No Apologies, Please

In order to be successful in business, you must portray confidence. If you aren't confident in your abilities or the quality of your products and services, why should a prospect or customer have confidence in you?

The words you choose in sales and marketing are very important and should portray a positive, confident image of your business. That's why you should never start a marketing or sales pitch with an apology. If what you have to say is important, you should always say it confidently, with no apologies. Starting a conversation with an apology ("I'm sorry to both you...") suggests that what you have to say isn't really important and may influence prospects or customers to think the same. Rather than apologizing or downgrading your approach, try showing confidence by saying, "I have an exciting new product I'd like to share with you, and I need a few minutes of your time. Do you have a moment to discuss this now, or can I make an appointment with you at a later date?" If you're promoting a product or service of value, you should never apologize for getting in contact with prospects or customers to promote it. So, if your sales pitch isn't important, don't use it. If it is important, don't apologize for using it.

Why You Need to Use Pattern Interrupt in Your Marketing

From the time you wake up until the moment you close your eyes, you're bombarded with marketing messages. You may even have dreams of the ads running in your sleep! Most of the messages you see during the day just blend together without much notice. Many are of the "me too" variety. Either the owner or the advertiser is practicing the lazy marketing technique of simply copying a competitor's ad with very little real change. Maybe the original ad had some creativity to it, but now it's lost in a sea of similarity. For your ad to have any chance of succeeding, you must use "pattern interrupt marketing" as one component of your message. What's pattern interrupt marketing? As the name implies, it's marketing that stops a prospect in their tracks and engages them. Your message must be able to capture a prospect's attention if it's to have any chance of being noticed. Imagine you're driving down a street looking for a place to eat lunch. The street is packed with similar looking eateries on both your left and right. The buildings all look the same and have signs with business names on them. The business owners have all copied each other in building design, colors, and layout so much that it's very difficult to tell them apart. But one smart business owner has hired someone with a colorful costume and given them a professional-looking sign with delicious-looking food photos and a message that clearly states all the benefits of their restaurant; in addition, if you come in today, you'll receive a great discount. The guy holding the sign interrupts your attention, and the offer lures you in to try the food. That's what pattern interrupt marketing is all about. Now, you could try any number of gimmicks to grab a prospect's attention, but there are only a few things that will truly capture their interest and hold it long enough for you to make an impression. Here are three steps to get you started: Make a list of problems your product or service can solve. Pick just one as the focal point for your marketing message. Think about the types of language and visual cues your customers would use to best understand this message. With those elements in place, you can better plan your marketing. Pattern interrupt marketing can be used in every type of business and in every type of marketing communication. Whether on a billboard, through direct mail, via email marketing, or even at a trade show, pattern interrupt marketing can be very effective. The goal is not only to capture the prospect's attention by doing something different or unexpected but also to encourage them to take further steps with you once they're engaged. Pattern interrupt marketing is only the first step in a process, but in some ways, it's the most important step. After all, if you can't capture their attention, the rest won't matter.

Know When to Hold 'Em... and When to Fold 'Em

While business generally isn't the place for gambling, you could benefit from some of the tools and lessons learned playing cards (or other games). Here are a few strategies that can help your business grow:

Create allies. Every business leader needs a strong business associate or partner they can talk to, bounce ideas off of, and count on to keep them focused on the task at hand. Think strategically, and keep an eye out for game-changing possibilities that may await you. Hone your interpersonal skills, which you'll need for negotiations, business meetings, and day-to-day communications. Control your emotions. The cards we are dealt aren't always fair, but you need self control to deal with unfair or frustrating situations. Rank your status in comparison to your competition. If your competitor is sweeping the game and overflowing in confidence, you may start to doubt your own abilities, as will others. Learn how to take risks. Just as one decision could ultimately make or break the game, decisions you make could affect the fate of your business or the rest of your life. Face the odds. Sometimes the cards are stacked against you, and the chances of coming out ahead are slim. If you're up against a challenging hand, either put forth a good fight until the end or learn to walk away. Experience is still the best teacher. While books, DVDs, and classes can help you learn faster, the experience of making good and bad decisions can't be found in a book or movie. Double down on what works. If you've found a business or marketing strategy that works, keep using it strategically to reap even greater rewards. Start over. Whether you win or lose, no game lasts forever. Don't be afraid to start fresh and put your lessons to good use on the next game.

Be a Drama Queen!

Yes, being a drama queen is typically a negative. But there is one instance where it is actually a big positive.

Imagine you are in a stadium filled with your most ideal prospects. You have one chance to present and pitch your product or service. Say the right thing, and every one of them will become a client. Say the wrong thing, and you'll lose them all. That's the potential power of communication. There are many ways to get your message across. You can bore them to death, or you can entertain them. The chances that a prospect will stick around and listen are much better if you do the latter. People are drawn to those who can share, teach, and even sell something useful. They are most attracted to the ones who can entertain them while presenting. Like it or not, we live in a society that needs and wants to be entertained. If you want to stand out and succeed, you have to be able to give them what they want. This is where injecting drama into your sales copy, blogs, direct mail, social media presence, and sales presentations has a powerful and magnetic effect. The best drama has some action and intrigue to draw the audience in. The same is true in business communication. If you take the time to package your thoughts and ideas in an entertaining way, you will be better received. Your audience will want more. The cycle of attraction, conversion, and consumption will begin. And it will continue as long as you are able to inject enthusiasm and some drama into your messages.

What Declining Sales Really Mean

Many businesses are currently experiencing a decline in sales. Some owners and executives believe this is due to outside economic conditions. Although the economy may have some bearing, perhaps the real reasons for the decline are more fundamental issues that no one in the company wants to face. The economy has only masked the issues and helped sweep them under the rug. Many in this predicament think, "If only we could increase sales, everything else would take care of itself." Oftentimes, the declining sales pattern is not the real problem; it's just a symptom of other underlying issues. Perhaps the issues are in management, staffing, or a lack of effective marketing and sales. If your company is experiencing a sales slump, it may be time to do a little soul searching to find the real issues. If you decide to take this head on, here's a four-step plan to help you lick the problems. Step 1 -- Assess your current situation. What strengths do you see? What weaknesses? Are there opportunities you might be missing? And what are your threats? The more honest you can be at this step, the better the foundation for the rest of the process. Step 2 -- Now that you have an outline of the problems, it's time to make a diagnosis. What are the causes behind the problems and issues you're facing? Look beyond the surface issues, and try to get to the root causes. Step 3 -- Now that you have the assessment and a diagnosis of the situation, it's time to make a plan that addresses your diagnosis by taking advantage of the strengths you identified and establishing ways to correct the weaknesses. Step 4 -- This is where the rubber meets the road. All that analysis will lead to no good unless you follow up with action. It's time to follow through and act on the plan by implementing the changes outlined in the previous step. By following through on these four simple but powerful steps, you can not only turn around sagging sales but also position your company for long-term growth.

Effective Lead Generation From Your Local Business Chamber

Your local business leads group and Chamber of Commercecan be great sources of leads for you and your company. Whycan and not are? Because many business owners join and expect the leads to just fall in their laps without much effort on their part. Then they quit and decide that this type of lead generation simply doesn't work for them. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Paying the monetary dues is only the first step in joining a chamber or business group. Showing up to the events regularly and showing your face is the next basic step. Being friendly and helpful is another basic prerequisite for success. But none of these are guarantees for bringing you prospects and customers. They are the entry ticket. Sadly, many stop with these steps and drop out before giving it a real chance. What does work? Consistency -- The long-time members and those you would love to have as clients will quietly decide for themselves through your actions whether you're someone they can trust. Caring enough to show up and be active will go a long way in building that trust. If you can't commit to doing these basic steps, save your money and don't join. If your sole purpose for joining is to find leads and someone to sell to, you've missed the main point of joining this type of organization. Sure, those are important reasons and by-products of joining, but they cannot be the sole or even the primary reasons. Attitude -- Go in with a truly helpful and positive attitude if you want to succeed. Proactively seek out opportunities to help other members in every way you can, through referring and introducing them to other members, even if those actions don't directly benefit you. Do this, and you'll be on the right track. Active participation -- One of the secrets to being successful with your membership is to join committees. Every group will have sub-committees for various needs and functions of the chamber. These may include groups like education committees or new member committees. Not only will you get to interact with other dedicated members in a smaller setting when you join these committees, but you'll also get recognition and notoriety for your efforts, which will lead to more chances to get to know other members better. This takes time and is a sacrifice, but it's extremely important to do. To have real success from your membership, remember that you must give before you get. The more effort you can put in, the more success you can expect. It's a long-term strategy that has a proven track record for those who can practice one of life's golden rules.

What is Your Customer Hiding From You?

In order to sell any kind of product or service, you first need to know the challenges your prospects face, so you can offer the best solution. On the surface, this seems like an easy problem to resolve. You send out a few surveys and questionnaires. You dig and do your research. You think you've found the answers. Yet when you build your pitch or presentation around what you think your prospect wants and needs, it falls flat. Why? Because the prospect is hiding the truth from you. It's not done with malicious intent. They're not even necessarily lying. They simply want to be liked and don't want to hurt your feelings by telling you things they think you wouldn't like to hear. Also some prospects don't really know what they want. Emailed and online surveys aren't the best at this type of information gathering. That's the reason most surveys don't reveal many helpful answers. The problem isn't with the surveys themselves, but with the questions and how they're presented. Most survey questions don't get to the heart of the matter in order to pull out the answers you're looking for. What can you do about this? Pick up the phone! The best way to get the answers you're looking for is to call your prospects and engage them in a conversation. But before you do that (and if you don't want the phone slammed in your ear), do your homework first. The responses will only be as good as your questions. Your questions need to be open-ended. You must be able to tap into the emotional and/or logical reasons why a prospect would (or wouldn't) buy your product or service. The more you're able to get them to open up and give you honest answers, the closer you'll get to the heart of what you're looking for. Keep good notes on the data you gather, and review it so you can make the next call even better at intelligence gathering. Start your call with a very brief description of why you're calling, then quickly turn your attention to the prospect. Let them know you're not trying to sell them anything (so it brings down the wall and barriers they automatically put up). State that you respect and value their opinion, which is why you chose them to call. Make them feel respected and special before you dive into your questions. Once you have your answers, take the time to carefully review all the information. Look for common themes or threads in the answers. If you don't find any, go back to your questions and reword them to get better answers. Yes, this takes real work. But the end result will be well worth your time. After you analyze the information, it will make your job of creating an irresistible offer that your prospects can't refuse much easier.