31
January
2009
How to sell Bob, Chris, Taylor and Apple in the Future
Selling to a diverse group of people isn’t easy. This is particularly true when the groups are separated by generational differences and perspectives. I have a brother for example that refuses to join Facebook and I guess that I should be happy he has a telephone. My mother won’t join twitter and my grand daughter is too young to have a Facebook account. People prefer to communicate differently and we must adapt to this. It is critical that you understand the dynamics of who you want to sell to and how to sell them with the right marketing strategy and sales tactics. Let us examine a few common differences and think about how we can better reach each person on an individual basis.
Bob – the 70 year retired Plumber
Reading the paper and watching TV is how Bob gets his news. If you want to connect with Bob, you better use the paper and the telephone book or pay for an evening news ad on TV. A good recommendation from a friend is the best source for getting Bob’s business. If you try to send Bob an email, you are wasting your time and an internet connection is going to remain dormant in the house. Bob doesn’t understand where the traditional values went and likes to pay for everything with cash or by check. The best way to reach Bob is with a personal letter or note.
Chris – the 50 year old Fireman
As far as Chris is concerned, the Internet is a confusing contraption that crept into his world to show him just how old he is. The computer revolution began just as Chris was entering the workforce so he had to adapt, just not willingly. Chris uses the computer as a requirement and prefers the older methods of communication. Chris has watched his children adapt and grow with computers but would rather watch TV and read the newspaper. He tolerates the computer to connect with some of his friends and has slowly migrated to using Facebook so he knows what his family is doing. However, Bob will use the computer to research and find information and thinks of it as a tool to gather information.
Taylor – the 30 year old career woman
The world according to Taylor is connected through the computer and social networks. To some degree, if something isn’t connected to the internet, it is outdated. Taylor grew up with the cell phone and instant messaging. Taylor believes the best way to stay connected with friends is through Facebook YouTube and LinkedIn. When Taylor wants to purchase something, her network of friends and connections will influence the decision of what to buy. Taylor thinks that subscribing to a newspaper or using the telephone book is what old folks do because everything is on the Internet. Taylor likes to hang out with her friends socially at places like Starbucks and reads her friends posts and blogs. Taylor likes to experience life with a global perspective. Taylor rarely pays by cash or check and does most everything by credit card and frequently online.
Apple – the 12 year old student
The computer and the internet has always been part of Apple’s life. She doesn’t know anything different. However, the grounding of traditional values is refreshing to Apple and she has grown to appreciate life’s simple moments. Taylor has been taught about and is aware of the predatory nature the Internet can have and is balanced in her use of it as a tool. The multi-media world for Taylor is easy to adapt to and it seems like she was wired for technology with built in filters to make sense of how to use technology and still remain human to others. Apple has a high conscious level and value for nature, energy with the environment. These values are very important to her and impact her purchase decisions even if they are for a 12 year old.
I hope you see how these people are different and how they see the world from different perspectives. Because of this diversity, we can’t afford to approach everyone with the same ideals and marketing methods. It just won’t work and we must adapt to a personalize approach to increase the response we are looking for.
Personalized Marketing is Possible
Fortunately, the marketing and printing world has adapted and there are new ways to personalize everything and anything. The internet can become the best tool to reach certain clients and it can also be the worst way to reach others. We need to learn how to mix and match the right method of communications to reach each of our market segments individually.
Purls or Personal URL’s is one way to reach a mixed market. This involves using personalized postcards and personalized mailers to increase response rates. The concept is simple. People are attracted to and respond to a personal, old fashioned direct mail that directs them to a personal website. When you receive one of these, you are almost drawn like a magnet to the website, because it is personalized and it appeals to everyone, young and old.
The level of sophistication for these personal mailing is endless. For example, you can develop a target specific marketing message for Chris the Fireman if you put a fire truck on the cover of the mailer and use Fire fighting jargon. To reach Bob, a pipe wrench on the cover will appeal to his memory and invite an impactful response.
I hope you see how personalized, targeted mailings are a requirement for reaching a diverse market. When you want to increase the success of your marketing dollars, the best place to start is with a savvy business printer. Look for a company that knows how to leverage data and digital printing to reach your target market audience. The individual cost per piece will be higher. However, the response rates will be so much higher with personalization that you can reduce the number of pieces sent while you create a value proposition that actually makes personalization a value.
Test the Power of Personalization and Multi Media
One of the best ways of working with a business printer is to test market a few campaigns and see what works best. Because you can often measure the response rates by the consumer actions, you will know what works. Your business printer should be able to create different versions of your marketing mailings so you can determine what works best. Testing is important.
If you are trying to reach Taylor the career woman, you should try using appropriate images on the cover to attract her attention. You would do this instead of putting a golf club on the cover for Bob who enjoys playing golf. Changing the images for each target marketing group can have a dramatic impact on your results.
Using multi-media is also a key to success. When you can orchestrate a marketing campaign that has variable images to target each target market and uses different copy for each group and also blends email campaigns, and video with direct mail – you have a wining combination.
We aren’t done yet. Imagine adding the power of social networking to achieve your goal with Blogs, Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, YouTube and LinkedIn so you are reaching all the socially connected individuals. You could drive all your interested traffic with PURLs and your messages to a web page that closes the contacts with unique offers or video offers. Yes, this is how marketing has changed and it isn’t just the future – is how we expect to be reached. This is certainly how the youngest of our group, Apple, expects to be treated in the future.
By Steve Martinez, Your Sales Magician for Business Development.
http://www.sellingmagic.com and http://www.thegameofselling.com
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Sales Development, Business Planning 
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23
January
2009
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Mmmm, there is nothing like a great fish taco on a Sunday afternoon. Particularly, when the taco is a Baja fish taco, made fresh from a great recipe with all the right ingredients. At our house, my wife is often experimenting with Rachel Ray recipes. Rachel Ray has become a favorite of her viewing time on television. The recipe for Rachel’s Baja fish tacos delivered excellent results and I highly recommend you try them on a warm summer afternoon with a cold Mexican beer soon.
I shouldn’t be too surprised that my fair skinned wife, a Tacoma, Washington native of German heritage could fix the best tasting Baja fish taco I’ve ever tasted. It wasn’t the cook, although I will never tell her this, it was the successful recipe she followed. The same is true with selling. It isn’t the salesperson; it is the selling process they follow. This week I was in Las Vegas at the PODi App Forum. I sat in a session on the s3 solution selling program. It was great to hear this printing selling process, because having a selling process saved my sales career.
The Recipe For Sales Success
Years ago, I was interviewing a struggling salesperson who was enjoying sales, but didn’t like the up and down roller coaster sales results. My goal was to uncover the root of the problem. Following my instincts, we began talking about her selling process only to discover that she didn’t have one. We began talking about her successful selling experiences and tracing her steps to the sale. I asked her to carefully retrace each of her sale successes, so I could map them out for her. We did this for several sales to confirm my suspicions. What she didn’t realize is that she was following a consultative, solution selling process each time she was successful. Naturally, she was elated to discover her recipe for selling success. We mapped out her selling process like a road map to success, so she wouldn’t get lost in difficult selling situations.
As a result of her discovery, she began following her sales process for every sale and her roller coaster ride in sales ended. As her confidence grew, she mastered her selling process. Nothing could get her off track from following the six steps to the sale. She also began applying the magical seventh step of getting referrals, which boosted her success off the charts.
Automating the Selling Process Delivers Greater Results
I lost track of my sales student when she took a new job as sales manager for another company. She would enjoy learning how the Selling Magic selling system automates the process she used to correct her ailing sales. She is a perfect student for the system. She learned that following a recipe for success is better than winging it and she would appreciate the advantage of technology to perform her daily tasks.
It is unfortunate that the business owner of the company she worked for won’t return my telephone calls. I want to introduce the Selling Magic selling system to him, so he will never have to worry about a salesperson leaving again. Why, because my automated selling system follows the selling process and is tied to the company not the salesperson. If the salesperson leaves, the system stays and it is the Selling Magic system that follows the selling process. Actually, in many cases a salesperson will find it difficult to leave a selling system that does 80% of the work for them. We invite you to learn more about our selling process and our automated selling system.
Portions of this is a post from an article I submitted to Ezine Articlesa few years ago. I was coming back from Las Vegas and stopped to have a fish taco at Rubio’son my way back. I really liked the analogy of following a good recipe and thought it would be a great blog post for today. The concept of having a selling process is as important today as it was a few years ago - maybe more important.
By: Steve Martinez, your Sales Magician for Business Development http://www.sellingmagic.com
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13
January
2009
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If you like fresh orange juice in the morning, join me on a morning walk. I live in California and hike to an orange grove. I will search for and select the juiciest orange I can find. Savoring the explosion of taste from a fresh, ripe navel orange is almost a religious experience. I’m not breaking any laws because my community allows this. During the harvest season, I enjoy this morning treat for weeks because oranges ripen at different times. If I visit the orange grove every morning, I will savor ripe oranges for months. The grove is large, so I can explore it to find the perfect, juiciest oranges from the best trees.
When you think about it, it is the same as a field of prospects. There are thousands, maybe millions of prospects out there. Somewhere, someone is ripening for your product or service. If you’re there, you can pick it and savor the bounty of a sale.
7 Steps To Prevent Spoiled Sales:
One of the sad parts of my hike is to see spoiled oranges on the ground. It is the same with my sales territory. If I’m not around when a prospect is ripe for my services, the opportunity will spoil. Worse yet, my competition will capture the sale. Here are some tips to prevent this.
• Visit the grove of prospects regularly and contact every tree for ripe opportunities.
• Increase your contact activity so prospects remember who you are and be consistent.
• Use more than one method of contact. Use the telephone, personal visits, letters and emails to capture the attention of prospects. They may contact you when they are ready.
• Learn the traits of a ripe prospect or someone close to being ripe. The best way is through key questions and asking for the order. They won’t buy if you don’t ask.
• Explore the depth of the grove and profile the best prospects to know when the best fruit will ripen. Measure the characteristics, so you can maximize your prospecting time.
• Develop a system that reminds you when to go back to the ripening fruit tree of sales.
• Finally, automate your selling system so it does most of this work for you.
When you follow these 7 tips, you reap the rewards of the tantalizing fruit of your efforts.
By Steve Martinez - the Sales Magician for Business Development
www.sellingmagic.com (951) 277-0080
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12
January
2009
We can learn a lot from professional and college sports. In both cases the objective is to develop a winning team that will achieve the ultimate goal of a national or world championship. When I have a favorite team, it makes the games more fun to watch. I love it when the stronger team loses and the more spirited team takes advantage of opportunities that develop. There could be a bad call, a fumbled opportunity or a lucky break that shifts momentum in the game.
In most cases the development of a championship team takes years and sometimes decades for the team to reach peak performance. In team sports it starts with the recruitment of players who will fill strategic positions. Building a winning team requires years of planning, coaching and time to nurture and develop. The successful teams start with a dream to reach the goal and take the first step.
Where to Start
I want you think about where you are today business. Are you building your future – strategically, dynamically with a long term plan? If you can’t look at a single piece of paper that has your business, sales or marketing plan, it isn’t too late. You can start today. The Chinese have a proverb for this:
“The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago.
The second best time is today.”
The To Do List
The best time to set your daily goals was yesterday. If you don’t have a plan, start a daily to do list of the things you need to accomplish today. Having a daily list of goals is where winners start their day.
The Business Plan
Three months ago was the best time to write your business plan. The second best time is today. If you want to be a winner, you need a business plan with sales and marketing strategies and tactics outlined. Just like in sports, there will be times when you must adjust your game plan, make the adjustments.
Blogging Plan
The best time for starting a blog was in 2005, the second best time is today. Blogging could be the business building tool you need that gives you two way communication with your customers and prospects. Having two way communications with clients is changing the way business is done. What are you waiting for if you don’t engage in social networking?
Sales Pipeline Plan
The best time to start a sales pipeline was last year. The second best time is today. It takes time for prospects to develop and you must plant the seeds and nurture the relationships. When you have a plan of action that performs these activities, you will convert more prospects into clients.
Referral Process Plan
The best time to start a referral process was 3 months ago. The second best time is today. Getting referrals is one of the best ways to retain and maintain clients and develop new ones. It takes more time and expense to create new accounts than if you have a referral process in your business. If you don’t have a plan, what are you waiting for?
If you find yourself at a point where you wish you coulda, shoulda but didn’t. Now is the time to take action. It is the winning teams that take action and the losing teams that wish they coulda, shouda. What do you want to be? Take the first steps to become a winner.
By Steve Martinez, the Sales Magician for Business Development http://www.sellingmagic.com
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