ok with Z.
Here are a
few translations for common objections:
·“I
can’t afford it” = you haven’t shown me
it's worth the money...a value based objection. Show me it's worth the
money....I AM interested...I would buy it if it was cheaper or if I
perceived the value as higher.
·“I
don’t have time” = I think this will take a lot of
my time up. Don’t worry, we can do everything for you...this
won’t take up any of your time. Give me a subordinate I can
deal with and I’ll email you once a month with a quick update.
·“Come
back and see me next week” = I have an objection but I
don’t want to tell you what it is. You
say....“John, you will forget 85% of what we have been
talking about next week....now is the best time to choose your future.
What precisely are you unsure of?” Get the objection
out....don’t let it fester. You can’t answer it if
you don’t know what it is.
·“I
can’t do it because I have to speak with X”.
Sometimes this is tricky and there can be a genuine reason. This is
overcome by making sure that all decision makers are at the meeting in
the first place...often, just say that we can go ahead and do it and
you can contact me on that new fangled invention called the phone if
there’s an issue with your partner/wife/CEO.
·“I
don’t think it will do what you say it will do.”
Testimonials answer this one. Also the risk reward
argument....”John, this will do what I say...I know it will.
It could revolutionise your business....considering the
upside....don’t you think it's worth £200 to find
out?”. If he says no....you’ve dodged a moron or
someone who lies to himself or thinks you’re lying. If you
get this a lot, concentrate on more eye contact and stop fidgeting and
touching your face.
·This
will be a big one
“The economic environment is bad”. “Tell
me Mr Jones, do you think it’s more important to squeeze
every last drop of value out of your prospects and customers in a bad
economic environment or a good economic environment?”
....or...."Out of 2 companies, one that gets maximum value and one that
lets opportunities and profits slip by, which do you think is more
likely to be here in 3 years time?"
·“My
customers don’t have computers” = What? None of
them? Wow, you’ve been in more houses than Santa Clause!
Laugh....he might to....but he'll get the point.
·“Another
company deals with that for me”. Mr Jones...as an internet
marketing professional, I think they designed a beautiful site and were
a wonderful choice for the artistic side of the web presence. They
really have done a great job. (Don’t slag them off...he chose
them, so you’d be slagging him off in the process!) but I can
generate more business for you. That’s what I
do...that’s all I do. I'm like the terminator! These arty
types don’t understand the bottom line like we
do...they’re artists and tech people and we’re
business people...(Us V them...we're on the same side) They have built
a beautiful car but they forgot the engine...let me put a huge engine
into for you. Right now you have a beautiful looking shop front in the
Sahara desert. I can airlift it in a big helicopter and drop it right
in the middle of 5th avenue for you. Would you like that?.....NEVER
EVER EVER speak badly of the competition...it shows a lack of class and
some fear. Differentiate yourself from them in other ways.
6.Agreement
to proceed and close deal
It's
not a big deal. Don’t make this stage
complicated....it’s so simple...but I know how difficult this
can be if it's new to you. YOU DESERVE TO BE PAID. DON’T FEEL
GUILTY OR SHY.
Ask....are you happy with
that....or....Does that sound good to you? “Yes” Do
you have any more questions? Once you get the response you’re
after, just slide an order form over, (make it up, but have one) put
an X where he has to sign, hold out a pen to him and shut up.
Don’t say a word until he does....not a word. The
release of the psychological pressure which the silence puts him under
comes from him signing....he will usually take the fast easy way out. Once he
signs...congratulate him on a very smart move and ask for the cheque.
This is as complicated as the close needs to be. I’ve closed
large deals with this simple technique. It’s my standard
closing technique because it's so simple and effective. Don’t
make it more complicated than it needs to be....and shut up at the
critical moment....let him sweat a bit....it’s good for the
health.
Don’t talk beyond the close. Get
the check and immediately move off his business with you and onto the
topic below...fast.
7.Referrals...if
you don’t ask you don’t get.
If
you don’t ask, you’re working 3 times harder than
you need to. I’ve had one referral introduce me, through
referrals from referrals to a network of maybe over 50 clients who all
did business. It's incredibly powerful and much better than a cold call
or internet lead.
There are a two ways to ask for referrals.
The
wrong way
– Do you know of anyone who would like this?....answer....no.
The
right way
– Tell me the three businesses that you know that could and
don’t use this type of marketing?....or....Please you take a
minute to think of the 5 businesses you think would benefit most from
this service?
I can hear you groaning...this
sounds so cheesy and salesy...but I’m telling you....if you
put a blank piece of paper in front of a man...his natural reaction is
to fill it in. People hate white spaces...they love to fill them up. I
have used a referral sheet for years.
It
doesn’t always work, but I’ve never had a man
object strongly to it...ever. You are doing a thorough sales job...he
will respect you for that and if he has sales people working for him,
he will probably wish some of his bottom of the barrel sales people
were as good as you. You will get respect because you asked. I have had
a man laugh and say “Come on Bigjock...let me see it working
first!”. I laugh and say “OK fair
enough....I’ll make a deal with you”...he asks
“What”...I say...”When I make this work
as I’ve described, you give me 5 names of your business
buddies...is it a deal?” It doesn’t sound
unreasonable...does it? He is giving when he gets.
8.Next
actions and manage expectations....under promise and over deliver.
Why
put yourself under pressure to give a fast turnaround if he
isn’t that bothered about a fast turnaround? You look like a
jerk when you miss your own deadline. Take it easy. If you think it
will take 2 days, tell him he’ll have it in a week.
You’re a hero when you deliver within 4 days. If
you’re a slacker like me...maybe not a good idea. If you need
pressure to perform, give yourself tight deadlines. Know thyself.
http://www.palomesapizza.com - lead capture template
Below is a
complete Mailing System For Your Off Line Business. I took some
concepts that were already presented in this thread and spiced it up a
bit -- ending with my famous rubber chicken mailing piece (yes I said
rubber chicken).
I know you can tweak this method by
adding and to subtracting some of the details of each mailer...but this
should get most of you off the ground and encourage the ones that are
already putting in this strategy in place.
Thanks
Again Preston, Shaun, and Andrew...I enjoyed all your responses. Lets
continue to band together and take this torch of offline gold business
to new heights.
Blessings
all,
Chris Negro
MAILING
SYSTEM FOR YOUR OFFLINE BUSINESS
This
direct mailing system starts at the first of every month
Day
1:First Letter- stamped Confidential with plastic business card !
(optional)
Day 8: Second letter - Stamped Second Notice
Day
21: Third letter – Stamped Final Notice
Day 30: Post
card – colored printed (optional)
Day 45: Fed Ex Box
with a rubber Chicken (yes…that’s
right…check it out below)
Day
1 - First Letter- stamped Confidential with plastic business card !
(optional)
Dear
{their first name here}”:
My
name is ______________ and I am a local e-commerce
business
consultant.
Being that your probably planning for
your business in 2009 (and the Holidays are around the corner) I know
your time is valuable, so I'll get right to the
point.
If
I could show you an unused asset that you ALREADY have that could make
you thousands of dollars, would you be interested in hearing about it
before your competition does? Most of the time it takes approximately
15 minutes to discuss.
This free consultation can
save you as much as 50% of your entire monthly advertising budget AND
bring you a systematic wave of brand new customers every month! The
best part is that you already have it, so the cost to implement this
marketing weapon is minimal.
Please call me at (your
number) at your earliest convenience (and
reference code XDGTHD3) to
schedule a free "no strings" consultation. I promise you, it will be
worth your time.
Committed to your success,
{Your
name}
{Contact info}
Day
8 - Second letter - Stamped Second Notice
Dear
{their first name here}”:
{Your
Name} here and wanted to follow up with my letter I sent you last week.
Specifically, about how you can make thousands of dollars with a little
known marketing secret that could “systematically”
bring in wave after wave of new potential customers in 2009? The best
news is you can also cut your advertising budget almost in half.
Please
call me at (your number) by the 30th of this month as I only take on 7
new clients per month. Please reference coupon code CK9X349 to
schedule a free "no strings" consultation. I promise you, it will be
worth your time, as I guarantee you that 95% of your competitors are
not doing this little known marketing technique.
P.S.
Again, please make sure you reference your coupon code above as there
is normally $150 charge for this consultation.
Committed
to your success,
{Your name}
{Contact info}
Day
21 - Third letter – Stamped Final Notice
Dear
{their first name here}”:
{Your
Name} here and you have 7 more days to take advantage of my free offer
of sharing “the secret” of how to get new and prior
customers to purchase more of your products in 2009. As the outside of
the envelope stated, this is your “final
notice” of this
offer !
As of right now we are holding your final
spot for the free consultation, but I can only hold it so long before
releasing it to another business owner. Again, I am so excited to share
this “new
customer aquisition system” that can
be run on auto-pilot “absolutely
free” !
When
you call, please call (your number) and don’t forget to
reference coupon code 789LQ8N to
schedule your consultation as we normally charge $150 for this
consultation. We take great pride when we see the joy and satisfaction
our clients get when they hear of this incredible cost effective
strategy.
Committed to your success,
{Your
name}
{Contact info}
Day
30: Post card – colored printed (optional)
Dear
{their first name here}”:
{Your
Name} here and I’ve made several attempts to contact you
about the “little known secret” to increase your
business in 2009 and have not heard from you.
Although
another business owner has secured this free consultation, allow me to
educate you as we are committed to teaching {YOUR STATE HERE} Business
Owners creative ways strategies to increase their business revenues.
Go
to {your url} and put your name and email address in the
“optin form” on the website and watch out for your
first video. Once you give your information, I share cutting edge
marketing secrets that many pay me for (and give to you for free).
Committed
to your success,
{Your name}
{Contact info}
Day
45: Fed Ex Box with a rubber Chicken
Note:
You can get these rubber chickens on Ebay for roughly $3 a piece which
includes shipping and handling (I would advise though that you get some
money coming in before spending a lot of money with this tactic)
Subject:
Don’t lay an egg
Dear
{their first name here}”:
Am
I getting your attention with this rubber chicken? Seriously, you
don’t’ want to “lay an egg” on
“the secret” many of your peers will be finding out
in the next 3 years.
Most businesses in the local
area are finding it difficult to do the following:
1)
Recruit new customers,
2) Re-market to past customers
3)
And make money with their website
And we have the
solutions for you ! Give me a call for your free consultation today at
{your number hear}. As you can tell, we are passionate and confident
that these marketing methods work and can make you thousands of dollars
in the next year.
Committed to your
success,
{Your name}
{Contact info}
T shirt “ I make websites that make money – www.yourwebsitename.com
"I make websites make money",
Quote:
| Originally Posted by Alex Sol Andrew, how would you go around the
numbers? |
Exactly. That's why you get your
prospective client to estimate the numbers after you explain how your
system works.
You go through it step by step and get
him to estimate each figure.
Then you reduce
everything "It may not work out as well as you've estimated here so
let's just HALVE these figures."
Or "It may not work
as well as you've estimated here so lets divide these figures by 5."
Business
people love estimating how much money they'll make...it's in their
blood.
By using THEIR estimates you're getting
around the problem that you made some kind of promise you can't deliver.
You
should even say "Obviously I can't promise you'll get numbers like
this. But compare this to the amount you need to make just to generate
a healthy product and it still looks really good doesn't it?"
"To advise, educate and inform my clients in order to help them find the best solutions for growth ...and carry out all the work leaving my clients hands-free..."
| Also if
you are setting up autoresponders for your clients - wouldn't a
Christmas rush of shoppers be the perfect time for your clients to
collect names & email addresses?? |
I think there's one line you should add
to that that will get the business owners attention:
"And
here's the most important thing because you and I both know you and
your staff simply don't have the time to set this up...I'll set it all
up FOR you and run it for you. You won't have to do a thing except for
answering a few simple questions for me."
Be like a
physician, trying to diagnose the problem
before you present
your service as the solution.
E.g.
Can
you tell me what prompted you to call me today?
What
are your biggest frustrations/problems with your
web site/lead
generation right now?
What different results would
you like to get from your
website?
(In fact, I get the
prospect to answer these questions
in our e-mail exchanges
before even scheduling the
call so I can assess their level of
interest and if I can
help them or not.
It
also helps me in preparing for the call, keeping it on
track
and presenting the right case for using my services
- if
any).
Then near the end you simply present your
services as
the solution to their problems and position
yourself as
the person to help them get what they've already
told
you they want.
E.g.
"You've
told me that your biggest problems with
your website are A,
B and C and that you really want
your site to give you X, Y
and Z.
Based on what you've told me you want to
achieve
with your website, the best next step is to..."
Remember,
he who asks the questions,
controls the
conversation.
"I can't possibly
explain this over the phone. There are quite a few things I have to
show you.
"Also because I offer a customized
solution for each business there are quite a few questions I need to
ask you about your business so I can answer your questions properly.
"We
should really get together for an hour...You can ask me all the
questions you I'll give you some genuine internet marketing ideas you
can use even if you never hire me.
"What times do
you usually have an hour free?"
Presentation Materials - Researched
"More
than one-third said they checked throughout the day.
- AOL/Beta Research Corporation (June 2008)"
"More
than seven out of 10 employed respondents also
said they checked their personal email at work - and nearly one-third
said they did so more than three times a day. - AOL/Beta Research
Corporation (June 2008)"
"Nearly
70% of respondents said they had multiple email accounts. - AOL/Beta
Research Corporation (June 2008)"
"75.8%
said they are using more email than three years ago. - Direct
Marketing Association" (2008)
66%
of those surveyed said they had made a purchase because of a
marketing message received through email. - ExactTarget, "2008
Channel Preference Survey" (2008)
2/3's
of US Internet users surveyed said email was their preferred
channel for
written communications between friends. - ExactTarget, "2008
Channel Preference Survey" (2008)
67% of respondents
prefer email as a communications channel over other online vehicles
and
65 percent believe this will continue to be the case in five years.
- Habeas (2008)
Okay guys
-- I just wanted to share a little nugget of information:
Compete.com
Wow
your clients when you go into their business with a print-off from
compete (free account) with a profile of unique visitors, top keywords
used to find them, etc.
When you get around to
presenting it, you can say something like -- well look, your drawing X
amount of unique visitors per month, do you know how many of those you
will never see again -- what kind of business they could be bringing to
you -- only if you had a way to contact them...
Doesn't
have to be verbatim, but just a good tool and to give them something to
actually look at while you meet with them. Again, this should sell
itself.
Date Here
ATTN: XXXX
Dear
Owner: ( getting the name of the owner is great if you can )
I
know your time is valuable (especially with the holiday season upon
us), as is mine so I'll get right to the point.
My
name is XXXXXXXXXXXXXX and I work with local small businesses in the
XXXXXXXX area who are looking to get the most out of
their
website and online presence. I help them to restructure aspects of
their website so that it delivers a consistent flow of prospects
and
clients to their business on a regular basis. If I could show you an
unused asset that you ALREADY have that could generate
thousands
of dollars of revenue for you, would you be willing to speak with me
for a few minutes?
* Optional Line here:: "You could
be missing out on hundreds of sales from potential customers that you
didn't even know you had." (This works as a nice 'punch')
This
free, in-person, consultation can save you as much as 50% of your
entire monthly advertising budget AND bring you brand new
customers
at the same time! The best part is that you already have it, so the
cost to implement this marketing weapon is minimal.
Please
call me at (XXX) XXX-XXXX, (or reply to this email if you prefer) at
your earliest convenience to schedule a free "no strings"
consultation.
I promise you, it will be worth your time.
Yours
in business,
Your Name
Your info
Tel:
yours
Email: yours
Situation
Questions
Here
you ask the prospect questions about their current situation
so
that you can both understand where they are at right now.
Problem
Questions
Here
you probe a little deeper into the problems, difficulties and
dissatisfactions
that the prospect is currently experiencing.
These
questions should then help the prospect to surface some
of
their needs.
Implication
Questions
Here
you probe a little further into the full implications of the
problems
that the prospect has already said they've got.
This
helps the prospect to more closely associate to the
problem
and realize that they need a solution.
Need-Payoff
Questions
Here
you ask questions to emphasize how your solution
helps the
prospect solve their problem.
These questions
should help the prospect to state what
they most desire from
your service.
Then you come in an emphasize how your
service helps
them to get the what they want.
It's
important to note that the SPIN model was based on
research
into the selling of high-ticket items such as
machinery.
That
said, it's a good framework for sequencing your
questions
correctly during a consultation and not jumping
in too quickly
with your solution.
So, here ya go. This is what I have so far....
Dennis
$600 setup
$250
monthly
Vince
Runza from US
$500 setup
$100
monthly
$1,700 total first year but will drop to $1,250 if pay
all in advance
4 broadcasts per month
bigjock
$4000
setup
$800 monthly
Stef from
Australia
$1500
setup for a Hair Dresser, monthly?
$2400 setup and $250 per
month for a Builder
Newyorktrader from US
$499 setup
$199
monthly for management of the AR
Baal from
UK
Indian
Restaurant
$800 setup
$260 montly maintenance
Dylan from
US
Computer
IT Consultant
Full web redesign ($2000 for a simple 4 page
site, with opt in on the front page)
email list management
and bi-weekly newsletters at $450 a month
Originally
Posted by chrisnegro Warriors:
Subject:
More
nuggets for you...
Below is an example letter one
can send after having an great talk with a business owner from the
Chamber of Commerce meeting. Although this cannot be "canned" it sure
is a great framework to build around in setting up follow-up emails
from every business owner you meet at a COC event. Just like an
autoresponder series (like Shaun O'Reilly does when he
wash/rinces/repeats)....its not "canned" but tweaked...hence saving him
much wasted time.
Example
Letter
Allan:
Just
wanted to say it was a pleasure meeting you tonight as I thoroughly
enjoyed getting to know about your business. It is refreshing to sense
your motivation and entrepreneurial spirit. I believe the best days are
ahead of you and for your business ! I think you’re on the
right track (in terms of throwing our your nets out) to see what water
holes are biting. Some water holes bite and some don’t in
your industry.
With regards to your catering, I know
I can definitely improve your sales (that’s not the issue)
and make it a “re-occurring” revenue stream for you
year round. But more importantly give you much more value and return on
your investment of the $2,000 per month your already spending on your
radio advertising (not to mention be able to track its effectiveness).
Based
on our conversation, I’ve put a already put a plan in place
for you that can increase your catering business for 2009. I only take
on 3 new clients per month as devote much time to make sure my clients
marketing campaigns are a success. I charge $200 per hour but just
recently made a deal with the Chamber where I give all members a 50%
discount for all consulting services. I’ve got an opening
next Tuesday morning from 9am-10am if you wish to move forward.
Wishing
you much success,
Christopher M. Negro
“Marketing
Consultant”
MarketingRats.com
Observations
Notice
in paragraph three I tell him I put a plan in place for him already
(when in actuality I have not). I do this because I don't want to waste
time putting in plans for every business owners if they don't want to
move forward...plus the fact that I have a plan in place....most owners
will want to hear it...as they are hungry for more business (its a
teaser).Now if he wants to meet I will put a plan in place for him
pretty quickly (I've already got same great ideas for him).
Notice
also I don't have him fill out a form to find more of his needs
...because I already found these out in my intial meeting with him the
night before.. Sending a client another form...is not needed at this
point and can waste much time playing email tag --keeping the process
focused and as simply as possible is KEY. However, you can have him
fill out a follow-up form to further clarify things ONCE HE AGREES TO
MEET WITH YOU.
Lets
break down each paragraph
Paragraph
One:
Notice
that I'm really postive up front and how I encouraged him (great
refresher and beginning statement to make)
Paragraph
Two
Notice
I address his #1 concern (increasing his catering business) and how I
can benefit him and the concern I have for him.
Paragraph
Three:
He
feels the exclusivity of my services as well as the value he gets from
being a member of the Chamber of Commerce. I told him my fees (and
wasn't shy), in a polite way tell him when I am available to
discuss...and end with a reminder that he is in control by saying "if
he wishes to move forward".
In
closing....yes...we
don't want to "can" things...but think "TEMPLATES AND MODELS" that you
can use for every client. If you do this...you are beginning to
systemize a business and save alot of precious time.
Warriors:
Here
are some more nuggest for those that want some cool phrases on the back
of their business cards. For those that are using them (or are thinking
about using them)...here are some ideas:
1) "Call me
to see how you can get a lifetime
of free
advertising"
2) "Wanna know why 95% of small
business owner's advertising is
not working? Call me if you
want to know this
little known secret!
3)
" What seperates most businesses from others is a great product and a
good marketer". You have the product....so
now I'm waiting for your call".
4)
"Many small business owners do not know how to make money on autopilot.
Give me a call to find out this
little known secret".
5)
"Call me if you want to know the
secret of how to
make your website a virtual cash machine !"
I have
many more...but this should just give you a taste of what you looking
for. #3 is about YOU (which you may want to avoid...but its still
funny). #1,2, 4 & 5 is about the client...you should choose one
of these in my opinion.
Hope
this helps everyone ! These phrases are
like headlines.
You can make them even more powerful
by using specific names, numbers, facts etc.
eg.
"Ask
me how businesses like yours are getting back $51 for every dollar they
spend on an overlooked marketing strategy."
In this
case we're talking about the industry study mentioned in this thread
pointing out that businesses get a $51 return on investment for every
dollar they spend on email marketing (I may have got the figures wrong).
But
you can see how:
# 1: If you use a specific number
or name it increases interest.
# 2: If you're using
a fact like this you can simply memorize the fact so when they ask you
tell them "A study by xxx in 2008 showed businesses are getting $51
return on investment for every dollar they spend on email marketing.
Yet it's something most small business like yours don't understand.
They think it's spam (good email marketing has NOTHING to do with spam)
and they're passing up a small fortune...etc etc."
So
thinking through how to make it easy for yourself if people ask you or
contact you about what's on your card is also a key strategy.
Let's say meeting
won't work, you close the meeting by saying: John you feel there is
merit in the work I do but the timing just isn't right, (or your in a
cash crunch, or your too busy, or, or...) is that right?
Answer
yes.
but there would be value in my work if the
timing (cash flow, etc...) where right, isn't that right?
(OK,
now you reduced the pressure and he thinks he's off the hook) you say
do you know the guy acrros the street, if yes, might this be of value
to him (remember he just agreed your service would be valuable), how
about the other business on xx street, etc, if run out of names aski
him "who (else) do you know that may find this of merit?"
If
you get a couple of names when you go there you can say I was just
meeting with John down the street and he thought you might find my work
of value.
You just turned a "no", a bad appt, into
some referrals. As an
added incentive, I sometimes tell them that it would be interesting for
them
to see the results of my strategies on their referrals as a live "case
study",
and when I'm done with them, it may be a better time
for him:-) Here's a key secret
to getting referrals:
Don't give people the whole
world to choose from.
If you're talking to a
business owner ask him "Do you think your accountant might benefit from
a gift consultation with me? Did you buy this business through a
business broker...I bet he could use some internet marketing help." etc
etc.
Being specific helps them think of real people
they know. A key
phrase to use when asking for referrals is:
Who
do you know who...?"
And
then fill in the blank something very specific such as:
-
A specific type of person/trade/profession
- A specific type
of problem they may be experiencing now
- A specific type of
solution a person may be seeking
In order to
generate some money for the holidays, i sent out a batch of letters
(35) ten days ago and got one paying client so far - whoo hoo! 3 more
are interested - i think that's not a bad ratio for this small amount
of letters. Here's what i wrote (roughly translated from german):
------------------------------------------------------------------------
My
name is Chris Byrns and i am a local Webdesign and e-Commerce
consultant. I recently visited your Website and i noticed some things
you
could easily change in order to attract more clients.
With
some content-optimization you could improve your site's ranking in the
search engines. This means for you: more new customers.
Additionally,
some minor add-ons would enable you to stay in touch with your current
clients. This means for you: more follow-up orders.
Here's
just one example:
Each month, about xxx people search for the
term "blah blah blah" - which is one of your core offers. At the moment
i'm typing this, your site is listed on page #xx - and your competitors
site "www.xxxxxxxxxxx.com" is listed on page #1, result #1.
What's
good: you already have got a Website and with a bit of know-how, we
could turn it into a strong marketing-tool.
If you
agree with me that a professional Website (that actively acquires new
customers) is of more value than a pretty standard homepage that just
"sits there" - i would be happy to give you a free, no strings,
consultation.
call me at blah blah blah. my contact
info here and stuff.
|
Originally Posted by Cali16 Okay, I really need some help... Have been
talking to this attorney who had a website in the past that did nothing
for him. Wants a new one. Wants it to bring him customers. I offered
him a package that included a website, autoresponder, 12 monthly
newsletters, long-tail keyword research for SEO, Press release to 30
different PR sites, etc., plus a couple other things that David taught
me that are for his students so can't disclose here but bring fast
traffic. My original price was too high (which I did with the plan to
negotiate). Didn't help that he said he could get a website for $400. |
The answer is there.
He
had a website and got no results.
What results
will a $400 website get him?
Exactly, No results.
If
he wants to really solve the problem then he needs a solution. The
'cheap' solution will not solve a big problem.
Where
you offered the package and gave him a shopping list - I prefer to just
call it TRAFFIC. No need to itemize the way you get it etc.....
It
is fair he would want to see other websites. To get around this you can
ask him to show you a website he likes the look of and then you can
tell him you can build one like that (of you can) but better and more
SEO friendly and more direct sales oriented. . Ideally you show him a
few he can choose from.
Many of your clients will
want the project to remain confidential.
If it all
comes down to it you can tell him he is the first job you are doing
outside of your own successful markets and that you keep those
confidential. Show him your content websites if they look nice because
that is what they will be looking for.
Why can't
you compete with a $30 radio spot? Where are they driving the traffic
to? I hope they are not just asking people to call the office. They
could be driving clients to his new website to download a free legal
report etc....and really leverage that marketing $$
Don't
work for performance fee with this guy. You will not get paid because
you have zero control.
Offer him a last chance
before you discuss your marketing opportunity with his competitors...
Here
it is.
You: “Hi, my name is ____.
I’m with XYZ Company”,
“We haven’t met yet.”
“Maybe
you can help me out for a
minute.”
Them: “How can I help
you?”
You: “I’m just
giving you a call to see if you’d be open to some different
ideas
on how to bring in more sales into your business.” (not new
ideas
because every salesperson says new and improved, right?) So, anyway,
what typically happens is you get one of two responses. You get,
“What do you mean?” Or you get,
“Who’s this?” They might
say, “Well what do you mean?” And, that gives you
permission to
move forward in terms of being more specific about what you do. So,
in our case we might say,)
You: “Well, what I mean
specifically
is looking at a different marketing strategy that’s probably
a lot
less than you pay now, and giving you much more sales.”
Them::
Okay, tell me more. (Suppose he says, “Who’s
this?” You simply
just sort of say,)
You: “I’m sorry. My
name is ___. I’m
with XYZ Company, and I’m just giving you a call”,
(and go right
back to the same problem statement. You don’t give him tips
about
what you do.)
You: What we do is we help companies with
different
ideas to bring in more revenue and sales to the company. (There will
be some resistance with some people, no matter what).
Objection:
We already are using another marketing method or vendor.
You:
“That’s not a problem. I wasn’t calling
to replace who you
currently have. I was just calling to see if you’d be open to
some
different ideas that you may not have now.”
I’m
not going to
rip out what you have. That’s not my goal. My goal is to
generate a
conversation with you to see if you’d be open to different
ideas.”
Objection: “We don’t have the
budget for it.”
You:
“That’s not a problem. A lot of our clients did not
have the
budget at first for this. That’s completely common and
that’s why
we have come up with a business case to help make a justification for
it. Would you be open to some ideas around that?”
Objection:
Your price is too high. (not one we should get because were not
talking cost)
You: That’s not a problem.”
You’re absolutely
right that the price can be perceived as high if you haven’t
yet
had a chance to see these ideas yet. You’re absolutely right.
Would
you be open to some different ideas on how to make the pricing work
for you in a way that feels comfortable for you and meets your needs?
If you get voicemail, hit zero and go back to the
front desk,
and in a non-aggressive way say)
You: Maybe you can help me
out
for a moment.
Them: Okay, sure.
You: I tried to
get a hold of
Jim, but I got his voicemail. Would you happen to know if
he’s at
lunch, in a meeting or on vacation by any chance? (I’m
offering
solutions right away to help the other person guide me. What
I’m
trying to do here is identify where he might be.
So, in any
case,
one of those three questions might be the answer. If he’s on
vacation, you know you don’t have to call back. If
he’s at lunch,
you can call him back in an hour).
Message to
leave on voice
mail “Hi, my name is ____. Maybe you can help me out for a
moment.
I’m just giving you a call to see if you’d be open
to different
ideas related to (plug in your problem statement). If you’re
interested, give me a call when you get a chance” Or
“give me a
call at any specific time. If you’re open to some different
ideas,
give me a ring.” (The whole idea here is to leave a message
that is
not pitchy, not salesy).
Objection:
“Send me more
information
You: That’s not a problem.
I’ll be happy to send
you what you might need. Can you help me understand specifically what
issues are you trying to solve so I can customize exactly what to
send you? (We’re not forcing them to talk. We’re
just saying
wouldn’t it make sense to first understand what specifically
you’re
trying to deal with so I can know what to send you because logically
it makes no sense. I might miss the mark.)
Objection:
Well,
great how about if we talk on Friday or talk next week. And, they
say, Them: “Sure call me on Friday.” And, you call
on Friday and
they’re not there.
Better: Would it make sense for
us to circle
back and talk again another time and date so we can just reconnect
again and answer any questions you might have? That way we
won’t
have to chase each other down. Does that make sense at all?
(It’s
just common sense and a common respect for both people).
Objection:
they hide from you.
Hi Jim. I’m not calling to move
the sales
process forward. I’m just calling to get some feedback. I
haven’t
heard back from you for a couple of weeks, so I assume maybe you
decided not to move forward, which is not a problem with me. I was
just calling to get some feedback to find out where I can improve. I
know it’s probably over, but I would love to find out why.
Jim
"My name is Chris Negro. I help small business owners improve their offline and online marketing focus by giving them step by step plans to increase company revenues -- not to mention a meaurable return on investment."
| Re: Elevator speeches... |
|
|
Here's something
that will work if you're talking to a business owner:
"I
have my own internet marketing business. But tell me more about your
business..."
If you're asking questions
and getting the business owner doing the talking you'll do a whole lot
better.
Having said all that the elevator speech is
handy if you're in a situation where you have to stand up and tell
people what you do in 30 seconds or less.
You could
try doing the complete opposite of what everyone else does:
"I
have my own business helping other business owners make more sales and
profits with their internet marketing...but I'm not looking for clients
at the moment."
I thought I might share a couple of programs that I
have been using to smooth the communication between clients, myself and
other people working with me such as web designers and marketers.
How
do you organise your projects for clients and ongoing maintenance,
requests for info, milestones, updates and general communication? All
through email?
These are the main things I use to
manage my business.
I use basecamp.
Project management, collaboration, and task
software: Basecamp
We
also use backpack recently. It's great for organising stuff too.
Intranet, Group Calendar, Small Business Organizer:
Backpack
For
sharing and collaborating on the site design with the client in real
time as we show them drafts and designs we use this.
ConceptShare: Web Based Design Collaboration Made
Easy - ConceptShare
I've
found them to be invaluable in making sure everything is delivered
smoothly and professionally. The client is able to see us working on
their site in real time.
We can show the client some
of these tools before they agree to anything which shows we are going
to look after them professionally.
OK
fellow WARRIORS!
Sorry for all those who PM'd
for the Client Questionnaire form.
Now before
posting the link
here there's just one thing to tell you.....?
That
is, I have
found it to be very successful in a few ways.
After
all the
salutations, greetings etc, which I use to build rapport--ALWAYS.
I
do the following:
1) Tell/ask the client
if they could
fill out a simple questionnaire so that I can get a better idea about
them and their business.
Now here's what I didn't
get tell
them that....
* It weeds out those tire kickers,
time wasters
and know it alls. I've walked out on a restaurant owner yesterday for
example.....why? Because he knew it all!!!!#*&)$%!
*
Great
food though-but I didn't waste my precious time.
*
Secondly...
these questions are designed to get the owners thinking and moving
through a mental process and down the rabbit hole to a successful
venture for both of you.
2) I also make it known
that if they
come across something that they don't understand, then they should
ask me to clear it up.
* Right from the get-go, you
can set
yourself up as the professional. You know what you are talking about
and can get to communicate with the being infront of you.
**Remember
your time is precious and if you get someone unwilling to fill out
the survey...
STOP. Start packing up while politely telling
them
this:
"I'm sorry. I really don't want to waste my
time,
and yours."
And see the sparks fly.
Once
you do
this a few times, you get good at it. Remember, I talked about Guy
the loans
biz owner, who is probably going t be best friends
with
me after I make him and his business a ton of money, clients,
prospects etc, etc.
It turned out that he bought a
web site
($25,000 value) for about $2,000 + 5000 name database (which he
hasn't done anything with??? because he doesn't want to SPAM
them((((?) from a realtor who was moving overseas.
My
reply
after finding this out was "really???????????????????"
"We
can handle that!"
"Would you be interested in
selling that site and making a nice profit?"
You get
the
idea?
And so, I am yet to put the proposal together
and close
the deal, but as Andrew and others have said, it's about building
relationships and being best buddies.
And don't
forget to
PURGE the trash can....if you know what I mean?
Not
everyone
you meet will be nice to talk to. My experience is that it's only 2
out of 10 people, so if you can spot it, delete it and forget it.
Seems to work for me.
3) And I does sit
there while they
get to fill it out for me, and ask questions when they ask and talk
to me, otherwise I shut up. It's important to capture them details
and info for your files.
That's about it.
The rest of it
is sales techniques, communication techniques and businessese (biz
language) oh yes....business owners speak in many tongues.
Remember. THe better you can talk the talk the
sooner you can
walk the walk.
Here's the
link.
http://knightztable.com/questionnaire.htm
(Sorry not sure how to set a link in-here)
Best
of
luck,
-Rob Perks
I haven't mentioned this before, but one
strategy I use very successfully
is the "3 in 1 month"
approach.
You make it a point to frequent your
prospect's business 3 times within a
month. And note when and
what time you went there. And who helped you
and served you
while you were there. And whether it was busy or not.
For
those of you who are stressed out about "making the sale" or lack
the
confidence to break the ice, this works even more wonderfully.
Each
time, all you have to do is smile and say "hi", and that you enjoy
being
there. That's it.
The next time you go in, say "hi",
then ask the names of the servers,
or whoever is helping you
there, and introduce yourself. Then say how
much you enjoyed
coming in last time, and that's why you came back.
That's it.
Nothing else.
This evokes tremendous feelings of
goodwill, and there is no pressure
on either side.
The
3rd time you come in, mention to the owner (he probably knows
you
by now) how you came in on such and such day and you were
treated
so well by the staff. You are building upon the last 2 times you
were
there. That's it. If he asks you what you do, tell him, but that you
are
NOT taking any new clients right now.
Now the next
time you come in, not only will the owner know you,
but will
also be very receptive to you, so NOW you start the conversation
about
his business and get him to talk about himself by asking the questions
discussed
on this thread.
At this point, when he asks you
again, "how much" and "can you do this
for me?", you say that
even though you are not taking any clients, you
will make an
exception since this is one of the few places you really
enjoy
doing business with. And that you "agree" that his business
can
truly benefit from your strategies because the owner truly "gets it".
This
advice is more meaningful for those who are still stuck at the
"how
do I break the ice" , or "how can I just go in and start asking
questions"
stage.
Consider this the "face-to-face" version of
Dan Kennedy's "3 step direct mailing sequence".
And
the conversions are THROUGH THE ROOF.
Although I
pick up many of my clients by referral, and some by "accident", this is
one
of the approaches I use when I want to target a "dream" client
within
30 days.
Questionnaire for Restaurant owners
Name:
__________________________________________________
_________________________ Date __________________________
Business
Name: __________________________________________________ ________
Phone__________________________________
Address:
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________ ___
1)
Why restaurant business?
__________________________________________________
______________________________________
__________________________________________________
________________ 1)Yr started: ________________ # of Locations: ______
2)
Website? Yes ____ No ____ If yes, made good $ off it? Yes __ No ____ If
no, what would you hope a website would do for business?
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________ ___________
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________ ____________
3)
What types of advertising have worked for you in the past?
__________________________________________________ __________
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________ ____________
4)
What kind of marketing do you do now?
__________________________________________________
___________________________
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________ ____________
5)
How are you tracking the results?
__________________________________________________
________________________________
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________ ____________
6)
When are your busy days / slow days? Busy / slow times?
__________________________________________________ _____________
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________ ____________
7)
Are you getting more business, less business or staying the same?
__________________________________________________ ______
8)
How much of an increase could you handle?
__________________________________________________
________________________
9) What would it mean to you if you
could find a 100 more people just like your best customer? (Or 300
more, 1000 more, etc.)
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________ ____________
10)
What type of person is ideal customer?
__________________________________________________
____________________________
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________ ____________
11)
How do you keep in touch with your current customers?
__________________________________________________ ______________
12)
How do they find out about your specials?
__________________________________________________
_________________________
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________ ____________
13)
Why do you think your repeat customers choose to eat here instead of
your competitors? (Think USP.) ___________________________
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________ ____________14) What
makes your restaurant unique?
__________________________________________________
_____________________________
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________ ____________15) Is
your staff aware of that?
__________________________________________________
_____________________________________
16) How many customers
order appetizers? _______ Desserts? ________ How much would those
increase check? __________________
17) Most popular entree?
__________________________________________________
_________________________________________ Appetizer?
_______________________________________________Des sert?
________________________________________________
18) What item
largest profit? ____________________________________________ Popular?
______ Does staff know to push it? _______
19) What other
businesses have the same type of customers?
__________________________________________________ ____________
__________________________________________________
_________________________ Ever allied to bring more customers? ______
20)
Are you concerned that coupons will lower the perceived value of your
food? _______________________________________________
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________ ____________
21)
What problems are fairly common for businesses in this area now?
__________________________________________________ _____
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________ ____________22)
What’s your biggest worry?
__________________________________________________
___________________________________
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________ ____________
23)
Like best about business?
__________________________________________________
_____________________________________
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________ ____________
24)
Like Least? __________________________________________________
_________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________ ____________
25)
Would like to change?___________________________________________
________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________ ____________
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________ ____________
26)
Desired income you like to earn per month?
__________________________________________________
_______________________
27) Know what an autoresponder is?
Yes ___ No ___ Do you use an autoresponder? Yes ____ No ____
28)
Know what I USP is? Yes ___ No ___ Do you have a USP? Yes ___ No ___
What
is your USP? __________________________________________________
_____________________________________________
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________ ____________
29)
What kind of results are you currently getting from your advertising?
__________________________________________________ ____
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________ ____________
30)
What specifically would you like to see improve?
__________________________________________________ ____________________
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________ ____________
32)
Do you have a yellow page ad? Yes ___ No ___ If yes, how much do it
cost you per month? __________________________________
33) If
no, Why not? __________________________________________________
______________________________________________
34) Where would
you like to be 10 years from now??
__________________________________________________ ___________________
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________ ____________
35)
How are customers finding you?
__________________________________________________
________________________________
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________ ___________
35)
How do you follow up with customers and make other offers to them?
__________________________________________________ __
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________ ___________
Notes:
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________ ____
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________ ___________
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________ ___________
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________ ___________
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________ ___________
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________ ___________
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________ ___________
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________ ___________
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________ ___________
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________ ___________
I sent out 54
emails yesterday telling business owners I wanted to interview them
about marketing in 2009 for an article for the newspaper. (I wasn't
lying. I DID contact the paper a couple of weeks ago - the business
editor is interested but wanted to see an example of my writing after
the 1st of the year. I'm gonna give him an article he can't refuse!)
Anyway
- 8 yeses - oops, now 10 - and 2 "no thanks" so far. Met with my first
guy today for almost 2 hours (note to self - be sure to put enough
money in the parking meter so you're not worried about getting a ticket
if the meeting runs long.) Very little marketing-specific talk - but he
wants me to come back and talk to his marketing person about my ideas.
You could tell the whole concept of creating a relationship via email
mailing list had never occurred to him.
I know that this
may sound a bit strange to many of you, but here goes.
IF
you use the OP letter, and IF you
take the time to ask your prospect "what do you expect your website to
do for you?", you won't have to explain.. "What do you do?"
When
you're getting the answers from your prospect, you can do like I did.
"So, Mr. Smith, you got your website built to get more business, and
it's not doing the trick. I think I just might be able to help you with
that problem."
Never did get asked "what do you do?"
Didn't have to. Once I gave him some minimal information, all he cared
about was I knew a heck of a lot more than I did, and he wrote the
check.
K.I.S.S. Follow the steps outlined on Page 1,
and you'll be okay.
Jan,
I’ve
had a few clients in a specific healthcare field bring up Constant
Contact.
Usually, my response would be something
like this:
“Actually, some people get
good results using Constant Contact once they get through the learning
curve. What they do is similar to part of the service that I offer,
except they leave it up to you to effectively install it on your
website, comply with the Canned Spam Act, come up with a way to get
customers to go to your site to sign up, and write newsletters that
actually get opened.
If you’re interested in going
that route, I can recommend a similar service that has a little bit
better deliverable rate than Constant Contact, though.”
Comparing
your services with Constant Contact is like comparing buying a cookbook
verses going to their restaurant.
If they want to
go it on their own with CC or some other service, I would give lots of
free advice, in excruciating detail, about what to be careful of. The
more painfully detailed your advice is, the more they will think they
should let you do it for them.
If they want to
learn to do the marketing themselves, applaud them for that. The best
thing a small business owner can do is learn to market their own
business. Of course, you can offer your services to teach them how.
Regardless
of what they do with the AR, you can still offer seo, copywriting,
coaching, etc.
When using
Aweber you are given some control over the "confirmation" e-mail that
goes out. With a little bit of creativity you can create a message that
will have a good response.
Here is a sample...
[!firstname_fix},
first of all, as the manager of ______ I want to thank you for your
past business and as a way of doing this we want to give you a gift.
From
time to time we will be sending you special VIP discounts and deals to
that are not usually made available to others.
Before
I subscribe you [!firstname_fix} I want to be certain I have your
permission.
Subject:
What happened to your website?
Dear <Name of
Business> Owner: (Try to get their name before emailing)
It's
2009. Is <insert name of business website> helping your
business? Really?
My name is <insert your
name> and I work with local small businesses in the
<insert name of city> area who want to transform their
lackluster websites into refined business machines turning visitors
into customers and clients...consistently. Essentially on auto-pilot.
I
know your time is valuable, but what if I could show you an unused
asset that you ALREADY have and that could generate thousands (or even
tens of thousands) of dollars in additional revenue for your business,
would you be willing to speak with me?
With the
economic downturn every newspaper and tv station is talking about, it's
worth noting that implementing this marketing system could save you up
to 50% off your normal monthly advertising budget and still bring in an
avalanche of customers!
Please call me at
<insert phone number here>, or simply reply to my email
to schedule a "no strings attached" consultation.
<Your
Name>
<Your Business Name - if any>
<Your
URL - if any>
<Your Phone Number>
<Your
Email Address>
Here is
what I do.
As far as meeting at their place of
business, it depends upon how well you know the attorney, and how crazy
his place of business is.
Personally, for the first
meeting, unless I know the person, I like to meet somewhere neutral,
like at Starbucks or other coffee place. A lot of business is done at
Starbucks in the early morning hours. And I try to limit the time to an
hour.
Yes, ask questions. Ask other questions based
on the answers. And ask questions. Ask about their business. How they
got into it? Ask what they are doing currently for marketing? Radio
spots? yellow pages? Direct mail? How much is it costing them? Ask if
it works? And how they know? Don't be afraid to ask direct questions
about the cost of advertising and what they are spending.
Ask
about their customers - What are their customers like? How much and how
often do their customers spend with them? How do their customers find
them now? Do they have referrals?
I usually try to
ask customer value - how much is each customer worth in business each
month or year. A few business owners actually know this!
What
about online marketing? Do they have a website?
I
have a spiral bound notebook, and a pen, and I ask questions, and write
down answers. I have later referred back to the notebook and pulled
information about things the client has said, and put them in the
proposal.
I too have worried about appearing
professional. I am a geologist and I am comfortable in jeans and boots.
But I have found that if I am asking questions, and if I am generally
really interested in them and their answers, and I am trying to help
them...well, I am professional!
You will be there
longer than 2 minutes...I usually have to cut off our conversation
because as I ask questions, I then say "You could try this idea....or
have you thought of this idea?" I usually have a lot of ideas to toss
out...and you can see the business owner sitting there with their gears
turning in their head. No one has ever explained these things or
suggested these things...
At the right time, just
explain the power of collecting contact info with an autoresponder and
what an autoresponder does....and it will totally blow their mind....
After
my initial meeting, I generally like to visit them at their place of
business, to get a better sense of their business and their needs.
Remember,
you aren't selling websites. You are a marketing consultant helping a
small business owner with their online marketing. You are providing a
valuable service which FEW web designers or programmers know or have
ever told their clients.
So, to summarize, meet at a
neutral place over coffee. Ask questions about their business and their
marketing efforts. Throw out ideas based on their answers. Take notes.
And have fun.
The most interesting part of this for
me has been that this process has actually been fun and enjoyable. I am
not selling. I am helping. And to be in the position to provide a
valuable service to a small business owner, and actually help them make
money from their website....isn't that a great thing?\
Thats what I was
thinking, educational for everyone.
Here goes..
Subject:
Buy One Get One 50% Off Breakfast Special At Tannerjacks.
Hey
Test, Michael and Kelly here from Tanner Jacks.
We
hope you had a wonderful weekend and we are just shooting you a quick email to
let you know of our breakfast feature we'll be running this week from
Monday
the 12th until Friday the 16th of January.
If you
come in for breakfast between 8am - 11am and buy one breakfast entree
you'll get the second for 50% off.
Also a reminder
that you can get a cup of our dark roast coffee for just 92 cents.
Our
breakfast has been a big hit and we'd love for you to come in and see
for yourself what the fuss is all about.
Please
print this email and present it to your server in order to be eligible
for the special.
Also feel free to forward this
email to a few of your friends.
Hope to see you
there.
Warmest Regards,
Michael
and Kelly Stevens
Looks good! I have two comments - positive
I hope
1. "Please print this email and present it
to your server in order to be
eligible for the special."
This seems like hard work - having to printo off a
sheet of
paper for breakfast.
Suggestion: Why not offer a code? 'Please
tell your server you are a
preferred customer and give them
the code "121609" (12th-16th 09 - or
whate4ver)' I'm sure
you get the idea. It's easier to jot down a code that
print
of a sheet of paper.
2. "Also feel free to forward
this email to a few of your friends."
I think this undermines
the concept of being a 'perferred customer'.
Suggestion: Why
not say, 'Feel free to bring a friend and I'll make sure
they
get this special deal too.'
You may wish to add that the
friend could register their email address and
become a
preferred customer. 'If they enjoy their meal and want to become
a
preferred customer we can register on the spot - no problem.'
Hope
this is helpful.
1. The
simpler the better.
You can give them two options:
Print
out this email and bring it with you or mention "Kelly's special
breakfast deal."
2. You can
forward this special deal on to two of your friends.
Here's an
example how to handle a client that isn't honest with you:
"Dear
Alex,
I hope that we can do busines and in good
faith here is the first of the 8 templates that
my team were
working on.
Please review it and get back to me on
any changes etc.
Now, the content is entirely up to
you.
So, as I had communicated to you today, be
honest and open as I am with you and we can do
some FANTASTIC
business together.
Awaiting payment before
continuance of work.
Yours in Business,
Rob
Perks
Inept
Newbie's Cash Cow Formula:
Just the other week, I
got one of my friends started on this business model, and he has NO
internet marketing experience, and almost no confidence. (poor guy).
However, the "poor guy" is making cash, about 2gs so far.
Here
is what I told him to do, and what you can do too if you are straight
new at this, and still refuse to hit the streets or cold call. This can
supplement your mailings.
1. Go to Google, and
type in local search phrases. We are looking for SHIT webpages. Not so
so, but straight shit.
Example: "Victoria BC,
Realtor" (most realtors have bad sites, and should keep you busy)
2.
hunt down and find all horrible sites, and contact the Realtor via email
This
is the email he is using with success, although I would not personally
word it like that. (but he is still getting clients with it, because
his pre qualification is somewhat foolproof)
"Hello
Iris,
To be honest and to the point, I would like to
perform for you a website makeover and place it in the number 1 spot in
Google, bringing you more visitors & credibility, which means
ultimately more money. I really feel your website does not do your
experience and credibility justice, and why shouldn't you not be number
one on Google, and have all those prospects?
If you
are bored/sick of/ tired of your site, and want a fresh makeover, just
email me back and I can give you some more information. Also remember
that I can only do this for one site, as there can obviously only be
one #1.
Thanks,
Matt Kachowski
P.S
- I charge very fair prices, and if I can not get you to number one in
Google, you can have all your money back and keep
the new site
as a thank you for trusting in me"