I am walking through the store the other day with my wife and notice a little blast from the past, specifically from my childhood. It was a handheld electronic football game. They had one on display to test out, so me being the curious consumer that I am, I want to make sure the game was ok, before I decided to buy it.
So I turned it on, and the game started beeping and playing a tune in that old eighties style of electronic sound my generation got used to. Just like the game I remember, there wasn't much to it, when you compare it games of today. It has basic functionality with limited playing ability, but boy was it fun.
Kids today wouldn't even look at that game, but for a whole generation of people that at one time were kids, namely my generation, it is an electronic gadget that I immediately gravitated towards.
Maybe you have an idea for a hot new electronic gadget, or to reinvent one from yester year. Whatever the goal may be there are a variety of ways you can sell them. You should however write down specific steps on what exactly you are trying to accomplish.
Write down your specific target market that your game appeals to. In my experience above, that game appealed to young boys from ages 10 to about 13.
Find out where your target market frequents. This is where you want to concentrate your advertising and marketing efforts. You do not want to waste your time putting your electronic gadget up for sale in a store where very few of your target market members visit, or post online in a category that is not relevant to what the gadget is.
Define what attracts your target market to the product you're selling. For me it was the fact that the electronic gadget was a way to relive the past. That is exactly how they presented it. It was a game to relive days gone by, and conjure up some good old memories.
Create your promotion, advertising, marketing campaign, and sales pitch around what you have already written above. Whether you are posting an online advertisement, or trying to pitch your idea to a store, you need a clear, professional presentation of what you are selling, and what you are trying accomplish.
Post your online advertisements, set up your displays in the stores and sit back and start taking orders. Well you really won't sit back, you will be a bit more outgoing and aggressive to get the product out there, but the point is you can now concentrate on selling your product to your target market that you already defined.
There are thousands of electronic gadgets and gizmos on the market today. Some are very helpful and some are fairly worthless. If you have a good product, that is useful for the purpose it was intended, you should have no problems, making lots of sales.
Monday, January 28, 2008
Is the Not In Your Thinking Your Obstacle to Sales Success?
To increase sales begins with about your thoughts and your overall thinking process about selling to yourself. In The Strangest Secret: How To Live the Life Your Desire, Earl Nightingale quoted Dr. Albert Schweitzer who answered the question: "What is wrong with men today?" with this simple response "Men simply don't think"
Thinking for many in sales has become an obstacle for success. Napoleon Hill saw that in his book Think and Grow Rich. Society has become even a greater abyss of non-thinkers, conformists, who take the thoughts of others for truth. For example, if you hear that the economy is bad, will you go with the flow or believe something else?
There is a video traveling cyberspace about the forthcoming union of Mexico, U.S. and Canada to form North American Union complete with supporting facts (?). And people actually believe this to be true. What is difference between this video and the current belief about the economy?
Speaking about the economy, drive by any mall and see of the cars not in the lots. Travel through the many subdivisions and see only one car in the driveway. Of course, you are going to see malls full of cars, usually 2 cars in the driveways and people still going to work.
What we think we can achieve or cannot achieve in sales is where sales success begins. For example, if you are realtor, real estate agent or mortgage broker by all accounts you should have had a terrible year. I just read that 2007 was the worst year for the housing and real estate industry since the depression.
Yet, one of my clients who is a mortgage broker increased business 33% in 2007 over 2006 in spite of all the doom and gloom in the housing industry. We achieved the sales goal for 2007, but fell a little short of the BHAG (big, hairy audacious goal). And through all this, she delivered her third child in early September and has been working from home since that time.
Plans have been established for 2008 goals where we are using 33% as the increase. And here is where it gets interesting. When we started working together she told me that "I do not think I can achieve this sales goal." She was very nervous. And goal setting does make a lot of people uncomfortable because it makes you think. Now with that goal achieved, she once again said "I do not think I can achieve this goal." Her not thinking is her obstacle to selling more not It is the economy stupid.
By not thinking, we become what we think about, nothing, a shadow of someone else, a non-entity, a whisp in the wind. No wonder many people in sales never realize the success that they are seeking not to mention people in general who want business or personal success.
Not thinking has been a continual challenge for man. The Roman Emperor, Marcus Aurelius, saw that when he said: "A man's life is what his thoughts make of it." Fifteen hundred years later, Ralph Waldo Emerson echoed Aurelius when he said: "A man is what he thinks about all day long."
Thinking for many in sales has become an obstacle for success. Napoleon Hill saw that in his book Think and Grow Rich. Society has become even a greater abyss of non-thinkers, conformists, who take the thoughts of others for truth. For example, if you hear that the economy is bad, will you go with the flow or believe something else?
There is a video traveling cyberspace about the forthcoming union of Mexico, U.S. and Canada to form North American Union complete with supporting facts (?). And people actually believe this to be true. What is difference between this video and the current belief about the economy?
Speaking about the economy, drive by any mall and see of the cars not in the lots. Travel through the many subdivisions and see only one car in the driveway. Of course, you are going to see malls full of cars, usually 2 cars in the driveways and people still going to work.
What we think we can achieve or cannot achieve in sales is where sales success begins. For example, if you are realtor, real estate agent or mortgage broker by all accounts you should have had a terrible year. I just read that 2007 was the worst year for the housing and real estate industry since the depression.
Yet, one of my clients who is a mortgage broker increased business 33% in 2007 over 2006 in spite of all the doom and gloom in the housing industry. We achieved the sales goal for 2007, but fell a little short of the BHAG (big, hairy audacious goal). And through all this, she delivered her third child in early September and has been working from home since that time.
Plans have been established for 2008 goals where we are using 33% as the increase. And here is where it gets interesting. When we started working together she told me that "I do not think I can achieve this sales goal." She was very nervous. And goal setting does make a lot of people uncomfortable because it makes you think. Now with that goal achieved, she once again said "I do not think I can achieve this goal." Her not thinking is her obstacle to selling more not It is the economy stupid.
By not thinking, we become what we think about, nothing, a shadow of someone else, a non-entity, a whisp in the wind. No wonder many people in sales never realize the success that they are seeking not to mention people in general who want business or personal success.
Not thinking has been a continual challenge for man. The Roman Emperor, Marcus Aurelius, saw that when he said: "A man's life is what his thoughts make of it." Fifteen hundred years later, Ralph Waldo Emerson echoed Aurelius when he said: "A man is what he thinks about all day long."
The Relativity of Luxury
I'm not sure luxury is really the saddest thing I can imagine. I understand the intent behind the thought but ultimately, there are many things sadder. I am a huge fan of luxury and yet as a pragmatist and a realist, I can see the pitfalls inherent when an average person believes they have to have a luxurious, rich life thereby racking up plenty of debt.
In a article on MSN, "Uncommon Sense: Luxuries you can live without -- and should", author MP Dunleavey points out the new frames that certain items which were once considered ordinary and mundane purchases, things that we need for daily life but which shouldn't set us back too far, have now become commodities.
Pots, now called "cookware", sheets now called "linens", tennis shoes now called "athletic footwear" and watches now called "time pieces"-all have been reframed to adjust our perspective of their value.
She argues that while the original products may be necessary, the "new, improved and reframed" need not suck us in. (Which is, unfortunately, what it is doing to "average Americans" who can no more afford a $5,000 plasma screen TV than they can a trip to the moon.)
While in this Wall Street Journal article by Christina Binkley, "The Psychology of the $14,000 Handbag: How Luxury Brands Alter Shoppers' Price Perceptions; Buying a Key Chain Instead." , she shows the strategy behind pushing the limits of reason with prices to get the consumers to take a step down to another product, still probably out of the reasonable price range for what the product is, but more within their ability to stretch to buy it. (Ex. Buying a keychain from Tiffany's instead of an actual piece of jewelry because that's the only thing they can afford.)
She explains that, "when shoppers are confronted with prices they can't afford, a smart retailer will 'move you right along to where you can salvage your pride,' says Dan Hill, president of Sensory Logic, a Minneapolis consulting company that helps companies explore their sensory and emotional connections with customers."
Fortunately for us, in working with an affluent clientèle, we don't have to "put the screws" to prospects that shouldn't be attempting to purchase our services or products. Yet, the psychology behind altering price perceptions remains the same.
By framing ourselves as 'absolutely not the cheapest alternative, but definitely worth the price you pay' and really putting out there exactly what we require we are most definitely altering perceptions. Along those lines, one of the saddest things I can think of is getting used to accepting less than what we're really worth.
In a article on MSN, "Uncommon Sense: Luxuries you can live without -- and should", author MP Dunleavey points out the new frames that certain items which were once considered ordinary and mundane purchases, things that we need for daily life but which shouldn't set us back too far, have now become commodities.
Pots, now called "cookware", sheets now called "linens", tennis shoes now called "athletic footwear" and watches now called "time pieces"-all have been reframed to adjust our perspective of their value.
She argues that while the original products may be necessary, the "new, improved and reframed" need not suck us in. (Which is, unfortunately, what it is doing to "average Americans" who can no more afford a $5,000 plasma screen TV than they can a trip to the moon.)
While in this Wall Street Journal article by Christina Binkley, "The Psychology of the $14,000 Handbag: How Luxury Brands Alter Shoppers' Price Perceptions; Buying a Key Chain Instead." , she shows the strategy behind pushing the limits of reason with prices to get the consumers to take a step down to another product, still probably out of the reasonable price range for what the product is, but more within their ability to stretch to buy it. (Ex. Buying a keychain from Tiffany's instead of an actual piece of jewelry because that's the only thing they can afford.)
She explains that, "when shoppers are confronted with prices they can't afford, a smart retailer will 'move you right along to where you can salvage your pride,' says Dan Hill, president of Sensory Logic, a Minneapolis consulting company that helps companies explore their sensory and emotional connections with customers."
Fortunately for us, in working with an affluent clientèle, we don't have to "put the screws" to prospects that shouldn't be attempting to purchase our services or products. Yet, the psychology behind altering price perceptions remains the same.
By framing ourselves as 'absolutely not the cheapest alternative, but definitely worth the price you pay' and really putting out there exactly what we require we are most definitely altering perceptions. Along those lines, one of the saddest things I can think of is getting used to accepting less than what we're really worth.
Friday, January 25, 2008
Top Producers Never Say, "I Already Know That"
"I already know that" is a success killing phrase. When you tell yourself or think to yourself that you already know whatever your hearing or learning, you better think again. In my experience those words are the precursor to a humbling experience.
As a professional sales coach, some people will actually unsubscribe from my free email course. Shock of all shocks, right. It doesn't happen often, and when it does I'll sometimes get a comment about how they already know this stuff or they've heard this stuff before.
I immediately know a lot about the other person. I know that the person who just made that comment is an average or below average sales person and that they'll never be a top producer. You see top producers in sales or anything take a different approach.
Do you think Tiger Woods was born with or has developed a body so physically superior to all other humans that it makes him the best golfer in the world? I highly doubt it. What I do believe is that there are subtle differences about Tiger that make him superior: his attitude, his application of techniques, and his commitment to continuous improvement.
Sales is as old as man himself and there aren't really any new ideas. Professional sales coaching helps you to make those subtle differences in your attitude, in your application of proven techniques, and in your commitment to continuous improvement so you can get where you want to be. Coaching can help everyone, but not everyone is coachable.
Instead of telling yourself you already know something ask, "what can I learn from this that I may have overlooked in the past that will help me to get where I want to be"? As you read that if you didn't immediately experience a big difference in how you think about things read it again and again until you get it. Top producers know how to sell, but they work on the fine and subtle details that make all the difference in their results.
As a professional sales coach, some people will actually unsubscribe from my free email course. Shock of all shocks, right. It doesn't happen often, and when it does I'll sometimes get a comment about how they already know this stuff or they've heard this stuff before.
I immediately know a lot about the other person. I know that the person who just made that comment is an average or below average sales person and that they'll never be a top producer. You see top producers in sales or anything take a different approach.
Do you think Tiger Woods was born with or has developed a body so physically superior to all other humans that it makes him the best golfer in the world? I highly doubt it. What I do believe is that there are subtle differences about Tiger that make him superior: his attitude, his application of techniques, and his commitment to continuous improvement.
Sales is as old as man himself and there aren't really any new ideas. Professional sales coaching helps you to make those subtle differences in your attitude, in your application of proven techniques, and in your commitment to continuous improvement so you can get where you want to be. Coaching can help everyone, but not everyone is coachable.
Instead of telling yourself you already know something ask, "what can I learn from this that I may have overlooked in the past that will help me to get where I want to be"? As you read that if you didn't immediately experience a big difference in how you think about things read it again and again until you get it. Top producers know how to sell, but they work on the fine and subtle details that make all the difference in their results.
Overcoming the Customer's Indifference
Obstacles to sales success are everywhere and like every other business owner you have to find a way to overcome them.
Have you looked at the obstacles that are holding your business back? Frequently we find the biggest obstacles are not the obvious ones like competition from other companies in your niche but the biggest obstacle to business is actually your customer himself or at least the customers indifference.
In order to overcome customer inaction and make that sale you need to get the prospects attention and interest, you need to prompt their desire for your product, you need to get them to trust you and finally you need to get them to take action. In short you need to give your prospects the information and motivation they need to get them more likely to take action and buy the product or service.
Grab their attention and interest by talking about the problem or task they face in their own terms and language. Let them see you have been there yourself and you absolutely understand how it is to be in that position. Then tell them just how it is you can help, the options you have available and how you are ready to assist, how good your product or service is and what great results it has produced for others in the same position.
By demonstrating what their results are going to be and how much better their situation is after purchasing your product or service you stimulate desire for the product. Remember, your prospect needs to be reminded of how good things will be after they have purchased your product in order to make the decision an emotional one. Depending on your particular product or service it might be appropriate to think about giving free samples, free trials or teasers of some description you can stoke their desire to try your product even more.
If you can instill trust you will be much more likely to make the sale. Use testimonials from previous happy clients in your marketing efforts whether on your website or other advertising materials. Seeing other customers speak well of your product or service helps to instill a measure of trust and therefore overcome the natural reluctance barrier.
When it comes to a potential purchase most of us tend to procrastinate until later. By giving your prospect a compelling reason to act immediately, you can close the sale and move on to the next. There are some techniques you can try to prompt action such as a time limited offer or a bonus or discount for acting immediately which can be very effective.
So overcome the obstacle of customer indifference by remembering those key points you have to address in order to maximise your business. Grab their attention and interest, stoke their desire, gain their trust and prompt them to action.
Have you looked at the obstacles that are holding your business back? Frequently we find the biggest obstacles are not the obvious ones like competition from other companies in your niche but the biggest obstacle to business is actually your customer himself or at least the customers indifference.
In order to overcome customer inaction and make that sale you need to get the prospects attention and interest, you need to prompt their desire for your product, you need to get them to trust you and finally you need to get them to take action. In short you need to give your prospects the information and motivation they need to get them more likely to take action and buy the product or service.
Grab their attention and interest by talking about the problem or task they face in their own terms and language. Let them see you have been there yourself and you absolutely understand how it is to be in that position. Then tell them just how it is you can help, the options you have available and how you are ready to assist, how good your product or service is and what great results it has produced for others in the same position.
By demonstrating what their results are going to be and how much better their situation is after purchasing your product or service you stimulate desire for the product. Remember, your prospect needs to be reminded of how good things will be after they have purchased your product in order to make the decision an emotional one. Depending on your particular product or service it might be appropriate to think about giving free samples, free trials or teasers of some description you can stoke their desire to try your product even more.
If you can instill trust you will be much more likely to make the sale. Use testimonials from previous happy clients in your marketing efforts whether on your website or other advertising materials. Seeing other customers speak well of your product or service helps to instill a measure of trust and therefore overcome the natural reluctance barrier.
When it comes to a potential purchase most of us tend to procrastinate until later. By giving your prospect a compelling reason to act immediately, you can close the sale and move on to the next. There are some techniques you can try to prompt action such as a time limited offer or a bonus or discount for acting immediately which can be very effective.
So overcome the obstacle of customer indifference by remembering those key points you have to address in order to maximise your business. Grab their attention and interest, stoke their desire, gain their trust and prompt them to action.
Friday, January 18, 2008
Accept Credit Card Payments Online
Having your own online business saves a lot on your start up and operational costs as compared to business with a physical location. Most businesses these days accept credit cards online to expand customer base and increase sales volume. Businesses that accept credit card payments online have sales that are 50-400% more than businesses that do not accept credit card payments.
In case you decide to accept credit card payments online, you'll have a choice to apply for a traditional merchant account at any of the local bank and get accepted or you can use one of the numerous credit card processing companies that operate online and are looking for online businesses. Many of the card processing providers you can use online allow you to set up your website for accepting credit cards with no set up fees.
When you just start an online business, you are probably not ready to get any credit card processing provider that requires you process a minimum number of transactions each month. It is better to pay a slightly higher per-transaction fee than to pay a higher monthly fee in exchange for a lower per-transaction fee based on a minimum number of cards processed each month.
Benefits that you will get when you accept credit card payments online:
* Sales will increase: Credit card customers buy 2.5 times more merchandise than customers who pay cash.
*
* To attract the impulse buyer: Credit cards give the customers freedom to spend for previously unplanned merchandise.
* To move expensive merchandise: Credit card customers are often less conscious of slight price differences, and will seek out the businesses that offer credit rather than the discounter or wholesaler who does not offer credit purchases.
* Larger volume: Offering Credit Cards helps you achieve higher unit sales and extra orders.
* Steadier sales: Offering Credit cards can help smooth out the business 'ups and downs', cash shoppers tend to buy heavier only on paydays and just before holidays; credit customers buy whenever the need arises.
* Credit card issues: Of around 280 million North Americans, 150 million have Visa, 95 million have MasterCard, 40 million have Discover and 25 million have American Express. 80% of all Credit Cards are Visa and MasterCard.
Zed Miller, an expert business writer, regularly contributes his articles to various websites just to help merchants, small businesses and retail houses to expand their market base by accepting the prevailing mode of payments.
In case you decide to accept credit card payments online, you'll have a choice to apply for a traditional merchant account at any of the local bank and get accepted or you can use one of the numerous credit card processing companies that operate online and are looking for online businesses. Many of the card processing providers you can use online allow you to set up your website for accepting credit cards with no set up fees.
When you just start an online business, you are probably not ready to get any credit card processing provider that requires you process a minimum number of transactions each month. It is better to pay a slightly higher per-transaction fee than to pay a higher monthly fee in exchange for a lower per-transaction fee based on a minimum number of cards processed each month.
Benefits that you will get when you accept credit card payments online:
* Sales will increase: Credit card customers buy 2.5 times more merchandise than customers who pay cash.
*
* To attract the impulse buyer: Credit cards give the customers freedom to spend for previously unplanned merchandise.
* To move expensive merchandise: Credit card customers are often less conscious of slight price differences, and will seek out the businesses that offer credit rather than the discounter or wholesaler who does not offer credit purchases.
* Larger volume: Offering Credit Cards helps you achieve higher unit sales and extra orders.
* Steadier sales: Offering Credit cards can help smooth out the business 'ups and downs', cash shoppers tend to buy heavier only on paydays and just before holidays; credit customers buy whenever the need arises.
* Credit card issues: Of around 280 million North Americans, 150 million have Visa, 95 million have MasterCard, 40 million have Discover and 25 million have American Express. 80% of all Credit Cards are Visa and MasterCard.
Zed Miller, an expert business writer, regularly contributes his articles to various websites just to help merchants, small businesses and retail houses to expand their market base by accepting the prevailing mode of payments.
Existing Home Sales Drop
he sales of existing homes decreased in May with the median price of homes leveling out to a relatively normal rate.
Total existing home sales were down slightly by 1.2% to a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 6.67 million units in May, according to the National Association of Realtors.
The sales were 6.6% lower than May of 2005, when sales were at the 7.14 million-unit level.
The national median price of an existing home was up by 6.0% to $230,000. Last May, the median was at $127,000.
The surplus levels of existing homes on the market increased by 5.5% to 3.60 million homes for sale. The number represents a 6.5 month supply at the current sales rate.
Existing condominium and cooperative housing sales grew 1.9% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 852,000 units in May. Condo and coop sales remain 6.6% under the unit pace of May 2005, when sales hit 912,000.
The median price of an existing condominium was up 1.9% at $229,300 in May, when compared to one year ago.
Single-family home sales were down 1.5% when compared to April sales, and 6.6% lower than May of 2005.
The price of the median existing single-family home was up 6.4% to $229,700 when compared to May of 2005.
Sales declined in both the Northeast and Midwest, but increased slightly in the South and West regions of the nation.
Total existing home sales were down slightly by 1.2% to a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 6.67 million units in May, according to the National Association of Realtors.
The sales were 6.6% lower than May of 2005, when sales were at the 7.14 million-unit level.
The national median price of an existing home was up by 6.0% to $230,000. Last May, the median was at $127,000.
The surplus levels of existing homes on the market increased by 5.5% to 3.60 million homes for sale. The number represents a 6.5 month supply at the current sales rate.
Existing condominium and cooperative housing sales grew 1.9% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 852,000 units in May. Condo and coop sales remain 6.6% under the unit pace of May 2005, when sales hit 912,000.
The median price of an existing condominium was up 1.9% at $229,300 in May, when compared to one year ago.
Single-family home sales were down 1.5% when compared to April sales, and 6.6% lower than May of 2005.
The price of the median existing single-family home was up 6.4% to $229,700 when compared to May of 2005.
Sales declined in both the Northeast and Midwest, but increased slightly in the South and West regions of the nation.
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