BRUCE’s BLOG
Sales Made Easy 3 in a Series
Sales Made Easy #3: Most therapists will tell you that their patient’s first concern is usually the symptom, not the problem. Don’t fix problems you don’t have. It goes double for your customers and clients. Your job is to uncover the real problem and fix that.
Sales Made Easy 2 in a Series
Sales Made Easy 2: If you want to build your business, your number one job is to generate as much interest in you and your activities as possible to build relationships. And while there are no direct metrics to extrapolate how many lunches it takes to generate additional income, a good rule of thumb is this: the more, the merrier.
It all starts when you take them to lunch.
Sales Made Easy 1 in a Series
Decisions are made without all the facts all the time. Once the purchase decision has been made, more facts might reinforce the deal. But they could also kill it. Once you’ve got a “Yes,” why risk snatching defeat from the jaws of victory?
The simple solution in presentations—especially ones that go well—is to be quiet and let the buyer talk. To do that, remember Sales Made Easy 1: “Shut the @#$%!! up.”
Power of Simplicity
Simplicity in design also helps create a sense of calm, aids in comprehension, and provides an attractive focal point for attention.
Simplicity allows viewers to concentrate and appreciate what matters most while helping them disregard what doesn’t.
Simplicity separates the wheat from the chaff, the critical from the superfluous, the important from the less so.
The Power of Simplicity has been an essential subject for designers and communicators to encourage focus, meaning, and action.
An Ironic Sales Technique
As I wrote in my last book, Is That All There Is?, and as our group discusses in my Together with Turkel Strategic Roundtables, sometimes the most successful sales technique is to turn your liability into an asset. Or, as I wrote in the book, “Make Your Scar Your Star.”
The simple humanity of accepting and presenting our fallibility – whether planned or not – works in sales, branding, and life.
Increased Business Opportunity for Solopreneurs
If we find this example of a business opportunity staring us in the face on something we see all the time, imagine how many more opportunities are out there just waiting to be pounced on.
Ideas swirl all around us all the time. All you have to do is pay attention, separate the need from the noise, and start creating the solution.
And then, once you figure out what that solution could be, you have to strike while the iron’s hot. Because as my dad used to say, “When a business opportunity knocks, you can’t say, ‘Come back later.’”
Bad Publicity
Bad publicity can be dramatic and compelling. And it can help establish awareness and even keep other, less troubling news off the front pages. And yes, some consumers are both intrigued and attracted by negative news.
But that doesn’t mean it’s good.
Misleading and bad publicity is exactly what it sounds like. Let the listener beware.
Super Bowl Halftime Show
Sometimes loving a song because it makes you dance doesn’t excuse what it says. This year’s Super Bowl halftime show proved that.
Super Bowl Commercials
The quality of the 57 Super Bowl commercials can all be judged by how much liquid you produced when you watched them.
A commercial was delectable if it made your mouth water.
A commercial was touching if it made you tear up a little.
And a commercial was funny if it caused you to pass your drink through your nose.
But if all the commercial did was give you a good excuse to get up and go to the bathroom, then that’s about all it was worth.
Motivation
If you want to start a business, if you want to get in shape, if you want to go on a big trip, if you want to write a book, if you want to run a marathon, if you want to accomplish your goals, you need to be motivated.
And I believe if you want to get something done, if you want motivation, you need to have three things…
DSR – The Digital Sales Revolution
Allego’s DSR tool allows me to easily create custom Internet splash pages to respond to all my sales inquiries, giving my prospects exactly what they need to choose me. And Allego’s DSR system gives me all the metrics I need for effective follow-up.
This new DSR technology is a game-changer. And I’d love to share my discovery with you…
What’s Your Story?
Take a moment to revisit a time when you made a decision, along with a list of the pros and cons involved. Looking back, you’ll realize how little you comprehended the consequences of your choices. For example, you might have taken a job because you believed it would propel you in a specific direction, only to glance at the desk next to you and fall head over heels in love with the person sitting there. You end up marrying that person and completely altering your life. Looking at it this way, you realize that you didn’t fully grasp what you were doing—you were making the best choice you could at the time.
That brings us back to Hopkins’ question: What’s your story?
Sadness or Euphoria?
Think about the news these days. Regardless of which end of the seesaw you’re sitting on, there’s a good chance you believe you are rational and the people who disagree with you are insane.
Yes or no? Good or bad? Black or white? Up or down? Right or wrong? Democrat or Republican? Bi-polar disease or today’s global reality?
Billy Joel summed it up almost 50 years ago, “Though we choose between reality and madness, it’s either sadness or euphoria.”
Overcoming Uncertainty
Let’s face it: we’re all in a state of uncertainty. We don’t know what will happen with the economy, climate change, world politics, or the upcoming election. The only thing we’re sure about is that there will be lots more turmoil and confusion, and there’s a good chance that things could get worse before they get better.
The actions we will have to take – and the pivots we will have to make – for overcoming uncertainty will require know-how, vision, and courage. And one more thing. Because while we don’t know what’s waiting for us right around the corner, we do know that we have to keep moving forward to try and find our way. And one more thing…
Treating Customers With Respect.
Few consumers like to be told they’re stupid, over the hill, overweight, clueless, unwelcome, cheap, or uninformed, even if they are. Instead, they want to be treated with respect, compassion, interest, concern, politeness, and graciousness.
All About Them is not just my book title but a mantra for treating customers with respect.
Scratches, scrapes, scars, and scuffs.
Scratches, scrapes, scars, and scuffs are what make your message so much more valuable and meaningful to your listeners. As you build your brand and your business, remember, “People don’t choose what you do; they choose who you are.” Your scratches, scrapes, scars, and scuffs included.
Prepare Your Business for the New Year
As we approach the end of this year, it’s a good time to take a moment and step back to evaluate your progress and prepare your business for the new year. Here’s a guide to starting 2024 with a fresh perspective and renewed energy…
Do what I say!
“Do what I say not what I do” is not a good strategy for children, employees, voters, customers, clients, or anyone you’re trying to influence. As Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote: “What you do speaks so loudly that I cannot hear what you say.”